Category: Health

The UW School of Medicine is looking for new ways to provent potential conflicts of interest between doctors and private companies.

When a doctor prescribes a drug, some patients may wonder if it’s the best solution for them. It’s a common question raised at the UW School of Medicine, where many doctors work with pharmaceutical companies on research or consulting.

Signs going up at UW Health clinics next month will tell patients that their doctors might be getting paid by drug companies for research or consulting work, officials announced Monday.

More people than ever have been calling the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line. Dr. Michael Fiore, with the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, says about 39,000 smokers contacted the service, which provides them with help in kicking the habit. That’s four times more than the Quit Line has received in any year since it was launched seven years ago.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to declare Dane County out of compliance with air quality standards for fine particle pollution Thursday, according to Dave Merritt of the Dane County Clean Air Coalition.

An EPA spokeswoman would not confirm the designation, but said an announcement will not come until early next week.

The University of Wisconsin Madison’s infertility program will be moving into a new clinic in Middleton in 2010. Generations Fertility Care, the planned new 15,000-square-foot facility, will be built near the intersection of Highway 14 and the Beltline, next to Transformations, UW’s plastic and cosmetic surgery clinic.

Madison (WKOW) — UW Health Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility (REI) will open a new clinic with the latest programs and technology to help infertile couples overcome the challenges of conceiving a child.

Noted: The University of Wisconsin’s School of Medicine and Public Health is now planning to adopt a policy of public disclosure in which signs posted in the medical center will state that some of their physicians receive outside compensation from various sources, and that the companies and amounts will be available to patients on a public Web site.

Multiple attacks began rocking Mumbia, India midday Wednesday, Central US time. Shortly after, UW oncology professor Dr. Soren Bentzen received a voicemail from his wife, asking him to think twice before catching a plane for a conference of the Association of Radiation Oncologists of India.

Dane County and neighboring Iowa County remain among the healthiest counties in Wisconsin, according to an annual report released today by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Population Health Institute.

A new report ranks the health of Wisconsin counties.

The report from the UW Population Health Institute looked at the overall health of all 72 Wisconsin counties. Ozaukee County claimed the top spot, while Menominee County ranked last.

Dr. Patrick Remington says there are large gaps in quality statewide, with many communities continuously ranking near the bottom of the list. He says the report is intended to draw attention to the many disparities across the state.

You’ve probably never heard of Lemierre’s syndrome. Many doctors haven’t heard of it either, and that can be a problem. A century ago, Lemierre’s syndrome all too frequently led to small unmarked stones in graveyards. And then, thanks to antibiotics, it practically disappeared. But Lemierre’s may be making a comeback, a possible unintentional result of the push to reduce antibiotic prescriptions.

Researchers at American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison are working on finding a cure to the disease.

Dr. Mary Schroth is currently treating 60 children with spinal muscular atrophy at the hospital. She is also leading the research on drugs to help build strength and said that she thinks three drugs show great promise. Clinical trials on those medications are underway.

Generations Fertility Care is the name of UW Hospital’s new fertility clinic, which will open it’s doors in 2010 on the city’s far west side.

The announcement, made on Tuesday night, is a new page for a department that has suffered public embarrassment over physician feuding in recent years.

UW Hospital will make a big announcement on Tuesday.

Hospital officials will unveil plans for the first local couples fertility clinic during a community talk scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Middleton.

The announcement will include the location of the clinic, features along with innovations in fertility.

MADISON, Wis. — Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk is spearheading a new local effort to try to change what she calls the “culture of drinking.”

Falk is pushing a new $50,000 citizen coalition. It is part of her budget plan for next year, which lays out $275,000 to target some of the core issues involved with alcohol abuse.

People of all different backgrounds are coming together in Dane County to help fight alcohol abuse. As NBC 15’s Michelle Riell reports:for many, the fight being led by County Executive Kathleen Falk, is personal.

Dr. Lee Faucher says, “Over the past few years, a tremendous number of people have died in this state from alcohol related crashes where their blood alcohol has been above the legal limit, that’s like losing that town of Waunakee. just from alcohol.” Dr. Faucher is the director of trauma at U-W Hospital work to save the lives of people involved in alcohol related crashes.

State Consumer Protection is getting word out of a door-to-door scam involving people selling books in which the sales supposedly benefit UW hospital. Glen Lloyd, WI Trade and Consumer Protection Spokesman, says the hospital is not affiliated with any door-to-door crew. The swindlers have also attempted to get inside the home. He says the crew may ask to use the bathroom or come in for a glass of water. There’s been a report of a member smelling like alcohol.