Category: Health

Noted: Several researchers who were involved in the Medtronic-sponsored studies have defended their reports as scientifically sound and free of company influence, either directly or indirectly. For example, one of them, Dr. Thomas A. Zdeblick of the University of Wisconsin, said that he did not have a ?direct financial interest in the success of Infuse or Medtronic.? Over the years, Dr. Zdeblick has received over $20 million in royalty payments from Medtronic in connection with patents on devices, including one that is used with Infuse.

MADISON (WKOW) — The health of Braveheart, the dog who was left to die in a Kentucky dumpster, is greatly improving. Braveheart’s remarkable recovery will be on display on UW-Madison Day at the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis on Wednesday, Aug. 10.

MADISON – Back in March, when the doctors and technicians at UW Veterinary Care first met Braveheart, he was an unknown, previously unloved and basically forgotten dog. He was found in a dumpster in Kentucky, where he was left to die. Braveheart was severely malnourished, full of worms and infested with parasites. His hair was spotty at best and open sores covered much of his skin. Fast forward to today and Braveheart is a well-known and loved dog.

Dear Editor: As an obstetrician/gynecologist, I would like to underline every point that Claire Coleman makes about contraception in her column, ?Don?t take birth control for granted.? As Coleman demonstrates, family planning services protect and improve our welfare, as individuals, as families, and as societies. Piles and piles of research support the importance of contraception, and every day, my colleagues and I see more evidence of its benefits in our patients? lives.

Noted: Megan Correll recently received an acupuncture treatment from her naturopathic physician, Mihal Davis, at University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics.

As hundreds gear up to support breast cancer research at this weekend?s Race for the Cure, thousands of breast cancer survivors in Wisconsin are paying their success forward through a unique research project on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

All hospitals in the Madison area, including University of Wisconsin Hospital, participated in a nationwide natural disaster drill just last Wednesday. They?re all part of a communication system called “Wi Track,” which helps medical emergency crews know what works and what still needs improvement.

Noted: The new study is likely to intensify a debate over whether industry-financed researchers present study findings in ways that favor the interests of corporate sponsors. Dr. Burkus, who practices in Columbus, Ga., and Dr. Zdeblick, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, have each received millions of dollars from Medtronic in consulting fees or royalty payments.

If you tend to mention or post photos of alcohol on Facebook, you?re likely to have more Facebook friends ? at least if you?re a college-age man. That?s what a recent study, to be published in the American Journal of Men?s Health, suggests. Researchers Katie Egan and Megan Moreno studied the profiles of 225 male undergraduates from a university, between the ages of 13 and 17, and found that 85% of the profiles contained at least one reference to alcohol.

MADISON, Wis. — A Madison man has donated his kidney to a stranger he might never meet.

It?s a first for American Family Children?s Hospital, as the facility has made an appearance in U.S. News and Worlds Report?s Best Children?s Hospitals Guide.

MADISON, Wis. — After an eight-year journey, University of Wisconsin Health has taken a step forward in its push to building a new clinic and hospital at the American Center property on Madison?s far east side.

The wheelchair and walking cast of Omar Tavizon-Ramos were found Tuesday night on a Madison street, but the man accused of killing two people while driving drunk in Janesville on Easter morning remains missing, authorities reported.

Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain told madison.com the wheelchair and cast were found by someone on Hancock Street, with the find reported to police at 6:37 p.m. DeSpain couldn?t confirm the items were the same ones used by Tavizon-Ramos, but Janesville Deputy Chief Danny Davis told madison.com the items found were those used by the suspect.

A 21-year-old man accused of killing two people on Easter morning when his vehicle hit a van in Janesville left UW Hospital in Madison on Monday night to get some fresh air and never came back. Police are looking for Omar Tavizon-Ramos, the suspect in the crash on April 24 in Janesville that killed Jeffery Bauer, 19, at the scene. Bauer?s grandmother, Margaret Worden, 61, died on May 6 of injuries from the crash, according to a news release from the Janesville Police Department.

A man facing homicide charges for a fatal car crash that left two people dead, has escaped from the University of Wisconsin Hospital-Madison.

MADISON, Wis. — With a rush of garage sales happening all around town this weekend, one thing shoppers should be aware of is unsafe children?s car seats.

Just a few days before Mother?s Day 2001, the mother and daughter endured hours of pioneer surgery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Hospital.

The word “cancer” is one no one wants to hear. But there are cancers these days that are being diagnosed more often with a decent prognosis.

This story appeared first in the Sunday edition of the Wisconsin State Journal newspaper.

At least 17 patients at Meriter Hospital got urinary tract infections from catheters during a recent 21-month period, and 20 patients at UW Hospital had the same problem. Meriter?s rate of the infections was six times the national average, and UW Hospital?s rate was more than four times the average. At St. Mary?s Hospital, five patients got the infections, about average.

A University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health organization that has been criticized for its advocacy of controversial uses of narcotic painkillers says it has decided to stop taking money from the drug industry.

UW made the announcement after an April 3 investigative report in the Journal Sentinel revealed that its UW Pain & Policy Studies Group had taken about $2.5 million over a decade from companies that make opioids. The money came while the group pushed for what critics say was a pharmaceutical industry agenda not supported by rigorous science: the liberalized use of narcotic painkillers for non-cancer chronic pain.

Braveheart, the starving, parasite-ridden, sad-eyed, critically ill Kentucky Dumpster dog brought to the UW Veterinary Care Small Animal Hospital in a desperate and highly public voyage of survival, was released to a dog foster home Monday. He took along a new favorite blanket that has his name embroidered on it….The dog also received $18,000 from more than 400 donors toward vet costs.

MADISON (WKOW) — Jerry Otteson never gave up hope.But he wasn?t sure he would ever find the “perfect” kidney he needed.