The Fukushima Dai-ichi disaster is stimulating debate about nuclear power in Wisconsin, the U.S. and the world. To elevate the quality of that discussion, we offer a short primer on radiation and its impact on health, and our informed opinion on the implications for energy policy.
(Bruce Barrett is an associate professor in the School of Medicine and Public Health and Vohmann is a clinical assistant professor in family medicine.)
A judge dismissed a drug paraphernalia possession charge against former talk show host Montel Williams, who was briefly detained at a Milwaukee airport in January after a search of his luggage turned up the type of pipe commonly used for smoking marijuana.
A Milwaukee County judge has dismissed a citation against former talk show host Montel Williams for possessing drug paraphernalia. Sheriff?s deputies found a pipe commonly used for marijuana on Williams during a security check at the Milwaukee airport in January. Williams says he uses marijuana legally to relieve the chronic pain caused by multiple sclerosis. He visits Wisconsin to participate in experimental treatment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Charlene Ann Norton, age 70, of Madison, passed away on Monday, April 11, 2011, at UW Hospital. She retired from UW Hospital after 26 years.
Montel Williams visits Wisconsin regularly to participate in experimental treatment being developed at the University of Wisconsin medical school in Madison. That?s where he was coming from when he was ticketed at Milwaukee?s airport as he headed home.
Lance Crowley, former vice president of medical affairs, died March 30 at the age of 91 after nearly half a century of service to the Stanford University Medical Center. He first came to Stanford in 1964, when surgery department chair Robert Chase recruited him to be chief of surgery at the new Palo Alto Veterans Administration Hospital. He went on to fill other administrative roles and became the medical school?s associate dean for planning until he left in 1973 to be the dean of the University of Wisconsin medical school.
It would be “very jaundiced” to think a drug company would give money to University of Wisconsin researchers to encourage them to promote the company?s drugs, says J. David Haddox, an executive at Purdue Pharma, a company based in Stamford, Conn.
And yet?.?.?.
What if you knew that over a period of years, Purdue Pharma had paid the UW Pain & Policy Studies Group about $1.6 million? Or that altogether, the group had received $2.5 million in recent years from pharmaceutical companies?
UW-Madison is ready to give you a healthy push into spring. The Division of Recreational Sports is hosting the UW-Madison Wellness Expo on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Southeast Recreational Facility, also known as SERF, on Dayton Street next to the Kohl Center. The free expo is open to the public.
As part of its excellent ongoing ?Side Effects? series, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an article last weekend that serves as yet another cautionary tale about universities, medicine and financial conflicts of interest.
Ninety-three percent of college women today admit to engaging in so-called “fat talk,” despite being of normal weight or even underweight, according to a new paper published in Psychology of Women Quarterly.
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — A student at Marquette University has been hospitalized with a possible case of bacterial meningitis. The school said on Sunday that the student lives off-campus. The student?s roommates have already received preventative treatment, and the university is contacting others who may have had direct contact with the student.
Dane County is one of the healthiest counties in the state, according to a national study.
Startling differences in the health of residents living just a few miles apart are highlighted in a new health rankings report that assesses wellness in nearly all the nation?s 3,000-plus counties.
Ozaukee County is the healthiest in Wisconsin. That?s according to the annual County Health Rankings put out by U-W Madison and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Saint Croix County is the second-healthiest, followed by Washington, Waukesha, and Taylor.
Local company CareFusion is hosting a cupcake-selling fundraiser with the proceeds going toward seizure research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Farmland will be less expensive to develop and harder for farm families to permanently protect under a series of proposals in Gov. Scott Walker?s budget. The governor?s plans to eliminate the farmland conversion fee and a farmland preservation program still in its infancy gut key components of the Working Lands Initiative. The moves hand developers a victory and deal conservationists and those who want to keep farmland in the family a blow.
The State Building Commission gave the green light on Wednesday for the University of Wisconsin-Madison to move forward with plans to construct a new $52.2 million School of Nursing facility.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker made two additions to his capital budget for 2011-13 Wednesday, adding projects at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing and UW-River Falls Health and Human Performance Building.
After not initially recommending it for approval, Gov. Scott Walker today announced that he wants to allow UW-Madison to build a new $53 million School of Nursing Building. Under his proposal, UW-Madison would get $17 million in state-supported borrowing, rather than the $34.8 million the university requested from the state.
MADISON, Wis. — Acclaimed stem cell researcher and University of Wisconsin professor Dr. James Thompson is back in the national spotlight.Thompson was awarded the Albany Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research. The $500,000 prize is the nation?s largest award in science and medicine, according to a press release from the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.
UW-Madison stem cell research pioneer James Thomson is one of three winners of this year?s Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, which some call ?America?s Nobel.?
Thomson was the first to isolate and grow human embryonic stem cells in the lab, in 1998. He helped discover a new way of creating stem cells in 2007 by reprogramming skin cells back to their embryonic state.
A recent UW study finds that white nurses work harder to ease their patients? suffering when those patients are also white. The finding fits in with decades of research showing a pattern of black patients consistently receiving less treatment from doctors and nurses than white patients. But it may not take much to fix this racial bias.
The Department of Regulation and Licensing is investigating 11 doctors who witnesses say gave out medical excuse notes to protesters at the Capitol, according to a statement by Secretary Dave Ross.
Dear Editor: As a registered nurse working at UW Hospital and Clinics, I have a question for Gov. Scott Walker: Why are my job and union targeted in the budget repair bill since zero taxpayer dollars go toward my wages? As you were told in a letter from the CEO of UWHC, ?Eliminating collective bargaining for UWHCA has no fiscal effect to the state since we receive no General Purpose Revenue.?
Tears flowed freely from the eyes of several protesters while others had a look of stony resolve when it became clear that the state Assembly had, as expected, voted Thursday to approve a bill that sharply curtails collective bargaining rights for most public employees.
….Katie Hoverson, a nurse from Evansville who works at UW Hospital, arrived in her scrubs Thursday afternoon just after the bill passed. She says she was “angry” but committed to staying engaged and fighting against similar attempts to strip working people of their rights.
Two of the 14 Senate Democrats who fled Wisconsin to block a vote on stripping most bargaining rights for public workers say Republican Gov. Scott Walker?s proposed compromise isn?t enough to bring them back to the Capitol, although they?ll keep talking. One proposed concession was that University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Authority employees would not lose all union bargaining rights.
Dr. Alison Brooks, a pediatrician and sports medicine specialist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
When going on spring break, don?t forget to pack condoms and sunscreen. UW-Madison students will take a break from studies March 14-18, so school officials have come up with a list of suggestions to make the break more enjoyable, safer and relaxing. Madison Area Technical College and Edgewood College also have spring break the same week.
Quoted: Dr. Sarah Van Orman, executive director of University Health Services
Madison-based TomoTherapy is being sold to Accuray in a deal valued at about $277 million, it was announced Monday. The companies signed a definitive agreement that calls for Accuray to buy TomoTherapy for $4.80 per share in cash and stock. The companies said the transaction will create a premier radiation oncology company.
(TomoTherapy was a university-based start-up company co-founded by UW-Madison researchers Rock Mackie and Paul Reckwerdt.)
TomoTherapy was
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health has selected Dr. Elizabeth Petty as the new senior associate dean for academic affairs, the university announced Tuesday.
Quoted: Susan Lederer, a medical historian at the University of Wisconsin.
A nationally recognized innovator in the field of organ transplant was recently appointed as the next transplant division chief for the University of Wisconsin Hospital and medical school and starts his new job today.
After a man on the roof of Van Hise Hall was talked out of committing suicide, school officials are urging troubled students and others to ask for help. The incident was reported at 4:06 p.m. Friday, according to a release from the UW-Madison police department. Campus officers were assisted by the city police and fire departments and other university officials in talking to the man, so he got off the roof and was taken to get medical attention.
Gov. Scott Walker has always dismissed the idea of using segregated funds to help balance the state budget. But buried on page 125 of the budget repair bill is a proposal to take $28 million in reserves from the state?s health insurance/pharmacy fund and spend it in the second half of this year.
While we never attended medical school, we know enough about the human condition to say confidently there are better cures for illness than to drive across the state and mill around in the frigid air for hours or days.The doctors who handed out work excuses to protesters in Madison have some explaining to do.
At least one doctor allegedly involved in writing sick notes for protesters at the Capitol last weekend has received “threats of violence,” the dean of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health said in a statement Wednesday. “Threats of violence are never appropriate,” Dr. Robert Golden said. A doctor got telephone threats at home, which were reported to local police, said UW Health spokeswoman Lisa Brunette.
Senior year of high school we once convinced our parents to get us out of school for a day under the pretense that we were sick. Actually we went to Dodger Stadium. But the next day we came down with chicken pox, and that karmic twist pretty much cured us of the urge to prevaricate via an excuse note.
The state Department of Regulation and Licensing is reviewing complaints about doctors writing sick notes last weekend to excuse Capitol protesters from work, the agency said Tuesday. “We?re processing these complaints as quickly as possible,” said a statement by Dave Ross, regulation and licensing secretary. The agency is working with the Medical Examining Board on the issue, he said.UW Health is also investigating reports about its doctors, and the Wisconsin Medical Society has criticized the doctors? actions. “These charges are very serious,” a statement by UW Health said. “These UW Health physicians were acting on their own and without the knowledge or approval of UW Health.”
Wisconsin officials are investigating complaints about doctors who handed out medical excuses for pro-labor protesters at the Capitol. Department of Regulation and Licensing secretary Dave Ross says the agency received 500 e-mails alerting the department to the physicians handing out notes. Tuesday?s statement came a day after University of Wisconsin Health, which employs some of the physicians involved, said it was also looking into the matter.
UW Health Services announced Monday it would begin an investigation into UW Health physicians who reportedly wrote sick notes for Capitol protestors last Saturday.
State Sen. Pam Galloway (R-Wausau) vowed Monday to look into allegations that doctors handed out medical excuses to protesters in Madison over the weekend.
A new survey of mostly middle-aged adults reveals that among people aged 45 to 54, one in nine shows signs of hearing impairment.
The authors, led by Scott Nash of the University of Wisconsin, determined someone was hearing impaired if at least one ear had trouble hearing various sounds within the range of human speech.
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine is investigating the disturbing and disgraceful writing of fake sick notes by some of its doctors to excuse state lawmakers who decided to bail from the capital. It is the right call. But an investigation is not enough. The state Medical Examining Board of the Department of Regulation and Licensing needs to reprimand these doctors and, in some cases, consider handing down suspensions.
UW Health is investigating reports of doctors writing sick notes last weekend to excuse Capitol protesters from work, and the Wisconsin Medical Society has criticized the doctors? actions. “These charges are very serious,” a statement by UW Health said. “These UW Health physicians were acting on their own and without the knowledge or approval of UW Health.”
UW Health says its investigating doctors who passed out medical notes to teachers protesting over the weekend.
UW Health is investigating doctors who wrote medical notes last weekend excusing protesters at the Capitol from work, and the Wisconsin Medical Society has criticized their actions.
?These UW Health physicians were acting on their own and without the knowledge or approval of UW Health,? UW Health said in a statement. ?These charges are very serious.?
The University of Wisconsin medical school says it?s investigating reports that doctors from the school handed out medical excuse notes to protesters at the state Capitol this weekend.
Gov. Scott Walker?s budget repair bill proposes sweeping changes to the state?s Medicaid programs, changes that could affect many of the 1.2 million state residents enrolled in public health programs like BadgerCare, Family Care, and SeniorCare.
The provisions would allow the administration to revamp and even gut the programs without following state laws or the normal legislative processes. But not many people seem to know or care, judging by the protests in the Capitol this week.
Even though it won?t save taxpayers any cash, several thousand workers at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics could lose their right to collectively bargain under Gov. Scott Walker?s budget repair bill.
On Friday, UWHC President and CEO Donna Katen-Bahensky sent a letter to Walker expressing concern about this issue, as 5,000 of the hospital?s 7,500 workers bargain collectively.
Even though it won?t save taxpayers any cash, several thousand workers at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics could lose their right to collectively bargain under Gov. Scott Walker?s budget repair bill. On Friday, UWHC President and CEO Donna Katen-Bahensky sent a letter to Walker expressing concern about this issue, as 5,000 of the hospital?s 7,500 workers bargain collectively.
The University of Wisconsin medical school says it?s investigating reports that doctors from the school handed out medical excuse notes to protesters at the state Capitol this weekend.
Media outlets from across the country are jumping on this Associated Press report, which notes local doctors handed out medical excuse notes to protesters around the Capitol Square this weekend.
The Maclver Institute, “a free market think tank in Wisconsin,” has posted a video showing as much. To put things mildly, most are generally outraged.
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau released a memo Monday saying Gov. Scott Walker?s budget adjustment legislation would save the state $107 million for the 2010-?11 fiscal year, not including money owed to Minnesota and the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund.
Researchers at UW-Madison have developed a smart phone app for people who are dealing with addiction. The system gives people access to an online support group, counselors, and a ?panic button? that can be called, when cravings or triggers kick in.
In a lab at the Wisconsin Institute for Medical Research, they?ve captured a certain kind of cancer cell without harming it. It?s something they say no one has been able to do before, and their search could revolutionize the way doctors treat cancer.
When recovering substance abuse patients need treatment advice or the support of a friend, they can turn to a new smart phone application University of Wisconsin researchers are developing to ensure these individuals are never without a guiding hand.
Smart phones have changed the lives of millions of people around the world with their revolutionary apps. Now, researchers at the University of Wisconsin have developed an app to help people suffering from chronic illnesses like addiction.
Sometimes the next medical breakthrough is where you least expect it. Researchers at the UW made an astonishing discovery — the key to treating heart disease could come from the venom of a scorpion.
Smart phones make phone calls, play music, take pictures and keep track of your appointments, but a new application that University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers are working on could help with chronic illness such as addiction.
Two studies conducted in part by UW-Madison researchers, revealed new information about the nature of cancer cells and stem cells.
