Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.health From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: health Thu, Jun 11 1992 Date: Thu, 11 Jun 92 05:20:27 EDT Message-ID: 06-11 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update June 11, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network SMOKE LINKED TO HEART DISEASE: The American Heart Association, declaring passive tobacco smoke a major risk factor for heart disease, said Wednesday it should be classified an environmental toxin. The AHA review of studies on the effects of secondhand smoke suggests exposure raises the risk of dying from heart disease 30% and causes 40,000 deaths a year. Some experts say the AHA has overstated the effects of passive smoke. (For more, see Special Smoke package below.) DEPO-PROVERA TO BE RECONSIDERED: The Food and Drug Administration will reconsider Depo-Provera, a contraceptive that is injected every three months. About 4 million women worldwide use the method, but the FDA didn't approve it because animal studies suggested a cancer link. Upjohn Co. is asking the FDA to look at World Health Organization studies. An FDA advisory committee will discuss the evidence June 19. MEN FAIL TO FIND SKIN CANCER: A new study shows men are less likely than women to discover their own melanomas - skin cancers that can kill. Researchers say that may help explain why men are more likely to die from the disease. The Boston University study, published in June's Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, found that 66% of women and 42% of men discovered their own cancers. HOSPITAL DEATH RATES HIGH: Statistics showing higher-than-expected hospital death rates were released Wednesday in a study by the Health Care Financing Administration, which runs the federal Medicare program. The report identified 102 U.S. hospitals as having higher than expected death rates for elderly patients in 1990, indicating possible problems with their quality of care. OTHER FACTORS IMPORTANT: A federal report released Wednesday that found 102 U.S. hospitals had higher-than-expected mortality rates for elderly patients in 1990 should not be taken as a sign all hospitals are deficient, officials said. William Toby, acting administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration, said, "Other factors need to be considered other than mortality rates." PARENTING SERIES TO RUN: Starting Monday, ABC's "Good Morning America" begins a weeklong series on parenting, with child development expert Dr. T. Berry Brazelton and other experts. The series will address the problems related to the four different stages in a child's young life. SHORTER THERAPY POPULAR: Interest in brief therapy has increased "at least a thousand percent" in the last decade, clinical psychologist Michael Yapko, Ph.D., says in Mademoiselle. Experts believe the practice fits the times. One factor is that insurance carriers and health-maintenance organizations are increasingly hesitant about paying for years of therapy. HOSPITAL TO BE SCALED DOWN: Alliant Health System directors have voted to convert Methodist Evangelical Hospital in Louisville, Ky., into an outpatient center within the next four years. The decision comes almost a year after the board began efforts to merge it with Alliant's Norton Hospital. Methodist Evangelical is the first hospital in Louisville to close since 1987. INFECTION MIGHT BE INTENTIONAL: David Acer, the AIDS-infected Florida dentist who health officials say gave the virus to five patients, may have intentionally infected two of them. Edward Parsons told The Palm Beach Post Acer talked in 1988 about his belief that mainstream America was ignoring the problem of AIDS, and something wouldn't be done until "it starts affecting grandmothers and younger people." GIRL GETS NEW LIVER, INTESTINE: Doctors at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh - in a rare, double-organ transplant Wednesday - gave 4-year-old Laura Davies a new liver and small intestine. The girl from Manchester, England, was in critical condition. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON SMOKE: SMOKING BAN CALLED FOR: The American Heart Association American Cancer Society and American Lung Association are calling for a ban on smoking in public places. Tobacco smoke is worse than air pollution, they say. "It is much more likely you will die from having a cigarette pulled on you than a gun," says AHA president Virgil Brown. SOME SAY LINK ISN'T CLEAR: Some experts say the AHA has overstated the effects of passive smoke on the heart. Charles Hennekens of Harvard Medical School says studies strongly show passive smoking is a respiratory hazard, but "in heart disease we don't have the same strength of evidence. Scientifically we can't make the claim." PREVENTION SHOULD BE FOCUS: Hennekens says limited resources should be focused on preventing kids from starting to smoke. The AHA, he says, seems to have lost compassion for smokers who want to quit. Says Hennekens: "We can't become proselytizers and evangelists. And as scientists we should not go beyond the level of our evidence." (End of package.) Health Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. 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