Health Headlines Local Edition: We are Number One! Too Bad it's for Drug-Related ER Visits.
Boston is first in the nation for drug-related emergency room visits, according to a new report released yesterday by the Massachusetts Health Council. According to the report, the Greater Boston area had the most drug-related emergency room visits in the nation in 2011, about four times as high as cities like New York City, Chicago, and Detroit. Even worse, the region also was four times above the national average among metropolitan regions for emergency room visits involving heroin. Four times! In addition, the South Shore saw high reports of overdoses, with one person dying from an overdose every eight days last year. This is the worst news we’ve heard in a while. What is going on Boston? [Metro Boston]
Equinox Boston will be offering a Powernap Class throughout the month of December at their Dartmouth Street location. That’s right. A nap class. The class is a meditative workout combining yoga and soothing music. It’s 45 minutes to an hour long and starts with a yoga flow and ends with a 20 minute brain wave restorative session where attendees take a nap. Crazy fad or much needed retreat during the busy holiday season? You decide. [Equinox Boston]
A head lice treatment center is opening this weekend in Southern New Hampshire. Basically, it is a head lice salon. Nits End started in 2011 as a mobile business, but after a busy first year they decided to open their own salon. Apparently, lice have become savvy and developed a resistance to traditional removal methods. They use the LouseBuster, an FDA-cleared medical device that kills all stages of head lice, including the eggs, in a one-time, 30-minute treatment. [Nits End]
The owner of the compounding pharmacy linked to the fungal meningitis outbreak plead the Fifth today at a congressional hearing. His company, New England Compounding Center (NECC), could be responsible for hundreds of cases of fungal meningitis and at least 32 deaths (as of today). Health and Human Services Secretary, Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, told the Globe she was “disappointed” that Cadden did not respond to questioning, because much remains unanswered about the company. According to the Globe, after NECC owner Barry Cadden pleaded the Fifth to every question, he hopped in a black SUV and sped away. Way to keep it classy, Cadden. [Boston Globe]
Ultrasound images and personal data for about 14,000 patients have disappeared from facilities in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Officials at Women & Infants Hospital said there is no indication that the information has been improperly accessed or used in any malicious manner, but they did say that they cannot find unencrypted backup tapes containing ultrasound images. The missing information is for patients who visited walk-in facilities in Providence and in New Bedford, Mass. between 1993 and 2007. The records contained personal information, like names, birthdates and, in some cases, even Social Security numbers. [Boston Globe]
