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Federal prosecutors had what looked like a solid case against Joan Jaszczult, a Bloomfield doctor accused of writing Oxycontin and Percocet prescriptions for a ring that resold the drugs on the streets for huge profits. They had secret recordings by informants and undercover agents, a line of alleged co-conspirators waiting to testify against her, and even an eye-popping motive: she needed the cash, they said, to help pay $100,000 in plastic surgery bills. But four days after the trial opened, prosecutors suffered a devastating setback. The presiding judge, U.S. District Judge Stanley Chesler, ruled the government had improperly introduced a...

VERNON, British Columbia, May 18, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Canadian physician and writer, Dr. Ken Walker, has upset a BC family after he wrote in a column that their two conjoined baby girls ought to have been aborted to avoid being seen as “freaks of nature.”Walker, a syndicated columnist under the pen name Dr. W. Gifford-Jones, called the twins’ mother, Felicia Simms, “irrational” and suggested she should have had an abortion. Walker wrote, “Physically they are destined for ill health, lying on their backs forever. They will become obese and develop the myriad of diseases that accompany this problem. Their...

GLENVIEW, Illinois, March 8, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The leading US authority on palliative care has adopted a position of “studied neutrality” on the issue of physician-assisted suicide, following on the heels of a similar statement released by the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association in November. The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine released a policy statement following approval by the AAHPM board of directors on Feb.14, 2007. “The AAHPM recognizes that deep disagreement persists regarding the morality of PAD,” the document states. “Sincere, compassionate, morally conscientious individuals stand on either side of this debate. AAHPM takes a position...

MIAMI, Nov. 20 — When I was a new faculty physician, I worked with a resident doctor who was smart and energetic and took excellent care of her patients. There was just one problem. As she delivered her thoughtful patient presentations to me and the other attending doctors, it was hard not to notice her low-cut dress. “You two have to say something to her,” one of my male colleagues said to me and another female doctor one afternoon. But while none of us would have hesitated to intervene had she prescribed the wrong drug for a patient, we felt...

Conviction Of McLean Pain Doctor Overturned Appeals Court Says Judge Erred in Jury Instructions A federal appeals court threw out the conviction of William E. Hurwitz yesterday, granting the prominent former Northern Virginia pain-management doctor a new trial because jurors were not allowed to consider whether he prescribed drugs in good faith. The decision again galvanized the national debate that the Hurwitz case had come to symbolize: whether fully licensed doctors prescribing legal medication to patients in chronic pain should be subject to prosecution if their patients abuse or sell the drugs. Patient advocate groups strongly supported Hurwitz and expressed...

"A looming doctor shortage threatens to create a national healthcare crisis by further limiting access to physicians, jeopardizing quality and accelerating cost increases. Twelve states — including California, Texas and Florida — report some physician shortages now or expect them within a few years. Across the country, patients are experiencing or soon will face shortages in at least a dozen physician specialties, including cardiology and radiology and several pediatric and surgical subspecialties."

ARLINGTON, Va.(Army News Service, Jan. 26, 2006) – The Army is short about 100 physician assistants and is stepping up attempts to recruit both civilians and Soldiers to do the job. This marks the first time that the Army Medical Department, or AMEDD, has recruited civilians for the Interservice Physician Assistant Program, said Capt. James Jones, IPAP program manager. He said the Army’s modularity and high operations tempo contributed to this change. “The Army plans on filling the shortages by increasing the number of students in the IPAP - this year we are training 92 Army students versus 60,” he...

The Galveston County Medical Society, the professional association for Galveston County physicians, will install new officers Jan. 26. Congressman Ron Paul will be the keynote speaker for the event, which will be held at Gaido’s Seafood Restaurant in Galveston. Robin Armstrong will be installed as president. He grew up in this area and is a 1987 graduate of La Marque High School. He currently works at Mainland Medical Center as a hospitalist. Armstrong serves on the Board of Directors of the Texas Medical Association’s Political Action Committee and is on the Council of Constitution and Bylaws for the TMA. He...

New Hampshire Doctor Outraged By Complaint ROCHESTER, N.H. -- The New Hampshire attorney general is investigating a Rochester doctor because a patient complained that he bluntly told her she needed to lose weight. Dr. Terry Bennett said that he's outraged by what he calls a baseless complaint. A patient was apparently insulted when Bennett told her that she was obese and could only get healthier by losing weight. "It's an epidemic in the United States, and it's croaking us," Bennett said. Bennett said that it's a lecture he gives to many of his overweight patients. "It's your weight, ... and...

A 78-year-old doctor from West Pittston who earned up to $4,000 a day by illegally prescribing and selling controlled substances to drug dependent patients was sentenced to two years' probation Wednesday. Dr. Harry Alexanderian, Susquehanna Avenue, will be required to stay at home for the first six months while wearing an ankle bracelet. The sentence imposed by Luzerne County Senior Judge Gifford S. Cappellini angered at least one mother who said Dr. Alexanderian was treating her son. "My son was one of his victims," the mother said. "My sentence for him would be scrubbing toilets in a treatment facility." His...

NEW YORK -- A doctor who once cared for sick children at Don Imus' New Mexico ranch has sued the tart-tongued radio personality for slander, claiming he made false derogatory comments about him on his "Imus in the Morning" show. Dr. Howard Allen Pearson says in court papers that on at least four days last year, Imus said Pearson "was one of the worst doctors in the world and did not care if children suffered." Pearson's lawsuit says Imus apparently misunderstood the physician's response to a morning call to treat a child for pain in July 2004. Pearson left the...

Years before he categorized Terri Schindler Schiavo in the persistent vegetative state, which led to her death by dehydration, neurologist Dr. Ronald Cranford was building the case for removing feeding tubes from society’s vulnerable. "…The United States has thousands or tens of thousands of patients in vegetative states; nobody knows for sure exactly how many," Cranford wrote in a 1997 Minneapolis Star Tribune opinion piece titled: When a feeding tube borders on the barbaric. (WorldNetDaily. Com, March 23, 2005). "But before long, this country will have several million patients with Alzheimer’s dementia. The challenges and costs of maintaining vegetative state...

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS - Democrats and Republicans shouted at each other into an early shutdown of the Senate Thursday in Springfield over State Sen. Dave Luechtefeld's medical malpractice bill. Now, Luechtefeld, R-Okawville, fears the measure will be hopelessly lost in a committee backlog. Senate Bill 150 was postponed in a judiciary committee hearing Tuesday. The measure was never called for discussion, even though several physicians came to Springfield to testify on it. Luechtefeld said he suspected the committee, headed by State Sen. John Cullerton, D-Chicago, was stalling and trying to keep the bill from getting to the Senate floor. When Senate...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Legislators delivered Gov. Matt Blunt the two pillars of his pro-business agenda Wednesday -- passing bills limiting injury claims in the state's courts and workers' compensation system. Business groups reveled in the victory -- the culmination of a three-year effort frustrated in the past by Democratic Gov. Bob Holden but embraced enthusiastically by Missouri's new Republican governor. "At long last!" declared a broadly smiling Dan Mehan, president of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "It truly means that Missouri is open for business again." But labor unions, plaintiffs attorneys and many Democrats predicted injured...

The "tort reform" bill approved by the Georgia Legislature and signed into law this week by Gov. Sonny Perdue may prove to be one of the most destructive pieces of legislation enacted in the state in years. Senate Bill 3 cripples the legal system, not accidentally as a wayward scalpel might, but intentionally. It is designed to prevent juries from delivering the justice that they are charged to produce, even in the worst cases of malpractice by doctors and hospitals. Even in the most egregious cases of incompetence or negligence, such as those that end in the unnecessary death or...

Hi! For those that don't know me, I met some Freepers on the side of Penn ave. during the inaugeral parade. They were very nice and were in sharp contrast to the unwashed protestors. A brief bio: Enlisted in the USMC as a 0311 back in 1986. Was a rifleman for a year then got an appointment to the Naval Academy. B.S. in English Lit. Naval Flight Officer (re: "Goose") for 5 years then a military scholarship to U. of Michigan in Ann Arbor for medical school. Now a staff anesthesiologist and pain management fellow at NNMC Bethesda and WRAMC...

Sweeping civil justice legislation that limits medical malpractice jury awards is all but assured of enactment after an agonizingly close vote Thursday in the Georgia House of Representatives. By an 86-85 vote, the House rejected an amendment that would have imposed no limits on jury awards for patients killed or catastrophically injured by a doctor's negligence — a provision opponents said would have gutted the legislation. The House then approved a bill capping jury awards for pain and suffering — beyond recovering lost wages or medical bills — at $350,000, or up to $1.05 million if multiple defendants are found...

The tort reform legislation that has been placed on the fast track by the Republican leadership sailed through the Georgia House of Representatives today, which passed its version of Senate Bill 3 by a 136-34 vote. The measure was the only legislation considered by the House today. It was approved with an amendment limiting noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases at $350,000 for a single defendant -- $100,000 more than the Senate version would allow -- or up to $1.05 million when multiple defendants are involved. The Senate must now decide whether it will accept the higher caps and an...

The new math isn't working for Dr. Louis Mameli. Mameli belongs to a Thomaston-based obstetrician-gynecologist practice that's straining to cover eight central Georgia counties. Four years ago, it was a five-doctor practice, with each paying $25,000 for medical malpractice insurance, he says. Dr. Nancy Rampell, a neurologist at DeKalb Medical Center, visits the Capitol to lobby for medical malpractice reform. Now two of the ob-gyns work in other states, and the remaining three doctors pay $95,000 each in malpractice premiums, Mameli says. "My income is down 50 percent,'' he says. Because of liability concerns, Mameli says, the practice avoids taking...

Thursday, January 6, 2005 11:00pmEarlier this afternoon in a small village in Sri Lanka I hand-delivered $25,000 from the World of Hope Foundation directly to Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne and his wife, founders of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, which is now one of the most highly regarded indigenous nongovernmental organization in Sri Lanka. It was our first meeting. But he is a saintly man and a legend in the country. Their focus is children and relief and basic human services, with a very special emphasis on self-development and the psychological impact of disaster. I met him outside on a...

An unspoken but ever-present issue in the life of any doctor is an immodest, completely nonmedical concern: are doctors boring people? Sober and serious, surely. Respectable and educated, one hopes. A bit stuffy at times, perhaps. But dreary? As a profession, I think we do tend to run on the dry side, though till recently the reason had eluded me. Then, last month, my wife and I bumped into an acquaintance of hers while walking along the street. The person, unbeknownst to my wife, is a patient of mine, someone whom I treat for a chronic infection. After the patient...

MIRAMAR, Fla. Dec 24, 2004 — A doctor whose license was revoked for botching abortions, including leaving fetus parts inside a patient, was arrested on charges he continued to perform the procedures. Robelto A. Osborne, 44, turned himself in to police Wednesday and was released on bond. He was charged with performing medicine without a license, a third-degree felony. The state Department of Health contacted police about Osborne last month after receiving an anonymous tip about Osborne performing abortions at A Gyn Diagnostic Center in Miramar. Telephone calls to the clinic rang unanswered on Friday, and Osborne does not have...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct. 4 -- Spartacus Press is pleased to announce the release of the new book, "Senator Edwards and the Destruction of American Healthcare," by Glenn W. Knox MD, FACS. It is the first definitive work to criticize Senator Edwards and his positions on healthcare. This book is written for both healthcare professionals and the general public. Did you know: - Senator Edwards used "junk science" theories to win millions of dollars from the healthcare industry in North Carolina. - Most of his campaign funds come from the trial attorneys' lobby. - He even sued the American Red Cross...

/begin my translation Kim Jong-il's Personal Doctor Escaped...Arrested by Chinese Security Chosun Ilbo 10/01/04 Kim Jong-il's personal physician, identified only as Mr. Kim in his 60's, recently escaped from N. Korea, only to be arrested by Beijing Public Security of China, reliable Beijing diplomatic sources on N. Korea revealed on 10/01/04, according to Munhwa Ilbo(S. Korean daily). "He was caught a few days ago while hiding in Beijing suburbs. He is now under intensive interrogation, after which he will be forcibly repatriated to N. Korea," the sources said to the paper. They explained, in particular, "Both N. Korean public security(police)...

Dr. John Wicks figures he deserves a one-of-a-kind badge the moment he arrives in Iraq next week. That's if the Army recognizes him as the oldest soldier in the war. Though he doesn't know for certain, the odds are favorable that the 68-year-old psychiatrist has blown out more birthday candles than any other serviceman deployed in the Middle East; at least, anyone who doesn't wear a general's star. "It's really not that big a deal," he said of his age, because he stays in shape by routinely riding his bicycle and working out at a gym three days a week....

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has filed suit against Dr. Sidney Loxley, of Chesapeake, accusing him of being drunk when treating patients, which they believe to be a factor in several deaths. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, seeks the forfeiture of the orthopedic surgeon’s Battlefield Boulevard office and his home in the 1800 block of Shillelagh Road. In the suit, federal agents accuse Loxley of improperly prescribing narcotics and of conducting financial transactions with proceeds gained from illegal activity. Federal drug investigators searched Loxley’s home and office last week and seized thousands of patient records and other...

TMA endorses funding for stem cell research JIM VERTUNO Associated Press AUSTIN - The largest doctors group in President Bush's home state has endorsed embryonic stem cell research and says federal funding should be restored for new studies to combat disease. The Texas Medical Association, the country's largest state physician organization with more than 39,000 members, recently adopted a resolution supporting embryonic and adult stem cell research and a process called "therapeutic cloning," but said it would oppose cloning to produce a human child. The endorsement was publicized in the TMA's monthly magazine released Wednesday. Federal help for embryonic stem...

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"/> June 27, 2004 As Doctors Write Prescriptions, Drug Company Writes a CheckBy GARDINER HARRIS he check for $10,000 arrived in the mail unsolicited. The doctor who received it from the drug maker Schering-Plough said it was made out to him personally in exchange for an attached "consulting" agreement that required nothing other than his commitment to prescribe the company's medicines. Two other physicians said in separate interviews that they, too, received checks unbidden from Schering-Plough, one of the world's biggest drug companies. "I threw mine away," said the first doctor, who spoke on...

Doctor voluntarily surrenders license amid sex abuse allegations By JOHN DAVIS AVALANCHE-JOURNAL A Lubbock doctor recently agreed to surrender his license to practice medicine permanently to the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners. Dr. Aurelio Miro entered into an agreed order with the board June 4 after allegations were made that he had improper sexual contact with a female patient, according to the board's Web site. However, Miro denied the allegations Thursday evening. "Absolutely, they are bogus," Miro said. "Completely bogus." However, Miro — on the advice of his attorney — said he couldn't discuss the reason why he voluntarily...

"I am a Catholic businessman but I don't let the Church influence what I do at the office or in the boardroom;" but Jesus says (Mt 7:21), "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." "I am a Catholic politician but I don't let my Catholicism impact on how I vote or what legislation I promote;" but Jesus says (Mt 7:26-27), "Everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who...

Howard Dean's experiments on children Posted: December 12, 20031:00 a.m. Eastern By Cliff Kincaid© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com While Howard Dean is a Northeastern liberal, he's no Michael Dukakis. So says William Kristol of the Weekly Standard, writing in the Washington Post about Dean's chances to win in 2004. In 1988, the former Massachusetts governor lost to George H.W. Bush after being branded a dreaded "Massachusetts liberal." By contrast, the media have labeled Dean a "conservative" or "centrist" on some issues. But the truth about Dean's embrace of the radical homosexual agenda could put the former Vermont governor on the far, far left side...

Med Schools: Four That Flunk June 29, 2003 By JACK DOLAN And ANDREW JULIEN, Courant Staff Writers Idaho regulators investigating complaints involving 12 patients revoked Dr. Brent E. Woodfield's license after concluding that he didn't understand "the basic principles of the practice of medicine." For Dr. Anacleto Capua, accused of misdiagnosing fatal conditions in three patients, refresher medical courses were recommended by Florida authorities concerned about his medical skills. Hitting the books might have helped Dr. Narpat Panwar, who flunked the U.S. medical licensing exam seven times before passing - only to be accused later in New York of botching...

Technology and Life's Dominion TCS The thirty years since Roe v. Wade has seen a remarkable explosion of medical technology - technology that has made abortion easier and safer, that has allowed it to move from hospital procedure to outpatient procedure, and that has brought the mortality rate down from 4.1 per 100,000 to 0.6 per 100,000. Yet, despite the improvements, the number of physicians who are willing to perform abortions is at the lowest it has ever been in thirty years. According to a recent study by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, only 1,819 physicians in this country, most of...

<p>A conservative preacher once told me he thought "a little socialism was good." I was dumbfounded. He did not realize this was tantamount to saying a little evil is good.</p> <p>In the early 1900s socialism was regarded as a crazy idea invented by revolutionaries and Marxists to disrupt civilization and bring down governments. But today the majority of Americans behave as socialists — whether they know it or not.</p>

Meet Bill Frist –heir to Lott throneSenator championed confirmationof pro-abortion Satcher, fights fat Posted: December 19, 20029:30 p.m. Eastern By Joseph Farah© 2002 WorldNetDaily.com WASHINGTON – Everyone knows Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., is the upper house's only physician. But who is this man who appears likely to become the next Senate majority leader? Opponents of abortion on demand are likely to be deeply disappointed. While Trent Lott, R-Miss., had promised to bring to the floor for a quick, early vote a bill restricting partial-birth abortion, Frist championed the nomination by President Clinton of former Surgeon General David Satcher, a fervent supporter of...

Laredo physician donates JFK items BY CELINA ALVARADO Times staff writer Friday marked the 39Th anniversary of JFK's assassination, and in commemoration and celebration of JFK's accomplishments, and as a tribute to conspiracy theorists, Laredoan Dr. Reynaldo Godines donated books, DVDs, videos, and calendars to the Laredo Public Library, Saturday. The two books, a VHS series, calendars and the two DVD movies all provide tremendous research on the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of JFK. The two donated books include Crossfire-The Plot That Killed Kennedy, a New York Times bestseller written by Jim Marrs, and Bloody Treason - The Assassination...

Ayman al-Zawahiri, considered Osama bin Laden's top aide, has been killed in Afghanistan, Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency reported yesterday, citing informed sources. In a report from Islamabad, the agency cited sources as saying that al-Zawahiri was not killed in fighting but in a special operation carried out by unidentified individuals. It did not give any date. On September 11, a London-based Islamist said al-Zawahiri had recently married two widows of a comrade killed in the US-led campaign in Afghanistan. An Afghan military chief said in December 2001 that Zawahiri had been injured and possibly killed in an air attack near...

Check to see if your congressman voted AGAINST this bill and FREEP him if he did and congratulate your congressman who voted FOR this bill. Our NJ Congressional Delegation, including 3 Roman Catholic Congressman: Pascrell, Pallone and Menendez, voted Against allowing Doctors and Hospitals right to choose to not commit abortions.The legislation passed 229-189 with NJ 4-8-1 with Marge Roukema not voting.To see the vote tally visit:http://clerkweb.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.exe?year=2002&rollnumber=412This is not a partisan issue.  37 Democrats voted for HR 4691 The Abortion Non-Discrimination Act.  24 Republicans, including Rodney Frelinghuysen, voted Against allowing medical professionals and institutions right to choose to not commit...

Point Pleasant - The Chief of Pediatrics at Pleasant Valley Hospital, Dr. John F. Wiltz, was arrested late Tuesday night after a raid by sheriff's deputies netted 150 marijuana plants.The Mason County Sheriff's Department, in conjunction with the Jackson County Sheriff's Department, announced that a search warrant was executed at a residence on Oshel Road at 10:08 p.m.The marijuana plants found were being cultivated in a very sophisticated indoor growing system in a room built into the garage."There were several timers, the lights hung down and rotated," said Chief Deputy Gordon Clark of the Mason County Sheriff's Department. "We've run...

LONDON (AP) - A public inquiry announced Friday that family doctor Harold Shipman - Britain's worst serial killer - murdered 215 of his patients in a spree likely "unparalleled in history." The inquiry's head, High Court judge Dame Janet Smith, said there was also a "real suspicion" Shipman had killed 45 more people between 1975 and 1998. Shipman, 56, was convicted in January 2000 of murdering 15 of his patients - all elderly women - by injecting them with heroin. But police said at the time that he may have killed scores more. Shipman maintained his innocence, and no motive...