Category: Health

New Study: Cancer decline since Rancho Seco nuclear plant closed over 20 years ago

by Michael Steinberg

Recently Southern California Edison asked the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for permission to restart Unit 2 at its San Onofre nuclear plant. Units 2 and 3 at San Onofre have been shut down since January 2012 after radioactive steam escaped into the environment, and subsequent investigation found that steam generators installed less than two years before had suffered significant damage to large numbers of critical tubes in the generators.

Now Edison wants to restart Unit 2 in June, and receive permission from the NRC to operate that reactor for two years, despite failing to substantially address the damage to the steam generators or pinpoint the reasons for the problems, according to environmental group Friends of the Earth.

Children born in Pacific coastal states in 2011 may be at greatest risk.

By Anne Hurley / msn Healthy Living / April 4, 2013

It’s already well known how devastating the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown was for Japan — dramatic spikes in radiation-related illnesses, an increase in likely cancer deaths over the next several years, and pollution which may never truly be cleaned up.

A new study suggests what many worldwide have feared — that the devastation from the traveling radiation has in fact sickened infants in other countries, including babies born shortly after the incident in Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California.

For the first time, a major US poll has found that a majority of Americans support legalization of marijuana.

By Linda Feldmann /Christian Science Monitor / April 4, 2013

The Pew Research Center announced Thursday that 52 percent of Americans say that marijuana use should be made legal, versus 45 percent who say it should not. The trend line has been moving gradually in the direction of majority support for more than 20 years. In 1991, only 17 percent supported legalization, while 78 percent opposed.

As with gay marriage, which has also seen a sharp rise in support in the past few years, the Pew poll found major generational differences in views on marijuana. Among Millennials – those now aged 18 to 32 – support is at 65 percent, up from just 36 percent in 2008. Among Generation X, those born between 1965 and 1980, support has risen dramatically, from 28 percent in 1994 to 54 percent today.

Half of Baby Boomers support legalized marijuana today, and among the over-65 Silent Generation support has doubled since 2002 – from 17 percent to 32 percent.

San Diego Has Become “National Capital” of Military Drone Production

From San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice /April 3, 2013

“National Anti-Drone Days of Action” from April 4 through 7 in San Diego start a month of protests across the United States against the policy and practice of drone warfare and secret surveillance.

Local and national organizations are coordinating a series of events to increase the attention to why drone killings and surveillance are bad practice and policy for the United States.

San Diego’s “Anti-Drone Days” is not one, but a series of events (see listing).

San Diego is where these protests will start based on the region’s role as the “national capital” of military drone production. Killer and surveillance drones pour out of San Diego at increasing rates, matched by the rise in deaths and dismemberment from US strikes across the globe.

Most of this production is tied to two corporate contracting giants — Northrop Grumman and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, which is headquartered in San Diego.

Editor: Just today – Wednesday – a dehydrated and sickly sea lion pup climbed into a car near SeaWorld San Diego. A SeaWorld rescue crew was called to the scene. The following piece from the LA Times gives a more regional view, and it ain’t a happy one. Our own Tony Perry was involved in writing this piece. But something is happening to Southern California’s sea lions. Hopefully the federal designation is not too late and will be greatly helpful.

The federal designation comes after sickly sea lion pups have been found stranded on beaches from Santa Barbara to San Diego at rates exponentially higher than in years past.

By Rick Rojas and Tony Perry / Los Angeles Times / April 1, 2013

A weakened California sea lion pup near the Huntington Beach Pier. Sea lion strandings, which began rising in January, have intensified in recent weeks, packing marine mammal centers, perplexing researchers and prompting federal wildlife officials to act.

By John P Anderson

I’ve only lived in North Park for a couple of months but have been working on finding the best route to get from here to Ocean Beach, my favorite San Diego beach, since I moved in. The biggest issue is finding a good route from the mesa that North Park is on down into Mission Valley. Once in Mission Valley the very solid path along the San Diego River takes you comfortably and quickly directly west to the Pacific Ocean.

I’ve tried various routes into Mission Valley – Texas Street in North Park, Fairmount Avenue between Kensington and City Heights, Bachman Place in Hillcrest – but found them all lacking. Fairmount is very, very intense (read: dangerous) on a bike and Texas only slightly less so. Bachman Place is a much better alternative although it is a meandering windy road down the hill, not bad for cruising down but quite a long haul back up. Recently I was informed of a path through Old Town and it is my favorite by far. After a couple of practice runs I took this trip “in earnest” this week.

By John Lawrence

Chargemaster: Hospitals’ Killer App for Sucking Your Financial Blood Dry – Part 4

Hospital care in the US has morphed into a multi-headed monster in which every advance in medical technology ups the cost of medical care. What Matt Taibbi said about Goldman Sachs in a Rolling Stone article applies to hospitals as well: “[They are] a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming [their] blood funnel[s] into anything that smells like money.”

More expensive technologies like cat scans are used when less expensive ones would be adequate to do the job. In addition to the economic incentives to use more expensive technology and equipment, there’s the legal incentive that doctors are less likely to be sued if they administer every test under the sun and use the most expensive equipment.

Former DEA agents and cops are lobbying for tougher drug laws that make them rich.

By Kevin Gray / AlterNet – The Fix

When eight former DEA chiefs signed a letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder earlier this month, demanding that the feds crack down on Washington and Colorado, the states which voted last November to legalize marijuana, there was more than just drug-war ideology at stake. There was money.

Chargemaster: Hospitals’ Killer App for Sucking Your Financial Blood Dry – Part 3
by John Lawrence / San Diego Free Press

Hospitals charge their customers … er, patients, through the nose for simple products which anyone can purchase at WalMart for a fraction of the amount. In Part 1 and Part 2 we detailed the ridiculous prices hospitals routinely charge their patients – like several thousand dollars a day – just for a room. In this installment we will go over the markups on products that are added on to patients’ bills.

Goldman Sachs, Blackstone Group rake in hundreds of millions selling useless ‘mini-med’ policies

Part Two of a series on the Business of Health

By John Lawrence / San Diego Free Press

In Part 1 we told about how hospitals have a huge computer file called a Chargemaster that details prices for every possible item a hospital can charge for. These prices don’t have anything to do with reality because in fact there is no market for health care services.

Mayor Filner Proposed 2% tax, $5000 annual licensing fee, and collectives / cooperatives in limited commercial and industrial zones; Full Council Votes March 25th

From Americans for Safe Access / March 15, 2013

Over the years, medical marijuana patients in San Diego have endured a lack of representation in local governments, raids, lawsuits, eradication efforts, federal interference, and outright misinformation about the issue. Fortunately, now we have a new Mayor who sides with compassion instead of ignorance and is willing to move forward with regulations.

After attending the January San Diego Americans for Safe Access Meeting, where he promised to move forward with regulations, Mayor Bob Filner began working on a proposal to bring to council.

Friday, the Mayor’s office announced his proposal is finished and the issue tentatively scheduled for the March 25th City Council meeting.

We spend more on artificial knees and hips every year than Hollywood collects at the box office.

By John Lawrence / San Diego Free Press

A recent exhaustive article in Time magazine details the exhorbitant charges that hospitals are imposing on the American people, charges that have nothing to do with the actual costs of services provided. A woman in Stamford, Connecticut suffering from chest pains called 911. She was taken by ambulance to the emergency room at Stamford Hospital, a non-profit institution, four miles away.