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Archives
Paying for Pills: How Prescription Drug Abuse Hits Us All
By Elaine Grant on Friday, July 31, 2009.A former New Hampshire nurse has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining Oxycontin from the Hampton nursing home where she worked.
Because the nurse claimed it was for patients, that Oxycontin was paid for by Medicare or the Veterans Administration.
But the nurse used the pills herself.
That’s one small example of the huge economic burden that growing abuse of prescription drugs is placing on taxpayers and the health care system.
In the fifth and final story in our series on prescription drug abuse, health reporter Elaine Grant examines how someone else’s addiction is hitting your wallet.
Week Without Corn
By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, July 30, 2009.
Driving around New Hampshire in the summertime, you’re bound to see fields of corn stalks swaying in the breeze. It’s a scene I find comforting. It reminds me of these lines from Carl Sandburg’s poem, Laughing Corn:
The wind and the corn talk things over together.
And the rain and the corn and the sun and the corn
Talk things over together
Pastoral rows of New England corn are a tiny speck of the 86 million acres of corn planted in the U.S. last year. Federal subsidies and an overabundance of corn is a controversial topic, pitting some farmers against food writers like Michael Pollan and documentary films like King Corn and Food, Inc, which condemn corn’s dominance over our food system. OK, if you’re not sure about corn, then don’t eat it.
Well, it’s not always easy. Carey Jones found that out for herself. Carey is writer and editor at Seriouseats.com, a leading food website. She decided not to eat any corn-based products last week. This past week, she added corn-fed products to that list. And we checked in to see where Carey Jones unexpectedly found corn.
Serious Eats: My Week Without Corn
The Washington Post: Study Finds High-Fructose Corn Syrup Contains Mercury
South Dakota Corn Growers Say Food, Inc. Is a Work of Fiction
(Photo by Laura Taylor via Flickr/Creative Commons)
Putting Out Some Feelers
By Kerry Seed on Wednesday, July 29, 2009.
Today nearly 10 percent of Americans are unemployed.
Some are online networking and tweeting about their job searches. Others network in person with friends and former colleagues--old school techniques that Mel Clarrage knows well. He’s a former vocational counselor who spent much of his career helping people look for work.
Driving While Blind
By Virginia Prescott on Wednesday, July 29, 2009.
Legally blind people have achieved autonomy in many aspects of their lives, but rarely have true independence when it comes to getting from point A to point B. They can walk, take public transport or depend on friends and family for transportation.
The National Federation of the Blind is working to change that. The Federation’s Jernigan Institute is partnering with Virginia Tech to take a giant first step in creating a vehicle that the vision impaired can drive. Together they built an open-air buggy, outfitted with laser range finders, a voice command interface, and a vibrating vest to let drivers know when to turn, slow down and break.
Wes Majerus was one of the first blind people to test drive the car earlier this month. Wes is an acess technology specialist with the National Federation of the Blind’s Jernigan Institute, and he joined us on the line from Baltimore to tell us more.
Wired's Autopia blog: Students Build a Car the Blind Can Drive
Scientific Blogging: Blind People Behind the Wheel? Yes Indeed
(Photo courtesy of Virginia Tech)
Air Pollution and IQ in Children
By Virginia Prescott on Tuesday, July 28, 2009.
Researchers have for the first time linked prenatal exposure to air pollution to lower IQ scores in childhood. The results support growing evidence that smog and urban pollution may harm the neurological development of children. The study was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Frederica Perera is lead author of the study and director of the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health. She joined us as part of our Next Green Thing series.
Associated Press: Air Pollution in Womb Linked to Low IQ
Most people think of their home as a sanctuary from toxic air, a place where smog and exhaust from buses and cars can’t permeate. But according to a 2005 state study, Californians spend 45 billion dollars a year on the health effects of indoor air pollution. Similar expenditures have been seen across the country, causing some people to worry about the harmful pollutants lurking in their homes. KQED asked an air quality specialist to sniff out the air pollutants inside a typical San Francisco home and to explain what can be done to mitigate their effects.
You can listen to Amy Standen's piece at the Public Radio Exchange.
(Photo by Ben Amstutz via Flickr/Creative Commons)
Pharmacy Board Stalls Drug Abuse Prevention Efforts, Advocates Say
By Elaine Grant on Monday, July 27, 2009.In an occasional series, NHPR has been tracking the state’s prescription drug abuse problem.
Drug overdose deaths jumped more than 400 percent from 1995 to 2007, when 168 people died.
In the fourth story in our series, health reporter Elaine Grant looks at the efforts some people are making to reduce the flow of abused medications.
They’re running into resistance from a surprising source.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock CMC Proposed Deal Raises Questions
By Dan Gorenstein on Sunday, July 26, 2009.Catholic Medical Center and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center have reached a tentative agreement to work together in Manchester.
Now, the state Attorney General must conduct a review of the proposed deal.
If it’s ultimately approved, the two sides insist they will be able to preserve the practices of a Catholic and a secular facility simultaneously.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dan Gorenstein reports.
New Hampshire Businesses Weigh In On Health Care Reform
By David Darman on Friday, July 24, 2009.President Barack Obama is pushing hard to get a plan through Congress that would restructure the country’s healthcare system.
As lawmakers debate what might eventually wind up in the legislation, lobbyists in Washington push their own interests.
And here in New Hampshire businesses are anxiously watching.
NHPR’s David Darman has more.
Caring For Elderly Parents
By Abby Goldstein on Thursday, July 23, 2009.Millions of Americans now fit into the "sandwich generation" - spending significant amounts of time caring for their elderly parents as well as their children. It's an effort that often brings psychological and even financial stress. We'll look at the challenges and how some are coping.
Guests
- Gloria Barsamian, author of The Bread of Angels: Sustenance and Hope For Caregivers of Elderly Parents
- Sheila Zakre, a lawyer for seniors and a member of the "sandwich generation"
We'll also hear from
- Susan Young, executive director of the Home Care Association of New Hampshire
