Results tagged “healthcare”

The blog RH Reality Check posted an item yesterday alleging that Gennet Purcell, the District of Columbia's relatively new insurance commissioner, had surreptitiously conspired to make it possible for D.C. women to lose their birth control coverage. But the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking, the agency Purcell runs, has since emphatically denied the story.

Read this fascinating story from The New York Times on the D.C. Fire Department's Engine Company 10, by all accounts the busiest firehouse in the country. These Trinidad firefighters at the "House of Pain" spend most of their time not fighting fires, but rather serving as emergency medical responders.

About 80 percent of the calls handled by Engine Company 10 are medical emergencies because the firehouse serves one of the city’s poorest areas, where few residents have health insurance, doctors’ checkups are rare, and medical problems are left to fester until someone dials 911.

Did you know that Lyme Disease affects Americans at a rate possibly as high as 10 times that of AIDS? Did you know that the test recommended by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) to diagnose Lyme misses it 3/4ths of the time? Or that in areas of the country where infectious deer ticks are closest to the population — like nearby Loudoun County — entire households are often afflicted? Or that it can and does result in death? All of these facts are covered in Andy Abrahams Wilson's new documentary, Under Our Skin. But simply raising awareness of these and other facts isn't the point of the film — what concerns Wilson more greatly is why there is so little public discussion of the most common vector-borne disease in the country, and why the disease has become so politicized and controversial.

Last fall the D.C. Council approved spending $79 million to assist in the sale of the beleaguered Greater Southeast Community Hospital to Specialty Hospitals of America, and today, Specialty announced that they will give the hospital a new name and logo in an effort to break with the medical facility's checkered past.

>> D.C. police will spend $3 million in the 3rd Police District on an anti-gang initiative. [WaPo] >> Montgomery County Del. Jane Lawton, 63, died of an apparent heart attack this morning, collapsing after giving a speech in downtown Washington. Lawton also served as a four-term mayor of Chevy Chase. [Md. Moment] >> If you have an elderly relative living at either Carolyn Boone Lewis Health Care Center in D.C. or Ruxton Health of...

After FOX5 first broke the story last night, reports popped up all over today about how former mayor and Ward 8 Council member Marion Barry was the victim of a burglary at his home about a month ago, while he was traveling for a few days in China. That he was there addressing an association of Chinese mayors is humorous (presumably it was some sort of Scared Straight program), but that's not what's makes this...

2:11 p.m. OK, we should be about ready to get going here. We've been told there will only be about 15 minutes of debate on this before a vote takes place to prevent a filibuster -- as you all know by now, we need 60 for the bill to move forward. I'll be posting updates as things get going, and Martin may pop in with his two cents if he can, so stay with us...

Good Monday morning to you, Washington. We can officially declare that the dog days of August have arrived today, now that the House has finally, finally adjourned for their summer break. News junkies will want to note that before heading home they passed a modified version of the defense budget, which will increase spending for defense health care and military housing, among a list of other expenditures. Of course what Washingtonians really care about is...

Via The Examiner, it looks like it's finally been long enough that we can start to measure the financial impact of the District's smoking ban, thanks to reported tax revenues on both alcohol and cigarettes for the fiscal year now being available. Overall, the news is good: alcoholic beverage tax revenues are up 1.6 percent for fiscal 2007, while cigarette tax dollars are down a whopping 7.5 percent for the year. Taken at face value,...

Happy Friday morning, Washington. After the latest concerns over the quality and safety of the D.C. area's drinking water, did you think twice about drinking out of the tap yesterday? We mentioned it briefly at the end of the day yesterday, but the Post has a full story on how WASA and Washington Aqueduct officials are trying to calm our concerns about our tap water. Officials said high levels of chlorine toxins found in May...

Are you a resident of Washington, D.C. and looking for a new job? D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is hosting her 10th annual Norton Job Fair, at the Washington Convention Center's Hall C on Tuesday, July 10, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. You need to show proof of D.C. residency to attend (either a valid D.C. driver's license, or picture ID plus a utility bill with your address), the idea being to give D.C....

>> "A federal appeals court ruled today that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, must report to prison shortly to begin serving his 30-month sentence for lying to federal investigators about his role in leaking a CIA officer's identity." [WaPo] UPDATE: Man, we honestly thought that first comment was a joke for a minute! Bush has commuted Libby's prison sentence. >> Please Add L2 to NextBus, K? Thx [The...

Michael Moore is a loudmouth. His films tend towards the brash, arrogant, and inelegant, usually leaving subtlety and nuance to smaller personalities. He has a flair for public spectacle and complete lack of shame that would make P.T. Barnum proud. But say what you like about Michael Moore, he's no dummy. He just plays one in the movies. Sicko, Moore's examination of the state of America's health care, may be his smartest film. It follows...

The roots of modern American music lie in the blues. The music has rich history, but sadly some of its most eminent practitioners have been forgotten and are struggling just to get by. The Music Maker Relief Foundation was formed to help provide grants to struggling musicians. One important tool the Foundation uses to raise money and awareness is the Congressional Blues Festival. The festival, now in its fourth year, takes place tomorrow at the...

"Martin O'Malley signed the nation's first living wage law on Tuesday," read the Post this morning. Seems a little unfair, seeing as how the District passed its own living wage legislation back in January of 2006, a law which mandated that any firm receiving a District government contract in excess of $100,000 must pay its employees a minimum of $11.75 an hour. The Maryland law is similar; state contractors are required to pay workers $11.30 per hour in metropolitan areas such as Baltimore and D.C. and $8.50 per hour elsewhere. Governor O'Malley also happened to be a member of the Baltimore City Council back in 1994, when the city passed a landmark living wage law.

>> Metrobus driver and five passengers injured in bus crash. No charges filed. [NBC4]

The nation is still transfixed on the latest coming out of Blacksburg, especially the startling images and words that have come out of the package Cho Seung-Hui apparently sent to NBC News between his two shooting sprees. It's also of course talking about the day's two biggest stories coming out of Washington: The Supreme Court's decision to uphold the so-called partial-birth abortion ban, and the start of Congressional testimony by embattled Attorney General Alberto...

Good morning, Washington. As you might imagine, the news is still dominated by coverage of the tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech on Monday. Many of the shooter's writings have been found and are being pored over; with classes canceled for the week and many students heading home, it seems likely that today's news cycle will focus on the killer and his motives. Governor Kaine has also ordered an independent investigation into the school's...

Whether you are legitimately concerned about the future of transportation development in Virginia or simply sick of the endless debate clogging column inches in your local paper, the end is finally in sight. When the General Assembly finally compromised on a transportation funding package earlier this month, Governor Tim Kaine was not particularly pleased with what he saw. The Governor had promised to exercise his option to amend the bill and send it back to...

We'd like to start this week's run-down by wishing a very happy birthday to parent blog Gothamist, which turned four on Friday. If it wasn't for them, the rest of us wouldn't be here. They celebrated their birthday by nabbing an interview with Entourage star Adrian Grenier, who misses NYC public transportation when he's working in LA. They also reported on NYU students protesting a band whose name is also known as a slur,...

Well, Washington, we seem to be stuck in a rut here. The country is mired in war, the Tysons tunnel debate drones on, and the weather remains nothing but frigid. Even the Grammys were stuck in the past. A show meant to honor the best music of the past year was dominated by The Dixie Chicks and Mary J. Blige? Red Hot Chili Peppers? Lionel F%&$ing Richie? Rest in Peace, Pop Music. Solid Year Expected...

We noted earlier this month that D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty planned to overhaul the D.C. Department of Health in his first 100 days, and the Examiner reports that this is well under way. Earlier this week the pyramid underneath reappointed Director Gregg Pane got a little narrower, as the eleven agencies were consolidated into seven, and a number of senior deputies and chiefs of staff were let go. Notably, pregnancy prevention and care and school...

Good morning, Washington. It's December 20th. Are you still maintaining the farce that you're accomplishing productive work at the office? If so, we salute your spirit. Most of the DCist staff gave up days ago, opting instead to camp out in our office kitchens and wait for the arrival of gift baskets from vendors. How many Hickory Farms beefsticks is it healthy for an adult to eat per day, anyway? Christmas Comes To D.C. Government:...

Benefit for Argonaut Bartender Tonight As you may have read in this morning's weekend picks, Argonaut and the Englert family of bars are having an event tonight to benefit one of their bartenders who was seriously injured by a gunman when walking to his girlfriend's from work. Luis "Quike" Morales was shot on September 30 in an apparent robbery gone awry, and has only recently come out of his coma. Unfortunately, our ass backwards health...

The District has become expert at approaching public issues with an ambivalence approaching schizophrenia. We want and don't want development, fear and don't fear gentrification, and embrace and disdain our suburbs. Perhaps nothing encapsulates our status as capital of the love-hate relationship more than our approach toward big-box retail. Many of us looked on with approval at Annapolis' decision to require more health care spending from Wal-Mart, and residents of Northeast D.C. waged an all-out...

Good morning, D.C. Looks like it's going to be another beautiful day. We can't resist — we're ducking out of work, heading into the lovely weather and spending the morning at a net neutrality seminar. Ah, summer livin'. Ehrlich Unhappy With Rate Relief Plan: Remember the looming electricity rate hike crisis in Maryland? The one that's been looming since March? Yeah, that one. It's still not over. According to the Post, Maryland legislators have put...

It's just not a good time to be in local media. The Post has had its share of labor disputes and forced resignations, WJLA has been accused of ignoring worker rights, and now unionized employees at NBC 4 might go on strike.

Well, someone else said it first. D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams is a lame duck, or so said Howard University President Patrick Swygert in an email sent on Wednesday to students and staff. WTOP is reporting that Swygert, none-too-happy that Williams stepped back from supporting a controversial plan to partner with Howard and build a new $400 million hospital in Southeast, fired off an email in which he took Williams to task, writing: Anthony Williams, who...

We were going to hold out on publishing anything St. Patrick's Day-related until Thursday. But to be honest, it was a slow news week and the parade was held yesterday, so we're left with little more than to mention that in only five days the city's few Irish pubs will be packed with the Irish and Irish-for-a-day. Maybe the best part is that this year's celebration of the traditional Irish holiday falls on a Friday,...

Severance for Metro Chief Higher Than Average: When WMATA Chief Richard White stepped down/was fired last week, few seemed surprised at the news. Most were, though, surprised at the size of his severance package -- a one-time payment of $238,000, an annual pension payment of $116,000, free Metro travel and health care for life, and a $58,000 annual salary for his wife. Yesterday the Post reported that White's severance exceeds that of comparable transit systems, notably San Francisco's, where a manager of White's seniority would receive a one-time payment of $283,000 but only benefit from an annual pension payment of $72,000 to $81,000. The head of Philadelphia's system, SEPTA, would receive a measly $29,000 annual pension payment a year.