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			Wednesday, February 25, 2009 News Clipping Archives *Maryland / Regional* Outbreak of flu-like illness closes school (Baltimore Sun) Out of Tragedy, Maryland Dental School Brings Hope to Children (News at University of Maryland –UMB) Program Provides More Dental Care To Children (WJZ TV 13.com) Group Wants Stimulus To Help Kids' Dental Care (WBALTV.com) Tragedy Leads To Changes in Children’s Dental Health Care (bthesite.com) Maryland getting $276M in stimulus money for Medicaid (Baltimore Business Journal) Md. dairy farmers feel the squeezev (Baltimore Sun) Ban on cheap, individual cigars considered (Capital News Service) Silver Spring nonprofit lands $130M for HIV gel (Daily Record) Shewell proposes alert system for mentally disabled adults (Carroll County Times) *National / International* Tests tie salmonella outbreak strain to second plant operated by bankrupt Peanut Corp. (Baltimore Sun) Obama: Health care reform ‘cannot wait’ (Baltimore Business Journal) Million-woman study provides more evidence linking moderate drinking and certain cancers (Baltimore Sun) As teeth-whitening treatments spread to mall kiosks and salons, dental industry chomps down (Baltimore Sun) Study: Some prenatal vitamins lack enough iodine (Washington Post) *Opinion* Doctors should list payments (Carroll CountyTimes) *Maryland / Regional* Outbreak of flu-like illness closes school By Arin Gencer Baltimore Sun Wednesday, February 25, 2009 Immaculate Conception School in Towson will be closed for the rest of this week because dozens of students and some staff have been out with flu-like symptoms, an official with the Archdiocese of Baltimore said yesterday. The elementary school will be cleaned during that time "to make it as germ-free as possible," said Sean Caine, director of communications for the archdiocese. Copyright 2009 Baltimore Sun. Out of Tragedy, Maryland Dental School Brings Hope to Children New at University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) Wednesday, February 25, 2009 Too many people still feel that toothaches are a just part of life, U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Baltimore said in marking the second anniversary of the tragic death of a Maryland boy whose infected tooth went undiagnosed and untreated until the bacteria spread to his brain. Cummings came to the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) to recognize the leadership shown by the Dental School, part of UMB, in its efforts to extend dental health care to underserved people in the state. He said that as a nation "we have to figure out how to provide more preventive care." Cummings said, the country and the world were shocked that a boy, such as 12-year-old Deamonte Driver of Prince George's County, said Cummings, could have died in one of the wealthiest counties, in one of the richest state, in one of the richest countries, when $80 worth of dental care might have saved his life. "But he never got that care," Cummings said. Christian S. Stohler, DMD, DrMedDent, dean of the Maryland Dental School, said that in the past two years, "Deamonte Driver has been a child that has clearly influenced treatment in this country and around the world. And he has changed this faculty. I am just a dean of a fantastic faculty that has taken this seriously." Stohler said the impending unveiling of an expansion of the Dental School into rural Cecil County, with a state-of-the-art, 20-chair dental clinic, has been "everything we can do to set an example" for dental health care to reach out to communities. "We feel that going out to the community will ultimately change the mind set of providers in the community. Treatment can be complicated [in dentistry], but preventive care is very simple." Cummings thanked the School for its leadership in developing the clinic called the Principio Health Center in partnership with Union Hospital in Elkton. "I know we are going through tough times," Cummings added. The center, due to open in several weeks, will offer dentistry to underserved children, extend Dental School education to students in that region, and foster economic development, according to Stohler. He said it is intended as a model for rural areas nationwide. John Colmers, secretary of the Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, said that during the past two years, new dental clinics have been opened in Harford and Charles Counties and others are planned in Queen Anne's, Kent, Worcester and Calvert counties. He underscored Cummings' concern, saying, "This is a somber day and a reminder of the work before us. ý Dental disease is the most preventable chronic disease." He said his department is working with the Dental School to develop a physician training program for high-risk assessment for very young children. Cummings said to a group of about 50 reporters and dental professionals, "As many of you know, I have made it my personal mission to ensure that from this boy's tragic death, we will bring life to life." Hundreds of Deamonte Drivers are walking the streets in this country every day, said Cummings, unable to focus on school, eat without pain or speak properly, and worse, actually risk serious disease or even death. After a formal news conference, Cummings commented that, "Maryland has moved from being a state where a parent might not want a child to be treated to one of the best states where they want their child to be treated." Posting Date: 02/25/2009 ©2009 University of Maryland, Baltimore. All Rights Reserved. Program Provides More Dental Care To Children By Suzanne Collins WJZ TV 13.com Wednesday, February 25, 2009 BALTIMORE (WJZ) ― Two years ago, Maryland and the nation were shocked to learn that a local child died from an untreated tooth infection. But the death of Deamonte Driver inspired a campaign to provide pediatric dental care to all children. Suzanne Collins explains a lot has been accomplished, but much more is planned. Darya Tanzymore, 7, only had to put up with a cleaning at University of Maryland's Dental School. Her brother wasn't so lucky. He had a tooth pulled because it just couldn't be saved. "Darius came in with an abscessed tooth and it was due to a cavity that got large. It affected the pulp and so we had to take that because it would be bad for his health," said Dr. Norman Tianoff, University of Maryland. Deamonte Driver, 2, died from a similar tooth infection that wasn't treated. That death touched the heart of a congressman who grew up poor and remembered tooth pain and not going to the dentist. "You put the Orajel in the tooth if it hurt. If that didn't work, you took the toothpick, took a piece of cotton stuck in turpentine and stuck cotton in your mouth," said Congressman Elijah Cummings. The congressman kicked off an effort to make sure no more children would die over a problem tooth. A task force made sure more dentists would treat children on Medicaid. Reimbursement rates were raised. Now, they want to improve the program's reach even more. A big part of this campaign is education for parents to tell them that a child's tooth condition, if it goes untreated, can lead to much more serious consequences. "We know far too many children, 30% in Maryland and over 50% of Head Start children in Maryland, have untreated cavities," said John Colmers, Maryland Secretary of Health. Congressman Cummings says Deamonte Driver could have had his life saved by an $80 dental treatment. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.) Group Wants Stimulus To Help Kids' Dental Care Push Comes After Boy, 12, Died Of Tooth Infection By Kim Dacey Wednesday, February 25, 2009 WBALTV.com LAUREL, Md. -- A group gathering at the University of Maryland dental school Wednesday encouraged the governor to use some of the federal stimulus money to help children get dental care with their health benefits from the state. Wednesday marked the two-year anniversary of the death of 12-year-old Deamonte Driver, of Prince George's County, who died after an untreated tooth infection spread to his brain. Officials said $80 worth of dental care may have saved his life, but his family couldn't find a dentist who would accept their Medicaid. "Hundreds of thousands of Deamontes are walking the streets of America every day unable to concentrate in school, unable to eat and speak properly and at risk for serious disease -- and yes, even death," said Rep. Elijah Cummings. Cummings has since introduced several pieces of legislation to Congress to make sure children receiving health care benefits from the state also get dental care. Currently, those programs could use a boost. "We must rededicate ourselves today to the work ahead, and much needs to be done," said John Colmers, secretary of the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Cummings is urging Gov. Martin O'Malley to use some of the $87 billion that Maryland will receive from the recent stimulus act towards the cause. "I strongly support the Dental Action Committee's recommendation that O'Malley use some of these funds to raise reimbursement rates for those who treat Medicaid patients. We know that increasing a dentist's pay will not solve this crisis, but it will go a long way towards improving access to care," Cummings said. The Dental Action Committee said if the reimbursement is increased, Maryland could double the number of participating dentists, which could means double the amount of children who will get the preventative treatment Deamonte never did. Copyright 2009 by wbaltv.com. All rights reserved. Tragedy Leads To Changes in Children’s Dental Health Care By Christopher Nelson bthesite.com Wednesday, February 25, 2009 Exactly two years have passed since the tragic death of 12-year-old Deamonte Driver. The Maryland preteen died due to a lack of dental health care. Now his death is mobilizing both health care advocates and lawmakers who don’t want Deamonte’s death to be in vain. Their hope is that bringing attention to the need for improved children’s dental health care, the overall health of children here in Maryland and across the nation will be improved. Earlier today Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings and the Children’s Dental Health Project hosted a press conference at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry. his remarks Congressman Cummings talked about why Deamonte’s life should be honored, “Eighty dollars worth of dental care might have saved his life, but he never got that care. As many of you know, I have made it my personal mission to ensure that from this boy’s tragic death, we will bring life.” He sponsored legislation slated to provide dental health care for children covered by Medicaid but the legislation also extends coverage to children whose parents have private medical insurance but no dental coverage. Children’s dental health-care is important as highlighted by the state’s recent efforts which are being led by Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Secretary John Colmers. Colmers says, “Dental disease is the most preventable childhood disease in the United States.” For more information on the importance of children’s dental health care click here. Deamonte Driver Congressman Elijah Cummings Copyright 2009 bthesite.com. Maryland getting $276M in stimulus money for Medicaid By Julekha Dash Staff Baltimore Business Journal Wednesday, February 25, 2009 The federal government will dole out $276 million in Medicaid assistance to Maryland residents as part of its stimulus package. Maryland and other states can begin receiving the federal funds starting Wednesday, the White House said Tuesday. The $787 billion stimulus package includes $87 billion in matching federal Medicaid funds. Both states and the federal government pay for Medicaid, or health care for the poor. Health care officials say the need for Medicaid assistance will grow as the economy worsens and more people qualify for Medicaid assistance. Without adequate Medicaid reimbursements, many patients will get turned away by physicians and wind up in the emergency room. Four state health care groups, including the Maryland Hospital Association and the Maryland Citizen’s Health Initiative, are urging Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to use the stimulus money to extend Medicaid services to childless adults who earn less than $11,000 a year. Right now, the governor’s 2010 budget does not include this expansion. Copyright 2009 Baltimore Sun. Md. dairy farmers feel the squeeze Disparate factors, including the global crunch, hurt By Scott Calvert Baltimore Sun Wednesday, February 25, 2009 As his 100 dairy cows lumbered over for their Monday afternoon milking, farmer Eric Foster pondered his sudden misfortune. Those Holsteins and Jerseys, profit machines during a recent milk boom, are now such money losers that he has begun selling part of his herd and fears he might have to quit the business altogether. It is not the cows' fault. The problem is the plummeting wholesale price of milk. It has fallen more than 40 percent in six months, driven down by disparate factors such as better rains in Australia, a tainted-milk scare in China and the global economic slowdown. This unlikely combination of forces has hit Foster's milking parlor in Easton, and dairy operators across Maryland, with a vengeance. After soaring in 2007 and remaining high much of last year, milk prices paid to farmers have collapsed and are expected to remain dismal, even as feed and fuel stay fairly expensive. Some dairy farmers have shut down. Others, like Foster, are trying to hang on. He is hoping a federal subsidy will help him endure thousands of dollars in monthly losses until the market turns. "It's a disaster," said Foster, who is 39 and began the dairy five years ago with his wife, Holly. "We're going to do the best we can to survive. If you come back in six months and prices haven't changed, I don't believe we're going to be in the dairy business." Though consumers should benefit from somewhat lower prices at the supermarket, the drop in the value of milk presents a grim outlook for dairy farmers from here to California. "We project one of the lowest milk prices in 2009, one of the lowest in decades," said Larry Salathe, senior economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington. "Right now, our thinking is pretty bleak. ... This has been a very sharp and sudden decline that no one anticipated. Dairy producers are very much concerned, and we're concerned, too." Farmers are accustomed to price swings, but experts say this one has been wilder than most. Given the low-price forecast over the coming months, Maryland agriculture officials predict further contraction in a state dairy industry that has been shrinking for years. "We're going to see an acceleration of dairies going out of business," said Patrick McMillan, assistant secretary of agriculture. Dairy is still the third-largest sector in Maryland's farm economy, with 250,000 acres devoted to milk production. The top three dairy counties are Frederick, Washington and Garrett. But the number of dairies has steadily dropped, even in good economic times, from 825 nine years ago to 558 because of labor costs, taxes, development pressure and other factors. Many are family enterprises. "There's a high value on preserving agriculture as an industry," McMillan said, "and as part of the fabric of our society and the landscape." Yet last month on the Eastern Shore, Doug Carroll, 50, shuttered a dairy operation begun by his father when the younger Carroll was an infant. He is keeping the Caroline County farm, but the 70 milk cows have been sold to a slaughterhouse. The milking parlor needed an upgrade, and Carroll could not justify the six-figure investment. "If I've got to work the rest of my life, I might as well get out," he said yesterday. "When prices are down so bad, I can do other things rather than work that hard." The grueling work is never-ending, with no snow days or breaks for muggy summer weather. Cows must be milked twice a day, usually around 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. The milk price paid to farmers is largely determined by the wholesale price of cheese, butter and nonfat dry milk, according to Salathe, and it has evolved into a commodity subject to global trends. In 2007, average farm milk prices nationally rose, Salathe said, partly because of lower production in drought-stricken Australia and New Zealand. Meanwhile, Europe cut its exports. Prices stayed fairly high last year. That changed a few months ago. Salathe listed some reasons: Australia and New Zealand were able to boost milk production, expanding supply. Global demand was depressed after China found milk to be contaminated by the toxic substance melamine. And the sputtering economy here and abroad further reduced demand. The result: Farm milk prices nationally plunged 20 percent between November and January. And the projected average price for 2009 is 44 percent below where it was in July. While no numbers are published for Maryland, University of Maryland agricultural economist Howard Leathers said he thinks dairy producers will see similar drops. He said this month's milk price could end up being nearly 40 percent below November's. Leathers said prices should edge up toward the middle of the year but not come close to last year's levels. That would keep the pressure on farmers. Lenders may force those with heavy debts to sell off herds, he said. Older farmers may hang it up rather than dip into savings. "At what point," he said, "does a dairy farmer decide, 'Hey, my life is better if I sell everything and move to Florida'?" Compounding the impact of low prices are high costs of animal feed, labor, veterinarian fees and taxes, said Bob Cooksey of the Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association Inc., which represents many state dairy farmers. Feed bills alone may exceed milk income. Farmers are "financially stressed," Cooksey said. "They can't stand these extended swings; it'd be like you and me getting our pay cut in half." Next month, dairy producers will receive a federal payment that kicks in when prices fall below a certain level. It covers up to 45 percent of the loss within limits. Eric Foster says that for him the payment will mean about $1,500 a month. While he welcomes the cash, it will cushion just 10 percent or so of his expected loss. He had been clearing $4,000 a month on milk, but with February's low prices he figures each cow now means a loss of $150 a month, or $15,000 for his herd. The Fosters are fortunate to have other income. They raise chickens. Eric Foster owns racehorses with his father. Holly Foster uses a tenth of the milk to make high-end cheese under the Chapel's Country Creamery label. But as fairly new dairy farmers, they carry a heavy debt load on their 112-acre operation and have four children ages 4 to 15. They might have to lay off at least one employee. "I'm very worried," he said. "I could sit here and cry, but what good would that do?" Foster sold two cows for slaughter Monday. Eventually, he may cut his 100-strong milking herd in half. As much as he hates that, he says he would be doing his small part to reduce supply. And that, he hopes, will help nudge milk prices up and keep him in business. Copyright 2009 Baltimore Sun. Ban on cheap, individual cigars considered By Erich Wagner Capital News Service Wednesday, February 25, 2009 ANNAPOLIS - Some Maryland lawmakers want to limit the sale of cheap cigars to packs of four or more in the latest attempt to curb smoking among young people. Delegate Shawn Tarrant, D-Baltimore, introduced the bill to deter teen smoking and to ensure that teens are aware of the health risks associated with smoking the cigars, which he argued are marketed towards young people with fruity flavors and a 50 cent price tag. Baltimore recently required that these cheap cigars be sold in packs of at least five starting in October. The Prince George's County Council passed similar legislation last year in an attempt to deter young people from smoking marijuana. Pot smokers have for decades used the tobacco leaves from cheap cigars to wrap around marijuana, creating what is commonly known as "blunts." Tarrant said the marijuana factor only "slightly" influenced him to introduce the bill. "My biggest concern is that people are smoking them legally and there's no surgeon general warning on the individual cigars," Tarrant said. "And because they come in flavors it's very appealing and it's marketed toward the youth." Tobacco shops are exempt from the bill, as are cigars that retail for more than two dollars. Tarrant brought city teens to testify at a hearing Tuesday in the House Economic Matters Committee about their experiences with the cigars. Sean Morris, a student at Baltimore City College high school, said the cigars target kids his age, with the various flavors and their position next to candy at checkout counters. Robert Fiedler, a representative for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said that cigar use among young people has increased since the crackdown on underage cigarette use. "What we're seeing is an unintended consequence of increasing the excise tax only on cigarettes," Fiedler said. Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore's health commissioner, said Baltimore surveyed young people and found that more than 25 percent were smoking these small cigars because they are cheap, easily accessible and slow-burning. "Because they're cigars, people can re-light them all day long, making them very accessible to kids," Sharfstein. "I very clearly remember one teenager saying, 'If I can only scrape together 50 cents, I can get a smoke to last me all day long.'" Tobacco lobbyists argued that underage smoking is a matter of enforcement, not extra regulation, and that tax revenues would decline if the bill passes. Bruce Bereano, a lobbyist with the Association of Tobacco and Candy Distributors, said the bill would just lead to people selling individual cigars illegally. "People would just buy [the packs , break them open, and sell them individually on their own and make a lot of money," Bereano said. "People are entrepreneurial, people are very clever." This bill, and a proposed amendment allowing local jurisdictions to further regulate the sale of cigars, would lead to a retardation of sales and a decrease in state tax revenues, Bereano said. Tarrant called the tax revenue argument "smoke and mirrors." He cited Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot's written support of the legislation as proof that state revenue would not be affected. "The lobbyists are using that as a wedge during a tough budget year," Tarrant said. Tarrant originally introduced the bill last year, but it failed in committee. He said he has met with individual delegates since then and the bill has a much better chance of passing this year. "One of the reasons it failed was it was their first time hearing it and a lot of them didn't experience this themselves in their own community," Tarrant said. "This year they have their own stories to tell." Copyright © 2009 University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Silver Spring nonprofit lands $130M for HIV gel By Staff and Wire Reports Daily Record Thursday, February 25, 2009 Silver Spring-based International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) said yesterday that it had received $130 million in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Department for International Development to help develop microbicides for women to prevent HIV infection. The UK grant amounts to $28.5 million, while the Gates Foundation grant was for $100 million. The grants came after the US National Institutes of Health released clinical trial results in January that indicated a microbicide, PRO2000, was 30 percent more effective in preventing HIV than any other candidate tested. "With five people infected with HIV every minute, the spread of HIV is set to spiral out of control unless we act now," UK International Development Minister Ivan Lewis said in a prepared statement. "The development of an effective microbicide will enable women to protect themselves against infection and could be available long before a vaccine for HIV is found. New research is vital to halt this epidemic and we must increase our efforts now." IPM is a nonprofit product development partnership accelerating the development and availability of safe and effective microbicides - topical products being developed to prevent HIV transmission during sexual intercourse - for women in developing countries. Copyright 2009 Daily Record. Shewell proposes alert system for mentally disabled adults By Beth Ward Carroll County Times Wednesday, February 25, 2009 ANNAPOLIS - When a mentally disabled or impaired adult goes missing, time is crucial, and creating a statewide alert system would be one tool to help ensure their safe return, according to testimony on proposed legislation Tuesday. Del. Tanya Shewell, R-District 5, introduced legislation that would create a Silver Alert program. The alert system would be similar to an Amber Alert, which is issued when children are abducted, but would apply to adults with cognitive impairment. A similar bill was also introduced at the request of the administration, which is slightly different because it would have the Maryland State Board of Education set up a program allowing high school students to be trained to assist in the searches to meet their community service requirement. Shewell, who is a sponsor on the administration bill as well, said she kept her bill in because it is more general than the governor’s bill. She said she will leave it up to the Judiciary Committee, which heard testimony on the bill Tuesday. “Whatever passes, I want a Silver Alert System,” Shewell said. Stacey Mayer, of the governor’s legislative office said the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention, issued a letter in support of Shewell’s bill. “What’s important is just having a program in place,” Mayer said after the hearing. Congress is considering legislation creating a national Silver Alert system that, if passed, would authorize about $10 million in grant funding annually for states that have programs, according to information from the hearing. If the federal legislation passes, it is possible Maryland could receive some of that funding, Mayer said. “Although Congress is considering legislation ... we feel Maryland must act now,” said Gloria Lawlah, secretary of the Maryland Department of Aging. Richard Steinberg, chief of Carroll’s Bureau of Aging, testified in support of the legislation because he foresees more of a need in the future. “[In] that segment of the population, we have seen, over the years, an increasing severity of impairment,” Steinberg said after the hearing. “There’s more of a need for this type of program.” Representatives from Maryland State Police, the Maryland Department of Human Resources, the Baltimore County Police Department, the United Seniors of Maryland, The Arc of Maryland and the Greater Maryland Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association also testified in favor of creating a Silver Alert system. The Senate version of the administration’s bill is scheduled for a hearing in front of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Thursday. Shewell did not cross-file her legislation with a senator. For more on the General Assembly, visit the News and Notes blog at www.carrollcountytimes.com/talk. Reach staff writer Beth Ward at 410-751-5908 or beth.ward@carrollcountytimes.com. By the numbers Sixty percent of people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia wander at some point. Half of those who are not found in 24 hours are seriously injured or die. Source: Testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee On the Net - House Bill 317: mlis.state.md.us/2009rs/billfile/hb0317.htm - House Bill 192: mlis.state.md.us/2009rs/billfile/hb0192.htm Copyright 2009 Carroll County Times. *National / International* Tests tie salmonella outbreak strain to second plant operated by bankrupt Peanut Corp. Associated Press By Mike Stobbe and Greg Bluestein Baltimore Sun Wednesday, February 25, 2009 ATLANTA (AP) — Tests have confirmed that peanut butter made from peanuts processed at a Texas plant contains the same strain of salmonella blamed for sickening hundreds in a national outbreak, federal officials said Tuesday. The test results offer new evidence that the outbreak attributed to a peanut plant in Georgia may have more than one source. Both the Texas plant and the Georgia plant were operated by Peanut Corp. of America, which filed for bankruptcy amid fallout from the outbreak that has sickened more than 600 and may have contributed to nine deaths. The outbreak has also prompted one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history. Meanwhile, federal inspectors are taking a closer look at Peanut Corp.'s plant in Virginia, where records obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday show state inspectors repeatedly found health violations. The link between the outbreak strain and the Texas plant surfaced after health officials in Colorado traced salmonella cases there to peanut butter sold by the Vitamin Cottage grocery chain. The peanuts used in the Vitamin Cottage peanut butter came from Peanut Corp.'s plant in Plainview, Texas, the natural foods chain has said. An opened container of Vitamin Cottage peanut butter tested positive for the outbreak strain, which came from a Colorado resident who got sick, company vice president Heather Isely has said. Earlier, the same strain of salmonella bacteria was detected in containers of peanut butter that had been produced at a Peanut Corp. plant in Blakely, Ga. U.S. Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek said two samples of Vitamin Cottage peanut butter from two different consumers tested positive for the outbreak strain, but it was not clear how many containers were involved. It's possible the Vitamin Cottage peanut butter was contaminated after it was opened, health officials noted. But the latest test results raise questions about how many of the outbreak illnesses — which have been attributed to the Blakely plant — came from other production facilities. "Because of the public health risk posed by positive findings of salmonella associated with the outbreak strain at PCA's plant in Blakely, Ga., the FDA expanded its scope of inspections to include other PCA plants," said FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek. Peanut Corp., the Lynchburg, Va.-based food processor, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and federal authorities have launched a criminal investigation into allegations the company knowingly shipped tainted food. Peanut Corp. also faces a growing number of federal lawsuits seeking millions of dollars of damages from victims of the outbreak. In Virginia, tests for salmonella have come back negative. But inspection reports revealed evidence of rodents and other unsanitary conditions at the Peanut Corp. plant in Suffolk. State inspectors repeatedly found evidence of rodents at the plant since Peanut Corp. bought it in 2000, according to inspection reports. As recently as October, a Virginia inspector found "an accumulation of black, green and yellow mold" on blanched peanuts and 43 containers each holding 2,000-pounds of peanuts. The plant manager told the inspector after the discovery that those peanuts would be destroyed if not used for animal feed and oil stock. Virginia Agriculture Department spokeswoman Elaine Lidholm has called those findings minor violations. Associated Press writers Brett J. Blackledge in Washington and Greg Bluestein contributed to this report. Copyright 2009 Baltimore Sun. Obama: Health care reform ‘cannot wait’ By Kent Hoover Baltimore Business Journal Wednesday, February 25, 2009 President Barack Obama laid out an ambitious agenda Tuesday night in a speech to Congress, including a call for enactment of comprehensive health care reform this year. Citing the “crushing cost” of health care on families and businesses, Obama said “we can no longer afford to put health care reform on hold.” “Health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year,” Obama said. The White House will bring together “businesses and workers, doctors and health care providers, Democrats and Republicans to begin work on this issue next week,” he said. Health insurers, who fought President Clinton’s health care reform proposal in 1993, are ready to work with Obama to enact reform 16 years later. “Health plans strongly agree that comprehensive health care reform cannot wait,” said Karen Ignani, president and chief executive officer of America’s Health Insurance Plans. “We will continue to offer workable solutions to ensure that all Americans have quality, affordable health care.” John Castellani, president of Business Roundtable, praised Obama for focusing on the future as well as the immediate economic crisis. “From health care to energy and the environment to education, the transformative investments he highlighted must be made if the seeds sown by the economic stimulus are to take root and help grow our economy in the long term,” he said. Castellani said business leaders are optimistic about the future, and so was Obama. “We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before,” the president said. “The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach. They exist in our laboratories and our universities; in our fields and our factories; in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth,” Obama said. Obama said the economic stimulus package, which he contends will save or create 3.5 million jobs, is only the first step “in getting our economy back on track.” “There will be no real recovery unless we clean up the credit crisis that has severely weakened our financial system,” he said. The financial assistance the administration has provided to financial institutions is “not about helping banks -- it’s about helping people,” Obama said. “I will not spend a single penny for the purpose of rewarding a single Wall Street executive, but I will do whatever it takes to help the small business that can’t pay its workers, or the family that has saved and still can’t get a mortgage,” he said. The president also promised that the U.S. will become the world’s leader in renewable energy. To do that, and to address climate change, Obama called on “this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution.” That sets the stage for a major battle in Congress because many business groups are concerned that too stringent of a cap implemented too swiftly could cause significant increases in energy costs. Obama also pledged to eliminate waste in the federal budget in order to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. He also restated his support for allowing tax cuts for wealthy Americans to expire in 2011, and for “finally ending the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas.” Republicans criticized Obama’s tax proposals, contending many small business owners would face higher taxes if taxes are raised for individuals with incomes above $250,000. The profits of most small businesses are taxed at the individual level. “Every dollar the government takes is a dollar that cannot be used to make that month’s payroll or reinvested to create new jobs,” said Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri, the ranking Republican on the House Small Business Committee. All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved. Million-woman study provides more evidence linking moderate drinking and certain cancers By Associated Press Baltimore Sun Wednesday, February 25, 2009 WASHINGTON (AP) — A study of nearly 1.3 million British women offers yet more evidence that moderate alcohol consumption increases the risk of a handful of cancers. British researchers surveyed middle-aged women at breast cancer screening clinics about their drinking habits, and tracked their health for seven years. A quarter of the women reported no alcohol use. Nearly all the rest reported fewer than three drinks a day; the average was one drink a day. Researchers compared the lightest drinkers — two or fewer drinks a week — with people who drank more. Each extra drink per day increased the risk of breast, rectal and liver cancer, University of Oxford researchers reported Tuesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The type of alcohol — wine, beer or liquor — didn't matter. That supports earlier research, but the new wrinkle: Alcohol consumption was linked to esophageal and oral cancers only when smokers drank. Also, moderate drinkers actually had a lower risk of thyroid cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and renal cell cancer. For an individual woman, the overall alcohol risk is small. In developed countries, about 118 of every 1,000 women develop any of these cancers, and each extra daily drink added 11 breast cancers and four of the other types to that rate, the study found. But population-wide, 13 percent of those cancers in Britain may be attributable to alcohol, the researchers concluded. Moderate alcohol use has long been thought to be heart-healthy, something the new research doesn't address but that prompts repeated debate about safe levels. U.S. health guidelines already recommend that women consume no more than one drink a day; two a day for men, who metabolize alcohol differently. "You have to balance all those things out," said Dr. Philip J. Brooks, who researches alcohol and cancer at the National Institutes of Health. "This kind of information is important for people to know and to consult with their physician about the various risk factors they have." Copyright 2009 Baltimore Sun. As teeth-whitening treatments spread to mall kiosks and salons, dental industry chomps down Associated Press By Desiree Hunter Baltimore Sun Wednesday, February 25, 2009 MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - When Kelly Markos started offering teeth whitening in her upscale salon, she thought it would be a nice addition to her lineup of eyelash extensions, temporary tattoos and custom makeup. But then an inspector for the Alabama Board of Dental Examiners ordered her to stop, accusing her of practicing illegal dentistry. Markos' ongoing lawsuit with the state has waded into the murky area of regulating teeth-whitening products that are increasingly offered in settings outside the dentist's office, such as salons and mall kiosks. The dental industry claims it's a health and safety issue; the beauty parlors say the dentists are just trying to brush them out of a lucrative niche. "As a new business owner, I'm trying to bring something new and innovative to the salon. And then to be threatened to be shut down before I really even had it going was more than a little frustrating," Markos said recently while blow-drying a customer's freshly cut hair. "I believe that this is a cosmetic service and we are on the right side of the law." But Dr. Leslie Seldin, a dentist for 43 years and now consumer adviser and spokesman for the American Dental Association, said it's hard to know whether those bleaching trays or ultraviolet lights are sanitary or safe. In some salons, the whitening is sometimes facilitated by people wearing white coats who hand the trays to customers to put into their own mouths or adjust the lights over their teeth. But the ADA is worried customers might wrongly think salon employees are health care professionals. "We do not know about what level of sterilization and disinfection is being done. You're dealing with something that is totally unregulated," Seldin said. Many of the same products are available in stores for customers to use on themselves at home. "What we ultimately feel this boils down to is a consumer-rights issue, because consumers should have the right to whiten their teeth any way they want to whiten their teeth as long as it's safe," said Paul Klein, vice president of White Smile USA. The Atlanta-based company licenses its whitening products to locations in 23 states, including Markos' salon. Whitening at a salon or mall shop using bleaching trays or ultraviolet light usually costs about $100 to $200. It can cost up to $400 and more at a dentist's office. A Montgomery judge has ruled in favor of Alabama's dental board in a lawsuit brought by White Smile USA and Markos, finding that whitening constitutes the practice of dentistry and requires a license. Birmingham attorney Jim Ward, who represented the Alabama board in the case, said the issue is being addressed in several states, including Wyoming, Louisiana, North Carolina, Minnesota and New Mexico, and that many have reached the same conclusion as the Alabama judge. Klein said his company has been discussed in New Mexico and Tennessee but there's never been any court involvement until Alabama. "We feel the state is trying to use their regulatory power to protect a monopoly for the dentists, and we don't think that's right," he said. Last month, the Tennessee Board of Dentistry, following complaints about mall kiosks, changed its rules to clarify that whitening can only be performed by licensed dentists or hygienists and dental assistants under their direct supervision. "It's amazing - we never touch the customer's mouth, never touch the customer, period, and we don't see how that could possibly be practicing dentistry," said Klein, who was visibly agitated as he discussed the situation. Ohio's dental board agreed with Klein last year, finding that while it does have some concerns about unregulated use of the materials, whitening by non-dentists is OK as long as consumers position the light by themselves, put the material on their own teeth, and no one else touches their mouths. "Simply providing a consumer with the materials to make a tray and demonstrating to them how to apply materials to their teeth for bleaching purposes is not the practice of dentistry," the board said in its decision. The ADA's Seldin said that he first saw such whitening being done on a cruise about seven years ago, but that the practice has really taken root within the past four or five years. "The American Dental Association has a policy but that's not enforceable in any way," he said. "The dental boards and governments of states are going to have to figure out how they're going to handle it." ADA: http://www.ada.org/ White Smile USA: http://www.whitesmileusa.com/ Copyright 2009 Baltimore Sun. Study: Some prenatal vitamins lack enough iodine Associated Press By Alicia Chang Washington Post Wednesday, February 25, 2009 LOS ANGELES -- Many brands of multivitamins for pregnant women may not contain all the iodine they claim, potentially putting babies at risk of poor brain development, a new study suggests. Tests on 60 brands that listed iodine as an ingredient on their labels found many fell short of the stated amount. The risk of too little iodine appears greater with "natural" vitamins that get their iodine from kelp rather than a salt form, the study found. "If these numbers are all real, then they're not meeting their label claim and that's a problem," said William Obermeyer, a former Food and Drug Administration scientist who co-founded ConsumerLab.com, a private testing service. Obermeyer was not part of the research. The study was done by scientists at the Boston University Iodine Research Laboratory. Results were reported in a letter published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. No brands were named in the analysis. Iodine is commonly added to table salt and can be found in seafood, dairy products and bread. Iodine deficiency affects more than 2 billion people worldwide and is the leading cause of mental retardation. Pregnant and nursing women need 220 to 290 micrograms of iodine a day, according to the Institute of Medicine. Expecting mothers who don't get enough can put their babies at greater risk of mental retardation and growth, hearing and speech problems. The American Thyroid Association recommends that pregnant women take a daily dose of prenatal multivitamins containing 150 micrograms of iodine, which is needed for proper thyroid function. During pregnancy, having enough thyroid hormones is important for fetal brain development. There is no law requiring vitamin makers to add iodine to prenatal multivitamins, which are available by prescription or bought over-the-counter as dietary supplements. Boston University scientists last year looked at 223 prenatal multivitamins available by prescription or sold over-the-counter in the United States. About half of them - 114 - listed iodine on their labels. Prescription prenatal vitamins face more stringent government scrutiny than their supplement counterparts, which do not have to be proven safe before they are sold. However, researchers found problems with both types when they tested iodine levels in 60 prescription and over-the-counter prenatal multivitamins. The iodine was in the form of kelp or potassium iodide. Among vitamins with potassium iodide, tests found the average iodine level was 119 micrograms per daily dose - less than the recommended amount. Among kelp-containing vitamins, the iodine levels ranged from 33 to 610 micrograms per daily dose. Experts say taking too much iodine can lead to problems, especially for women who already have a thyroid problem. In 10 brands, iodine levels were less than half than what was listed on their labels. Three brands contained iodine levels 50 percent or more higher than advertised. Variations were greater among kelp-containing vitamins. Based on the study's findings, pregnant women should take prenatal multivitamins that contain potassium iodide instead of kelp, said Dr. Elizabeth Pearce, one of the researchers. Dr. Alex Stagnaro-Green, who specializes in pregnancy thyroid problems at the Touro University College of Medicine in New Jersey, said the findings point out a problem in vitamin marketing and urged the Food and Drug Administration to make iodine a mandatory ingredient in all prenatal multivitamins. The Council for Responsible Nutrition, a Washington-based trade group for vitamin makers, said it supports putting iodine in all prenatal vitamins. The council's John Hathcock said iodine is difficult to measure and can degrade over time, which can affect its concentration. Some independent groups such as the United States Pharmacopeia test dietary supplements to verify their contents. Consumers can buy brands with a seal of approval from USP. On the Net: New England Journal:http://www.nejm.org © 2009 The Associated Press. *Opinion* Doctors should list payments Carroll County Times Editorial Wednesday, February 25, 2009 Patients in need of medication should feel confident that their doctor is prescribing the drugs that will be most effective for the problem, and to do that they need to know if drug companies are paying physicians to push their products. A bill heard Tuesday would require doctors to reveal to the Maryland Health Care Commission payments that they receive from drug companies. Several other states, including West Virginia, Vermont and Maine, have similar laws, according to the Associated Press. Doctors who are paid by a pharmaceutical company, whether for consulting, research or other something else, may be more inclined to prescribe the medications produced by the company that they are receiving money from. In some cases, this could mean that patients end up spending more for medications or, worse, less effective medications are prescribed than others that may do the job better. We need to be confident that when doctors send us to the pharmacy to fill a prescription, they are keeping our health and our best interests as their primary focus. Just as we are skeptical of lawmakers who take money from special interests, and then support legislation giving those special interests favors, so too should we be skeptical about doctors who take money from pharmaceutical companies and then prescribe medications from those companies. The bill under consideration, which was proposed by Baltimore County Senator Delores Kelley, would also require the Maryland Health Care Commission to publish at least once a year a list of the information that it collects from doctors, as well as publish the information on its Web site. A Web database of doctors and who they are taking money from would be a quick way for residents to find out about who is giving and who is getting money or other favors. Prescription drugs are a multi-billion-dollar industry that impacts a huge portion of the population. And as our population continues to age, and more people are prescribed drugs as a way to maintain their quality of life, we need to be confident that the medications we take are right for the ailment, and that they will help the problem. Lawmakers should act to pass this bill this session as a way to help protect consumers. But if they fail to do so, people can take matters into their own hands and, at their next doctor’s visit, ask your doctors if they are getting any money from the companies whose drugs they are pushing. Copyright 2009 Carroll County Times. BACK TO TOP


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