Ben Franklin said: "Critics are our friends, they show us our faults". A true statement. When a reporter from Wisconsin wrote a story about newborn screening turn-around times around the country, we found out that we had room for improvement when it comes to the time it takes newborn metabolic screening samples to get from AZ hospitals to our Lab. Basically, [...]
CDC's Division of Violence Prevention just released a new toolkit that gives parents ways to interact more positively with their children. It’s called "Essentials for Parenting Toddlers and Preschoolers" and it’s a free evidence-based resource that is based on the best available evidence and designed for parents with children aged 2 to 4. The resource also [...]
Last summer a Superior Court judge decided that a portion of our medical marijuana regulations are unreasonable because our rules don’t have a process for dispensary registration certificate holders to renew their dispensary registration certificate if they didn’t earn their approval to operate within 1 year. That ruling requires us to change our medical marijuana regulations, and [...]
First there was West Nile virus and then dengue on our doorstep. Now it’s Chikungunya (pronunciation: \chik-en-gun-ye click to hear pronunciation)- which is a new disease threat in the Western hemisphere. Like dengue, this virus is spread by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitos, causing fever and severe joint pain 3-7 days after a mosquito bite. There’s no cure- just supportive [...]
GOOOOAAAAAL!!! With the World Cup just around the corner, soccer fans are dusting off their jerseys and getting ready to cheer on their favorite team. For super-fans lucky enough to travel to Brazil to see the matches first hand, fans of opposing teams aren’t the biggest threat… a mosquito-borne disease is. Dengue, spread by the [...]
Last December I denied a petition to add Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to the list of debilitating medical conditions that qualify people for an Arizona Medical Marijuana Registration Card. I denied the petition because there was a lack of scientific evidence to document whether Cannabis is helpful or not to treat or provide palliative care for [...]
Every year, the Arizona Medical Association works with us to find one person who really stands out in the public health field to win the Public Health Service Award. This year Dr. Frank Walter, the medical director for our Bureau of Public Health Emergency Preparedness, was given the award at last week’s annual dinner. Dr. [...]
In this 5-part series on American Indian Healthcare we’ve covered the basics the Indian Health Service and ”638’s” administered by tribes and tribal organizations. Here we learned about unique opportunities Native Americans have when seeking health care services. Members of 566 federally recognized American Indian Tribes and their descendants are eligible for services provided by [...]
Let’s face it. When it comes to being in control as a consumer- information is power. And being in control of your own health and health care is probably one of the most important things you can do as you go through life. Up until the last couple of years, the healthcare world has been [...]
Skin cancer is now the most common cancer in the U.S. but is preventable by using good judgment. Thirteen new studies confirm what most of us have suspected, that protecting your skin from damaging UV rays with clothing, sunscreen, hats, sunglasses and shade, decreases sunburns, tanning and the formation of moles—all factors in developing a [...]
