Viewpoints: Problems With E.R. Care; For Dayton, Heroin Epidemic Is Drug-Addiction Déjà Vu

A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.

KevinMD: There’s Something Wrong With Emergency Care. Here’s What It Is.

I am an emergency physician, forever grateful of the responsibilities entrusted by my patients. This is a relationship I hold dear. ... One popular misconception is that emergency care can be compared to urgent care and primary care physicians. Recent media coverage of freestanding emergency rooms — ERs not attached to a hospital — has compared their costs to urgent care clinics. This is like comparing apples to oranges. These are two completely different entities that undoubtedly provide different levels of services. Urgent care is for treating minor complaints when access to a primary provider is not available, either due to scheduling or after hour illnesses. Freestanding ERs are fully functional emergency departments, capable of treating complex injuries and illness with charges comparable to hospital-based emergency departments. (Jeffrey McWilliams, 6/11)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Dayton, Ohio Survived Crack, Now It's Fighting To Survive Heroin

I remember well Dayton's economic and moral dilemma as its political and business leaders struggled for solutions to the soaring spike in users seeking to feed their crack addictions, and to the collateral social costs. ... Like much of Ohio, Dayton finds itself smack dab in the middle of a heroin tsunami that is stretching the city to its breaking point. (Phillip Morris, 6/9)

Los Angeles Times: Texas Anti-Abortion Forces Now Want Fetuses To Be Buried Or Cremated

Texas has become the most recent state to shift the focus of its antiabortion efforts from protecting the woman to humanizing the fetus. Texas Senate Bill 8, signed into law Tuesday by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, is an omnibus of abortion restrictions, none of which even pretend to be about protecting women’s health. But several of the provisions clearly aim to conflate fetuses with babies in the eyes of the law, a move that is understandably threatening to supporters of abortion rights. The most obnoxious of these requires that fetal remains be given a “dignified disposition” by cremation, burial in a cemetery or a scattering of ashes. (6/12)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Husband's Stroke Is Cautionary Tale For All Of Us

Lacking fine-motor skills, Ron has great difficulty even typing one sentence or writing his name. The lifestyle we once enjoyed is just a memory; my husband, once the proud, primary breadwinner, can no longer work. Ron now receives Social Security Disability Income, and I struggle to work as well as care for him. With many bills to pay, we constantly make major cutbacks. (Jerilyn Friedman Burgess, 6/11)

The Washington Post: When Mentally Ill Parents Murder Their Children

"These two babies . . . they never had a chance.” That was the grim appraisal of Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks as she catalogued the failures that led to the murders of two young children by their mentally ill mother. There were clear warnings that a troubled young mother needed help and that her children were in danger. The tragic case exposes fault lines in systems set up to treat mental illness and protect children, underscoring the need for improvements. (6/11)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Salmonella Warning - Playing With Backyard Chickens Is Not Wise

Ohioans, unhand those chickens. And no kissing or hugging them, either, please. That's the important takeaway from a report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has investigated 372 cases of stomach-churning salmonella from Jan. 4 to May 13 of this year, mostly connected to backyard flocks. Luckily, that has not included any deaths. (6/11)

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