Choosing Wisely

Today is the day. Choosing Wisely is releasing the lists from physician organizations regarding the "Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question." As a patient, I question a lot more than these things, especially when it comes to procedures and testing. At some point, you have to be aware enough to realize that there has to be a line drawn somewhere.

One thing I find very interesting is that two of the lists invoke the recent study about sinusitis and antibiotics. I really hope the general public can and will seize on to this idea of waiting to get antibiotics. It will improve outcomes in the long run and help prevent secondary problems like antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria and gastrointestinal infections that can come from antibiotic exposure.

It's also interesting about the timing of difference high tech scans. I think that people are given far too many of these tests because they insist on them. They raise Cain until someone gives in to them and gives them unnecessary testing. I'm all for being thorough, but I believe that people in this country are far too quick to demand more and more intervention for silly things, like the common cold. Even with healthy immune systems, good musculature, solid bones, you won't be healthy all the time. Sometimes, things need to run their course. Obviously, this is different for people with chronic conditions, but I think even in our community we need to consider what is going on.

SCID Newborn Screening: One Year Later

The Health Resources and Services Administration has released the report it submitted to the Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius one year after adding SCID screening Recommended Uniform Screening Panel. Some of the highlights:

*To date, 961,925 newborns have been screened and 60 infants, or approximately 1 in 16,032, have been identified with some form of immune deficiency.

*Fourteen infants with SCID (~1 in 68,000) have been diagnosed and received treatment.

*No missed cases of SCID have come to the attention of the newborn screening programs conducting the pilots.

*Emerging findings from the pilots are advancing understanding of SCID and triggering new research efforts.



(All items taken from the report which can be downloaded in PDF format here.)

This is amazing! I am a little stunned by the numbers they mention in the report. I know I had heard about increased incidence among hispanic and closed populations, but I was really surprised by the Puerto Rico findings. I'm hopeful that perhaps this report can help encourage other states to go forward with screening efforts. Let's increase this from covering 25% of US births to 100%!

There Are Some Things I Will Never Understand

I've been trying to recruit people to sign and pass along this petition about infant screening for SCID in Florida. It takes about 2 seconds to fill out and pass along. Or just fill out.

It has 324 signatures.

I received a notice about a friend supporting another petition. This one was about animal cruelty, specifically wanting someone to get the full punishment for hurting a dog. It's a negative petition rather than a positive one, in my opinion. It has signatures in the tens of thousands.

Apparently it is more appealing to punish someone who hurts a dog than it is to save dying babies. I don't think I will ever understand that. The kid who killed the dog will be punished in some way, maybe not the maximum sentence, but he will be punished.

Without public support, 8-10 SCID babies will die in Florida this year. The first one already died, the second is currently fighting for life.

I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. There was, after all, an animal welfare charity before there was ever one to protect children.