On the last day of the Florida legislative session, the Florida House & Senate agreed upon and passed a PIP Reform Bill which will change auto accident insurance coverage for Florida consumers. Some of the new legislation will go into effect on July 1, 2012 (other portions go into effect on January 1, 2013). This new legislation will have dire consequences for consumers in the State of Florida. To help inform the public, I have summarized the important changes to the PIP system so that consumers will have the information available in the event that they are in an auto accident. Please feel free to share this information with your friends, family, and neighbors.
• Time Limit To Report To Your Doctor’s Office Or ER:
o How It Affects You – The new legislation dictates that a person injured in an auto accident must present to a physician’s office or emergency room within 14 days of the auto accident. If the patient doesn’t seek care within 14 days, they will be ineligible for any PIP benefits for their injuries.
• Reduction Of Coverage to $2,500 from $10,000:
o How It Affects You – The new legislation differentiates between an ‘emergency medical condition’ (EMC) and a ‘non-emergency medical condition’ (non-EMC). An EMC can only be diagnosed by an MD, DO, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant, not a chiropractor (discriminatory against DC’s). If the patient is diagnosed with a non-EMC, they will only be able to use $2,500 of the $10,000 that the patient is paying for as part of his/her PIP insurance. The full $10,000 will only be accessible if the patient is diagnosed with an EMC. Unfortunately, the Florida legislature did not delineate what constitutes an EMC.
• Examinations Under Oath (EUO):
o How It Affects You – The new law permits the insurer to subject the injured person to an ‘examination under oath’ to determine if there are verifiable injuries that are not fraudulent. The law also allows the auto insurer to suspend payments to doctors until the patient goes through the examination under oath. You must attend the EUO or your insurer can ‘cut off’ your coverage.
• Rate Roll Backs For Insurance Premiums:
o How It Affects You – This new legislation was passed in the name of ‘anti-fraud’ and to reduce costs to Florida consumers. Unfortunately, the law makers did not include concrete rules to require insurance companies to roll back or reduce insurance premiums for consumers.
In conclusion, insurance companies will continue to charge Florida drivers higher rates for PIP coverage, but consumers will receive reduced benefits ($2,500 vs $10,000) and more ‘hoops to jump through’ to get care for their injuries. This law restricts consumer choice for healthcare and is a payoff to the insurance industry.
So, what should you do in the event that you are in an auto accident? Be sure to contact our office within 14 days of your accident (the sooner the better in the event that a referral is needed to an MD or DO). If a referral is necessary, we will be sure to get you examined by an MD or DO within 14 days to ensure that you receive the benefits for an EMC if it is deemed medically necessary.
For more information, contact our office at:
Dr. Jeremy Gordon – Chiropractic Physician – 905 N. Stone Street – DeLand. (386)734-9995
Friday, April 20, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Obesity Linked To Autism?
The article below is from Reuters and it details new findings from the journal Pediatrics linking autism to a mother's obesity during pregnancy. Pass this information along to your friends and family.
(Reuters) - Children born to obese women are more likely to be diagnosed with autism or related developmental delays than the children of slimmer mothers, according to a U.S. survey.
The research, which appeared in Pediatrics, was looking for the impact on childrens' cognitive development from a variety of "metabolic conditions" in the mother, including high blood pressure or diabetes. The strongest links were found between obesity and autism-related disorders.
Although the study cannot prove that one condition causes the other, its authors caution that even the possibility is worrisome in the light of rising U.S. obesity rates.
"If there is anything you can do to make yourself healthier, this is yet another reason for moms to consider," said Paula Krakowiak, a researcher at the University of California, Davis, who led the study.
The study comes on the heels of a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that estimated one in every 88 children in the U.S. has an autism spectrum disorder. That number represents about a 25 percent increase from the agency's last report in 2006.
Krakowiak and her colleagues looked at 1,004 children who were between two and five years old, born in California and already participating in a study underway at UC Davis.
Of those children, 517 had an autism spectrum disorder and 172 had developmental delays. For Krakowiak's study, the children's diagnoses were confirmed by a re-evaluation at the UC Davis MIND Institute.
Milder versions of autism, such as Asperger's syndrome, form a "spectrum" of autism-related disorders. In addition, impairments in any one of the autism-related cognitive skill areas are considered developmental delays.
Among the children in the study with an autism spectrum disorder, 48 were born to mothers with Type 2 or gestational diabetes, 111 to mothers who were obese and 148 to mothers with any sort of metabolic condition, like high blood pressure.
For children with a developmental delay, 20 were born to mothers with Type 2 or gestational diabetes, 41 to mothers who were obese and 60 to a mother with any metabolic condition.
Overall, the connection between diabetes in a mother and her child being diagnosed with autism was not significant, but the researchers did find links between a mother being obese or having other metabolic conditions and her child having autism.
Developmental delays were associated with both obesity and diabetes, along with having any other metabolic condition.
"There is definitely an association present and it adds to the reasons for finding ways to lower obesity rates or diabetes rates and make greater efforts to change lifestyle factors," Krakowiak said.
She and her colleagues also noted that nearly 60 percent of U.S. women of childbearing age are overweight, one third are obese and 16 percent have so-called metabolic syndrome - a constellation of symptoms, including high blood pressure and insulin resistance, that raise heart risk.
Although nobody can say the nation's rising obesity rate is to blame for the prevalence of autism, Krakowiak said the parallel increases did catch her attention.
Hannah Gardener, an epidemiologist in the Department of Neurology at the University of Miami, told Reuters Health that she thinks it's natural for people to connect the two rates.
"There is a lot that is unknown and studies like these really help us figure out the questions that need to be answered," Gardener said.
But she warned that researchers are far from understanding what might create a link between obesity and autism.
(Reuters) - Children born to obese women are more likely to be diagnosed with autism or related developmental delays than the children of slimmer mothers, according to a U.S. survey.
The research, which appeared in Pediatrics, was looking for the impact on childrens' cognitive development from a variety of "metabolic conditions" in the mother, including high blood pressure or diabetes. The strongest links were found between obesity and autism-related disorders.
Although the study cannot prove that one condition causes the other, its authors caution that even the possibility is worrisome in the light of rising U.S. obesity rates.
"If there is anything you can do to make yourself healthier, this is yet another reason for moms to consider," said Paula Krakowiak, a researcher at the University of California, Davis, who led the study.
The study comes on the heels of a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that estimated one in every 88 children in the U.S. has an autism spectrum disorder. That number represents about a 25 percent increase from the agency's last report in 2006.
Krakowiak and her colleagues looked at 1,004 children who were between two and five years old, born in California and already participating in a study underway at UC Davis.
Of those children, 517 had an autism spectrum disorder and 172 had developmental delays. For Krakowiak's study, the children's diagnoses were confirmed by a re-evaluation at the UC Davis MIND Institute.
Milder versions of autism, such as Asperger's syndrome, form a "spectrum" of autism-related disorders. In addition, impairments in any one of the autism-related cognitive skill areas are considered developmental delays.
Among the children in the study with an autism spectrum disorder, 48 were born to mothers with Type 2 or gestational diabetes, 111 to mothers who were obese and 148 to mothers with any sort of metabolic condition, like high blood pressure.
For children with a developmental delay, 20 were born to mothers with Type 2 or gestational diabetes, 41 to mothers who were obese and 60 to a mother with any metabolic condition.
Overall, the connection between diabetes in a mother and her child being diagnosed with autism was not significant, but the researchers did find links between a mother being obese or having other metabolic conditions and her child having autism.
Developmental delays were associated with both obesity and diabetes, along with having any other metabolic condition.
"There is definitely an association present and it adds to the reasons for finding ways to lower obesity rates or diabetes rates and make greater efforts to change lifestyle factors," Krakowiak said.
She and her colleagues also noted that nearly 60 percent of U.S. women of childbearing age are overweight, one third are obese and 16 percent have so-called metabolic syndrome - a constellation of symptoms, including high blood pressure and insulin resistance, that raise heart risk.
Although nobody can say the nation's rising obesity rate is to blame for the prevalence of autism, Krakowiak said the parallel increases did catch her attention.
Hannah Gardener, an epidemiologist in the Department of Neurology at the University of Miami, told Reuters Health that she thinks it's natural for people to connect the two rates.
"There is a lot that is unknown and studies like these really help us figure out the questions that need to be answered," Gardener said.
But she warned that researchers are far from understanding what might create a link between obesity and autism.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Estrogen Increases Cancer Risk...New Study Findings
Below is important information regarding the safety of estrogen replacement in menopausal woman. This article was taken off of the Yahoo Health website:
"Several weeks after a study suggested that women who take estrogen-only hormone replacement to treat menopause symptoms may be at lower risk for developing breast cancer, another, much-larger study finds that when used for longer than 10 years, estrogen-only regimens actually raise a woman's long-term risk for breast cancer.
The new study was funded by the National Cancer Institute, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, whereas the previous one was partially funded by drug manufacturer Wyeth.
Researchers evaluated follow-up data from the Nurse's Health Study collected from 1980 through 2008. The women in the study were 30 to 55 years old in 1976. Overall, the risk for breast cancer was 88 percent higher among women who had taken estrogen plus progesterone for 10 to 14.9 years, compared to women who did not. This risk more than doubled for women who used estrogen-plus-progesterone therapy for 15 to 19.9 years.
Women who used estrogen-only therapy after menopause had 22 percent increased risk for breast cancer if they used it for 10 to 14.9 years, and 43 percent greater risk if they used it longer than 15 years.
There was no increased risk seen among women who took estrogen for fewer than 10 years. Women did not have an increased risk of dying from breast cancer, the study showed.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) fell from grace after the U.S. Women's Health Initiative study was stopped early in 2002 because HRT was shown to increase the risk of strokes and breast and ovarian cancer. Some subtleties have emerged since that time. For example, short-term use of HRT is now deemed fairly safe for some women who have severe menopausal symptoms. Estrogen-only therapy is reserved for women who have had a hysterectomy; women with an intact uterus who use HRT must take the hormone progestin (synthetic progesterone) with estrogen to prevent uterine cancer.
"For combination therapy there is so much data about the dangers that we really tell people that if they must take it to treat symptoms, they should only do so for a year or two at most," said study author Dr. Wendy Chen, an associate physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and an assistant professor in medicine at the Breast Cancer Treatment Center at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. "For estrogen alone, there is more safety data for someone who wants to take it for five or six years."
Chen is scheduled to present her findings at this week's annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Chicago.
Her advice is for women to think about why they are taking supplemental hormones. "If it is for hot flashes, they don't last forever," she said. If vaginal dryness is the issue, there are vaginal hormone preparations. "You are not going to have the systemic effects that you will from talking a pill," she said.
Dr. Larry Norton, deputy physician-in-chief for breast cancer programs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and medical director of the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center, in New York City, does not recommend that women take estrogen after menopause.
"The jury is still out on how safe estrogen alone is, but I am not recommending it, and the major reason why is because every drug I know that reduces the risk of breast cancer reduces estrogen," he said. "Saying an estrogen is going to be safe raises an important question mark in my mind," Norton said. "Alternative treatments may help treat the symptoms and risks associated with menopause, so why take the chance?"
Because the new study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal."
"Several weeks after a study suggested that women who take estrogen-only hormone replacement to treat menopause symptoms may be at lower risk for developing breast cancer, another, much-larger study finds that when used for longer than 10 years, estrogen-only regimens actually raise a woman's long-term risk for breast cancer.
The new study was funded by the National Cancer Institute, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, whereas the previous one was partially funded by drug manufacturer Wyeth.
Researchers evaluated follow-up data from the Nurse's Health Study collected from 1980 through 2008. The women in the study were 30 to 55 years old in 1976. Overall, the risk for breast cancer was 88 percent higher among women who had taken estrogen plus progesterone for 10 to 14.9 years, compared to women who did not. This risk more than doubled for women who used estrogen-plus-progesterone therapy for 15 to 19.9 years.
Women who used estrogen-only therapy after menopause had 22 percent increased risk for breast cancer if they used it for 10 to 14.9 years, and 43 percent greater risk if they used it longer than 15 years.
There was no increased risk seen among women who took estrogen for fewer than 10 years. Women did not have an increased risk of dying from breast cancer, the study showed.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) fell from grace after the U.S. Women's Health Initiative study was stopped early in 2002 because HRT was shown to increase the risk of strokes and breast and ovarian cancer. Some subtleties have emerged since that time. For example, short-term use of HRT is now deemed fairly safe for some women who have severe menopausal symptoms. Estrogen-only therapy is reserved for women who have had a hysterectomy; women with an intact uterus who use HRT must take the hormone progestin (synthetic progesterone) with estrogen to prevent uterine cancer.
"For combination therapy there is so much data about the dangers that we really tell people that if they must take it to treat symptoms, they should only do so for a year or two at most," said study author Dr. Wendy Chen, an associate physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and an assistant professor in medicine at the Breast Cancer Treatment Center at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. "For estrogen alone, there is more safety data for someone who wants to take it for five or six years."
Chen is scheduled to present her findings at this week's annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Chicago.
Her advice is for women to think about why they are taking supplemental hormones. "If it is for hot flashes, they don't last forever," she said. If vaginal dryness is the issue, there are vaginal hormone preparations. "You are not going to have the systemic effects that you will from talking a pill," she said.
Dr. Larry Norton, deputy physician-in-chief for breast cancer programs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and medical director of the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center, in New York City, does not recommend that women take estrogen after menopause.
"The jury is still out on how safe estrogen alone is, but I am not recommending it, and the major reason why is because every drug I know that reduces the risk of breast cancer reduces estrogen," he said. "Saying an estrogen is going to be safe raises an important question mark in my mind," Norton said. "Alternative treatments may help treat the symptoms and risks associated with menopause, so why take the chance?"
Because the new study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)