West Wing Walking

"The West Wing" may be my all-time favorite television show.

If you're a fan too, you'll remember all the problems worked out by the cerebral president and his fast-talking staff as they walked the halls of the White House.

So I was fun to see some of the cast reunited -- if only for a few minutes -- in this "tongue-in-cheek public service announcement about the health benefits of walking."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/click/2012/05/west-wing-cast-reunites-for-psa-122144.html

Food as Medicine

Dr. Sheila Kilbane, a Charlotte pediatrician with an interest in integrative and holistic medicine, will give a free talk about "How Food is Used as Medicine to Prevent Many Childhood Illnesses" May 12 at 1 p.m. at Davidson Montessori School, 605 South St., Davidson.

Kilbane specializes in nutrition, allergies, autism, sensory integration disorder, ADHD and integrative/holistic medicine.

RSVP: www.info@DavidsonMontessori.org

Heart screening for athletes

Student-athletes from Charlotte-area high schools can get free athletic screenings - with extra attention to undetected heart problems - on four Saturdays in May, June and July.

"Heart of a Champion" screenings, sponsored by Carolinas HealthCare System, check for abnormalities that could lead to sudden death and may include an electrocardiogram and echocardiogram. Neither test is offered during routine athletic screenings.

Also included are orthopedic and general medical screenings. Last year, nearly 2,000 student-athletes participated and 200 were found to have conditions that required follow-up.

Schools are assigned to specific dates and locations:

May 12, Fort Mill and Nation Ford high schools, at CMC-Fort Mill Medical Plaza, 704 Gold Hill Rd., Fort Mill.

June 2, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, at Carolinas College of Health Sciences,
1200 Blythe Blvd., Charlotte.

June 9, Union County, Anson County and Chesterfield (S.C.) high schools, at Union West Medical Plaza, 6030 W. Highway 74, Indian Trail.

July 21, North Lincoln, Lincoln Charter, Lincolnton, East Lincoln high schools, at CMC-Lincoln Medical Plaza, 441 McAlister Rd., Lincolnton.

Register online: http://www.heartofachampionday.org/. Click the “Students” tab at the top of the page.






in Fort Mill, SC, and Charlotte, Indian Trail and Lincolnton, NC.

Medicare for all

Drs. Cathy Canepa and Dan Neuspiel of Health Care for All North Carolina will talk about how to achieve a single-payer Medicare system for everyone on March 31.

The discussion will be 7 p.m. at the Charlotte Friends Meeting (Quaker), 570 West Rocky River Road, at the intersection of Highway 29 and Highway 49 in the University City area.

The discussion follows a salad supper at 6 p.m. Register at by e-mailing lauralawso1@gmail.com. Phone: 704-599-4999.

Health care law, constitutional or not

Now that the Supreme Court is hearing arguments on President Obama's health-care law, it seemed appropriate to review some of the debating points made at Charlotte School of Law last September.

Elizabeth Wydra, general counsel for the Constitutional Accountability Center, argued that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, approved by Congress last year, is constitutional.
Nelson Lund, professor of constitutional law at George Mason University, argued the opposite.

Debate centered, of course, on the "individual mandate," the law's requirement that every citizen buy health insurance or pay a penalty, and whether it is allowed by the Commerce Clause of the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8), which gives Congress the right to make laws regulating commerce among the states.

Wydra said the mandate is constitutional because it "regulates the means by which people pay for health-care services" across the country. U.S. hospitals are required to treat people who show up at the ER even if they don't have insurance.

"They will run up a bill that they can't afford to pay," she said. "But someone will pay it" -- namely other patients with private insurance and other taxpayers. Uninsured people may seek care in hospitals outside their home states, she said. The decision to "opt out" of buying insurance "profoundly affects the nation as a whole" and, thus, falls within the Commerce Clause, she said.

Lund countered that the Commerce Clause pertains to economic activity. "Failing to purchase health insurance is not an economic activity. It's not an activity at all. Never before has Congress tried to use this power to force Americans to buy things they don't want...It's a completely novel idea."

Instead of relying on the Commerce Clause, Lund said Congress could have used its taxing powers to raise money to pay for insurance coverage for all citizens. But President Obama had promised not to raise taxes on middle-class Americans.

"This is a stealth tax operating in the guise of a regulation of commerce," Lund said. "Just because Congress can do something under one of its powers is not enough reason to expand another power."

Wydra responded that the mandate is allowed under the Commerce Clause because Congress is allowed to pass laws that are "necessary and proper" to carry out its enumerated powers.

Without the mandate, and without large pools of healthy people who are less expensive to insure, insurance companies wouldn't be able to afford to extend coverage to all citizens, including those with pre-existing medical conditions. The mandate, she said, is part of a larger "scheme" to overhaul health care. "No one can possibly argue that health services reform is not an appropriate commercial regulation."

Lund countered that if Congress can require citizens to buy health insurance, it could also require them to buy broccoli. "It's not now a part of a comprehensive regulatory scheme, but it could easily become one."

No winner was declared. And neither speaker would predict what the Supreme Court will do. We're all waiting for that decision.

That baby chick could make you sick

Children love getting baby chicks at Easter. But public health officials warn people to be careful when handling these pets.

“All poultry, including baby chicks and ducklings, can potentially carry salmonella in their droppings as well as on their feathers, feet and beaks, even when they appear healthy and clean,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Megan Davies. “Young children are especially at risk for illness because their immune systems are still developing and because they are more likely than others to put their fingers or other items into their mouths.”

Parents should make sure children wash their hands thoroughly with hot water and soap after handling poultry or touching any area where poultry is produced or housed.

Most people become ill from salmonella infection between one to seven days after exposure. Many people recover in a few days without any medical treatment, but some experience life-threatening illnesses, bloody diarrhea, dehydration and other complications.

Symptoms include fever, headache, severe abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.

State Public Health Veterinarian Dr. Carl Williams warns that salmonella can also get on cages, coops, hay, plants and soil in the area where the poultry live or roam. Last year, 15 states, including North Carolina, reported 40 documented human cases of salmonella illness associated with baby poultry.

Read more here in English, and here in Spanish.

White House honors Adam Searing

Adam Searing, director of the Health Access Coalition for the N.C. Justice Center, is being honored today at the White House as a "Champion of Change" dedicated to improving access to health care.

Searing's Health Access Coalition is North Carolina’s leading voice for progressive health care reforms that address the needs of the uninsured and underinsured. He also teaches a class in policy and politics at the UNC Chapel Hill School of Public Health. In 2012 he was named a Health Advocate of the Year by the national consumer group Families USA.

The Champions of Change program was created as a part of President Obama’s Winning the Future initiative. Each week, a different sector is highlighted. Groups of Champions, ranging from educators to entrepreneurs to community leaders, are recognized for the work they are doing to serve and strengthen their communities.

To learn more, go to www.whitehouse.gov/champions.