Health Care Hoopla: A Primer from the AP

The AP published a pretty good breakdown yesterday of how the proposed health care reform bill in its current incarnation would affect Americans.

It looks to me like the main problems/areas of instability or unease would lie in:
(1) the Employers section, where large employers would be fined if they don't figure out a way to monitor whether employees receive federal assistance -- monitor without violating privacy laws.
(2) the fact that it's going to take three to four years for the exchange and insurers not being allowed to kick people to the curb.
(3) the changes to how medicine is practiced, as PCPs and other general practitioners and surgeons will all have to shift how they treat patients (bc while doctors should already be working to keep patients healthy, the system really is a pay-as-you-go, non-holistic setup). I think this would be viewed as a good change, but a rocky one.

What Irony: PepsiCo Funds Yale Nutritional Science Fellowship

As announced in a press release from Yale Medical School, PepsiCo is funding a new fellowship in Nutritional Science.

Okay, what kind of Orwellian world has Yale Med decided to create in the name of a little wad of green inked paper? Taking funds from the corporate giant that stands to lose good PR, if not millions of dollars, as a result of your Rudd Center and other med, health and nutrition program's research into childhood obesity, diabetes, and the negative health effects of sugared soft drinks - and the positive preventative results of soda taxes?
And USING SAID FUNDS TO HIRE A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL WHOSE TASK IT IS TO RESEARCH NUTRITION AND PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY?!?!
And having this whole thing guided at least in part by the former WHO tobacco control guru?
I'm with Michele Simon (of AppetiteForProfit.blogspot.com) on this one. This instance of industry influence and selling out really hurts. And yes, it truly is shocking.

Fun Food Talk: Road Chow

In this lifestyle article in USA Today, registered dietician and nutrition blogger Elizabeth Ward advocates for high-sodium, processed fast food as healthy food options. For breakfast, a McDonald's Egg McMuffin or french toast sticks at Burger King? For dinner, a cheeseburger and salad with dressing or, whoa, Beefaroni? I'm all for convenience and practicality, but when you're labeling something "healthy," there's a line that shouldn't be crossed.

This is appalling. Healthy isn't just about calories and a balanced meal doesn't mean balanced between the levels of fat and sodium content. Being on the road doesn't mean being checked out of the sanity department when it comes to feeding you and your family a healthy - and cost-effective - diet.

On the contrary, it's a prime chance to get the whole family - kids of all ages, too - to collaborate on their meals, making it a fun project. Bring the cooler, people, and pack your own fresh snacks, something like sandwiches, fruit, water, 100% juice, veggie and cookies. I'm not a registered dietician, but I do know I'd rather feed my family food with ingredients that I can actually read and identify.

Speaking of family, Ward is apparently the author of several books on nutrition, including Expect the Best: Your Guide to Healthy Eating Before, During and After Pregnancy. If her suggestions for "healthy" road food is any indication, I shudder to think about what she's recommending moms-to-be introduce their impressionable, unbrand-loyaltyed children. Parents are role models, including when it comes to our eating habits, and teaching toddlers and kids that it's okay to stuff yourself with edible "food" items just because it's low in calories is not a lesson we should be presenting.

For some other road or picnic food ideas, check out these links. There's the snacks and the main food. And for the family full of kids, there's always this list of tips from Disney Family and Road Trip America.

On the vegan front, there's Jennifer McCann's day trip lunch for her and her preteen son, as seen on Vegan Lunch Box. McCann also has a suggestion for a large vegetarian picnic spread.

Pennsylvania and New Jersey: Winning By Quitting

Published on August 17, 2009 in THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER.

Smokers have more options than ever in the fight to kick the habit.

By Heather J. Chin
Inquirer Staff Writer

Nina Ball regularly walks by a row of smokers outside the charter school in North Philadelphia where she helps youths find jobs and get into college. A year ago, she might have bummed a cigarette there.

But today, after a series of group counseling and fitness sessions at a local health clinic, she hopes she has replaced her addiction to nicotine with another obsession: a drive to write and perform poetry.

"When I'm keeping busy with things I love, I feel less of a need to smoke," said Ball, who ditched her Marlboro Menthol 100s 10 months ago.

As Ball learned, the methods to stop smoking are growing. A few programs offer group counseling and fitness together - to counter fears of weight gain and encourage overall health - along with nicotine replacement products and drugs. Most sessions are free, courtesy of the money that tobacco firms pay yearly to states to cover smokers' health-related costs.

Insurers also may cover some prescription drugs for those enrolled in a state-sponsored cessation program.

Hospitals, in addition, are pushing smoking cessation to their patients. Studies suggest that they are likelier to quit when the health risks are high.

Each year about 443,000 people die from smoking nationwide, including about 20,000 Pennsylvanians and 11,000 New Jersey residents.

Read the rest of the article here.

Personal Health: For Kids, Increased Screen Time Can Equal Increased Blood Pressure

Published on August 10th, 2009 in THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER.

Kids' screen time is linked to development of hypertension
More time plopped in front of a screen - computer, video, video game, and, particularly, television - may raise the risk of elevated blood pressure in children, according to a new study.

The researchers tracked activity levels of 111 children ages 3 to 8 - 57 boys and 54 girls - round-the-clock for a week via measurements from an accelerometer worn over the right hip as well as parents' reports of the average time their child spent sitting or engaging in activities that ranged from painting to watching TV. They also considered age, sex, height, percentage of body fat, and other differences.

Excessive TV time and total screen time were linked to elevated blood pressure - a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and other health problems - even when possibly related measures, such as body fat, were separated from the analysis. Children who spent less than 30 minutes a day in front of a screen tended to have the lowest blood pressures, the researchers report in the August issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. (The average was 90 minutes.)

Interestingly, the researchers did not find an association between blood pressure and sedentary behavior in general, leading them to suggest that factors specific to watching a screen - eating foods high in sugar, fat and salt, for example, or disruptive sleep patterns that have been associated with TV time - might play a role. - Heather J. Chin

Read the full article here.

Personal Health: Antipsychotic Drugs May Increase Risk to Older Diabetics

Published on August 3, 2009 in THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER.

A warning for older diabetics who take antipsychotic drugs
Older diabetics who start on an antipsychotic drug may face a greater risk of high blood glucose levels, or hyperglycemia, according to a study published in the July 27 Archives of Internal Medicine.

The findings are based on a Canadian study of 13,817 diabetics aged 66 and older who took antipsychotics in a two-year period for dementia and other conditions, while also receiving insulin-treatment, oral hypoglycemic (blood-glucose reducing) agents, or no diabetes treatment. Eleven percent - 1,515 people - of patients were hospitalized for hyperglycemia or related conditions.

Those starting on antipsychotics were particularly at risk; after their first prescription, they were eight to 15 times more likely to be hospitalized than those not getting the drugs.

The connection between hyperglycemia and antipsychotic use has been studied in younger patients with schizophrenia, but research in older adults is limited, the researchers said. If the use of antipsychotics in older diabetics with dementia cannot be avoided, the study's authors conclude, then patients and relatives should be on the alert for signs of high blood sugar levels once treatment begins. The researchers recommend enhanced glucose monitoring for all patients starting antipsychotic drugs. - Heather J. Chin

Read the full article here.

Personal Health: Unlabeled food additives can hurt kidney patients

Published on July 27, 2009 in THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER.

Food-label study: Meat additives could harm kidney patients

Raw meat and poultry products may contain hidden food additives that can be harmful for people with kidney disease, reveals a new study into the potential health risks of incomplete food labeling.

The research, which appears online in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, focuses on the presence of dietary phosphate and potassium, often injected into fresh meat along with sodium, antioxidants, and flavorings. Too much of both substances can cause death in patients on dialysis.

Researchers purchased 36 uncooked meat and poultry items, most of which listed additives but not amounts, at several supermarkets in northern and central New Jersey. Items were transferred to separate plastic bags to prevent lab technicians from seeing the food-labeling information.

The results showed products labeled as "enhanced" with a 28 percent greater average phosphate concentration than additive-free products. High potassium content was present in 20 percent of the enhanced products.

The authors conclude that more complete food labeling is needed to help an already at-risk group.

- Heather J. Chin

Philly Region: Summer Camps Deal With Swine Flu

Published on July 16, 2009 in THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER.
I contributed some reporting on this.

Some camps report swine flu cases

By Kristin E. Holmes
Inquirer Staff Writer

Camp directors are battling more than unruly youngsters this summer. They have been contending with outbreaks of what they think is the swine flu.

Some area camps, as well as ones outside the region that host large numbers of youngsters from the area, report sending home dozens of campers who have exhibited flulike symptoms.

Pennsylvania health officials say they know of 10 to 20 camps in the state that have had a high-enough incidence of the flu to warrant control measures such as isolating campers or sending them home.

"I'd say we've had a fair number of camps that have clusters of illness," said Stephen Ostroff, acting state physician general and director of the state Bureau of Epidemiology.

In South Jersey, fewer than five cases have been reported to health agencies. Reported cases might be low because officials test for the flu only when patients are hospitalized or clusters of illness occur.

No camps in Pennsylvania or South Jersey have closed, officials said.

Read the full article here...

International: Asylum for the Domestic and Sexually Abused?

This post is in response to this NYTimes article, which reports on an issue that reveals the indignance presented by the Bush administration and the walking-on-eggshells hesitation by the Obama administration as regards setting asylum criteria that would consider sexual abuse and physical abuse as eligible instances to would trigger asylum.

The reservation is understandable, but one can be protective without being cold and hard and hypocritical. What, ultimately, makes political or religious asylum any different than asylum based on sexual abuse? Perhaps it reflects our existing willingness and even desire to ignore physical and sexual abuse in domestic situations even of our own citizens.

Philly Local: Hospitals Expand Safe Sleep Practices

Published on July 7, 2009 in THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER.

Hospitals push safe sleep practices for infants

By Heather J. Chin
Inquirer Staff Writer

For the last year, parents have been banned from sleeping with their sick babies at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children.

The hospital instituted the policy after three infants over three months were pronounced dead in the emergency room after bed sharing-related accidents at home.

Babies who sleep with a parent can become overheated, be rolled onto, or be smothered by soft sheets or pillows. They can also lose circulation if wedged between the mattress and furniture.

The hospital's ER typically gets one such death every couple of months. But the "little cluster" of tragedies early last year inspired St. Christopher's nurses to propose that the hospital lead by example.

"Today, people often don't have primary pediatricians," said emergency nursing director Kirsten Johnson-Moore. "So emergency departments, I feel, have a responsibility to educate and prevent."

Read the full story here...

Personal Health: On Statins and Walking Aids

Published on Monday, July 6, 2009 in THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER.

Likely benefits to prescribing statins to curb heart disease

Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, the standard of care for people with heart disease, may also benefit many patients who are merely at risk of developing the disease, researchers report in a review of 10 previous studies involving 70,000 people worldwide.

Prescribing statins as a preventive measure to patients with risk factors such as diabetes and high blood pressure was associated with a 30 percent drop in major heart disease and a 12 percent drop in deaths over an average of four years, researchers said on bmj.com, an online British medical journal.

Statins are powerful drugs, and the researchers - several of whom reported support in the past from manufacturers - stopped short of recommending their use for all people at risk of developing heart disease.

While men over 65 who have other risk factors and older women with diabetes and other risk factors appear to be most in danger of developing heart disease, they write, "the correct identification of such people remains a challenge," as does prediction of an individual's risk. - Heather J. Chin


Study of falls suggests need to teach safer use of walkers

More than 47,000 older Americans a year - 129 a day - seek treatment at hospitals after falls involving walkers or canes, according to a six-year review of ER records that suggests more time should be spent teaching people how to use walking aids.

Falls are the leading cause of injuries in people over 65. Less than 3 percent involve walking aids, but the researchers, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said they were the frailest and most vulnerable population. And while twice as many older people use canes than use walkers, the researchers found seven times as many injuries associated with walkers.

Fractures were the most common type of injury. Men injured their head and neck most frequently, while women hit their hip or pelvis. Women, who are more likely to use walkers, made up 77 percent of all falls examined.

The goal now, the authors write in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, is to identify potential risk factors that lead to falls, to design better walking aids, and to provide education on safe usage. Information about falls and how to prevent them: http://go.philly.com/health. - Heather J. Chin

Pennsylvania: Insuring the Uninsured

Published on July 1, 2009 in THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER.

Bill to expand Pa. health insurance sparks debate

By Michael Vitez and Heather J. Chin
Inquirer Staff Writers

Democratic leaders in Pennsylvania hope to double the number of residents who receive state-sponsored health insurance, known as adultBasic, but Republicans fear the costs may be too high.

The Pennsylvania House on Monday voted, 104-98, in favor of HB 1, to increase the number of individuals receiving adultBasic from 45,000 to 90,000.

Republican leaders in the Senate say they might oppose the effort. Carolyn Scanlan, president and CEO of the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, also expressed reservations.

Pennsylvania, like the nation, has seen the numbers of uninsured soar in the last year as the economy has declined, making a bad situation much worse.

AdultBasic is designed for people who earn too much to qualify for poverty programs such as Medicaid but can't afford insurance themselves.

An individual is eligible for adultBasic if he or she earns $21,600 or less; a family of four can earn $44,000 or less.

The program can't begin to meet the rising need. The waiting list, officials say, is growing by 20,000 a month and projects 270,000 as of today.

A year ago, it was at 96,000.

Read the full story here...

Personal Health: Music and Electronic Medical Records

Published on Monday, June 29, 2009 in THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

Music therapy may help control blood pressure
When it comes to matters of the heart, music may be more than just the food of love. A small study by Italian researchers has linked swelling crescendos - volume increase - to heart rate arousal and gradual decrescendos to relaxation.

The 24 subjects, half of whom were experienced singers, were monitored using electrocardiograms while they listened to five random tracks of classical music, including Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Verdi's La Traviata. As volume increased, so did the subject's blood pressure, heart rate, and blood flow. Long melodies led heart rhythms to synchronize with the tempo. And during a two-minute silence, breathing and blood pressure dropped.

The authors, who have done similar research before, hope their findings will show how music therapy can help in rehabilitative medicine. The paper was published in the journal Circulation.

- Heather J. Chin

Some patients are often left in dark on test results
Physician failure to notify patients or accurately record notifications about abnormal test results is common, according to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Records that were part electronic and part paper-based were more likely to be incomplete than those consisting entirely of one or the other.

The study examined 5,434 outpatient medical records from 19 community-based and four academic medical centers that offered primary care services, as well as the centers' methods of documentation - paper records, electronic medical records, or partial electronic records. Eleven blood tests and three screening tests - mammographies, Pap smears, and fecal occult blood matter - were examined in patients who were between 50 and 69 years old when treated.

Out of 1,889 abnormal test results, 135 patients were not informed of them promptly - either within 21 or 90 days, depending on the type of test. That was a failure rate of 7.1 percent. Three medical centers had a zero error rate while the rest ranged up to 26.2 percent.

The authors aim for more awareness of how often these errors occur and how managing results can reduce failure rates and successful malpractice claims from uninformed patients.

- Heather J. Chin

Philly Local: Philadelphia VA Prostate Cancer Scandal

Published on June 23, 2009 in THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER.
I contributed some reporting to this story.

Specter plans hearing on VA prostate cancer treatment


By Marie McCullough
Inquirer Staff Writer

Four years ago, after talking to doctors at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, the Rev. Ricardo Flippin opted for a radiation therapy that would precisely target his prostate cancer and leave nearby organs unharmed.

Instead, his prostate cancer got too little radiation while his rectum received so much that he suffered excruciating, permanent damage.

Flippin, 68 - a minister, teacher, and Air Force veteran - is hardly unique.

The Philadelphia VA has notified 92 prostate cancer patients treated between 2002 and 2008 that their "brachytherapy" radiation doses were too high or too low. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has shut down the brachytherapy program in Philadelphia and three other VA hospitals with less serious problems.

Yesterday, the unfolding scandal prompted Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.) to say he would hold a hearing on the matter in Philadelphia on Monday.

Read more here...

Philly Local: High School Health Fellowships

Published June 10, 2009 in THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER.


Fellowship seeks to give ninth graders a boost

By Heather J. Chin
Inquirer Staff Writer

A new fellowship program will pair about two dozen low-income ninth graders in Philadelphia with professional mentors this fall to prepare them for careers in health care and science.

The Karabots Junior Fellows Program will offer traditional mentoring from physician experts over three years as well as field trips, extra classes, college prep, internships, video seminars, and online networking. It is funded with an initial $800,000 grant from the Karabots Foundation in Fort Washington.

"You can't fulfill a dream unless you have the dream," said George M. Wohlreich, chief executive officer of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, a professional society that is hosting the fellowship and providing mentors. "Our goal is to help them create a dream and show them how to fulfill it."

As the need for health care rises, the demand for qualified candidates is growing, too. But many low-income minority youth lack academic and familial support to keep up with their better-off peers.

Read more here...

From Garden to Green Jobs: Returning Brooklyn Youth To Their Green Roots

At the third annual Making Brooklyn Bloom event on Saturday, March 7, hundreds of New Yorkers of all ages gathered on the grounds of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (off Eastern Parkway and Prospect Park) for a day of running around newly budding flowers, watching fish swim, making solar-powered toy racecars, pressing fresh apple cider - and, of course, learning.

Local and citywide organizations such as Sustainable Flatbush, Just Food, the Food Bank of NY, TreesNY, Red Hook’s Added Value farms and the upcoming Brooklyn Urban Garden School, encouraged participants to experiment with hands-on projects at their volunteer tables, emphasizing the fun and ease of activities that promote food, environmental and social sustainability.



Click here to read more and view a SLIDESHOW of the day's events.

COMMENTARY: Link between HRT and breast cancer rates?

After reading this news article about research touting a link between hormone-replacement therapy and increased breast cancer rates, I can't help but doubt the veracity of this study (not uncommon with research studies. Always read with caution.) Before jumping on the blame-HRT bandwagon, why don't the researchers account for the possibility that the severe menopause symptoms could be linked to the increased risk and rates of breast cancer? This, rather than HRT being the cause of the cancer? The two issues - severe menopause symptoms and breast cancer rates - may not have separate factors.

NYC HEALTH: Health Department Targets Deadly Cosmetics

By Heather J. Chin
September 25, 2008
(originally published at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism blogs)

New York – City health officials stepped up their efforts to alert residents that some imported cosmetics threaten them with lead and mercury poisoning.

While federal and state standards already prohibit lethal cosmetics from entering the country, consumer demand keeps the supply steady, according to officials at the Board of Health during their quarterly meeting on Wednesday.

“The problem with global … products [is] that they are falling through the cracks,” said Dr. Nancy Clark, Assistant Commissioner of the department’s Bureau of Environmental Disease Prevention.

Specific deodorants, skin creams, aphrodisiacs and herbal remedies used by residents of Dominican, Indian and Chinese communities are on the list of products with poisonous ingredients. These cosmetics are imported from Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

Tests done by NYC’s health department and by others around the country have shown these products to have lead and mercury levels as much as 6,000 times higher than limits recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA limit for lead levels is 10 parts per million; for mercury, it is 1 part per million.

At last month’s meeting, the board authorized the health department to find and remove dangerous cosmetics from store shelves, just as tainted food or drugs are.

These tools will come in the form of signs and fact sheets in the languages spoken by consumers, explained Ms. Paromita Hore, a risk assessment coordinator. “They’re often not aware” of the danger, she said, adding that use of the unhealthy products “is longstanding in their culture.”

At least in the Chinese community, such awareness efforts are welcome, says Gary Lee, the owner of a pharmacy in Chinatown that offers both U.S. name brands and popular Chinese medicines and herbs.

“[Officials] usually want to put pressure on the importer, not putting pressure on the shop,” he said. He notes that if a store has non-FDA approved drugs in stock, it is because they sell. “What [the consumer] wants, they make a request.”

For Indian Americans, kohl and surma – two skin products listed by the Health Department as being laced with high levels of lead – pose a great threat because they are so embedded in the culture.

“Loving kohl is one of the commandments for being desi,” writes Anu, an Indian American freelance writer on her blog, The Indian Make-Up Diva.

When ingested or absorbed through the skin, high levels of lead and mercury can pose a danger to brain function, as well as to blood and renal system function. These effects are particularly dangerous in children and pregnant women.

LOCAL HEALTH NEWS: Jefferson Offers Free Screenings For Prostate Cancer

(previously published here at www.thebulletin.us)

By: Heather J. Chin, The Bulletin

09/17/2008

Philadelphia - Philadelphia area residents can get free prostate cancer screenings today at the Bodine Center for Cancer Treatment at 111 South 11th Street at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. The service will be provided between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to all men who come and request it.

The free screenings are part of a research program and include a rectal exam as well as a blood test for levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA), testosterone and cholesterol.

"The blood test right now should be done once a year over the age of 50," recommended Dr. Leonard Gomella, chairman of the department of urology at Thomas Jefferson University's Kimmel Cancer Center.

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in the United States, affecting one in six American men. It is the second-leading cancer killer, after lung tumors, among men.

Screening is generally recommended for men aged 40 to 75, and beginning at age 35 if there is family history of prostate cancer or you are of African American or Hispanic background.

The benefits of screening for older men above age 75 has been questioned in recent studies, but discussing your options and risks with your doctor is still best, said Dr. Gomella. "More men die with prostate cancer than of prostate cancer."

Although the government does not endorse PSA screenings and there is currently no cure for the disease, discovering the cancer earlier allows for possible treatment of symptoms and monitoring for continued progression.

The American Cancer Society notes that the year 2007 saw 218,890 men diagnosed in the U.S. and about 27,050 deaths. Worldwide, approximately 780,000 men are diagnosed with it each year, 250,000 of whom die.

The event is in its 19th year and is sponsored by Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center and the Foundation for Breast and Prostate Health. The month of September is the country's newly designated Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.


Heather J. Chin can be reached at hchin@thebulletin.us

©The Evening Bulletin 2008

HEALTH NEWS: NJ Launches Campaign Against Medicine Abuse

(previously published here at www.thebulletin.us)

By: Heather J. Chin, The Bulletin

08/21/2008

The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey (PDFNJ) announced Monday a statewide public service campaign titled "Grandma's Stash," to raise awareness that misuse of prescription drugs is second only to marijuana as America's most prevalent drug problem.

The award-winning multi-media effort will utilize newspapers, radio stations, billboards, buses and trains to spread the message that "more teens now say it's easier to get powerful prescription drugs than it is to buy beer," as Department of Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez said at the press conference in Lawrenceville.

Her assertion is based on findings from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University's 13th annual back-to-school survey of 1,002 teens and parents. The survey asked: "Which is easiest for someone your age to buy: cigarettes, beer, marijuana, or prescription drugs such as Oxycontin, Percocet, Vicodin or Ritalin, without a prescription?"

While the overall response had teens saying cigarettes and marijuana were easiest to purchase, they also said prescription drugs were easier to get than beer. Nineteen percent of teens, compared to 13 percent a year ago, found prescription drugs are easier to get than all three of the other substances.

Over 720 New Jersey pharmacies will also distribute around 750,000 prevention messages on pharmacy bags. "[This initiative is a] great example of a public-private-nonprofit collaboration that can positively impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of New Jersey families," said Joseph Roney, R. Ph. FACP/CEO, of the New Jersey Pharmacist Association in a PDFNJ press release.

Columbia's 2008 CASA survey report also noted that many of the parents surveyed are "problem parents" whose actions - or lack thereof - increased the abuse of illegal and prescription drugs among 12- to 17-year-olds. Thirty-four percent of teens surveyed who abused prescription drugs obtained them at home, and half of those allowed out after 10 p.m. said they spent time with smokers and drug users.

There are lots of factors at play here," Elizabeth Planet, CASA's director of special projects, said to the Washington Post of the behavior differences revealed in the study. "Parents are not paying attention. There are parents who are out in the evening themselves. There are parents out at work."

"In the 2007 New Jersey Middle School Principals Study, half of the principals surveyed indicated that they believed prescription drugs were abused more than twice that of ecstasy and cocaine by their students," Joseph A. Miele, PDFNJ chairman, said at the press conference. "[Yet] the 2007 PDFNJ Parent Tracking Survey found that 44 percent of New Jersey parents of middle school students said they knew little or just about nothing about prescription drug abuse."

It is also necessary for kids to understand the risks involved with misusing prescription drugs.

"Kids [may] think that because these are medicines that are prescribed, they are safe," said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "The problem is that there is very little difference between the amount they take for a high and the amount that causes an overdose."

So keeping the lines of communication open and the medicine cabinet closed is incredibly important, she said.

Joseph Califano, CASA chairman and president, told the Post he recommends more than three family dinners a week, while Steve Pasierb, president of Partnership for a Drug-Free America suggested to WebMD that parents engage in "a lot of smaller conversations that aren't so scary" compared to a big, intimidating talk.

The "Grandma's Stash" campaign also commemorates August as National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month, a designation passed this July by the U.S. Senate in light of a recent Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration report about the increasing rates of prescription drug abuse.


Heather J. Chin can be reached at hchin@thebulletin.us

©The Evening Bulletin 2008