News in brief - Sept. 20, 2004

ACOG Red Alert list adds 3 states - NIH accepts applications for student loan repayment for research careers - Calif. oral surgeons lose legislative battle to expand scope of practice - Study says 17% of dying Oregonians discuss assisted suicide with families - Alliance of Specialty Medicine honors lawmakers with leadership award - Suspect charged in Mass. lab bombing

ACOG Red Alert list adds 3 states

Another three states are on the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' Red Alert list, which is composed of states in which medical liability insurance problems threaten women's access to physicians delivering babies.

ACOG added Wyoming, Arizona and Maryland to the list Aug. 26, bringing the total of Red Alert states to 22 plus the District of Columbia.

"It's truly alarming that this access to health care crisis has become so profound and widespread," ACOG President Vivian M. Dickerson, MD, said in a statement.

ACOG identifies the District of Columbia and 14 states as being the most at risk: Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming. ACOG says a crisis is brewing in Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri and Utah.

Despite tort reform, Mississippi, Texas and West Virginia continue on the Red Alert list because ACOG is still monitoring the outcome of state law changes.

NIH accepts applications for student loan repayment for research careers

The National Institutes of Health is accepting applications for its five loan repayment programs for health professionals in clinical, pediatric, contraception and infertility, or health disparities research.

Ruth Kirschstein, MD, NIH senior adviser to the director, said, "These programs provide a means for health professionals to launch their research careers unfettered by the burden of student loan debt."

To be eligible, applicants must possess a doctoral-level degree, devote at least half their time to research funded by a nonprofit group or government body, and have educational loan debt equal to or exceeding 20% of base salary. Applications are due by Dec. 5. More information is available online (www.lrp.nih.gov).

Calif. oral surgeons lose legislative battle to expand scope of practice

California's oral and maxillofacial surgeons in August lost their attempt to expand their scope of practice. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have granted them the authority to perform elective cosmetic surgery on the jaw, face and adjacent structures.

The bill was ardently opposed by the California Society of Plastic Surgeons and other physician groups who said patient safety was at risk because oral surgeons do not have the same depth of medical training as plastic surgeons.

California's oral surgeons said they were doing reconstructive surgery in emergency departments and wanted to be allowed to do similar procedures on an elective basis.

Oral surgeons are authorized to perform elective cosmetic surgery in 28 states and Washington, D.C.

Study says 17% of dying Oregonians discuss assisted suicide with families

Almost one in five dying Oregon residents discusses physician-assisted suicide with families, said a report in the Journal of Clinical Ethics.

Oregon Health and Science University researchers interviewed 1,385 family members of people who had died between June 2000 and March 2002, and found that 17% of them said their dying relative had brought up the subject.

Oregon is the only state where assisted suicide is legal, and the state reports that 171 people have used the law to end their lives between 1998 and 2003. OHSU researchers report that although only one in 1,000 dying state residents goes through with the process, about 2% formally request a lethal prescription.

"We had no idea prior to our study how many Oregonians personally considered the option," said Susan Tolle, MD, study author and director of the OHSU Center for Ethics in Health Care in a press release. "According to this study, patients more likely to personally consider PAS are younger, white, not very religious and battling cancer."

Alliance of Specialty Medicine honors lawmakers with leadership award

The Alliance of Specialty Medicine honored four members of Congress with the Hugh Williamson Award for Congressional Leadership Aug. 31 at a ceremony held in conjunction with the Republican National Convention in New York.

Award recipients were Sen. John Ensign (R, Nev.), Sen. Charles Grassley (R, Iowa), Rep. James C. Greenwood (R, Pa.), and Rep. Nancy Johnson (R, Conn.). The award is named for a Revolutionary War surgeon, signer of the Constitution and member of both the Continental Congress and the first U.S. House of Representatives.

"These members of Congress have worked tirelessly on behalf of our nation's physicians and their patients," said alliance Chair John Barnes. "Individually they have made needed improvements to Medicare, improved patient's access to specialty care and affordable prescription drugs, and supported important medical liability reform legislation. Together their efforts, as true advocates for this nation's health, have resulted in greater fairness for both patients and physicians, ensuring that Americans have continued access to timely specialty care."

Suspect charged in Mass. lab bombing

Police in Watertown, Mass., arrested and charged a suspect in the Aug. 26 bombing of Amaranth Bio Inc., a biotech company that works with adult stem cells.

No one was injured in the pipe bomb explosion that went off around 3:40 a.m., shattering windows and damaging a laboratory, the Boston Herald reported. The Watertown Police said the suspect is a former employee of a different company that is a tenant in the same building.

"I am happy that this arrest appears to confirm our belief that Amaranth was the unfortunate victim, but not the target of the attack," said Amaranth Executive Vice President Charles Queenan in a press release.

In a previous release, Queenan noted that "Amaranth's technology does not employ embryonic stem cells or human fetal tissue in any form," and that the company's goal is to develop cellular therapy for diabetes and metabolic liver disorders.