Health stories in the News–Aug. 9th

New rules to protect your prescription information

Information collected with your prescriptions, including your name, the drug and its dosage but your address and social security number, can be sold without your knowledge or permission, New York Times reporter Milt Freudenheim writes in today’s paper.

Freudenheim writes:

That may change if some little-noted protections from the Obama administration are strictly enforced. The federal stimulus law enacted in February prohibits in most cases the sale of personal health information, with a few exceptions for research and public health measures like tracking flu epidemics. It also tightens rules for telling patients when hackers or health care workers have stolen their Social Security numbers or medical information, as happened to Britney Spears, Maria Shriver and Farrah Fawcett before she died in June.

To learn more:

• Read Freudenheim’s artcile: And You Thought a Prescription Was Private.
• Read the update on new U.S. health privacy regulations posted by the Center for Democracy and Technology.

Massachusetts health reform plan shows universal coverage is workable – NYT editorial

Opponents of health reform are wrong to claim that Massachusetts’ universal health plan “is a fiscal disaster and that the whole country will be plunged into a similar disaster if President Obama and Congress’s Democratic leaders have their way,” the New York Times editors argue in the Sunday paper.

The state’s experience so far suggests that it is more than possible to insure almost all citizens and stay within planned budgets — although it will take great creativity and political will to hold down rising costs so that the program is sustainable.

Three years after the program began, 97 percent of Massachusetts residents have health insurance — by far the highest rate in the nation. That has been achieved without huge increases in state spending.

To learn more:

• Read the NYT editorial: The Massachusetts Model.

No evidence that therapy can make gays straight, says American Psychological Association

This week the American Psychological Association adopted a resolution stating that mental health professionals should avoid telling clients that they can change their sexual orientation through therapy or other treatments.

The resolution has adopted after the publication of a report that examined the scientific evidence behind “reparative” therapies, also called “sexual orientation change efforts” (SOCE), that are often offered to men and women who feel attracted to the same sex.

The report found there was little evidence that these treatments worked or were helpful.

“Contrary to claims of sexual orientation change advocates and practitioners, there is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation,” said Judith M. Glassgold, PsyD, chair of the task force in a statement announcing the APA’s decision.s

“Scientifically rigorous older studies in this area found that sexual orientation was unlikely to change due to efforts designed for this purpose. Contrary to the claims of SOCE practitioners and advocates, recent research studies do not provide evidence of sexual orientation change as the research methods are inadequate to determine the effectiveness of these interventions,” she said.

Glassgold added: “At most, certain studies suggested that some individuals learned how to ignore or not act on their homosexual attractions. Yet, these studies did not indicate for whom this was possible, how long it lasted or its long-term mental health effects. Also, this result was much less likely to be true for people who started out only attracted to people of the same sex.”

The resolution recommends that parents and young people should avoid treatment programs that portray homoscxuality as a mental illness.

Instead, they should see therapy and social support services ”that provide accurate information on sexual orientation and sexuality, increase family and school support and reduce rejection of sexual minority youth.”

To learn more:

• Read the APA report: The Appropriate Therapeutic Response to Sexual Orientation.

Tags: APA, Gays, Health Insurance, Health Policy, Health-care Reform, Insurance, Medical Records, Prescriptions, Privacy, Psychology, Reparative Therapy, Sexual Orientation, SOCE

Category: Child & Youth Health, Health Insurance, Health-care Policy, Healthcare Reform, Insurance, Men's Health, Psychology & Psychiatry, Women's Health