HEALTH CARE

The Monster of The Black Lagoon, (2/11/16)

Contaminated soil covers more than half of the surface area and fills most of the total volume of The Black Lagoon in Marlborough, Mass. An aging and poorly maintained dam is containing the silt deposits from reaching the Sudbury Reservoir, which is a half-mile downstream. /Google Earth image and bullworkofdemocracy illustration

For at least three decades, The Black Lagoon has fed a steady diet of toxic waste to a tributary stream of the Sudbury Reservoir. The stream that feeds the lagoon drains storm water from Maple Street, the scene of a century's worth of petroleum-product spills, according to Massachusetts officials. /Google Earth image and bullworkofdemocracy illustration

The Black Lagoon off Maple Street in Marlborough (photo below) has spread contaminated silt to the Sudbury Reservoir (photo above). A tributary stream a half-mile long links The Black Lagoon to the reservoir./Google Earth image and bullworkofdemocracy illustration

The concrete-and-earth dam at The Black Lagoon, which is state land, has been poorly maintained for at least two decades. /Christopher Cheney photo

The Black Lagoon is located in a mixed commercial and residential neighborhood. To the west and south, several small businesses line Maple Street, including at least 10 properties that are former or active toxic waste sites. To the north and east, houses dot the landscape. /Google Earth image

The largest silt deposit area of The Black Lagoon is on the commercial-development side of the man-made pond, which is a resting place for tons of contaminated soil.

The Black Lagoon is in the rotted heart of this April 1996 map. /Middlesex News image

In 1996, the first Page 1 Sunday-edition newspaper story of my journalism career featured the Sudbury Reservoir and The Black Lagoon. /Ken McGagh photo for Middlesex News

Excerpt from 'Sudbury Reservoir: Unfit to Drink,' Sunday Middlesex News, April 21, 1996, by Christopher Cheney

Gretchen Roorbach, a scientist at the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, said a pond off Walker Street is functioning as a catch basin for the contamination flowing down from the Maple Street sites. "That is a serious source of contamination," she said.
Roorbach said testing of the Walker Street pond had revealed the presence of not only petrochemicals from oil and gasoline spills but also heavy metals such as lead. "That is a real settling pond for contaminants and heavy metals," she said.

Arkansas on epic healthcare reform quest

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe signs the state's "private option" Medicaid expansion law in April 2013. /npr.org photo

I have been politically aware since Jimmy Carter was elected president and a member of the U.S. workforce nearly as long. Arkansas' level of cooperation and conciliation on healthcare reform seems unprecedented.

The Natural State is on the verge of creating the country's first public-private, universal payer, value-based healthcare delivery system. This pioneering effort could show the way forward for many other states.

In the most exciting project I have worked on so far at HealthLeaders Media, top Arkansas officials including Gov. Mike Beebe share their amazing healthcare reform journey in a three-part series of stories and accompanying health plan column:

Health Plan Column: An Unlikely State Schools Nation on Healthcare Payment Reform

Part I: Crisis Spurs Healthcare Payment Reform in Arkansas

Part II: Governor Details Healthcare Payment Reform Path in Arkansas

Part III: Payment Reform Paying Off in Arkansas, For Now

Protective headgear for MLB pitchers long overdue (7/19/13)

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher JA Happ clutches his head after being struck in the head with a line drive on May 7, 2013, suffering a fractured skull. /AP photo

One of the allures of baseball is you can see hundreds of games and still expect to see something you've never seen before the next time you walk into a ballpark. One play I hope to never see starts with the pitcher getting hit in the head with a batter's 100 mph line drive.

In a game obsessed with statistics, probabilities and superstition, May 7 has become a bad day to pitch in Major League Baseball.

This year on May 7, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher JA Happ was struck in the side of the head and suffered a fractured skull. A former season strikeout leader at the highest level of the minor leagues and promising young starter, Happ is hoping to return to a Major League mound by August.

On May 7, 1957, Cleveland Indians pitcher Herb Score was struck in the face with a line drive, suffering a broken nose and swollen retina. Score, who had led the major leagues in strikeouts in his Rookie of the Year season in 1955 and in 1956, was never the same.

There's only a handful of ways for baseball players to suffer serious head injuries, chief among them blunt force trauma from a batted ball or pitched ball. Protective helmets have been mandated for major league batters for nearly half a century and MLB is introducing a significantly upgraded helmet. Pitcher headgear hasn't changed since the sandy depths of time.

Note to purists and pitchers resistant to change: Baseball batters and pitchers have been vying to gain advantage over each other for 150 years. Batters are gearing up with body armor literally head-to-toe, which can only boost their comfort level at the plate and performance. Ironically, pitchers are being crushed in an arms race.

MLB reportedly has eight companies trying to develop protective headgear for pitchers. I hope they develop the gear soon. With at least three major league pitchers suffering serious head injuries from line drives in less than a year, the odds of seeing this play appear to be going up. And I'll think twice about going to ballpark on May 7.

Cleveland Indians pitcher Herb Score clutches his head on May 7, 1957, after being hit in the face with a line drive, suffering a broken nose and swollen retina. The Rookie of the Year and two-time season strikeout king was never the same and never entered the Hall of Fame. /Image via canthavetoomanycards.blogspot.com

Near-death experience shines light on life (6/25/13)

Simon Lewis, co-producer of the 1989 box-office success "Look Who's Talking," was in a coma for a month after a van went through a stop sign at 75 mph and struck his car, killing his wife on impact. /Image via salon.com

A brush with death often results in a profound appreciation of life.

Hollywood producer Simon Lewis was in a coma for a month following a deadly 1994 car crash in Los Angeles that claimed the life of his wife in an instant. He's written a book about his struggle for survival titled "Rise And Shine: The Extraordinary Story Of One Man's Journey From Near Death To Full Recovery."

This week, Lewis shared his story with the BBC's "Outlook" program. I listened to Lewis recount his ordeal as I drove home from work in pitch black darkness; it truly is an extraordinary tale.

The "Outlook" interview covers several amazing points in Lewis' journey: surreal memories from his monthlong coma, enduring more than a dozen surgeries and "retraining his mind to think" after losing about a third of the right side of his brain. One point struck me like a sledgehammer.

The "Outlook" presenter asked Lewis about whether the traumatic injuries he had suffered and subsequent recovery process had changed his character. "I have a very hard time arguing," Lewis replied. "I was not good at arguing before the crash, but now that is magnified. I don't know if I could have an argument because, really, how much does it matter in the great dynamic of the cosmos?"

Hear the interview of Lewis and his parents on the BBC.

U.S. leads industrialized world in newborn deaths (5/9/13)

This baby was born with rubella, which was an epidemic disease before the widespread use of rubella vaccine. Children born into poor families have low immunization rates and high mortality rates, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. /Immunization Action Coalition image

The first day of life is a struggle with death for hundreds of thousands of the 4.3 million children born each year in the United States. In a report released this week, Save the Children ranks the United States last in the industrialized world in newborn survival.

The following excerpt from the State of the World's Mothers report is a powerful indictment against income inequality and lack of universal health care in the United States:

"In the industrialized world, the United States has by far the most first-day deaths. Only 1 percent of the world's newborn deaths occur in industrialized countries, but the newborn period is still the riskiest time, no matter where a baby is born, with the first day being the riskies time of all in most, if not all, countries. The United States has the highest first-day death rate in the industrialized world. An estimated 11,300 newborn babies die each year in the United States on the day they are born. This is 50 percent more first-day deaths than all other industrialized countries combined. When first-day deaths in the United States are compared to those in the 27 countries making up the European Union, the findings show that European Union countries, taken together, have 1 million more births each year (4.3 million U.S. babies vs. 5.3 million E.U. babies), but only about half as many first-day deaths as the United States (11,300 in the United States vs. 5,800 in E.U. member countries). ...

"Current data do not allow for analysis of first-day death rates among disadvantaged groups in wealthy countries, but newborn and infant mortality are often higher among the poor and racial/ethnic minorities, and populations with high newborn mortality rates also tend to have high first-day death rates. Poor and minority groups also suffer higher burdens of prematurity and low birthweight, which likely lead to first-day deaths in the United States and elsewhere."

The American Academy of Pediatrics held a conference this week on poverty and child health in the United States. According to the pediatrician group:

"Children are the poorest segment of society: 22 percent of U.S. children live below the federal poverty level, a prevalence that has persisted since the 1970s. The effects of poverty on children's health and well-being are well-documented. Poor children have increased infant mortality; more frequent and severe chronic diseases such as asthma; poorer nutrition and growth; less access to quality health care; lower immunization rates; and increased obesity and its complications."

American captains of industry and politicians love to pat themselves on the back when they throw scraps to the most vulnerable citizens in the country -- the infant children of the poor and disadvantaged. These leaders love to be in the front row when the cameras roll at toy drives and fund-raisers for children's hospitals.

The next time I hear hollow assurances about "doing X for our children" or "doing Y for our grandchildren," I'll be thinking about the 11,300 Americans born last year who never got a chance to do anything but die.

Health care good investment for the U.S. economy (2/27/13)

The U.S. Administration for Children and Families is training thousands of low-income job candidates for health care careers. /Image via www.acf.hhs.gov

"Put simply, effective public health measures, including those aimed at improving health systems, have the potential to be economic engines."  - Harvard University School of Public Health

I'm a big believer in the potential of the U.S. health care industry to be a strength rather than weakness in the American economy:
- Health care accounts for more than 15 percent of U.S. economic activity.
- There's a population explosion of aging Baby Boomers driving demand for health care goods and services.
- Health care can be a vital part of a local economy, providing good jobs at communities across the country.

If you Google-search "health care good investment for the US economy," the top search results are overwhelmingly positive:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/879881-sleep-well-at-night-with-these-durable-health-care-reits

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/moneywatch/story/2012-07-21/asset-allocation-health-care-stocks/56373090/1

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-ward/investing-in-direct-care_b_2398928.html

http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/mutual-funds/articles/2011/06/16/6-investing-ideas-for-todays-slow-growth-economy

Justice, and health care, for all (2/26/13)

My wife, Jen, underwent abdominal surgery today to improve her quality of life and address a medical condition that posed a long-term threat to her life.

In case you haven't notice, there's a difference between right and wrong in Bullwork philosophy.

My family is fortunate. We have health insurance. We didn't have to choose between attempting to heal my wife's medical condition and bankruptcy.

The United States is one of the most prosperous and productive societies the world has ever known. Everyone should have affordable access to the kind of care that my wife received today.