Get Your H1N1 Vaccine NOW

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Guest Blogger – Zippi Dvash Asst. VP of Public Affairs Long Island College Hospital Young, healthy people don’t get sick very often.  But the flu is different.  In fact, the difference between a little bit of fever and a flu is like the difference between a bird and a gorilla.  This flu, the H1N1 virus, […] Read More

Black Friday-Cyber Monday, Are You Spending?

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Today is “Cyber Monday” the Internet enabled, 21st Century equivalent to the post-Thanksgiving, dirt-world doorbusting shopping spree known as “Black Friday”.  The term black Friday, coined by retailers to describe the day after Thanksgiving, was so named because the deep discounts and sales they offered were supposed to draw enough consumers to the stores to enable retailers to recoup their investments […] Read More

Are you carrying cocaine in your pocket?

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A group of scientists from the University of Massachusetts tested banknotes from more than 30 cities in five countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, and Japan, and found what they termed “alarming” evidence of cocaine use in many areas.   For the scary details, follow me over the fold. Read More

Senate HCR Bill Moves Forward Over Weekend

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Late Saturday night, the US Senate voted to allow debate over their draft of healthcare reform legislation to begin on the floor.  This is another big hurdle that proponents of reform have overcome.  The Senate version of the bill still contains some version of a public option.  It will be interesting to see what amendments […] Read More

HHS Dept Commissioned Study Says Regular Mammograms Only Needed After 50

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Sweeping new U.S. breast cancer screening guidelines are calling for an end to routine mammograms for women in their 40s and for women 50 to 74 they suggest a mammogram every other year.  This controversial new guideline was handed down by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF),  a group of nongovernmental experts convened […] Read More

Students Open Thread

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This is your opportunity to steer the conversation here.  It is a free discussion page or “open thread” for  the regular readers of the Allen School Online Blog.  Sound off in the comments about anything you may have on your mind whether its about learning, career, pop culture, movies, recipes or anything you’d like to bring to the […] Read More

Follow the Money Redux

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A while back I posted several pieces here and here about how an observer could gauge the relative chances of significant healthcare being passed by Congress, simply by looking at the share prices of publicly traded health insurance companies like Cigna, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Humana, United Healthcare and others. Well, if anyone doubted that Wall Street was […] Read More

House Passes HCR Bill – Women’s Reproductive Rights Take Hit

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This past Saturday night, the  US House of Representatives worked all day and into the evening (it felt good to watch these people work on a weekend for once) and narrowly passed a bill aimed at reforming the broken healthcare system.  In the process though, they were forced to insert an amendment (the Stupak amendment) […] Read More

Forbes Publishes “Most Toxic Cities in US” List

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Forbes Magazine published a list of the most and least toxic cities in the US to live in.  As a New Yorker and something of an environmentalist, I was surprised to learn we are not on the “Most” list.  Even more surprised to find us on the “Least” list.  Anyway, for those considering a move […] Read More