Monday, October 29, 2007

In case you missed it: trail of misery, wired for excitement, drive-through flu shots, reaching the uninsured, Caritas review, Arthur Kornberg, Gian F. Poggio

Robert Whitney said he was a victim of hernia repair
surgery performed by Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez.
(Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe)

Massachusetts regulators have alleged that Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez provided dangerously substandard care to at least eight patients from 2000 to 2003, including two who died as a result. But, by the time Massachusetts officials lodged formal charges against Veizaga-Mendez in January, the Bolivia-trained surgeon had already moved on to a new job at a veterans' hospital in rural Illinois - where he is in deep trouble again. The case illustrates an oversight system that sometimes protects doctors' rights at the expense of patients, Scott Allen reports in Sunday's Globe.

Red Sox fans experience many highs and lows while watching the team. MIT researchers and one diehard supporter put those emotions to the test during Game 1 of the World Series.

In a new twist on drive-through convenience, patients at Caritas Norwood Hospital next week can get a flu shot while idling in their cars, much like they would pick up a coffee or a burger at a fast-food window. State officials say it may be the first such offering in the state.

More than 12,000 people sought charity care at New Bedford area hospitals in the last 18 months, and free or subsidized health insurancewould seem to be an easy sell. But less than one-third of those 12,000 low-income people have signed up, despite aggressive efforts to promote the state's insurance programs. The problem highlights the challenge Massachusetts faces as it tries to reach its landmark goal of near-universal coverage, Alice Dembner writes in Saturday's Globe.

Attorney General Martha Coakley is examining the finances of Caritas Christi Health Care and its troubled hospital in lower Dorchester, Caritas Carney Hospital.

Dr. Arthur Kornberg (with son Roger, at left), whose test-tube synthesis of DNA earned him the Nobel Prize in 1959, died of respiratory failure Friday at Stanford Hospital, the hospital said. He was 89. One of Dr. Kornberg's sons, Dr. Roger Kornberg, won the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work studying the enzymes that create RNA.

Dr. Gian F. Poggio, a retired Johns Hopkins Hospital professor who worked in vision and brain research, died of Parkinson's disease complications Oct. 19 in Genoa, Italy. The former Roland Park, Md., resident was 80.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 06:44 AM

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