Category: Featured

In the wake of a staggering controversy that rocked the campus, the University of Virginia plans to move ahead with plans to improve campus security, rein in alcohol abuse, reform its Greek life culture, and stop sexual assault.

According to U-VA President Teresa A. Sullivan, the university has several measures planned. First, it plans to deploy uniformed “ambassadors” around campus to escort students home or provide other help on weekends. Second, it plans to hire more counselors to help students work through any traumatic sexual assault experiences. Third, U-VA plans to revise its written agreements with fraternities, ensuring that safety becomes the top priority.

“When you have more officers and more eyes and ears there, it can help with all kinds of difficult situations,” said Sullivan.

These were just a few of the action items Sullivan discussed in a one-hour interview with the Washington Post, which was her most comprehensive interview since the Rolling Stone article that launched the controversy. In that article, Rolling Stone accused the U-VA of responding with apathy towards sexual assault victims. Recently, the magazine had to publish an apology for “discrepancies.”

Alcohol, however, has proven to be a trickier issue. While Sullivan did say she was sympathetic to those want to crackdown on underage drinking, she fears a heavy hand might have unintended, devastating consequences.

“I don’t want students to be so afraid of police that they won’t call police when they’ve got a friend who’s in trouble,” she said. “But I think respect for the law is also an important thing for us to instill in our young people.”

Though she does have a point, the issue of drinking certainly does need to be addressed. Not only is alcohol abuse a crisis across the nation, it’s an issue plaguing the microcosm of campus life. Alcohol is the number one drug problem in the United States, after all. And what’s more, a study from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that about 40% of college students binge-drink.

The reason it needs to be addressed is because it’s been linked time and time again to sexual assault on college campuses. A 2013 study titled “The Relationship Between Alcohol and Sexual Assault on the College Campus” states that “As alcohol use became more problematic, the chances of a student reporting that they had been sexually assaulted increased as well … Conversely, experiencing [sexual assault] may impact drinking rates, as those who answered, ‘Yes’ or ‘Not Sure’ to being a victim of [sexual assault] were more likely to be high-risk [drinkers] (33% and 29%) and problematic drinkers (9% and 8%).”

While these action items are certainly a good step forward, they may not prove to be enough. If U-VA wants to accomplish its goals, it’s likely going to have to tackle underage drinking, too.

A new study conducted by the University of Tennessee shows that the number of people in Tennessee without health insurance has dropped by 25% in the last year. This represents the lowest number of uninsured Tennesseans in a decade.

According to the study, released Nov. 17, 7.2% of the state’s 6.5 million residents do not have health insurance. About 2.4% of children are uninsured, which is a 35% drop since 2013.

“The declines coincide with the establishment of the Health Insurance Marketplace, which was put into place in early 2014 through the Affordable Care Act,” a press release from the university notes.

Study Methodology

The survey, administered by the university’s Center for Business and Economic Research in a contract with the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration, has been conducted each year since 1993. This was the final year of Medicaid before the adoption of TennCare in the state.

Data was collected from telephone interviews with 5,000 heads of households between May and July 2014.

The study’s purpose is not only to determine insurance status, but also to compile data on use of medical facilities and to collect satisfaction reports.

Insurance in Tennessee

Of those surveyed, 93% said they were satisfied with the medical care provided by TennCare, marking the sixth consecutive year that satisfaction ratings have topped 90%.

While health insurance rates are rising, other vital kinds of insurance are still neglected by many Americans. For example, three out of 10 American households have no members with life insurance.

The study also sought to understand the underlying causes for people remaining uninsured. These reasons, according to the report’s authors, have for the most part stayed consistent since TennCare’s 1994 implementation.

“The major reason that people continue to report being uninsured is their perception that they cannot afford insurance,” the report reads.

One notable change, however, is that 12% said that they did not have insurance because they do not need it, more than twice the percentage who gave that reason in last year’s survey.

The full report, titled “The Impact of TennCare: A Survey of Recipients, 2014,” is available online.

According to a new report out of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General, millions of low-income children on Medicaid still aren’t getting the free screenings and exams they qualify for, and the government isn’t acting sufficiently to fix the problem.

The report was released Thursday, and claims that although the Obama administration has boosted participation rates in Medicaid, it still has to work harder to get children into their regular wellness and dental checkups as well as vision and hearing exams.

According to the report, 63% of children on Medicaid received at least one medical screening in 2013. While this is an improvement from the 56% who made it into the doctor’s office in 2006, it’s still far lower than the 80% goal. Iowa and California were the only states to exceed that goal last year, while Alaska and Ohio dropped under 40%, and several other states hovered between 40-45%.

A few missed doctor’s appointments may not seem like a big deal, but not taking children to the doctor on a regular basis can, in fact, have major consequences. “We end up with kids who are sicker, with more long-term, serious medical issues that are more expensive to treat,” Jennifer Clarke, the executive director of Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, told Kaiser Health News.

Child health advocates are pointing to several different causes for the low attendance rates. There aren’t enough doctors treating Medicaid patients, especially since they could end up on the OIG’s List of Excluded Individuals/Entities if they misuse federal health care programs or mistreat patients. States are also failing to support medicaid providers, and parents aren’t sufficiently aware of the importance of regular visits.

Other experts are blaming state officials for the low screening rates, since the most the federal government could do to force a change is withdraw Medicaid funding.

“The federal government is working hard on this,” Jane Perkins, legal director of the National Health Law Program, told Kaiser Health News. “But the only power they have over states is to take away their funding and that is highly unlikely.”

They may be some of the best athletes in the world — but that doesn’t make them immune to the same back problems and spinal conditions that affect the rest of us.

Rafael Nadal, currently ranked as the third-best male tennis player in the world, suffers from chronic back pain after injuring his back during the Australian Open — and, according to the International Business Times, his back problems have kept him from playing to his full potential this season.

In the world of hockey, Columbus Blue Jackets forward Nathan Horton’s career is all but over after a degenerative back injury left him unable to stand or walk. He now faces the choice of waiting for his back to heal itself before returning to the rink, or undergoing a surgical procedure that would leave him unable to play professional sports ever again,Lighthouse Hockey reports.

Many pro athletes are able to seek out chiropractic therapy for their back ailments — in fact, back pain is what brings 35% of all patients to chiropractic therapy. But this isn’t the case for Nadal or Horton, whose conditions are too serious to be healed by a chiropractor.

According to the International Business Times, Nadal has turned to stem cell treatment for his back problems. Stem cell treatments, while not yet scientifically proven to work, are being used by some athletes to help repair damaged tissue and bone in the body.

For Horton, who at 29 has played on a Stanley Cup-winning team in 2011 and has a contract with the Blue Jackets worth $37 million, the decision to undergo a surgery that would repair his back, but end his career, seems impossible. He has yet to choose whether or not he will undergo the surgery, according to Lighthouse Hockey.

Regardless of the results for Nadal and Horton’s respective treatments, one thing is clear — failing to care for one’s spinal health can produce disastrous effects, especially when one’s entire career relies on a healthy, pain-free body.

The city of Stockton, CA, will find out on October 30 whether it can continue its financial recovery after declaring bankruptcy.

Stock is due to appear in court to ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein to approve its plan for reorganizing the city’s $900 million-plus in debt.

However, the city’s single creditor, Franklin Templeton Investments, argued that the city hasn’t considered using its pension fund to pay back the $32.5 million it owes. Klein ruled in October that Chapter 9 bankruptcies, like Stockton’s, could treat pension obligations like other debt.

This could spell trouble for the city’s residents and workers who depend on that pension plan, especially if it results in reduced benefits.

Michael Sweet, a bankruptcy attorney in San Francisco, said that there haven’t been any Chapter 9 bankruptcies that have attacked pensions.

Chapter 9, which relates to municipal bankruptcies, offers the chance for the city to pay off debt, unlike a Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy, which liquidates all assets and can affect an individual’s credit for about a decade.

Once the city has met with Klein, they may receive an approval, end up back in negotiations with Franklin Templeton, or have their bankruptcy claim rejected.

Stockton filed for Chapter 9 protection back in 2012, after Vallejo, CA. and before San Bernardino, filed for Chapter 9. Stockton was the nation’s largest bankruptcy until Detroit filed in 2013.

So far, the city’s officials have spent nearly $16.3 million on the Chapter 9 bankruptcy and have budgeted for about $25 million more, totaling around $41.3 million in the cost of the filing. Even worse, the city is expected to have around $48 million in settlements and obligations even after recovering from the bankruptcy.

City leaders blame the bankruptcy on economic problems brought on by the recession. Before it hit, they spent millions of dollars trying to revitalize the downtown area with the purchase and construction of a new City Hall, a marina, a sports arena, and a ballpark.

The city had issued 3,000 permits annually to build new homes, and police were paid premium wages and health benefits.

After the recession, the city experienced a rash of foreclosures, and even the new City Hall couldn’t pay its bills. The police force was cut by millions of dollars and 25% in personnel, which sent crime skyrocketing.

The troubles from years before could make things worse if pensions are cut, according to David E. Mastagni, an attorney for the Stockton Police Officers’ Association. “If they impair the pensions,” he said, speaking of the police force, “you’ll see mass walk-offs.”

Former City Manager Bob Deis, who helped create Stockton’s proposal, is hopeful that the plan will receive approval from Klein.

“I can’t imagine it would be a thumbs-down scenario,” Deis commented. “I am hopeful that it’s thumbs-up. It’s time for the city to be able to move on and get this difficult chapter behind it.”

Facebook is bringing some complex wrinkles to modern court cases. Just last month a judge allowed a man to serve his ex-wife legal papers over Facebook when she proved impossible to contact through traditional means, and many divorce lawyers admit that they use Facebook to compile evidence against a partner in child custody cases.

But the integration of Facebook into legal affairs is being met with some resistance in a New Jersey appeals court, which is embroiled in a legal battle after a friend request during a personal injury lawsuit brought ethics into question.

The original case began after then 18-year-old plaintiff, Dennis Hernandez, was doing push-ups in his driveway and was hit by police officer Brian Coughlan’s cruiser. The impact fractured his femur, which only recovered after multiple surgeries.

Allegedly, Coughlan’s defense lawyers assigned a paralegal to friend Hernandez on Facebook in order to view information on his profile, which court documents claim was not available to the public.

The social media prying came to light during the deposition, at which point the defense lawyers asked Hernandez about dancing, travel and other activities he posted about on Facebook that would have brought the severity of his injuries into question.

Photos and video from Hernandez’s Facebook page were later used as evidence against him, but since the Facebook evidence was produced after the discovery deadline, Bergen County Superior Court Judge Rachelle Harz barred its use, and the case was settled for $400,000 in 2010.

But Hernandez and his lawyer weren’t done. In light of the questionable Facebook snooping, they filed an ethics grievance. It was dismissed by the district ethics committee, but the Office of Attorney Ethics later found basis to investigate and filed a formal complaint in 2011.

The complaint alleges that the paralegal who sent the friend request to Hernandez did so in violation of his privacy settings, which he’d recently upgraded. Both defense lawyers are being charged, but they claim they never told their paralegal to friend him, just to perform a general internet search.

“We have long instructed clients to not post on Facebook or other social media about their case and to be really cautious about what others post,” explains Gary Burger, Partner and Attorney at Canton & Burger, LLC. “If a person claims serious injuries to their neck or back due to an injury caused by the Defendant, and they post on Facebook images of them carrying heavy loads, doing handstands or other strenuous activity, then they are disproving the extent of their injuries and harming their claim to compensation. Defendants regularly ask about Facebook and social media posts and subpoena those records.”

With the intervention of the OAE, the problem has become one of jurisdiction, not social media. A panel will convene this week to determine whether or not the OAE can file ethics grievances against lawyers even after district ethics committees have turned them down.

Since social media is still a fairly new phenomena, it’s likely that many precedents like this will need to be set, to determine how Facebook and court matters can be allowed to intersect.

Acne affects an estimated 40 million to 50 million Americans, regardless of age, health and other factors. For this reason, there are hundreds of acne treatment products and methods on the market today which promise to reveal smooth, healthy skin. However, new research shows that you may be more likely to find an effective cure for your acne in your glass of wine than in your local drugstore: an antioxidant found in red grapes, which are often used in the popular alcoholic beverage, has been shown to kill off the bacteria that causes breakouts.

Previous studies have found that resveratrol, the antioxidant in question, has been successful in preventing free radicals from forming and can also kill off the P. acnes bacteria, which causes pimples. However, scientists were unsure exactly how this happened. To gather data, a team at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles applied concentrations of resveratrol, benzoyl peroxide (a popular ingredient in many acne treatments), and combinations of both to colonies of P. acnes. The researchers also cultured human skin and blood cells from volunteers with and without acne.

The results were interesting: while benzoyl peroxide was able to effectively kill off the bacteria, the effects lasted no longer than 24 hours. In comparison, concentrations of at least 50 ug/mL of resveratrol were able to kill off P. acnes by weakening the outer membrane of the bacterial cells. These doses were also able to last for 48 hours. However, the most effective compound was the combined benzoyl peroxide and resveratrol: all concentrations killed the bacteria, and the results lasted longer than either product on its own.

One of the researchers, Dr. Emma Taylor, stated that the team was surprised by their findings: because benzoyl peroxide is an oxidant, they had initially hypothesized that the two opposing ingredients would cancel each other out. Instead, their data showed that benzoyl peroxide has a higher toxicity level, which may be why many patients report developing skin irritation and dryness when they use products with this ingredient. The resveratrol reportedly neutralized this toxicity, allowing the combination to treat acne more effectively with fewer side effects.

This finding has the potential to improve non-invasive acne treatments, creating better products that can be used by a greater number of patients. However, the research team is calling for further study, including tests on actual patients with acne, to see how the compounds actually work together before these ingredients can be paired in treatments.