Reading James Bovard’s screed on food stamps as a “magnet for abuses and absurdities” in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, I immediately thought, “Wow, he’s targeting food stamps the way conservatives in the 80s and 90s attacked welfare.” By the end of the piece Bovard makes it explicit: “Decades after liberals derided Ronald Reagan’s reference to a Cadillac-driving ‘welfare queen,’” Bovard writes,”Obama administration policies could easily permit Trust Fund Babies driving Rolls Royces to get free food courtesy of Uncle Sam.” Is there a valid argument behind this overheated rhetoric?

Not really.Bovard catalogs a bunch of sensational anecdotes, such as the story of Leroy Flick of Michigan who won the lottery but stayed on food stamps, because his lottery winnings counted as assets, not income. Ok, so the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture — which funds and administers food stamps in conjunction with states — failed to police Leroy Flick. But in a December 2010 Slate article, Annie Lowrey reported that the food stamp program has a 95 percent accuracy in properly subsidizing food purchases to the people below or near the poverty level who need such assistance.

More out-of-context alarm: Bovard cites a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel investigation from this April stating that 2,000 food stamp recipients lost their food stamp cards at least six times last year. The freewheeling Wisconsin government issued them replacement cards each time. Since cards reported lost are immediately voided (and you have to report your card is lost, of course, to receive a new card), it’s unclear how the taxpayer is swindled — aside from the potentially outrageous costs of printing up new food stamp debit cards.  Also, there are 800,000 people in Wisconsin on food stamps — so the big-sounding 2,000 number represents .25 percent of all state recipients.

One strong point Bovard makes is that food stamp use has gone up while the number of USDA food stamp fraud inspectors has gone down. “The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service now has only 40 inspectors to oversee almost 200,000 merchants that accept food stamps nationwide,” Bovard writes. If the Obama administration is spending more on the food stamp program, it would make sense for more of that money needs to be allocated to policing waste and abuse on the part of recipients, merchants, and even government employees.

Overall, though, a big plus about food stamps is how easy it is to apply — needy people do not have to go through a long bureaucratic process to get assistance. Bovard warns of “loose federal rules” — but isn’t a streamlined bureaucracy precisely what conservative commentators want more of from government?

Generous coverage of specialty drugs for cancer and other diseases may be valuable not only for sick patients currently using these drugs, but also for healthy people who recognize the potential need for them in the future. This study estimated how healthy people value insurance coverage of specialty drugs, defined as high-cost drugs that treat cancer and other serious health conditions like multiple sclerosis, by quantifying willingness to pay via a survey. US adults were estimated to be willing to pay an extra $12.94 on average in insurance premiums per month for generous specialty-drug coverage—in effect, $2.58 for every dollar in out-of-pocket costs that they would expect to pay with a less generous insurance plan. Given the value that people assign to generous coverage of specialty drugs, having high cost sharing on these drugs seemingly runs contrary to what people value in their health insurance.

Until now, illicit drug use has not been common in older people. However, it is likely to become more common as generations that use drugs more frequently reach an older age.

In the April 18 issue of JAMA, a study comparing traditional radiation therapy to treat localized prostate cancer with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and proton therapy reveals thats IMRT was linked to fewer gastrointestinal side effects, receipt of additional cancer treatments and hip fractures but to more erectile dysfunction, whilst those who received proton therapy reported more gastrointestinal side effects. Results of the study were presented at a JAMA media briefing at the National Press Club by Ronald C. Chen, M.D., M.P.H.

The ADA Network will host an audio conference on Febraruy 19th, 2013, reviewing the accessibility requirements set in 2010 for newly constructed pools and spas. This audio session will be provided through two options, a telephone connection or through a webinar platform. For further assistance, call (877) ADA-1990 or (877) 232-1990  

According to a study published in the journal Neurosurgery, using a new device called mechanical tissue resuscitation (MTR) to prevent cell death has been demonstrated to reduce the size and extent of damaged tissue caused by traumatic brain injury. The finding was made by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. The study was funded by a $1.5 million grant from the Department of Defense. Tested in rodents, MTR uses negative pressure in order to create an environment that encourages cell survival. Louis C. Argenta, M.D., and Michael Morykwas, Ph.D.

Health technology assessment organizations evaluate medical therapies and technologies to help inform coverage and reimbursement decisions for payers around the globe. Even as they establish strict review processes, these organizations—and the reimbursement authorities that use their assessments—have sometimes handled cancer interventions with special care. We found that some countries have created separate health technology assessment pathways for cancer treatment, while others have eased access to cancer treatments through end-of-life or disease-severity exceptions within health technology assessment policies. In the United States, although no separate evaluation pathways exist for cancer, cancer drugs receive special status by virtue of unique Medicare rules covering off-label indications. Worldwide, we demonstrate that health technology assessment organizations are struggling with cancer’s “exceptionalism.”

An interesting announcement at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) meeting in Miami,  17th April, looked at the effectiveness of a vaccine against brain cancer, which showed promising results. The multicenter phase 2 clinical trial included more than 40 patients at UCSF’s Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, at the Seidman Cancer Center, University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland and the New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.

Allergic asthma is a chronic respiratory disease that affects 300 million people throughout the world. The number of people suffering from asthma has doubled over the last ten years and almost 250, 000 people die prematurely from this problem each year. In most cases, asthma is caused by an abnormal reaction to substances in the environment known as allergens.

Alcoholism can disrupt memory functioning well before incurring the profound amnesia of Korsakoff’s syndrome. For example, associative memory – used in remembering face-name associations – can be impaired in alcoholics.

According to new research conducted at Oregon Health & Science University, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is more than one disorder. It’s an entire family of disorders, much like the multiple subtypes of cancer.

Heart failure patients who take testosterone supplements may find they breathe better and are able to do more exercise, researchers from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, reported in Circulation Heart Failure. The authors had gathered data on four randomized human studies of patients with moderate-to-severe chronic heart failure. They had been administered testosterone supplements by gel, patch or injection.

Some people quit smoking on the first try while others have to quit repeatedly. Using such mobile technology as hand-held computers and smartphones, a team of researchers from Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh is trying to find out why.

In the first experiment of its kind to test the suggestion that hookworm infection can reduce some allergic responses, a UK doctor who specializes in medical entomology, infected himself with the parasite and then swallowed a pill camera to film the effect on his intestines.

Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have found that over 33.3% of individuals suffering from invasive cancer do not receive sufficient pain medication, with minorities twice as likely not to receive analgesics. Published in Journal of Clinical Oncology, the study is the largest prospective assessment ever conducted in an outpatient setting regarding cancer pain and related symptoms. This first comprehensive study to examine the adequacy of pain management in cancer care was published nearly two decades ago by Charles Cleeland, Ph.D.

Stress wreaks havoc on the mind and body. For example, psychological stress is associated with greater risk for depression, heart disease and infectious diseases. But, until now, it has not been clear exactly how stress influences disease and health.