Staff Accountant,

Whitman-Walker Health

Program Evaluator,

Medical Assistant, 

Counting costs: New rule asks vending machine operators to post calorie data

By Tina Reed, Washington Business Journal, December 12, 2014

By 2016, vending businesses will be required to comply with a new regulation by the Food and Drug Administration. The regulation will require vending companies to post calorie information for each vending item. This new regulation has earned some praise from companies, while other companies are discouraged by the idea of the new regulations because it will potentially cost them more money.

Small businesses drop coverage as health law offers alternatives

By Jay Hancock, Kaiser Health News, December 15, 2014

Small businesses with 50 workers or less provide health care coverage to about 20 million people in the U.S. Due to the cost, many of them are going to stop providing coverage in favor of using the health exchanges. However, some small companies are taking advantage of rules which will allow them to keep their insurance plans which were in place before the Affordable Care Act was implemented. 

Aspirin risks outweigh benefits for women

By Nicholas Bakalar, The New York Times, December 15, 2014

In a 15 year study, Dutch researchers studied the benefits and risks to women in different age groups from taking aspirin to reduce cardiovascular disease and some cancers. The researchers concluded that for women over the age of 65, the benefits outweighed the risk, but for women under age 65, the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding outweighed the benefits. 

Endless ebola epidemic? That's the 'risk we face now,' CDC says

By Michaeleen Doucleff, NPR, December 15, 2014 

Dr. Thomas Frieden is visiting West Africa this week to see what measures need to be taken to find new Ebola cases and isolate them. Since February, there have been nearly 18,000 deaths from Ebola worldwide and more than 6,000 deaths. "Even in this epidemic, we are stopping individual outbreaks. The challenge is doing it at a scale and with a speed that we've never done before," said Frieden.

Senate narrowly confirms new surgeon general

By Susan Davis, USA Today, December 15, 2014 

On Monday, the Senate approved Dr. Vivek Murthy to be the new U.S. surgeon general. There was some opposition to him based on his political advocacy around gun control, while others are glad to have that position represented in the public health discussion. 

Doctors prescribing most potent painkillers face scrutiny 

By Charles Ornstein and Ryann Grochowski Jones, ProPublica, USA Today, December 15, 2014 

How much sleep do Americans trade for work?

By  Bourree Lam, The Atlantic Journal, December 16, 2014

According to a new report from the American Time Use Survey, employed Americans spend one hour more sleeping than they do working on average. In addition, Americans are more likely to work late at night and on weekends if needed. While the number one reason for less sleep was work, the second was the worker's commute. The study concluded that simple life changes and giving up other things such as extra grooming time in the morning or reducing your commute were valuable since a lack of sleep is linked to long term health problems, including obesity and hypertension. 

The myth of comfort food

By Jan Hoffman, The New York Times, December 15, 2014

According to a new study published in the journal Health Psychology, comfort food will not help you with a bad mood any more than other foods or no food at all would help. In most cases, a person's mood will likely bounce back naturally on its own. However, questions still remain about whether or not comfort food would help people going through a long bad stretch as opposed to one bad day.