Read article –  Article features Jeffrey DeFlavio, Geisel ’14, about research he conducted as a medical student at Geisel that examined why more doctors don’t treat substance abuse. He took a survey of family physicians in New Hampshire and Vermont and found that, while a majority of the respondents routinely saw opioid-addicted patients, there were barriers. “What was interesting was that they overwhelmingly felt obligated to treat addiction,” says DeFlavio. “But they said they didn’t know how to treat it, their staff didn’t want to treat it and it wasn’t paying enough to do it.” DeFlavio founded a group of innovative addiction clinics that serve patients in several states.

Read article (log in required) –  David Jevsevar, chair and assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons spokesperson, discusses a new study that found that an “unacceptably high” risk for failure and revision surgery associated with a commonly used metal-on-metal hip implant may be partly attributable to the use of components that were outside of stated manufacturing tolerances. Jevsevar was not involved in the study.

Read article – A new study from the Geisel School of Medicine, the National Cancer Institute, and the state health departments in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont, recently found that drinking water from private wells in northern New England may increase the risk of bladder cancer. For the past 50 years, rates of bladder cancer in men and women in northern New England have been about 20 percent higher than those in the rest of the country. The study finds the high cancer rates correlate with high rates of arsenic in private wells.

Read article – Continued coverage of comments by Joy Gabrielli, a clinical child psychologist and postdoctoral research fellow, who was the lead author of a study that found a correlation between problem drinking at a young age and use of product and brand placement in popular TV shows. “Given the significant health implications of underage drinking, the Federal Trade Commission needs to place more emphasis on monitoring and limiting alcohol brand placement of alcohol in media,” says Gabrielli.

Read article – Quotes Joy Gabrielli, a clinical child psychologist and postdoctoral research fellow, who was the lead author of a study that found a correlation between problem drinking at a young age and use of product and brand placement in popular TV shows. “Parents should be aware that it is highly likely their children will be exposed to alcohol brand placements if they watch TV shows rated TV-PG or higher, and that this could affect their drinking behavior,” says Gabrielli.

Read article – In an opinion piece, Keith Loud, chair and associate professor of pediatrics, argues that a healthcare model proposed by a columnist working for The Boston Globe presented an attractively simple free-market solution to our health care reform dilemma, without a realistic mechanism for implementation. He also says the writer was too quick to dismiss a feasible financing model — single-payer health care.

Read article – Quotes James Leiter, professor of physiology and neurobiology and of medicine, about recent research he led that investigated the role of serotonin on breathing responses in sleeping infants. The findings offer a new avenue of research into sudden infant death syndrome. “This is the first time, I think, that animal studies have taken the lead in SIDS research, so I found the work quite rewarding. But there is always more to do,” says Leiter.