Daily Rounds: What Migraines Say; EMS Fights Heat; Heart Drug Alert; Nursing-Home Hospice Care

Me, Michele Bachmann and Our Migraines - NYTimes.com "I do not believe that Mrs. Bachmann’s migraines, in and of themselves, should be viewed as a disqualifier for running for the presidency. Migraines are largely treatable and can be “controlled” through medication — as Mrs. Bachmann said in response to the Daily Caller article that revealed her condition earlier this week. What Mrs. Bachmann does, however, to control her headaches, how she responds to them, thinks of them, lives with them, is something that voters should pay attention to. While there is much about migraines that will forever elude her control — weather changes, for example, can trigger terrible headaches — managing migraines involves a lot of meaningful decision-making. And those decisions can speak volumes about who she is as a person and how she might deal with the stresses of the presidency." (nytimes.com)

It’s a scorcher for Boston EMS - BostonHerald.com "Boston EMS workers hit the city streets yesterday in a sweltering search-and-rescue mission to aid kids, the elderly and the homeless feeling the heat. The Herald hitched a ride on the heat patrol as the city tries to cope with the mercury meltdown. “Obviously, we’re concerned about those most vulnerable to the heat, like the elderly, children and homeless people,” said Boston EMS deputy superintendent Susan Schiller, who allowed a Herald reporter and photographer to ride along yesterday, making stops in Dorchester, Roxbury, South Boston and Jamaica Plain. “For heat-related emergencies, like today, we become much more aggressive about telling people they have to seek shelter,” said Schiller, a 20-year EMS veteran." (Boston Herald)

F.D.A. Issues Alerts on the Heart Drug Multaq - NYTimes.com "American and European regulators issued safety alerts on Thursday about Multaq, a drug approved two years ago to treat abnormal heart rhythms. The Food and Drug Administration said a study of the drug in patients with a long-term form of the disease, known as atrial fibrillation, showed twice as many deaths as those who did not take the drug." (nytimes.com)

Hospice Companies Zero In On Nursing Home Patients : Shots - Health Blog : NPR "Dying patients in nursing homes are an increasingly lucrative source of business for hospice companies, which have made a big push into these facilities, according to a federal audit that was just released. More than a third of Medicare hospice spending in 2009 was for the care of 337,000 patients in nursing homes. About 58 percent of the higher Medicare spending was due to increased enrollment. But much of the spending also was caused by the length of hospice care in nursing homes, which is three weeks longer than for patients who receive services at home." (npr.org)