Daily Rounds: Berkshires Hospital Bankruptcy; Gift Ban Fight; Where Women Die Sooner, And Does TV Kill?

Northern Berkshire Healthcare files for Chapter 11 | Boston Business Journal Northern Berkshire Healthcare Inc, the parent of North Adams Regional Hospital, has filed for bankruptcy protection to reorganize under Chapter 11. The board of directors of the nonprofit health care system voted on May 26 to go ahead with the bankruptcy filing, and it was filed Monday. The board also voted to terminate the pension plan. “As of this time, there are no plans to alter provisions of services and it should be seamless from the patient’s perspective.” (Boston Business Journal)

Groups fight doctor gift-ban change - BostonHerald.com It’s been nearly two years since the state enacted the nation’s toughest limits on the types of gifts that drug companies and medical device makers can give doctors, but the battle is far from over. Today, gift ban supporters will gather at the State House to protest what they say is one more attempt to weaken the landmark law. (Boston Herald)

U.S. life expectancy: Women's longevity slips in some regions - latimes.com Women in large swaths of the U.S. are dying younger than they were a generation ago, reversing nearly a century of progress in public health and underscoring the rising toll of smoking and record obesity. Over the last decade, the nation has experienced a widening gap between the most and least healthy places to live. In some parts of the United States, men and women are dying younger on average than their counterparts in nations such as Syria, Panama and Vietnam. (Los Angeles Times)

Primary care physicians are rebelling against the system So decreasing numbers of primary care physicians are taking Medicare or Medicaid.  So primary care physicians are leaving their jobs to do hospital medicine.  So many primary care physicians are leaving the CMS/insurance company grid and retreating to retainer practices or cash only practices. The rebellion is a quiet one.  No one has declared this rebellion.  This rebellion has no Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin; no Abbie Hoffman or Che Guevera.  This rebellion occurs one physician at a time, as that physician finds continuing their practice undesirable. (Kevin, M.D.)

Quantifying the health risks of TV time For years, reasearchers have been warning about the health risks of too much TV — that it promotes overeating and obesity. A new analysis published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests TV watching could be on par with smoking, a lack of exercise, and diet as a risk factor for heart disease and diabetes. (boston.com)