When the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell filed the brief supporting the court case claiming that healthcare reform is unconstitutional, it was hailed as united opposition by the GOP to Obama’s new healthcare law. However, there were a few names missing from the brief.

McConnell recently filed the brief in Florida federal court. The brief argues that the individual mandate section of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or PPACA, is not constitutional. Those who oppose the individual mandate believe that it gives too much power to Congress, allowing them to regulate the activities of the American people.

Happy To Sign

Thirty-one of McConnell’s GOP colleagues agree with filing the brief and were happy to sign their names. However, the remaining GOP members did not feel the same way.

photo credit: jetheriot

“Where, as in this case with respect to the PPACA’s Individual Mandate, Congress legislates without authority, it damages its institutional legitimacy and precipitates divisive federalism conflicts like the instant litigation,” claims those who signed the brief. “The long term harms that the PPACA may do to our governmental institutions and constitutional architecture are at least as important as are the specific consequences of the PPACA.”

The explanations range from obvious to speculative for the GOP members who decided not to sign the brief. Among the abstainers are three members who will not be around next year.

Senator George Voinovich of Ohio is up for retirement and is no willing to become excessively political in his last days. The same may be true for Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, although his office remained mute when asked why he did not sign the brief.

The Senator’s spokesperson, Otto Heck said, “We are not going to be able to talk about that.” When he was asked why not, he simply said, “We just aren’t going to talk about that.“

How trust worthy is your doctor?

A neurosurgeon in Portland, Oregon who performed a number of spinal fusions. Was forced to seek approval from a mentor by the Oregon Medical Board, which has been approved by the board before he will be allowed to perform any more surgeries. This step is only temporary pending a full investigation.

This action by the Oregon Medical Board comes following an article by The Wall Street Journal
identifying Dr. Vishal James Makker with the highest rate of multiple spinal fusion procedures among more than three thousand four hundred surgeons performing the surgery on twenty or so patients with Medicare in both 2008 as well as 2009.

The rate of surgeries being performed by Makker was close to ten times the nationwide average, according to data obtained in the analysis by The Wall Street Journal. Makker performed the procedure on many of his patients up to seven times.

The hospital where Dr. Vishal James Makker performed a great number of these procedures, Providence Portland Medical Center, took the doctor’s privileges away to perform operations recently.

Dr. Vishal James Makker’s legal representative, Mr. Michael Hoffman, refused to make any comments regarding the action being taken by the Oregon Medical Board. In recent text messages and email, Dr. Vishal James Makker has denied doing anything wrong. He stated that he was only acting in the best interest of the patient’s health.

An “interim stipulated order” has been issued by the board, which stated that Dr. Vishal James Makker must consult with a “neurosurgical mentor” whom the board has approved to assess the patient’s need for the surgery before performing any operative procedures.

The board stated it had received four complaints it deems “credible” regarding Dr. Vishal James Makker. In addition, the investigation by the Oregon Medical Board has also raised a number of concerns warranting the restrictions that have been placed up on Dr. Vishal James Makker.

Japan’s overcrowded, understaffed hospitals are in danger – and so are the people who rely on those hospitals when they need emergency medical care. An elderly Japanese man who sustained head injuries after being struck by a motorcycle waited ninety minutes in an ambulance – while paramedics phoned fourteen different Tokyo hospitals, trying to find a hospital that would accept the man for treatment. All the hospitals refused to admit the injured man, saying they lacked the equipment and staff needed to treat him. The paramedics arrived at the accident site just a few minutes after the 69-year-old man was injured, but ninety minutes and fourteen hospitals later, the man died just a short time after paramedics finally located a hospital that would accept him for treatment. The man died from the shock caused by the loss of a large amount of blood – a condition which the man might have survived if he had received treatment earlier.

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According to recent figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 148,000 Americans lost their jobs in the financial sector alone. Regardless of the industry in which they work, many of those who have found themselves out of work as a result of the economic crisis haven’t only lost their jobs – they have also lost their healthcare.

What do you do if you find yourself in this position? It’s tempting to go without – it’s one more expense at a time when you can least afford it. But without healthcare coverage, you can’t afford to become sick or injured, either. So what are your healthcare and coverage options if you lose your job?

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To add on to the worries of smokers developing cancer in the lung, pharynx, larynx, esophagus and other respiratory areas, there is the possibility of having alterations in their DNA as well. Studies have shown that when you smoke tobacco, you are at risk of getting tumors on your colon and MSI. MSI, or microsatellite instability, is when your genes are damaged; it also blocks the cells from being able to repair the DNA that were damaged, which can lead to cancer growths to proceed without interruption.

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