December 9, 2011
By Farah Dosani – HIV patient “Donell” (not his real name) was laid off from his job three years ago. “I [went from] making a lot of money to being pretty much homeless. My situation before the economic crisis was so much better. I don’t think I stand alone in that,” he said. “Once I lost my job, that’s when I had to go to places like the food bank.” Many Floridians living with HIV/AIDS were living at or below the poverty level before economic times became rough. Drug costs continue to rise and some patients have conditions that prevent them from working.
December 5, 2011
By Farah Dosani – Community agencies in Southwest Florida are starting up an initiative to improve health care for people in Immokalee. And they plan to do so by using the arts. The Florida Division of Cultural Affairs and University of Florida chose Immokalee as the latest site to develop an art in health care program. The initiative targets rural communities in Florida with widespread health issues that remain unaddressed.
November 23, 2011
[VIDEO] By Farah Dosani – More than two-thirds of smokers want to quit, but only a fraction actually does, according a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Using medicine or counseling can almost double to triple one’s chances of succeeding, the report says. However, most who tried quitting last year didn’t use either.
October 12, 2011
By Farah Dosani – A Lee County inmate has contracted tuberculosis (TB). The contagious bacterial infection is raising red flags and about 800 inmates, former inmates and sheriff’s office employees are being tested for potential exposure to it. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office says this is the largest TB exposure in the history of the Lee County Jail.
August 9, 2011
By Farah Dosani – Southwest Florida will soon be training doctors in its local hospitals. Lee Memorial Health System and Florida State University College of Medicine unveiled plans for a medical residency program in Fort Myers. It will be the first of its kind in Southwest Florida and the only one between Tampa and Miami.
July 22, 2011
By Farah Dosani – A Florida man is on his way to being the world record holder for most blood donations when he gave two more pints Thursday at Lee Memorial Hospital Blood Center in Fort Myers.
June 8, 2011
[VIDEO] By Farah Dosani – Two months ago, Bonnie Dominguez was at her wits end as a caregiver to her mother Marie Bem, who suffers from Alzheimer’s. Bem used to stay home by herself for only a couple of hours a day – between the time Dominguez went to work and the time her daughter comes home from school. But then in February she lost consciousness twice. “That really scared me…. What am I going to do? I have to work. My daughter has to go to school. I don’t want to leave her alone,” she said.
May 9, 2011
By Farah Dosani – The drugs Avastin and Lucentis are equally effective in treating blindness in older adults, according to a study by the National Eye Institute of Health, even though one costs 40 times more than the other. “This was something that was already suspected by most retina specialists that were treating and using both medicines, but it was never truly proven in a large scale clinical trial,” said Dr. Ashish Sharma of Retina Consultants of Southwest Florida. Avastin retails at about $50 per dose and Lucentis at $2,000 and are both manufactured by Genentech.