Marshall Allen

Reporter/ Health Care

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Story Archive

Danny Gans report raises questions from pain specialists: Experts: Coroner's scenario plausible but too vague to gauge role of prescription painkillers in Gans' death; Thursday, June 11, 2009; The explanation for what killed Danny Gans raises more questions than it answers, medical experts said Wednesday, opening the door to speculation about the entertainer with a squeaky-clean image. The lack of details by the coroner is allowing questions of drug abuse to be raised. And four independent medical experts interviewed by the Sun question the coroner’s explanation of Gans’ death.
Web site based in Vegas helps individuals find insurance: Insuremonkey founder says brokers ignore that part of medical coverage market; Monday, June 8, 2009; Consumers have grown accustomed to going online to compare airfares, hotel rates and camera prices before buying.
How we did: A look back at the session: Taxes and budget a big accomplishment, yet Legislature's great failure as well; Sunday, June 7, 2009; The legislative session was impossible. Lawmakers had no choice but to cut services and increase taxes, or see state services, especially education, all but shut down. The Las Vegas Sun reviews their actions on the budget, K-12 education, energy, health care, education policy, human rights, foreclosures, worker safety, F Street, the environment and public employees salaries and benefits. Legislators came in facing the largest deficit, as a proportion of the budget, in the nation.
County OKs plan for free medical care clinic in park: Commissioners attach certain conditions to approval; Tuesday, June 2, 2009; A controversial proposal to house a free medical clinic in a vacant county park building was approved unanimously Tuesday by Clark County commissioners, but with conditions to appease concerned neighbors.
Seeing patients as circles’ centers: Brain center seeks ‘best practices’ for serving families, caregivers; Monday, June 1, 2009; As the vision for the Ruvo Center for Brain Health evolved in the past decade, its most fantastic ambition became the curing of Alzheimer’s and other degenerative brain disorders.
But from the get-go, the founders knew they first had to provide emotional and logistical support for the patients, families and friends who deal with the repercussions of the grueling diseases.
Under lab coat, a songwriter: Las Vegas physician has rekindled his dream of hitting it big in country music; Thursday, May 28, 2009; In the early 1980s biology grad student Gary Skankey thought his rock band was about to be discovered.
Legislators get tough on abuse of foreign doctor program: Thursday, May 28, 2009; Legislators have given final approval to a bill authorizing the Health Department to stop the exploitation of foreign doctors who have come to practice in the state’s blighted urban areas and rural towns.
Health clinic plans meet prejudice: Proposal to use building in park unleashes hostile comments by neighbors; Saturday, May 16, 2009; The uninsured won’t find much love in the neighborhood around Tropicana and Eastern avenues. That’s where Clark County officials may allow a free medical clinic to use an empty building at Paradise Park. Neighbors want nothing of it. “The uninsured, in my mind, are a group of people that are less desirable,” one elderly neighbor told the Sun.
Bill would better protect foreign J-1 doctors: It would clearly provide punishment for violations; Friday, May 15, 2009; State lawmakers are considering legislation to stop the exploitation of foreign doctors who have come to Nevada because there aren’t enough physicians here.
Former health official accused of stealing: Wednesday, May 6, 2009; The former executive administrator of the Nevada State Board of Osteopathic Medicine was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of embezzling from the board.
Cancer Institute: Rhodes pledged $11 million, gave only $600,000: Monday, May 4, 2009; The Nevada Cancer Institute, one of the state's premier medical research institutions, is suing beleaguered home builder Jim Rhodes and his wife, Glynda, for allegedly reneging on more than $10 million in philanthropic pledges.
Owner claims spa used after hours for surgery: She says employee with key, her doctor-husband drawn by medical equipment; Friday, May 1, 2009; Tracy Hurst says she was the last one to know that a clandestine after-hours cosmetic surgery business was being run out of The Medical Spa at Summerlin. And she owns the place. Hurst said she has learned that her clients were being bled off to the off-hours business.
Doctor sued by families of 3 dead patients: Buckwalter prescribed painkillers recklessly, the lawsuits allege; Tuesday, April 28, 2009; A Henderson physician who was linked by medical authorities to the deaths of eight patients after prescribing them narcotic painkillers has been sued by the families of three patients who died.
Sun wins the Pulitzer Prize: Worker safety coverage honored for public service; Tuesday, April 21, 2009; The Las Vegas Sun on Monday won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service — journalism’s most prestigious award — for its investigation of construction deaths on the Las Vegas Strip and the failures of government, management and labor unions to protect workers.
Judges singled out Sun staff writer Alexandra Berzon for “courageous reporting” in persevering against closed doors and intimidation. Berzon, 29, may have been the last Sun employee to learn of the award. When the prize was announced, Berzon was at a court hearing for a lawsuit about worker safety.
To dig up more Medicare fraud ...: All you have to do is look, it seems — which is why watchdogs think the government should do more; Wednesday, April 15, 2009; The numbers don’t lie: The federal government does not put its money where its mouth is in terms of fighting Medicare fraud.
Fighting for its life, UMC program loses patient: But hospital CEO says kidney transplant had nothing to do with death, according to review; Tuesday, April 14, 2009; A recent death of a kidney transplant patient is a blow to the reform efforts at University Medical Center. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the administrator of the federal government’s health insurance plans, almost cut off its funding to the UMC transplant program in 2008 because of an unexpectedly high number of deaths.
Opening new doors, raising issues in medicine: An interview with Dr. Francis Collins, who oversaw the Human Genome Project; Sunday, April 12, 2009; Medical research spearheaded by Dr. Francis Collins is revolutionizing health care. The discoveries are making it possible for people to base their medical decisions on their genetic predisposition for various diseases.
J-1 doctors at UMC: It could benefit both: Financially strapped hospital could save money by hiring qualified foreign physicians to care for underserved, indigent patients; Thursday, April 9, 2009; The subject came up randomly in a conversation with Kathy Silver, CEO of University Medical Center.
A black eye in medicine brings posturing, again: Putting cuts in human terms, ‘60 Minutes’ grabs lawmakers’ attention; Thursday, April 9, 2009; It was yet another national embarrassment for Las Vegas health care when the closure of University Medical Center’s outpatient cancer unit was spotlighted on “60 Minutes.” The renowned CBS-TV news program dramatically told the story Sunday of how several patients are being consumed by cancer because they are uninsured and can’t get treatment at UMC.
Stress of recession reaching into children’s lives: A Q+A with Donna Wilburn, president of the Nevada Association of Marriage and Family Therapists; Sunday, April 5, 2009; Sadly, Donna Wilburn’s services are in demand. These days the rich and the poor are stressed about the economy. Some of her clients are suicidal. One was 8 years old.
Economic plunge cited as factor in suicide rate increase: Sunday, April 5, 2009; The rate of suicides in Clark County jumped by 10 percent from 2007 to 2008, a rise that experts attribute in part to the recession.
Doctors’ bitter fight heading for court: Four years after filing defamation lawsuit against a colleague, cancer specialist is eager to clear his name; Wednesday, April 1, 2009; Two Las Vegas cancer doctors accuse each other of letting greed get in the way of good medical care in a pitched legal battle that’s lasted more than four years and cost one of them more than $200,000 in legal fees. And, if one side of the story is to be believed, the dispute highlights how far an established specialist will go to protect his turf and hinder competition for patients.
Abuse under foreign doctor program alleged: Sunday, March 29, 2009; When he started working for Dr. Dhiresh Joshi in February 2006, Dr. Fadi El Salibi was a “J-1 doctor,” a participant in a government program to bring foreign physicians to medically needy communities.
In doctors' rush to bill, treatment on the fly: The Allegation: Driven by greed, physicians charge Medicare, government insurance plans for patient exams that never happened; Sunday, March 29, 2009; Rumors about doctors fraudulently billing Medicare and insurance companies are whispered throughout the Las Vegas medical community, and for good reason.
Biker’s legacy: Outlaws in church: Riders of all stripes mourn gang member turned evangelist; Friday, March 27, 2009; The air smelled of exhaust and cigarettes and rumbled with the thunder of Harley pipes.
A recession result: Living with wrinkles: With economy going bust, elective surgery falls in LV; Thursday, March 26, 2009; The recession is hitting Las Vegans in the gut.
And in the face and breasts, too.
Web site gives patients chance to compare hospital options: Thursday, March 19, 2009; Nevada consumers have a new tool to make more informed choices about the state’s medical facilities. The new state Web site www.nevadacomparecare.net allows consumers to see how many types of procedures various facilities have performed, their charges and the average length of stay per patient.
Board delays decision on suspending doctor's license: Wednesday, March 11, 2009; Nevada medical authorities have postponed a hearing where they will consider suspending the license of a Las Vegas surgeon accused of major errors that preceded the deaths of two patients and resulted in severe complications for three others.
Dave Tomchek: UNLV Athletic Trainer: Wednesday, March 11, 2009; Dave Tomchek prides himself on the health of the UNLV men’s basketball team and so far this has been a good year. The team is averaging less than a practice lost per injury, he said.
Citing dangerous care, state board mulls suspension of Vegas surgeon: Tuesday, March 10, 2009; Nevada medical authorities will consider suspending the license of a Las Vegas surgeon accused of major errors that preceded the deaths of two patients and resulted in severe complications for three others.
Foreign nurses can slip into communication gap: Baffled by reference to grits, confused about the graveyard shift; Tuesday, March 10, 2009; It’s not politically correct — but it’s a frequent complaint of hospital patients in Las Vegas: “The nurses don’t speak English!” The complaint is inaccurate. Foreign nurses working in Las Vegas do speak English. All have passed English language competency exams to become licensed in Nevada. But the complaint also contains an element of truth. More than 15 percent of the Las Vegas nursing workforce is internationally trained, about five times the national average of 3.5 percent, according to an expert at UNLV.
Vegas lends its cachet to clinic partner: Gala shows how city, Ruvo benefit Cleveland group; Thursday, March 5, 2009; Perhaps it was the nymph wearing tiger-striped body paint — and almost nothing else — dangling in a gold hoop that was strung from the ceiling, pouring wine into the upraised glasses of guests.
Hepatitis outbreak spurs moves to toughen regulation: Sunday, March 1, 2009; The history of health care in Las Vegas can be divided into two eras: the one before last year’s hepatitis C outbreak and the one after it.
Vegas docs, hospitals bill Medicare big: Study finds program’s cost per patient here among highest in country as spending threatens program; Friday, Feb. 27, 2009; Las Vegas area hospitals cost the federal government more per Medicare patient than hospitals in about 90 percent of the regions in the country — a level of spending that is hard to justify, says a researcher who conducted an analysis of Medicare spending in the United States.
Another autism mystery: The rise in cases: Awareness and detection have grown over the years, but is that the whole story? It’s an issue made timely by insurance debate; Friday, Feb. 20, 2009; Autism and its related disorders are confounding parents, health advocates and scientists. And now, state legislators want insurance companies to step in and help.
Medical community embraces alliance: Clinic’s expertise will be felt beyond Ruvo center, many say; Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009; The Cleveland Clinic, the newest top-tier player in the Las Vegas health care system, will shake the status quo, creating a multitude of direct and residual benefits for patients throughout the region, local medical experts predict. Even just in its role as partner in the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, it will influence medical care in Nevada on the strength of its immense organization.
Gehry’s design elevates awareness of Alzheimer’s disease, research: Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009; The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute began garnering attention the moment Frank Gehry unveiled his design for it, three years ago this month.
Ruvo’s mission is bold, driven by love: Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009; Don’t tell Larry Ruvo he can’t do the impossible.
In Cleveland, patients are priority: Network of doctors and hospitals places high value on treatment experience; Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009; The Cleveland Clinic main campus is a city unto itself, remarkable for its magnitude, beauty and attention to detail in caring for patients.
Ruvo's dream becomes real: Architecture created the buzz, but a medical partnership brings the expertise to propel Larry Ruvo’s center for Alzheimer’s care and study; Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009; The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute will be run by one of the nation’s premier medical institutions, the Cleveland Clinic, under a partnership being announced today.
J-1 doctors, employers are under scrutiny: Even with new level of oversight, abuses of federal program persist; Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009; State health authorities have their eyes on Dr. Titilola Famakinwa and her bosses at the Apex Medical Center.
Infection reporting on the rise in valley: Possible breast surgery cases may be one result of heightened vigilance; Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009; The number of suspected infections reported by Southern Nevada health care providers has increased significantly in recent months, probably because they are more vigilant after last year’s hepatitis C crisis, the state’s medical epidemiologist says.
Psychiatric hospital ﬁned for absence of precautions in alleged rape of patient: Police probing claims against man known to be violent; Friday, Jan. 16, 2009; State investigators have fined the state’s psychiatric hospital in Las Vegas for not protecting a female patient who was reportedly raped by a male patient with known violent tendencies.
Syphilis infection rate drops, but can that last?: Budget cuts affecting prenatal services could mean fewer women getting preventive care; Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009; Nevada’s rate of infants born with syphilis is no longer the nation’s worst, according to a government report released Tuesday, but experts warn that the problem could worsen as low-income women face a shortage of prenatal care.
A year later, hepatitis outbreak’s upshot: Nation has recommitted to patient safety; Desai is under investigation by police, who source says are finding culpability; Friday, Jan. 9, 2009; A year after the Southern Nevada Health District noticed a suspicious cluster of acute hepatitis C cases, repercussions of the crisis — including the criminal investigation of the doctor at the center of it — are coming into focus.
This Labrador would make Lassie proud: Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009; Danielle Londrigan met Will when he was a puppy, and she was training him as a Seeing Eye dog. But Will, a Labrador-retriever mix, washed out because he was too friendly with other dogs. So the Henderson resident has enlisted him in her service. Will’s nose can save Londrigan’s life.
Aiming to revolutionize dementia research: An interview with the president of the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute; Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009; Dr. Zaven Khachaturian compares the mission of the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute to President John F. Kennedy’s vision of putting a man on the moon.
For extra bucks, some get perks: Pregnant women who can pay can opt for concierge-style of care; Monday, Jan. 5, 2009; When most expectant mothers visit their obstetricians, they don stiff paper gowns. Platinum Mommies enjoy plush cloth gowns. Other pregnant women may have lengthy waits in their doctors’ offices and have a hard time reaching physicians after hours with questions. There’s another difference, too: Platinum Mommies pay $3,500 for their VIP treatment.
Clinic reports lapses in disinfection: Patients are at minimal risk, health officials say; Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008; An outpatient surgery center has notified state authorities that it failed to properly disinfect instruments it uses during procedures, state health officials said Tuesday.
Brain institute thinking big: It wants to develop a model for treatment of dementia; Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008; The country’s top dementia experts — academics, advocates and researchers — gathered in a conference room the other day to brainstorm public policy recommendations for Congress on how to fight dementia.