Hospitals all over the US now have a medical code for Squirrel Bites! (86824 W5321)

While sifting through my emails this weekend, I saw a new billing system hit all US medical offices “that classifies procedures and diseases in ways that could help public health researchers and physicians better evaluate and treat patients.”

Called the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), all US medical offices and everyone who bills Medicare and Medicaid had to switch to this format earlier this month. The new hotness added 70,000 medical codes to the existing tome that was in place already for “clarification purposes”.

Gone are the dark ages of the non-descriptive “idiot was bit by an animal” and “hold my beer redneck is wasting space in my OR” codes. The new system is very, VERY specific.

Here are a few of my favorites…

  • 86824 W5321   Bitten by squirrel
  • 86826 W5321XD Bitten by squirrel, subsequent encounter (HE’S BACK! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!)
  • 76925 T63013  Toxic effect of rattlesnake venom, assault (Aren’t all snakebites an assault?)
  • 77486 T63821  Toxic effect of contact w venomous toad, accidental (I told ‘im not to lickem! I done told ‘im!)
  • 77652 T65223  Toxic effect of tobacco cigarettes, assault (now THIS has some potential!)
  • 80829 V0191XD Pedestrian on roller-skates injured in collision with pedal cycle, unspecified whether traffic or nontraffic accident, subsequent encounter (THAT’S a specific code!)
  • 82165 V393 Occupant (driver) (passenger) of three-wheeled motor vehicle injured in unspecified nontraffic accident (the old “hold my beer” trick)

While I’m sure the codes have good intent behind them, having 91,737 line items to sift through is ridiculous. I feel bad for all the hospital staff that have to wade through this new muck “that classifies procedures and diseases in ways that could help public health researchers and physicians better evaluate and treat patients.”

What’s next? Specific goat codes? Multiple bear attack codes based on type and weight?

A link to the ICD and its’ impact is at International Business Times, the Smithsonian link, and there’s even a CDC link to download all the new codes.

Medline recalling Acetaminophen due to mislabeling with incorrect strength

I’m posting this because a lot of retail stores and Texas public schools use Medline products as their go-to for medical supplies.

In a press release by the FDA, Medline is recalling lot # 45810 of Acetaminophen tablets because their acetaminophen packages labeled as 325 mg really have 500 mg instead.

That’s epically bad.

According to the press release, “The Acetaminophen 500mg, Tab 100/BT (OTC20101) has been found to be mislabeled displaying “Acetaminophen 325mg” (OTC10101) instead of “Acetaminophen 500mg”. The Acetaminophen tablets, 500mg is incorrectly labeled as 325 mg tablets. This error is not easily identifiable by the user or prescriber. If the product is taken at the maximum labeled dose, every four hours, five doses a day, or with other medications containing acetaminophen, it may lead to liver toxicity or liver failure.”

If you’ve got a Medline 325 mg acetaminophen tablets for dispensing, triple check to see if they’re part of this recall.

“Consumers with questions regarding this recall can contact Medline Industries, Inc. by phone 866-359-1704 or recalls@medline.com Monday through Friday between the hours of 8am and 5pm CST. ”

You can also read the press release here from the FDA.

On Tuesday October 6, an epic court decision concerning online data came to pass and nobody said peep

On Tuesday October 6, one of the biggest mind-shifts in online data and technology this decade finally came to pass via an EU court ruling. This ruling will have serious repercussions for both US consumers and all US intelligence agencies, and nobody over here has said peep about it.

The headline says it all… “EU ruling means Facebook and Google can’t send data to the US”

HA!! This is wonderful! This is titanic! This is… well, kinda hard to explain.

OK, supposing you move into a new neighborhood. Walking in the door, you meet a fellow named “Bo” who lives across the street in a funny looking house.

For the most part, Bo seems friendly. He mentions he has a cousin in another far away city named “Luke” who also sounds just as friendly.

A few months into living in the city, Bo makes a copy of your house key and takes it to Luke.

Luke uses the key to open your front door to your home and takes your TV.

Luke gives your TV to Bo.

When you confront Luke, he says since he lives in another city the local laws in your town do not apply to him and he wasn’t breaking any laws in his town. Luke also says Bo gave him the key directly and said he could do whatever he wanted with whatever he found inside. Luke insists he has no idea what he was doing was wrong. You need to take it up with Bo.

When you confront Bo, he says he didn’t steal your TV and never touched your TV. Bo says he had no idea Luke was going to do what he did, and is shocked you have the nerve to accuse your neighbor of such a terrible thing. You need to take it up with Luke.

Ridiculous, right? A cheap shell game from two obvious criminals no police officer, DA or judge would let fly.

Here’s the catch – the part of Bo and Luke are being played by the US government and certain governments in the EU. They were (NOTE: probably still are) doing the exact same thing with our data.

The US gave access to overseas intelligence agencies to eavesdrop on our conversations and bypass encryptions, and then the overseas intelligence agencies told the US agencies what information they found.

Technically the US didn’t steal the information or eavesdrop on our conversations. Technically the overseas intelligence agencies didn’t break any of their own laws in the process.

Finally, with this EU court ruling, part of this “technically” foolishness was brought to a screeching stop.

This epic win for privacy and the upholding of constitutional law is all thanks to Austrian lawyer Max Schrems, who brought the lawsuit “against Facebook in 2013 for participation in US mass surveillance.”

I’m going to have to add Max Schrems to my Christmas card list. Like, forever.

Now, companies’ (and probably certain governments’) “ability to pool data from both sides of the Atlantic for analysis will be affected”.

Will this ruling actually change anything?

Maybe.

The last two paragraphs in the article are the best…

“The ruling basically says US surveillance cannot be allowed to override our fundamental rights, but US law says surveillance must override fundamental rights… The EU court is largely saying that indiscriminate gathering of data is enough to interfere with fundamental rights, and therefore you shouldn’t be able to do it.”

“US companies that obviously aided US mass surveillance may face serious legal consequences from this ruling when data protection authorities of 28 member states review their cooperation with US spy agencies”.

FEMA’s PrepareAthon – helping local communities prepare for disasters

FEMA is kicking off a new grassroots-style campaign for preparedness with a new program called “PrepareAthon”.

According to a press release, “America’s PrepareAthon! is an opportunity for individuals, organizations, and communities to prepare for specific hazards through drills, group discussions, and exercises.”

The website FEMA set up for PrepareAthon is pretty straightforward. The first section called TAKE ACTION goes over several pre-made promo kits FEMA has prepared for community organization and discussion.

The sections are…

  • Earthquake
  • Flood
  • Hurricane
  • Tornado
  • Wildfire
  • Winter Storm

Clicking on each section will take you to a detailed view, where you can download an overview of topics for the “attendees” discussion, and also a “playbook” for the “presenters”. (FEMA has also provided the materials for all sections in Spanish and Chinese as well.)

The second section of the website, titled BE COUNTED, lets you search cities for presentations already set up or planned, and the last section, titled SPREAD THE WORD, lets you download logos, promo materials, surveys and checklists for the presentation.

This is one of those things that sounds like it would be a homerun for a local police department, church, chamber of commerce, school organization or civic-minded group to set up and pitch to the community one weekend. Everything is available pre-packaged online ready to go. Just pick a topic, download, review, print and go.

The PrepareAthon campaign is also set up on Twitter @PrepareAthon and has an email address for questions at prepareathon@fema.gov if volunteers have any questions.

Why “doomsday prepping” is ridiculous

Do you know anyone who is into the whole “doomsday prep” thing? I’ve seen people I’m pretty sure are preppers loading up the flatbeds at Costco and Sams, and I’ve definitely seen the preppers on TV.

These people have the trailers, solar panels, batteries, guns, ammo and enough MREs to last several lifetimes, and even then, it’s apparently not enough for them.

Aside from the whole obsessive hording part, where they get the time and money for all this is beyond me.

The good news is that I finally found a pair of articles with great arguments on why doomsday prepping is ridiculous.

The short version – math.

The first article by Jon Stokes in the alloutdoor.com website points out that even if a “doomsday” scenario hits and takes out over two thirds of the world’s population, that’s still not going to be enough people for a “that’s all folks” kind of reset.

“Wiping out two thirds of the population would bring us back [in population numbers] to the opening decades of the 1900’s, the era of the early seasons of Downton Abbey and Boardwalk Empire. Neither of these two shows look anything like The Walking Dead to me.

Killing off a whopping 90% of the population would take us back [in population numbers] to 1860, the year that Abraham Lincoln was elected as the 16th president of the United States. I also saw the movie Lincoln, and it, too, did not look like The Walking Dead.””

Stokes’ article also goes on about how the stock market really is immortal and hunting for long-term survival is really a baaaad thing, but the main bullet point in his article is the sheer numbers of people left alive in a potential 80 / 90 / 95 percent disaster ratio.

In another article on the same alloutdoor.com website, Bill J, goes over why the idea of “hunting squirrels” (and by proxy, all other small game) isn’t going to cut it.

“Assuming that you can get a pound of game meat from an average squirrel, which is optimistic, you’re looking at about 540 calories per squirrel. That may sound like a lot, but it isn’t. If you’re planning to use squirrel for, say, only a quarter the calories of a 2,000-calorie per day diet, then you have to bag one per day per family member.

There are about five or six squirrels per acre in urban areas (about two per acre in rural areas), so with four family members to feed and a 100% success rate in killing every squirrel you see, you’re clearing out around three acres every four days in the city. And you’re not the only one trying to eat them! How long is the squirrel population really going to last in your town?”

I really do thing “doomsday prepping” is this generation’s “duck and cover”. It’s entertaining to see on TV, and it might make some people feel better, but I think this whole prepping thing is the symptom of a feeling-secure and general future-direction discontent, and not the solution to the underlying social problems at all.

A suggestion for White House drone security

On the FCW Federal Technology website, there’s a story about Congress looking for inter-agency cooperation on drafting a drone policy. 

The reason for this sudden concern on drones is because a few weeks ago, some idiot crashed their drone on the White House lawn. The best part is that the secret service had no idea it happened and had nothing in their tactics to prevent it from happening again.

So now congress wants the Department of Homeland Security to come on down and make a “comprehensive strategy to combat the potential threat of domestic drones” and pull in “the Defense Department and, perhaps, the Energy Department” into this mess as well.

Here’s my favorite part of the article…

Todd E. Humphreys, an assistant professor at the University of Texas Cockrell School of Engineering, offered one possible remedy.

“For especially sensitive sites like the White House, we could deploy a network of infrared cameras set up to detect and track an incoming drone by looking for the thermal signatures of its warm batteries and motors,” he said. “And this network of sensors could be used to guide an always-ready squadron of interceptor drones that could capture the intruder in a net and carry it off.”

Seriously. Capture a flying object. In a net. That’s the plan.

All we need now are a few Scooby Snacks and we’re good!

How about this real cheap and slightly more-effective three-step solution… First, bring in a dozen more Secret Service agents with military sharp-shooter backgrounds specifically as White House perimeter security. Give them all VEPR-12s. Have them WALK around the White House lawn with these 10-12 round semi-auto AK-style shotguns and the standing authority to shoot down anything that flies near the White House. As an extra bonus, they can double as ground support to prevent any fence-jumper from making it all the way into the FRONT DOOR of the White House. You know… that whole “protect the president” merit badge the Secret Service gets to wear every so often.

Second, infrared isn’t going to pick up diddly-squat in the DC summers. They need to go with sonics – set up a wide perimeter “gunfire locator” around the White House. These things are pretty cool and are already in place in DC. Add to the gunfire detectors the RPM of drone engines in the list of things to report and triangulate. Once the system picks up the sound of a drone engine, the exact location and direction can be relayed to the ground security and the target can be eliminated if necessary.

Third – since that one particular drone made it all the way to the White House lawn, GPS and WiFi blockers need to be set up as well. I’m talking zero WiFi and GPS signals in a very VERY wide area around the White House to keep drones out and/or confused long enough to take them down.

Runaway drones are a high-tech problem with a very low-tech solution. A decent drone costs anywhere from $2,000 to $6,000. A single 00 buck round costs $1. Make it permanent “drone season” around the White House, get the serial numbers from any of the parts left intact from a downed drone, track the purchaser through those serial numbers, and once they’re found, pop them with a $2 million “idiot” fine.

Of course there’s an option “B”… hire a buncha good old boys, set them up with some federal duck blinds and a couple of cases of beer around the White House and offer them a reality TV series… “Drone Dynasty”.

Social media-meets-reality television job board

Have you had enough of your job? Ready to quit, but really need another job lined up to get those bills paid?

How would you like to be a wildlife volunteer in Thailand? Or maybe a backup singer for Michael Bolton? Perhaps a culinary explorer in Hawaii? Or a writer for Lance Bass?

Good news, bad news then! The good news is that there IS such a job board for crazy gimme-gimme jobs like this and absolutely anyone can log in and apply.

The bad news? It’s a social media-TV-reality snaggle-tooth bow-legged Frankenstein representation of modern society.

Dreamjobbing.com has the exact jobs open that I listed above, but to get these jobs (according to Travel and Leisure), you will have to upload “an application video and promote it on your social media networks to apply. A winner is selected from the most highly ranked videos.”

Well there goes everyone who is…

  • Over 30
  • Fug
  • Not insanely popular

The “winners” will be “given” the jobs temporarily and if they’re camera ready lucky, they might “be featured as an episode on the upcoming DreamJobbing TV series”.

Welcome to the job board of the future. Even though this is blatantly set up for a TV show, if it is successful, you can bet all the TVs in your house there’s going to be a flood of these share-and-vote job sites popping up shortly after.

The link to apply to dreamjobbing is right here.

NIAID wants to see if a parasite alleviates Ulcerative Colitis

Here’s something you don’t hear everyday… a parasite might be good for you!

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) just posted a clinical trial notice for assessing “Trichuris Suis Ova Treatment in Left-sided Ulcerative Colitis”

Here’s the little TSO medical assistant right here…

Now before you go AAAAAAAA NOT IN MY BODY YOU DON’T, the NIAID has the idea that introducing a tiny parasitic worm into a patient that suffers from Ulcerative Colitis will “distract the immune system so that it fights the worm rather than targeting the colon.”

The good news is that this parasite is a lightweight in the “invading alien” category and can be completely nuked with some basic meds.

The VERY good news is that Trichuris Suis Ova has already been found to have a “significant and long lasting improvements in active Crohn’s disease”, and this test is the first big step in making this treatment go mainstream.

Ulcerative Colitis, to use non-medical terms, sucks rocks. It’s a nasty “form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)… that includes characteristic ulcers, or open sores. The main symptom of active disease is usually constant diarrhea mixed with blood, of gradual onset.”

The clinical trial can be found on clinicaltrials.gov (part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health) and the trial will be active in…

  • California
  • Connecticut
  • Florida
  • Illinois
  • Iowa
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Minnesota
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Washington

Ebola VACCINE being fast-tracked by HHS

Buried way deep down in the press release pile was a notice from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services that they are fast-tracking an ebola VACCINE.

Getting a $5.8 million boost of cash from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a prototype vaccine is getting kicked into high gear for animal testing, then FDA approval, then testing on humans.

Here’s the big quote… “In the DoD-supported studies, a single dose of the experimental Ebola vaccine provided 100 percent protection in non-human primates. BARDA will support further development of the vaccine against the Ebola virus strain responsible for the current epidemic.”

So good news – this prototype vaccine works great so far, and maybe ebola will soon be as dangerous as a common flu strain.

Bad news – there’s still awhile to go before it hits the general population, since “phase 2 clinical efficacy trials for these vaccine candidates are expected in 2015.”

The full HHS press release is here.