By Dr. Kate Scannell, Syndicated columnist
First published in print: 12/25/2011
The top 10 medical stories chosen for 2011 are distinguished for their broad reach into people's lives. I look to the new year with hope that 2012's list contains much good health news for us.
Drug shortage: Our nationwide prescription drug shortage worsened this year, compromising some patients' health while also revealing systemic problems with pharmaceutical production and regulation. At least 250 drug shortages were reported, with hospitals facing worrisome scarcity of lifesaving medications including chemotherapies, heart drugs and antibiotics. An executive order signed in October by President Obama broadened the Food and Drug Administration's authority to expand its reporting of potential drug shortages, expedite regulatory reviews and monitor for opportunistic price-gouging on sales of scarce drugs. Still, the FDA cannot require pharmaceutical companies to resume or increase drug supplies -- and pharmaceutical companies are not legally obligated to do so.
Celebs help: Celebrities can influence societal views about health and disease. They can share the spotlight with public health issues to make them more visible to millions of people. The death of 27-year-old singer Amy Winehouse in July sadly illuminated the health hazards of excessive drinking. In November, the involuntary manslaughter conviction of Michael Jackson's physician cast a dark light on prescription drug abuse. When former first lady Betty Ford died in July, we were reminded about the power of one person's voice to speak truth to silence in changing how people viewed illnesses such as cancers and addictions.
Fishy Fish: If "we are what we eat, then . . .?: In 2011, fish surfaced in many reports about their commercial misidentification -- sometimes performed in error, but often done intentionally to generate profit. For example, using DNA analyses, the environmental group Oceana reported in May that seafood was mislabeled 25 to 70 percent of the time. FDA port inspections revealed that a third of the seafood sold in the U.S. was something other than its labeled identity. In the end, the public's trust of routine food safety inspections of commercial fish was further challenged by daunting ontological questions that were left dangling.
Facing a miracle: In 2008, a 25-year-old Texas man suffered horrific burns when the cherry-picker he was operating engaged a high-voltage live electrical wire. In the accident, he lost all his facial features except for a small section of his chin. In March 2011, he underwent more than 15 hours of surgery at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital to become the grateful recipient of the first successful full face transplant in the U.S.
Infected cantaloupes: 2011 also witnessed the deadliest food-borne outbreak in the U.S. since 1985, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of November, at least 29 people had died due to bacterial infections with listeria that were traced to cantaloupes from a farm in Colorado.
Redefining Alzheimer's: In April, dementia experts proposed new definitions for Alzheimer's disease that would include scores of people showing no clinically detectable evidence of memory or cognition problems. Using certain biochemical and radiological tests, they would diagnose people in "pre-dementia" stages of Alzheimer's who might be expected to express full-blown signs at some time in the future. While intending to expedite research exploring causes and treatments for Alzheimer's in its earlier stages, the newly expanded definition also imposes a dreaded diagnosis upon ostensibly healthy people, possibly inflicting on them "harm by diagnosis" alone.
iMedicine, and the death of Steve Jobs: Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. and luminary of personal computing, died in October after struggling for seven years with a rare form of pancreatic cancer. His effect on health care was profound, and -- befittingly -- he even changed "the look" of medical practice. Due to physicians' quick embrace of electronic devices such as the iPad, the pockets in their white coats no longer bulged with medical reference handbooks and copious patient tracking sheets. With a few keyboard taps, physicians instantly could access medical information to guide patient care.
The food pyramid toppled: The ancient (and confounding) food pyramid toppled in June, leaving in its wake a colorful dinner plate -- "MyPlate" -- issued by the government to guide us toward healthier eating habits and less intake of salt, fat and calories. Officials hope that the simple plate will serve a clearer educational message about healthier eating habits -- one that was hard to find within the crypts of the old pyramid.
Sports on the brain: In 2011, we earnestly began to address our country’s long-silent epidemic of concussions in amateur and professional sports. We became more aware of the prevalence of “chronic traumatic encephalopathy” or “CTE” – a degenerative brain disease caused by repetitive or severe head trauma, originally noted in boxers and, more recently, in football and hockey players. Through media reports about affected athletes and new medical research, we learned that CTE can manifest as dementia, memory loss, depression, aggression, and suicidal behavior. This understanding spurred healthier reconsiderations about treatment of on-the-field head injuries as well as changes in rules of play aimed at prevention.
Supreme Court review: By now, most Americans are aware that in 2010 President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which aims to provide health insurance to more than 30 million previously uninsured Americans. In November, the U.S. Supreme Court finally agreed to hear arguments next spring on the constitutionality of the law -- just months before the 2012 presidential election. Stay tuned!
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Kate Scannell is a Bay Area physician and the author most recently of the novel "Flood Stage."
Copyright 2011 Kate Scannell