HIGHLIGHTS

Volume 27, Issue 481 December 11, 2006

END-OF-LIFE CARE

Resolving Who Decides

The Pennsylvania General Assembly has passed legislation designed to guide families when their loved ones don’t have either living wills or powers of attorneys. The bill (SB 628) would give primary decision-making authority to the patient’s spouse, unless a divorce was pending, reports the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Next in the line of decision-making would be adult children, followed by parents, siblings, adult grandchildren or another adult who knows about the patient’s preferences and religious and moral values. “I think it does provide a service for everyone, because they know what they can do and what they can’t do,” legislative sponsor Sen. Stewart Greenleaf told the Gazette.

OBESITY

The State of Fitness

Delaware has joined the states that require physical fitness “report cards” on their students. A bill (HB 372) signed by the governor last July requires the Department of Education to develop regulations requiring each local school district and charter schools to assess the physical fitness of each student at least once at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Bill co-sponsor Sen. George Bunting told The News Journal that he sees the law as only a first step. He had sponsored another bill that would require more hours in gym class, but that effort failed due to concerns about funds. Currently, 19 schools are pilot testing the law, requiring their students to complete a mile run, do push-up, sit-up, flexibility and pull-up tests, and have their body fat percentages measured. The results are sent home to parents or guardians.

STEM CELL RESEARCH

Alternative Funds

California’s efforts to promote stem cell research were given a huge boost recently, when state officials authorized a $150 million general fund loan to support the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The CIRM—which earlier had raised $31 million by selling bond anticipation notes to private individuals and philanthropies—will use the total of $181 million for research, training and facility development grants. Voters gave the state authorization to use state funds to support stem cell research when they passed Proposition 71 in 2004. Among other things, Prop. 71 directs the state to fund stem cell research over ten years by issuing an average $295 million per year in general obligation bonds. When opponents challenged voters’ rights to use the bonds, the governor and the CIRM raised the $181 million to support research until the litigation is resolved.

WORKFORCE

Wisconsin Pharmacists

Several factors have combined to create a shortage of pharmacists in Wisconsin, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Hospital Association. Among those reasons are increases in the number of prescriptions that are written, the fact that pharmacists are working fewer hours and a deficit in the number of educational opportunities in the state. Only one school in the state—the University of Wisconsin at Madison—currently trains pharmacists, and admissions to the program have not increased in the past five years, despite a growing number of applications. The report recommends expanding the program at UW, as well as opening a training program at another school in order to meet demand.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Texas Bans Smoking Around Foster Children

Foster parents in the Lone Star State may no longer light up around the children they care for. The policy, which takes effect January 1, is intended to reduce health risks for foster children. The agency will rely on foster parents to voluntarily comply with the rules, although families with foster children are always subject to unannounced inspections. The rule applies to the parents’ home and to their cars. Smoking also is forbidden in a parent’s car if the children are present. Vermont and Washington, as well as some counties, have similar bans on foster parent smoking. Earlier this year, Arkansas and Louisiana passed laws prohibiting smoking in cars while any child is present.