Subject: Arizona Department of Health Services

• Residents in Maricopa and Other Counties Had Fewer Babies in 2007

  August 1, 2008

• AN EPIDEMIC OF FATAL HUMAN BITES? GNAW.

  JAW-DROPPING STAT RAISES FALSE CONCERN OVER DEATH BY CHOMPING

  July 7, 1994

• PAYING OUR RESIDUESDECADES AFTER MASSIVE PESTICIDE APPLICATIONS, DDE IS STILL SHOWING UP IN DAIRY PRODUCTS

  May 11, 1995

• Ambulance Chases

  If you need anemergency medical vehicle, just hope you're in the right partof Maricopa County. If you're not, questionable dispatching practices could prove hazardous to your health.

  October 19, 1995

• Dont Keep Those Cards Coming

  Foundations' wish is to stop achain letter requesting business cards for dying boy

  November 16, 1995

• Mental Health MASQUERADE

  Litigation over care fo rArizona's mentally ill ended four years ago. Sowhy have private attorneys racked up more than $1 million in fees since then?

  November 23, 1995

• Life With a Dying Liver

  Seven years ago, doctors gave Hepatitis C its name. It had already condemned 3.9 million Americans to limbo.

  August 29, 1996

• State Officials Pull Loot

  Funds slashed for clinic serving ill people in TCE-tainted site

  August 29, 1996

• Mrs. Good Retch

  The state's antitobacco ads get more nauseating--and popular--by the week

  April 24, 1997

• What a Wasteland

  July 9, 1998

• Unpleasantville

  December 3, 1998

• Smoke Screening

  ASARCO says it will pay for health tests in Hayden, but residents' lawyers fear a cover-up

  April 29, 1999

• Ambulance Chasteners

  Valley suburbs fight to bring slow emergency vehicle services up to speed

  July 15, 1999

• Letters

  February 17, 2000

• Flashes

  From the Week of March 9, 2000

  March 9, 2000

• Sanitary Clause

  Food safety requirements get a needed overhaul

  October 25, 2001

• A Legal Matter

  Litigators and legislators play chicken-or-egg with nursing home issues

  December 2, 2004

• SHERIFF LAWBREAKER: Joe Arpaio's Jails Lose Accreditation Again, and Again, and Again

  How much is this egomaniac gonna cost us in the longrun? The county'll have bupkis before it's all over with. Who shot down the sheriff (metaphorically speaking), and for the second time, no less? The National Commission on Correctional Health Care, which as of Friday rejected an appeal of an earlier decision yanking Joe's jails' accreditation. In September the same commission said Joe's gulags don't meet national standards. The county pleaded for a second chance. So NCCHC did another insp

  January 12, 2009

• Disaster Exercise to Test Hospitals, Public Safety Officials With 1,200 Volunteer Victims (Including You, If You Want)

  Disaster will strike the Valley on March 10, 2009.No, that's not a prediction from the Mayan calendar. It's a mock event being held on or near Arizona State University's Tempe campus to test the disaster readiness of local public safety officials and health care workers.The "Coyote Crisis Campaign" is a five-day exercise taking place during ASU's spring break in which 1,200 volunteers will pretend to be victims from an improvised explosive device. Officials don't have all the volunteers they nee

  February 17, 2009

• Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Jails Lose National Accreditation

  October 9, 2008

• Up in Smoke

  Looking for a place to puff

  July 19, 2007

• Emergency Brake

  The state tries to halt out-of-control ambulance contracts — but cities might have the last word

  November 9, 2006

• Meth Madness

  For $5 million, Arizona can grow its population of meth users -- just like Montana

  April 27, 2006

• The New Meth

  When it comes to preventing -- and treating -- crystal meth addiction, Arizona may be getting a clue

  March 30, 2006

• Meth and Sex

  Tweakers, straight and gay, are obsessed with sex. The result is that pregnancy and HIV-infection rates among meth-heads are increasing at alarming rates

  November 24, 2005

• Ambulance Chasers

  Winning ambulance contracts? It's all about who you know. (Unless it's about the dirt they've got on you.)

  October 27, 2005

• Hope I Die Before I Get Old

  Arizona has the power to make nursing homes provide good care. Too bad it doesn't use it

  December 2, 2004

• Once Bitten

  September 16, 2004

• He'll Be Missed

  A mental-health advocate succumbs to a brain tumor

  January 30, 2003

• Kid Drownings

  December 26, 2002

• Fire

  Phoenix's negligence left hundreds sick from toxic fumes. It's only a matter of time before it happens again.

  December 5, 2002

• From Ecstasy to Agony

  Owner of Tucson-based Safari Media Inc. indicted

  October 18, 2001

• Bat Scratch Fever

  Everything you always wanted to know about rabies -- but were afraid to touch

  October 12, 2000

• Sack-A-Flack

  State health department's respected spokesman gets his walking papers

  February 3, 2000

• Is It Time To Pull The Thug?

  Gang style blasts through popular culture. Can the media be used to fight back?

  November 11, 1999

• The Pain of Maryvale

  October 24, 1996

• SENSITIVITY STRAINING

  YEAR AFTER YEAR, DEBBIE MCQUEEN MAKES NEWS BY FORCING THE GOVERNMENT TO DEAL WITH A CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY SYNDROME THAT SHE CLAIMS AFFLICTS HER CHILDREN. THERE IS REASON TO WONDER HOW SICK THOSE KIDS ACTUALLY ARE.

  September 14, 1995

• A STUDY IN INDIFFERENCEAFTER EIGHT YEARS, THE STATE STILL HASN'T FINISHED A PROMISED INVESTIGATION INTO THE MARYVALE "CANCER CLUSTER"

  May 18, 1995

• CHARITABLE TAKING THE ARIZONA DIVISION OF THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY EATS UP 95 PERCENT OF ITS BUDGET WITH SALARIES AND OVERHEAD. CANCER VICTIMS GET THE LEFTOVER CRUMBS.

  January 26, 1995

• UNANSWERED PRAYERS AND QUESTIONS

  RESIDENTS NEAR THE MOTOROLA SUPERFUND SITES CONDUCT UNSOPHISTICATED HEALTH STUDIES BECAUSE THEY DONT TRUST THE GOVERNMENT. NEITHER DO THE GOVERNMENT'S OWN SCIENTISTS.

  October 7, 1992

• RICH AGENCY, POOR AGENCYDHS PLAYS HIDE AND SEEK WITH MARYVALE CANCER MONEY

  September 16, 1992

• Swine Flu Arizona -- Nothing Yet Reported in State or Sonora, Mexico

  Image: Deanna Dent-- http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/slideshow/Mexico tourists wearing masks The swine flu situation in Arizona hasn't changed much since yesterday's post, except for a stockpiling of antiviral medications.Officials are telling Tucson media that Arizona still hasn't reported any cases, and neither has the Mexican state that borders us, Sonora. Nobody's been detained at the international border. Governor Jan Brewer issued a tepid news release at 8 p.m. (see below). The toll of dead

  April 28, 2009

• Swine Flu Arizona: Two More Schools Closed; Four Cases Confirmed, None Serious

  Image: Wikicommons Two more Valley schools will close for seven days after students were found to have swine flu, but health officials say all four known Arizona swine flu cases have been mild. (Note: This article was updated at 3:40 p.m.) The two schools are Tarwater Elementary and Hartford Sylvia Encinas Elementary schools, both in Chandler. Health facilities have seen the biggest impact from the virus as fearful people swamp emergency rooms and doctors' off

  April 30, 2009

• Maternal Deaths are Below Average in Arizona; Treasurer's Wife was at Higher Risk Due to Age

    The death of a mother during or just after childbirth, like that of Arizona Treasurer Dean Martin's wife, Kerry, is a relatively rare occurence these days, compared to most of human history. Still, the problem remains "significant," says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The United States had an estimated rate of 12.1 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2007, says the CDC. Compare that to 1915, when the country experienced a rate of 608 maternal deaths per 1

  May 26, 2009

• Nearly Half of Doctors in Poll Fear a "Catastrophic" Global Swine Flu Pandemic is Coming. Preparing For Sick Days a Must

  Nearly half (48 percent) of 675 physicians polled by a research group believe the H1N1 virus poses some risk for a "catastrophic" global Swine Flu pandemic. The study, done by HCD Research, tracked physicians' opinions weekly since April and found doctors' concerns at an all-time high. "Our recent study revealed that the level of concern among physicians regarding a potential H1NI pandemic has somewhat spiked since our June 10 study," reported Glenn Kessler, president and CEO of HCD, in

  July 15, 2009

• Hot Links: Child Care, Photo Radar, and Free Mercury Tickets

  ​The Arizona Department of Health Services will increase its fees for close to 2000 child state care facilities. The current licensing fee for child care providers is $150 for three years. With the increase, licenses will cost between $581 and $13,442, depending on the number of children...It's been one year since photo radar cameras went up across the Valley, and the Department of Public Safety is labeling the traffic cameras a success in their one-year report card, asserting "photo radar sav

  October 8, 2009

• Hot Links: Inmate Escapes, Food Stamps, and Teen Pimps

  ​An inmate escaped from the State Prison Complex in Florence Sunday morning, after cutting a hole in a fence. Police are still searching for the escapee, Yelson Moreno, 20, a Mexican national who was serving a 30-month sentence for theft...Transportation officials at the Maricopa Association of Governments will vote Wednesday on whether to approve the complete route for South Mountain Freeway. The route has been planned since the early 1980s, but final approval has been stalled several times.

  October 19, 2009

• Violent Sex Offender Escapes From State Hospital; Hopped Two Fences Without Anyone Even Noticing

  Jorge Murillo​Did you hear the one about the violent sex offender who escaped from a state hospital by scaling two 16-foot razor-wire fences without anyone even noticing? If you haven't, it's probably because it's no joke; it really happened Saturday night in Phoenix, and the suspect is still on the loose.Health Department officials say 40-year-old Jorge Murillo, a Honduran national who just finished a 10-year prison sentence for sexual assault, escaped from the Arizona State H

  October 19, 2009

• Gotcha! State Hospital Escapee Busted in California

  Jorge Murillo​We caught wind of this a few hours ago but couldn't confirm it until now -- Jorge Murillo, the state hospital "patient" who escaped custody last week by hopping two fences without anyone seeming to notice, has been captured. Murillo, a 40-year-old Honduran national, who recently finished a 10-year prison sentence for sexual assault, was busted near the Mexican border in Imperial County, California.  

  October 29, 2009

• Beware of Buying Phoney H1N1 "Cures" Online, Attorney General Terry Goddard Warns

  ​ Don't buy flu products online without your doctor's advice, or you'll probably get scammed. That's the message today from Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard. Flu cases are at epic levels in Arizona. Last week alone there were 1,588 new cases of swine flu -- totaling 5,226 since April, according to statistics recently released by the Arizona Department of Health Services. As Arizona H1N1 cases continue to soar, people are looking toward "non-traditional" approaches to treatment --

  October 30, 2009