Related Stories

South Alamo Medical Group to Host Its First Walk With a Doc Texas Event - 01/13/2020

San Antonio residents of all ages are encouraged to lace up their walking shoes and join Miguel Ayala, MD, of South Alamo Medical Group for the group’s first San Antonio Walk With a Doc Texas event.

Texas Physicians Propose Mass Violence Prevention Strategies - 01/13/2020

How should Texas address the incidents of mass violence that have rocked the state in recent years? Physicians laid out medicine’s priorities before a special committee of the Texas House of Representatives late last week.

Warning: Mercury in Skin Creams from Mexico - 01/10/2020

Texas health officials are warning physicians to watch for mercury poisoning after a woman who purchased cosmetics in Mexico was hospitalized in Texas.  

Left In The Dust: Helping Underreporting of Workplace Illnesses - 01/09/2020

Workplace illnesses can be difficult for physicians and patients because some take years to develop and frequently are masked or mimicked by other illnesses. Such a disease may not show itself until decades after the patient has left the job that caused the problem. By then, the illness may be so far along that little can be done. That time lag between exposure and illness is just one of several difficulties Texas physicians face in tackling workplace illnesses. Because Texas does not have a federally-approved plan for developing and enforcing workplace health and safety standards, the state defers to OSHA on this responsibility.

Cost of Newborn Screening Kits has Increased - 01/07/2020

Beginning Jan. 1, the cost of each Texas Newborn Screening Program kit will increase from $55.24 to $60.58 to accommodate the inclusion of X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) screening, which was added this summer.

Houston Physician to Host Her First Walk With a Doc Texas Event - 01/06/2020

The Walk With a Doc concept is simple: Physicians organize walks in their communities and invite their patients, their patients’ families, and community members to join them. Walkers will enjoy a refreshing and invigorating walk with Dr. Averyt and other health care professionals, who will provide support to participants and answer questions during the walk.

Arlington Integrative Medicine to Host Its First Walk With a Doc Texas Event - 01/06/2020

The Walk With a Doc concept is simple: Physicians organize walks in their communities and invite their patients, their patients’ families, and community members to join them. Walkers will enjoy a refreshing and invigorating walk with Dr. Parvez and other health care professionals, who will provide support to participants and answer questions during the walk.

Texas Physicians Explain Herd Immunity Needed to Fight Contagious-Disease Hotspots - 01/06/2020

A community with enough vaccinated people can protect each other from the spread of contagious disease. Herd immunity – also known as community immunity – protects those who are not immune and those who cannot or choose not to get vaccinated.

Breaking Down Barriers: New State Effort Helps Get LARCs to Women Who Need Them - 01/02/2020

In November 2019, HHSC named boosting the use of LARCs as goal No. 1 for improving the health of women and children. The announcement came when HHSC released its first-ever annual business plan, “Blueprint for a Healthy Texas.”

Help Medicaid Patients Keep Appointments With Free Rides - 12/11/2019

If your Medicaid patient has trouble keeping his or her appointments with your office due to lack of transportation or gas money, be sure the patient knows how to seek help from Medicaid.

Section 7: Invest in Public Health and Behavioral Health - 12/04/2019

The phrase “public health” elicits numerous images: first responders at a natural disaster, disease detectives peering through microscopes, posters, videos and flyers urging parents to vaccinate their children against deadly diseases, anti-smoking campaigns. Public health is all of this and more. It’s state and local government agencies, and individual physicians, working to detect, respond to, and prevent what’s bad for the health of Texans.

Screening Families of North Texans to Identify Persons with an Increased Risk for Cancer Due to Lynch Syndrome - 12/04/2019

In 2016, the UT Southwestern Medical Center’s Cancer Genetics Program was awarded a grant (PP160103) by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) to increase awareness of hereditary cancer syndromes, particularly Lynch syndrome (LS), and implement a population-based genetic screening program to identify those at high genetic risk for cancer.

Addressing Autism: Giving Physicians Tools - 12/04/2019

Autism spectrum disorder is a fast-growing, serious developmental disability in the U.S., affecting an estimated one out of 59 children nationally, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is about four times more common in boys than girls. In recognition of its growing importance, TMA’s House of Delegates in 2019 approved a resolution encouraging physicians to expand and promote resources for families of people with autism.

Q&A: Food Allergies in Children a Public Health Problem - 12/04/2019

Ask Austin allergist Allen Lieberman, MD, which public health issue hasn’t received the attention it deserves, and his answer shouldn’t be a surprise. “Eight percent of kids have a food allergy,” Dr. Lieberman, who founded Austin Family Allergy and Asthma in 2016, told Texas Medicine. “It’s literally a food-allergy epidemic right now.”

Vitamin E Acetate “A Strong Culprit” in Vaping-Related Lung Injuries - 12/03/2019

Vitamin E acetate, a sticky substance used in skin lotions and vitamin supplements, could be to blame for severe lung injuries linked to vaping that have sickened more than 200 people in Texas and thousands more across the U.S., health officials said Friday.

Two Texas E. Coli Cases Associated With Romaine Lettuce Identified - 12/03/2019

Health officials have confirmed two E. coli cases in Texas associated with tainted romaine lettuce produced in California. Officials with the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had few details about the Texas cases.

Help Texas Improve Health Outcomes for New Mothers and Infants - 12/03/2019

As a physician, you’ve seen first-hand some of the health challenges new mothers and their infants face, not only during pregnancy but in the days and months after birth. But if you’re interested in learning more about those challenges, and best practices for preventing and caring for them, plan to attend the 2020 Texas Collaborative for Healthy Mothers and Babies Summit in late February.

How Do Vaccines Prevent Us from Getting Sick? - 12/02/2019

Vaccines work to prevent people from catching infectious diseases. Here’s how: They introduce a dead or weakened version of the virus or bacteria to train our natural defenses to kick in. If our body faces a real threat from the live germ later, the immune system is armed to block it from harming us.

Science: Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism; Physicians Fight to Reassure, Immunize - 11/19/2019

Physicians repeat it over and over: Vaccines like the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine do not cause autism; they are safe and effective. Yet the decades-old false claim that vaccines do cause autism has convinced millions of parents not to give their children potentially lifesaving shots and could lead more to opt out, according to Texas physicians.

Leveraging LARCs: Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives Part of Texas’ Solution to Unwanted Pregnancies, Maternal Deaths - 11/16/2019

Today LARCs are one of the safest and most-effective types of reversible birth control, but their reputation took a huge hit in the 1970s thanks to the Dalkon Shield intrauterine device (IUD). Memories persist of news reports about the shield’s many defects. This mistrust of LARCs — along with other obstacles to their wider use — hamper progress toward a wider goal for Texas medicine: improving maternal health and reducing maternal deaths across the state.

Webinar to Explore Creating a Healthy Long-Term Care System - 11/15/2019

If you’re interested in the current landscape of the long-term care delivery system, its funding mechanisms, and the state and federal legislation that model this system, tune into a webinar scheduled for Monday, Nov. 18.

Memorial Hermann Community Benefit Corporation to Host First-Anniversary Walk With a Doc Texas Event(1) - 11/11/2019

Houston residents of all ages are encouraged to lace up their walking shoes and join Guadalupe Roldan, MD, and colleagues from the Memorial Hermann Community Benefit Corporation for their first-anniversary Walk With a Doc (WWAD) Texas event.

UTMB Students to Host First Walk With a Future Doc Texas Event in Galveston - 11/11/2019

Galveston residents of all ages are encouraged to lace up their walking shoes and join Samuel Mathis, MD, and The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) medical students for the school’s first Galveston Walk With a Future Doc Texas event.

Lone Star Family Health Center to Host Walk With a Doc Texas Event - 11/06/2019

Conroe residents of all ages are encouraged to lace up their walking shoes and join Daniel Porter, MD, of Lone Star Family Health Center for the clinic’s Conroe Walk With a Doc (WWAD) Texas event.

Prop. 6 Passage Will Save Lives - 11/06/2019

Statement by David C. Fleeger, MD, president of the Texas Medical Association, in reaction to the passage of Proposition 6.  “Thanks to Texans who checked ‘yes’ in support of Proposition 6 in today’s election, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) can build on its legacy of saving countless Texans’ lives, while saving and making Texas millions of dollars every year...."