Penn Elm Medical Group
488 E. Valley Parkway
Suite 411
Escondido, CA 92025
(760) 745-2000

NEWSLETTER:
OCTOBER 2004

News You Can Use
Fluoride Flowing in Escondido
by: PAUL SISSON - Staff Writer, North County Times (article edited for this newsletter)

The city of Escondido began adding fluoride to its local drinking water over a month ago. Fluoride is a naturally occurring chemical present in unpurified water. Escondido's water supply naturally contains about three parts fluoride per one million parts water. Under the city's fluoridation plan, that dose will be increased to eight parts per million.

Escondido is the first city in San Diego County to add fluoride to its drinking water. Only about 75 percent of the city's households will receive the added fluoride, since areas west of Interstate 15 are supplied by the Rincon Water District rather than the city.

Fluoride supplements are often prescribed by dentists and physicians as a way of fighting tooth decay, and the American Dental Association recommends stopping fluoride supplements if a child lives in a fluoridated community.

A 1995 state mandate ordered all water agencies serving more than 10,000 customers to add the chemical as a way of helping prevent tooth decay if funding is available. Funding became available in 2001 when the Escondido City Council voted 3-2 to fluoridate after receiving a $300,000 grant from the California Dental Association Research Fund.

Because Escondido is the first of San Diego County's 18 cities to fluoridate, it finds itself the focus of wide-ranging media interest. Though it would have been easier to let some other city be the center of attention, Patrick Thomas, director of the Escondido Public Works Department, said the availability of funding drove the decision to move forward. "I don't think there was any desire to be first," Thomas said. "I don't think anyone was going to go to jail if we didn't do it, but the city council voted and decided it would be a good thing for the people who live in Escondido."

Thomas said the only way to remove fluoride from drinking water is to use an expensive "reverse osmosis" filter. Most charcoal filters sold in local stores do not remove the chemical. For a review of the controversy over the fluoridation of community water supplies, see: www.fluoridealert.org/hileman.htm. Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 740-5416 or psisson@nctimes.com.

Medicare Drug Program Woes
Nearly half of Medicare beneficiaries expressed an unfavorable impression of the new law that adds a drug benefit to the program, according to a survey released August 10 by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University School of Public Health in Cambridge, Mass. In the July survey of 1,223 Medicare recipients, 47 percent reported an unfavorable view of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act, compared with 26 percent who gave it a favorable review. One in four had no opinion. However, 66 percent said they wanted Congress to fix, rather than repeal, the act. "Fifteen months from implementation in January 2006, seniors are mostly negative and very confused, but there is little evidence of a large-scale backlash," said Drew Altman, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation. When asked about November's elections, 28 percent of the seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare who were surveyed said the passage of the new law would affect their votes for president. A larger group—38 percent—said the law would influence their votes for members of Congress. Complete findings from the telephone survey and a webcast of the press briefing are available at www.kff.org/medicare/pomr081004pkg.cfm. For information about the medicare prescription drug benefit see www.aarp.org/legislative/prescriptiondrugs.

Don’t Treat That Ear Infection Yet!
A new guideline, Otitis Media With Effusion (Ear infections with fluid collecting in the middle ear), calls for physicians to wait at least three months before actively treating the condition in children. The clinical practice guideline—a collaboration of the American Academy of Family Practice, American Academy of Pediatrics, and American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery—was published May 3 in the journal Pediatrics. The discussion in this recent literature underlines the nationwide problem of over-prescribing of antibiotics. Every individual case is different, and it's possible that your doctor won’t wait this long to begin treatment. But it reminds us all that we need to be very selective about when to give antibiotics to our children. Click here for full article.

Important Announcements
Flu Vaccine Shortage
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Tuesday, October 5, that the Chiron Fluvirin vaccine would not be supplied this season because British authorities suspended the manufacturer's license at its vaccine manufacturing plant in Liverpool, England. Fluvirin is the vaccine the California State Immunization Branch had purchased for adults. It was scheduled to be distributed to Public Health Centers, Community Health Centers, and many agencies that had agreed to administer the vaccine, primarily to adults at risk and their contacts.

Because of the shortage, healthy adults are being asked to not get the vaccine this year to be sure there is enough to protect those at high risk for severe complications from the flu.

Priority risk groups include:

* Children 6-23 months
* Adults 65 years and older
* Persons 2-64 years of age with chronic medical conditions
* Women who will be pregnant during flu season
* Residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities
* Persons 6 months to 18 years on chronic aspirin therapy
* Health care workers with direct patient care
* Household and out-of-home caregivers of children 0-6 months of age

There is a limited supply of vaccine available in the community. Members of priority groups are encouraged to contact their provider or call the flu hotline at 877-358-0202. The San Diego CHIP website, www.sdchip.org (click on the "no flu" icon) has a listing of sites (locations, hours and cost) offering flu vaccine in San Diego County. Penn ELm is in the process of trying to secure a limited supply of available flu vaccine for our high risk patients. Please stay tuned!

What’s New at Penn Elm?
Employment Opportunities...
Penn Elm needs you! We are now interviewing for full-time positions in our reception and medical assisting departments. Applicants must have three or more years of experience in the medical field. We offer excellent benefits and working environment. Please fax resumés to 760-745-0451 attention: HR Department.

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