WEDNESDAY TOP NEWS LINKS:
As one of the nation’s consistently ranked “fattest cities,” Houston just got a new diagnosis.
Andrew Pollack, New York Times
The American Medical Association has officially recognized obesity as a disease, a move that could induce physicians to pay more attention to the condition and spur more insurers to pay for treatments.
In making the decision, delegates at the association’s annual meeting in Chicago overrode a recommendation against doing so by a committee that had studied the matter.
“Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affects approximately one in three Americans,” Dr. Patrice Harris, a member of the association’s board, said in a statement. She suggested the new definition would help in the fight against Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, which are linked to obesity.
To some extent, the question of whether obesity is a disease or not is a semantic one, since there is not even a universally agreed upon definition of what constitutes a disease. And the A.M.A.’s decision has no legal authority.
Still, some doctors and obesity advocates said that having the nation’s largest physician group make the declaration would focus more attention on obesity. And it could help improve reimbursement for obesity drugs, surgery and counseling.
(Read the full story at the New York Times)
RELATED STORIES:
• AMA Backs Disease Classification For Obesity (Forbes)
• Medical group recognizes obesity as a disease (USA Today)
LOCAL AREA HEADLINES:
- How The Houston School District Plans To Cover A $24 Million Deficit With 2-Cent Tax Hike (KUHF Public Radio)
- How Students Follow In Astronauts’ Footsteps … Literally (KUHF Public Radio)
- Houston group protests gun control outside Jackson Lee’s office (Chron.com)
- New splash pad opens in Houston’s Fifth Ward (KIAH 39 Newsfix)
- Pasadena woman attacked by Africanized honey bees (KPRC 2 News)
- A marine’s 200 mile ride, The hard way (KRIV 26 News)
- Do You Need Help Evacuating Before A Hurricane? Galveston Wants To Know (KUHF Public Radio)
- JETT tourniquet helps save first civilian (Chron.com)
- A&M prof’s plan to study human cancer using pets goes national (Chron.com)
STATE HEADLINES:
- How to Put a Wind Turbine in the Texas Gulf (State Impact Texas)
- TWIA Board Agrees to Steps to Address Financial Woes (Texas Tribune)
- Southeast Texas jail was ‘rape camp,’ inmate lawsuit alleges (Chron.com)
- Price to pollute hits record high (Houston Chronicle)
NATION & WORLD:
- House Passes Bill That Would Ban Abortions After 20 Weeks (NPR)
- Arizona Legislature passes Medicaid expansion (Chron.com)
- Smartphones Help Bridge Gaps In Electronic Medical Records (NPR)
- Immigration Law Changes Seen Cutting Billions From Deficit (New York Times)
