A bill to offer optional testing of Georgia newborns for Krabbe disease, a rare genetic disorder, is heading to Gov. Nathan Deal for his signature. The state Senate on Friday unanimously passed House Bill 241, named Cove’s Law, for 19-month-old Cove Ellis, a Georgia child recently diagnosed with Krabbe disease. Families of children with the…
Troy Tribble, 41, turned to “dry needling’’ to ease his back pain and spasms. He’s had several sessions. Each time his physical therapist works on a different area. For Tribble, of Suwanee, it has made a world of difference. The change he has experienced is “in my pain level and how frequently the spasms come,” Tribble says….
The House Insurance Committee on Monday passed revamped legislation to reduce “surprise billing,’’ in which patients using hospitals in their insurance network may still get unexpected bills from doctors who are not in the network. Consumers who have procedures or visit ERs at hospitals in their networks often get separate bills for hundreds or even thousands of…
Nearly everyone has undergone an X-ray or MRI, whether it’s a screening mammogram or an examination of a bone that might be broken, and demand for these tests is growing as Georgians age. That means an excellent job market for people who have the right temperament and who are willing to earn a two-year associate’s…
A state Senate health committee Thursday approved a bill to offer optional testing of Georgia newborns for Krabbe disease, a rare genetic disorder. The form of Krabbe that strikes newborns is caused by a change, or mutation, in the gene that carries the blueprints for an enzyme called galactosylceramidase, which is crucial to wrapping protective…
Dr. Raj Miniyar, a Rome pediatrician, opened a new practice in nearby Trion a year ago. That office became the only pediatric practice in Trion, in the center of a rural county in northwest Georgia where 28 percent of children live in poverty. Miniyar says that when he sees a Medicaid patient for an ear…
This article was jointly reported by WebMD Health News and Georgia Health News Jackson Garcia was born “healthy and round and full of hair.” But at 5 months old, he started getting fussy around mealtimes and refused food. “My worst fear was colic,” said his mother, April Garcia, who lives in Lawrenceville, Ga.. When Jackson didn’t…
Jim Simpson has been named president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia, the Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit organization announced Friday. Simpson has been serving as interim president for Kaiser’s Georgia Region. He was previously senior vice president of finance for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Hospitals. Simpson also has served as vice president and controller…
The frequent “scope of practice’’ bills in the Georgia General Assembly typically cause commotion within the medical industry, pitting health care professional groups against one another. A recent example is legislation to let dental hygienists practice in nursing homes, school clinics and safety-net settings without a dentist being present. In the past, the idea was…
Piedmont Healthcare will operate 27 retail health clinics in Walgreens stores across the Atlanta area. The transition to Piedmont management is planned for August, and the clinics will be known as Piedmont QuickCare at Walgreens. It’s the latest move by Atlanta-based Piedmont to extend its reach across metro Atlanta and North Georgia. Last year, Piedmont…