Of Human Interest: News-lite

KIDS, FISH AND SPACE

Six students from Brevard County, Fla., will help scientists study the ears of dizzy, space-faring fish.

The experiments are being done to determine the causes of motion sickness in humans. The inner ear of a fish is a good model of the human inner ear.

The "fishonauts" are scheduled to "lift off" on NASA Shuttle Mission STS-107 on Thursday. They actually aren't leaving Earth but will study the fish as part of a SpaceJazz hands-on educational program conducted in parallel with a German flight experiment.

During the 16-day mission, student scientists will monitor the progress of the flight, coordinate experiment operations with students in Germany, collect data, and monitor critical hardware systems.

SPECIALTY DOCS BACK IN CHARGE

Specialty docs are back. A new study shows as managed care plans eased restrictions in the late 1990s, the proportion of specialist physicians jumped sharply between 1997 and 2001.

The number of physicians who felt they had enough control to meet patient needs increased 13 percentage points from 72.7 percent to 85.7 percent, according to the Center for Studying Health System Change, based in Washington.

The study is based on an ongoing national survey of 12,000 practicing physicians.

It also found big increases in the proportion of specialists who believe they can make clinical decisions in the best interest of patients without reducing their incomes and maintain continuing relationships with patients to promote high-quality care.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ONLINE

There are 87,525 local governments in America and nearly one-third provided information and services online, says the 2002 Census of Governments by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau.

"About 3-in-10 of the responding local governments, which includes school districts, reported they had an official Internet site," said Stephen Poyta, co-author of the report. "This is the first census of governments to ask questions about e-government."

Grouped by population, 78 percent of governments serving populations of 25,000 or more reported an official Web site, while only 20 percent of those serving fewer than 25,000 population had an online presence.

Overall, the number of local governments increased by less than 1 percent since 1997.

BCBS STUDY CITES LAWSUITS

Increasing litigiousness among patients coupled with inappropriately large jury verdicts are pushing malpractice insurance costs over the top, says a study by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

The survey of the 42 Blues plans indicates doctors are leaving markets where medical malpractice costs have skyrocketed, retiring early or refusing to perform high-risk procedures.

Additionally, doctors, in a bid to avoid later malpractice troubles, are increasingly practicing defensive medicine -- ordering additional tests or procedures -- which drive up health care costs.

Scott P. Serota, BCBSA president and chief executive officer, says: "Medical malpractice laws were enacted to protect patients in the event of an egregious error in medical judgment or treatment. But today, our medical tort system is so distorted that it is threatening healthcare affordability, access to care -- and some would argue it is jeopardizing quality of care."