Articles
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Hamburger Thyrotoxicosis
In 1984, an outbreak of thyrotoxicosis was observed among residents of southwestern Minnesota and the surrounding areas of South Dakota and Iowa. The source of the affliction, dubbed “hamburger thyrotoxicosis,” was traced back to the consumption of ground beef prepared from gullet trimmings processed by a single slaughtering plant. This was later confirmed by findings of…
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Molecular Fingerprinting Used by Disease Detectives
New York City’s South Bronx was the center of the largest outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the city’s history in 2015. Legionnaires’ disease—a sometimes lethal agent causing pneumonia—is caused by Legionella bacteria, which are commonly found in warm water systems like cooling towers and plumbing. Traditional public health investigations relied on a laboratory method called…
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Ruth Rothstein—Effective Advocate
In Wind Beneath Their Wings: Improving a County Health System, Caryn Stancik and Elizabeth Reidy describe their work as the Chief Communications Officer and General Counsel for a large and expanding government-run urban health system. They credit Ruth Rothstein, former CEO of the Cook County Hospital, for establishing a culture that promoted women into leadership…
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The Tylenol Murders: Their Impact on Packaging
The Chicago Tylenol murders in 1982 were a cataclysmic crime that drove development of tamper-evident packaging. The series of deaths were caused by poisoning from potassium cyanide being laced in Tylenol-branded acetaminophen capsules. At least seven deaths resulted from this crime. While a suspect was never charged for the poisonings, a man named James Lewis…
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A Doctor’s Life in Correctional Healthcare, Dr. Jack Raba
In this two-part episode of Inspired to Heal, “Healthcare Behind Bars,” host Bill Trick speaks with Dr. Jack Raba, whose medical career found itself intertwined with Cook County’s correctional system at many points of his life. He volunteered during high school where he sat with patients to hear their stories.
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Laryngoscopy: From Head Mirrors to Fiberoptics
For the episode “Essential Items for your Medical Bag”, Inspired to Heal compiled a montage of guests’ responses to the question: “If you could choose one item to put into your medical bag, literal or figurative, what would it be?” Most responses were figurative—but what might the literal contents be?
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Will Consumer Safety Survive Partisan Pandering?
After over 50 successful years, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is under threat as the congressionally mandated bipartisan formulation of the committee has been compromised and its political independence threatened by transfer to the Department of Health & Human Services.
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