Sen. David Ford Diagnosed with Cancer

In an update to my latest posting, WTHR is now reporting Sen. David Ford was diagnosed with cancer today.  From the story:

Fort Wayne - State Sen. David Ford of Hartford City is “critically ill with cancer”, his office confirmed Tuesday afternoon.A prepared release from his Statehouse office says the 58-year-old Ford and his wife Joyce received the prognosis from oncology specialists in Fort Wayne where the senator has been hospitalized for the past week.

Please continue to keep him and his family in your thoughts.

Sen. David Ford Hospitalized

Throughout the day today reports kept coming in on State Senator David Ford’s hospitalization in Fort Wayne.  No details other than he is “Critically Ill”, according to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette who quoted family members, and they are awaiting diagnostic tests for a prognosis.  Please keep him and his family in your thoughts.

Here is the latest we have from the Fort Wayne News Sentinel:

State Sen. David Ford of Hartford City was in a Fort Wayne hospital on Tuesday with what his family said was a critical illness.

Ford, 58, underwent surgery on Friday after being hospitalized Jan. 15, Senate President Pro Tem David Long said. Ford and his family were awaiting a diagnosis from doctors, Long said.

“We will release information as it becomes available from David and his family,” Long said in a statement. “Our thought and prayers go out to them at this most difficult time.”

Ford is a Republican who was first elected to the Senate in 1994. He represents District 19, which includes all or parts of Adams, Allen, Blackford, Grant and Wells counties.

Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, asked for a moment of silent prayer for Ford before a committee hearing Tuesday. The full Senate later observed a 30-second moment of silence for Ford.

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Mid-day Musings: Dems Debate, Lobotomies, Etc.

Last night I was flipping channels between the Democratic debate and a PBS documentary on lobotomies.  Seriously, I was, I’m not just making that up for some punch line.

First, the debate.  Because I was switching channels, I obviously didn’t get to see the whole thing.  BUT WOW!  Can Hillary and Barak be more hateful toward each other?  On one hand it was entertaining to watch…sort of like a schoolyard fight, but on the other hand, has the Democratic party really sunk so low that two out of the three top contenders have to interrupt each other so much that they can’t even carry on a civilized conversation?  Someone needs to remind these two it was a debate, not an argument.  There is a distinction there.  The first is an exchange of ideas with mutual respect where, at the end, two people can agree to disagree.  The second, well, looked a lot like what we had last night.  Oh, and John Edwards didn’t come put looking too good either.  He appeared to agree with whoever had the best “gotcha” or the most applause.  All the time though, never getting his hands dirty.  If I continue with the schoolyard fight analogy, he is the kid in the back, yelling the loudest, but never putting himself out there to either throw a punch or take one in the gut.  Some would say that is smart, but where I went to school we had a rather unflattering name for people who did that.

Next up, Lobotomies.  Wow, what an interesting, if not gut wrenching show from PBS’s American Experience.  Everything anyone wanted to know about the procedure was presented in detail.  I have to admit, at times, I was glad to flip over to the debate as descriptions, pictures, and video were presented about the procedure.  It’s one thing to academically study something from the psychiatric past, but another to have it so blatantly explained.  I’d recommend watching it if your in the field, although ever being confronted with someone who had one is rare nowadays (they aren’t performed anymore).  Luckily, if you follow this link, PBS is promising to allow the show to be viewed online in a few days.

FSSA to Pay For Substance Abuse Program

Finally, someone, somewhere, is looking at treating Substance Abusers.  In an area where money is usually non existent, comes this from the Indianapolis Star about a pilot program in Vigo County.

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration has been awarded $14.49 million over three years for the Access to Recovery program.

That includes more than $1.44 million annually targeted to people recovering from meth addictions, which will be the focus of the Vigo County program. He said 30 percent of the program’s money must be spent on meth users.

Addiction treatment providers, include faith-based agencies, will apply to participate in the program, Scott said. The agencies are reimbursed for services from state vouchers. Services include care coordination, clinical treatment and recovery support.

ADHD, Lilly, and Resurecting Strattera

Missed this story in the Indianapolis Star a few days ago about Lilly’s attempts to revitalize Stratera.  It made me chuckle, because as I saw the headline I thought, “oh yeah, I remember when that came out”, but then never heard of it again…or saw anyone who was prescribed it.  It seems my experience is not unique, which is the point of the story.  Below is just a little blurb, as the article is really long, so if you want to read it follow the link. 

Lilly says ADHD is a legitimate, serious disease and is actually under-diagnosed around the world.

“Lots of people don’t feel this is a real condition, even though we have lots of data and a huge scientific base,” said Dr. A.J. Allen, Lilly’s medical director for Strattera. “But parents whose kids have ADHD know it’s real.”

Strattera faces other hurdles. It carries a black-box warning to alert doctors to reports of suicidal thinking in children taking Strattera, as well as a bold warning about the potential for severe liver injury.

And unlike other ADHD drugs, which start working within days, Strattera usually requires four to six weeks to take full effect — too long for some parents, who sometimes need to treat a crisis immediately.

U.S. Abortion Rate Falls

Regardless of what side you fall on this issue, this has got to be good news.  From WTHR:

The number of abortions in the United States fell to 1.2 million in 2005, down 25 percent from the all-time high of 1.6 million in 1990 and dropping the abortion rate to its lowest level since 1974, according to report issued [last]Thursday.