<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1" ?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>washingtonpost.com - Second Opinion</title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/health/columns/secondopinion?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><description>Second Opinion</description><language>en-us</language><ttl>15</ttl><image><title>washingtonpost.com</title><width>140</width><height>20</height><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com</link><url>http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/hp/image/wp_web.gif</url></image><item><title><![CDATA[Everyday Heroes, Courting Stress]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24823-2003Dec1.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24823-2003Dec1.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Jurors may be emotionally threatened, especially if they sit on death penalty cases and are exposed to graphic details of violence.]]></description><author> Abigail Trafford</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Double Whammy]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9752-2003Nov24.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9752-2003Nov24.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[It's a bad marriage of two prejudices, ageism and crazyism. Working together, they are doubly vicious, throwing up medical barriers against people of a certain age who suffer a mental illness.]]></description><author> Abigail Trafford</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Second Opinion: Kind Practice, Bad Policy]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51048-2003Nov17.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51048-2003Nov17.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Internist Jim Stackhouse is an old-fashioned kind of doctor. If patients can't pay a bill, he writes it off or sets up a modest payment schedule. "If they are regularly paying $5 or $10 a month, we'll take care of them forever," says Stackhouse, 53, who practices in rural Goldsboro, N.C. Stackhouse and his partner are also on call at the community hospital to take care of the uninsured -- another "obligation," as Stackhouse puts it. The other internists in town do the same thing.]]></description><author> Abigail Trafford</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Health Care  By Proxy]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21078-2003Nov10.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21078-2003Nov10.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Searching for someone who has your interests at heart; someone who will salve my wounds and keep me from harm; someone who laughs at my jokes. Someone who loves me. A proxy who can speak for you, when you are unable to talk.]]></description><author> Abigail Trafford</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Second Opinion: A Homeland Compassion Act]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56300-2003Nov3.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56300-2003Nov3.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Some stories resonate: Daniel Scruggs, the son who hanged himself at age 12. Judith Scruggs, the mom who was convicted in connection with the boy's suicide. After a column two weeks ago about this unprecedented case in Connecticut, many of you responded with passion and caring.]]></description><author> Abigail Trafford</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Second Opinion: For Many, Open Season Is Just a Concept]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23069-2003Oct27.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23069-2003Oct27.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[<em> Choice! </em> That's the buzzword in the medical marketplace. Uncle Sam wants you to be a <em>smart consumer</em>. Get in touch with your inner MBA and choose the health plan that fits your needs.]]></description><author> Abigail Trafford</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Second Opinion: Blame to Spare]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52459-2003Oct20.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52459-2003Oct20.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Will the the people of Connecticut be better parents because they convicted Judith Scruggs of being a Bad Mother? After her son committed suicide, she was put on trial in connection with his death. A jury found her guilty of keeping an unhealthy and unsafe home -- a felony. She could face up to 10 years in prison.]]></description><author> Abigail Trafford</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Second Opinion: Time for a Better Hospice Law]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21105-2003Oct13.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21105-2003Oct13.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[It's time to tear down the Berlin Wall in medicine -- the wall between curing and caring that separates patients with disease from those with "terminal illness." The wall's foundation is built on a simple Medicare rule: In order for you to get hospice care, a doctor must determine that you will probably die within six months.]]></description><author> Abigail Trafford</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Different  Kind of Spin]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53102-2003Oct6.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53102-2003Oct6.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Shawn Hegdal of Bozeman, Mont., has no health insurance. But that's old news. Shawn Hegdal <em>still</em> has no health insurance. That's today's headline.]]></description><author> Abigail Trafford</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Second Opinion: The Great Pharmacy To the North]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19158-2003Sep29.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19158-2003Sep29.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Roland and Carolyn Watson of Towson, Md., didn't know they were getting into a war when they bought prescription drugs from a pharmacist in Canada, but that's the only way they can afford the drug Carolyn needs for her Parkinson's disease. Instead of a drug benefit under Medicare, the Watsons have the Buy Canada Drug Plan.]]></description><author> Abigail Trafford</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Second Opinion: Dress It Down]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12389-2003May19.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12389-2003May19.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Bright red dresses with scoopy necks and slinky hips from Bill Blass, Donna Karan, Oscar de la Renta, Vera Wang! Earlier this year, the startling collection of designer dresses lit up the gloomy lobby of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to highlight the government's Red Dress Project to combat heart disease in women. Last week, the red dresses were on display at the gala of the Society for Women's Health Research.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Still Aging After All These Years]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7995-2003Apr21.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7995-2003Apr21.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Bob Butler looks back in amazement. As a grand marshal of the longevity revolution, he has worked in the trenches of aging to improve the lives of . . . oops! That bad O-word. As in, old people. But Butler isn't afraid of it. A quarter of a century ago, he posed the O-question in his book: "Why Survive? Being Old in America."]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Wisdom Queens]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49730-2003Jan27.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49730-2003Jan27.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[At the annual Ms. Senior America Contest, there is a new definition of life after middle age.]]></description><author> Abigail Trafford</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Second Opinion: Sharing the Experience]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28587-2002Dec23.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28587-2002Dec23.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Annette Mitchell leans over one of the students and admires the drawing: a rectangular mass of pink with multi-colored boxes and streamers. Underneath, the youngster has copied down, "This chair is nice and soft for my mother."]]></description><author> Abigail Trafford</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Keeping the 'Grow' in Growing Old]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25442-2002Oct14.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25442-2002Oct14.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[The "use it or lose it" dictum applies to neurons as much as it does to biceps. At the Chautauqua Institution, stimulation of mind and spirit is the guiding principle for attendees 55 and older.]]></description><author> Abigail Trafford</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Second Opinion: Traumatic Lessons]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51761-2002Sep7.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51761-2002Sep7.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[On the anniversary of Sept. 11, most people express resilience, but there is also heightened anxiety over flying and other activities that seem prone to future attacks.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Second Opinion]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26806-2002Sep2.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26806-2002Sep2.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Abigail Trafford is away.<br> Second Opinion will resume when she returns.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Second Opinion: Code Red, With Welts]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55530-2002Aug23.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55530-2002Aug23.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[It's not just the heat that has made this summer so unbearable. There are mosquitoes, armed and dangerous with the West Nile virus, swarming up from the wetlands in Rock Creek Park and turning well-trimmed back yards into biological war zones.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Second Opinion: Less Care  for Patients]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37309-2002Aug19.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37309-2002Aug19.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[A new report on the nursing shortage from the agency that accredits hospitals puts the danger very simply: "When there are too few nurses, patient safety is threatened and health care quality is diminished."]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Second Opinion: Police Alone  Can't Keep  Kids Safe]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10201-2002Aug12.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10201-2002Aug12.html?nav=rss_health/columns/secondopinion</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:09:15 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[It's a good sign that amid corporate scandals and the war on terrorism, the administration is finally spotlighting the national security of children. Let's hope this is the beginning of a real effort to make American children feel safe.]]></description><author></author></item></channel></rss>