Just in time for Halloween, state officials are warning against using cosmetic contact lenses that are not prescribed and fit by a professional.

Such lenses that change the color and sometimes the shape of the eye are popular around Halloween. The only problem is that they are illegal if they are not fitted by a licensed professional. They can also be dangerous.

The Food and Drug Administration has reported a number of risks associated with cosmetic contact lenses including conjunctivitis, corneal edema, allergic reaction; and corneal abrasions.

State officials have found cosmetic contact lenses for sale in gas stations, beauty salons, flea markets, and novelty shops.

Consumers can report the unlicensed sale of cosmetic contact lenses to the Office of Professional Discipline at 1-800-442-8106 or conduct@mail.nysed.gov.

A nurse’s union in California has a new online game: Dress Like Sarah Palin.

The nurses ask visitors to consider how they could spend the $150,000 that the Republican vice presidential candidate has reportedly spent on clothes and makeup during the campaign.

Play the game and you can decide: Should you spend $22,800 for two weeks of makeup? Or spend the same amount for 224 mammograms, 651 flu shots or 13.9 years worth of the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor for one person?

The California Nurses Association, which is in favor of a single-payer healthcare system, not surprisingly supports Barack Obama.

To play the game go to www.DressLikePalin.com.

When someone is experiencing symptoms of mental illness, one of the first people they may turn to may be a rabbi, pastor, iman or another member of the clergy.

To try to bridge the gaps between the clergy and mental health professionals, the Mental Health Coalition of Rockland County and NAMI-FAMILYA of Rockland County are holding a luncheon conference, called Clergy and Clinicians Working Together: A MentalHealth Perspective, on November 13 at the Stony Point Center.  

The luncheon is open to the clergy, mental health workers, patients, family members, and the general public.

Glen Milstein, a psychologist, is the featured speaker. The focus of his research is religion, where he examines, among other things,  the patterns of counseling and collaboration of clergy and mental health professionals.

Pre-registration is required. The $5 registration fee includes lunch. Walk-ins will be admitted only if seats are  available. For information call 845-359-8787.

For the third year in a row, the staff at White Plains Hospital Center will dress as Count Dracula and other Halloween costumes to suck your blood.

The hospital will host a blood donation drive this Friday, Oct. 31 from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the lobby of the main building, 41 East Post Rd.

The blood drive is open to the public and aims at pumping up the hospital’s blood supply, which typically runs low during the holiday month of November and December.

This year, the hospital will partner with its neighbor, Berkley College in the drive. Students, faculty membes and staff members will be transported to the hospital.

Health insurance costs are eating up more and more of the family budget, according to a new study.

Family health care premiums rose an estimated 7.3 times faster than earnings for New York’s workers from 2000 to 2007, according to a report by the consumer health organization “Families USA”:http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/premiums-vs-paychecks-2008/new-york.pdf.In that eight-year period, family health care premiums rose by 80.7 percent while median earnings rose by only 11 percent.The report found:

• For family health coverage provided through the workplace in New York, annual health insurance premiums in the 2000-2007 period rose from $7,090 to $12,812—an increase of $5,722, or 80.7 percent.
• Between 2000 and 2007, the median earnings of New York’s workers increased from $28,153 to $31,263—an increase of $3,110, or 11 percent.

When you think of the “typical” patient who comes through the revolving doors of the hospital emergency department certain images and stereotypes come to mind. Poor, uninsured, undocumented immigrants, right? Be honest. We think that people who don’t have regular doctors go to the emergency room with relatively minor complaints, right?

Well those perceptions are wrong, according to a new, comprehensive study of who is actually using the emergency room.

The uninsured do not make up a disproportionate share of emergency department patients because they are the only group that faces the full cost of care,  the study suggests. Researchers from the University of Michigan based their findings on 127 medical research papers. The study was published in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association.

To read a full story on the topic written by Julie Appleby of USA Today, click HERE.

The fourth Pancreatic Cancer Memorial Walk will take place on Nov. 1 at Nanuet High School.  The walk is held every year in memory of local residents who died of the disease. Registration starts at 10 a.m. The $25 donation will go toward pancreatic cancer research.  The walk will take place on the high school track or inside the school if it rains.  For those who can not attend but still would like to support the cause, a check payable to “Lustgarten Pancreatic Cancer Research”:http://www.lustgarten.org/ can be mailed to Mike Fitzgerald, 23 Carriage Lane, Nanuet, N.Y. 10954.  

For parents of children with food allergies, Halloween can certainly be the scariest day of the year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported today that in 2007, approximately 3 million U.S. children and teenagers under age 18 – or nearly 4 percent of that age group – were reported to have a food or digestive allergy in the previous 12 months, compared to just over 2.3 million (3.3 percent) in 1997.

CDC’s findings were presented in its new report, “Food Allergy Among U.S. Children: Trends in Prevalence and Hospitalizations,” and uses data obtained through the National Health Interview Survey.

Reactions to allergens can range from a tingling sensation around the mouth and lips, to hives and even death.  Children with food allergies are two to four times more likely to have other related conditions such as asthma than children without food allergies.

Doctors Across New York, a new education loan repayment and practice support program, is now accepting applications. The new state program offers financial incentives for doctors and other health care providers to practice in an underserved rural or urban area of New York.

The New York state Department of Health is sponsoring a conference for applicants from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Friday, in Meeting Room 1 in the Empire State Plaza Concourse in Albany. Audio links for the conference will be available in New York City, East Syracuse, Buffalo, Jamestown and Saranac Lake. Details on audio links and registration are on the DOH website at www.nyhealth.gov/funding/rfa/0810080408/. 

The Physician Loan Repayment Program provides up to $150,000 in repayment of educational debt for a five-year service obligation in an underserved area.

The Physician Practice Support Program provides up to $100,000 in practice support funding over two years for providing medical services in an underserved area. Funds are available for salary enhancements, sign-on bonuses, or other direct payments to physicians.

Preference will be given to physicians who propose to spend a majority of their time providing primary care services; general obstetric/gynecological services; general surgical services; care for children and the elderly; emergency medicine services; or mental health services, including child and adolescent mental health care.

A physician applicant must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident licensed to practice in New York State and be a graduate of a medical school, undergrad program, residency or high school in New York.

A new law signed by President George Bush last week established a national registry of people with Lou Gehrig’s Disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The new registry will be administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Advocates hope that the information will help lead treatments for the deadly neurological disease.“A nationwide registry will help us learn what causes ALS, how it can be effectively diagnosed and treated, and ultimately how it can be cured,” said Gary A. Leo, head of the ALS Association.U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-Bronx, whose district includes part of Rockland, was one of the sponsors of the bill. His grandmother is believed to have passed away as a result of ALS in her 50s.“The establishment of a registry will bring new hope to thousands of patients and their families that ALS will no longer be a death sentence,” Engel said.