State budget cuts have advocates for the mentally ill worried about potential cuts in services.

Rockland’s Commissioner of Mental Health Mary Ann Walsh-Tozer will meet with members of NAMI-FAMILYA, a local  advocacy group, next week to talk about making priorities for care given limited funds.

Coffee with the Commissioner will be held at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 18 in Building F, Room 119 of the Dr. Robert L. Yeager Center in Ramapo.

The meeting is free and open to the public. Call 845-359-8787 for more information.

It’s not easy keeping track of which food products are safe in the age of salmonella scares. But thanks to officials at the Westchester Department of Health we now know there’s a quick and easy way to keep track of updates to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recall list.

Download a widget for your computer’s desktop HERE. It will give you all the product info you need on peanut butter and other foods and it’s constantly updated.

There is no evidence that vaccines caused autism in children, a special court ruled today. The ruling means that parents who claimed that childhood vaccines caused their kids to develop autism are not entitled to any compensation.

The long-awaited decision on three test cases is a severe blow to parents who have  argued that childhood vaccines have been responsible for the surge in autism diagnoses in the United States in recent decades, the Associated Press reports.

Most mainstream scientists have  argued there is no link between vaccines and autism, and warned that scaring parents away from vaccinating their youngsters places children at risk for a host of serious childhood diseases.

The vaccine court was set up by Congress as part of what is known as the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. It was primarily designed to compensate the tiny fraction of people who suffer serious side effects from vaccines.

Today’s decision is sure to spur more debate among parents and scientists who still don’t have a clear answer to the question of what causes autism.

Rockland’s own Dr. Michael Lippe, head of the emergency department at Good Samaritan Hospital, was a star last night—for about six seconds. The emergency medicine physician appeared in an episode of Scrubs, the screwy hospital drama now on ABC.

Lippe, who is also a licensed pilot, bid on the chance to appear on the show during Good Sam’s annual golf event in 2007. He won and he, his wife and children, were flown to California to meet the cast of the show.

I didn’t catch last night’s episode, but I’m told that Lippe could be seen for several seconds as he walked behind a main character.

I’m sure that his TV debut wasn’t as tough as his day job saving lives in a busy Rockland ER.

Another local angle: the producer of last night’s episode was Neil Goldman, whose father owns Touch of Class Cleaners in Pomona.

The good people at Peanut Corporation of America who brought us salmonella in our kid’s cookies and sickened more than 600 nationwide announced today that they have closed a second plant pending the outcome of another food safety inspection.

The “Plainview Peanut Company”:http://www.peanutcorp.com/pdf/PPC_Release_2_10_09.pdf in Texas, will remain closed while the  Texas Department of State Health Services  and the Food and Drug Administration complete investigations of the plant’s procedures and records of food safety.

So far, eight people nationwide have died as a result of eating peanut butter tainted with salmonella. At least 21 people in New York, including a young boy in Dutchess County, have been sickened in the outbreak.

The “Food and Drug Administration”:http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm has a database of more than 1,800 foods that might contain peanut butter or peanut paste linked to the outbreak that were manufactured in Peanut Corporation’s plant in Georgia.

A story I wrote about “Dr. Lloyd Hamilton”:http://www.lohud.com/article/2008902090341

a retired Grand View physician who wants to re-open a clinic for the poor that was closed by Rockland County earlier this year, has gotten a lot of attention.

Dr. Hamilton tells me that he’s a little embarrassed by the portrayal of him as “a cross between Marcus Welby, Albert Schweitzer and Jesus Christ.”

Embarrassment aside, Dr. Hamilton has been heartened—and a bit overwhelmed—by the offers of help he has received. Several well-connected people are working with him to try to convince Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef to reopen the clinic for the poor that was closed Jan. 1 because of a cut in state funding.

Others are looking into possible new locations for a medical clinic serving the poor. Still others want to volunteer for his newly formed group Doctors Within Borders.

Dr. Hamilton is interested in contacting health care professional who want to volunteer their services. He asks that people contact him via e-mail at hamilcom@aol.com.

I’ll write an updated story when Dr. Hamilton is a bit further along in his plans to open a clinic.

Can healthful food taste as good as its less healthful counterpart? The Rockland Department of Health will be doing two food demonstrations to try to convince people to eat food that’s better for them.
The first demonstration will take place tomorrow (Feb. 10) from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Avenue Deli, 87 Samsondale Ave., West Haverstraw.
The second one will take place from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.  Feb. 17 at Jose’s Grocery, 58 Railroad Ave., West Haverstraw.
For more information go to www.rocklandsteps.org or call 845-364-2500.

Peanut products from a plant linked to the nationwide salmonella were shipped to schools in California, Minnesota and Idaho, federal officials have said. There is no indication that school in New York received the tainted products.

The number of people across the nation sickened by the peanuts is now close to 600.

The “Food and Drug Administration”:http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm has a database of foods that might contain peanut butter or peanut paste that has been linked to an outbreak of salmonella.
The agency updates the list daily as the number of companies found to have used peanut products made by Peanut Corp. of America increases to more than 1,500.

The federal Department of Agriculture is now reporting that peanut products possibly contaminated with salmonella were used in school lunches in three states, according to the Associated Press. No word yet on which three states.

The “Agriculture Department”:http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2009/02/0038.xml just decided to ban Peanut Corporation of America from doing business with the federal government.

Peanuts made by the Georgia-based company have made more than 500 people nationwide,  including at least 21 in New York,  sick with food poisoning. Eight people have died.

The “Food and Drug Administration”:http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm has a database of foods that might contain peanut butter or peanut paste that has been linked to an outbreak of salmonella.
The agency updates the list daily as the number of companies found to have used peanut products made by Peanut Corp. of America increases to 1,000.

Reported flu cases doubled in Westchester during the last week of January indicating that the virus is spreading rapidly among local residents, county health officials announced this morning.

As of January 26, only 20 flu cases had been identified in Westchester, but by February 2, an additional 20 flu cases had been reported, bringing the total number of reported flu cases to 40, the health department reports.

Testing and reporting are voluntary, so the number of cases is an indicator of flu activity but does not fully represent the number of residents who have had the flu.

“These numbers tell us that the flu is flourishing in Westchester County,” said Dr. Joshua Lipsman, Westchester County Commissioner of Health.

Lipsman said residents — particularly those who are pregnant or age 50 and over — should get a flu shot now. Parents with children ages 6 months to 18 years old who have not already had their children vaccinated should do so, too.

It is especially important to get vaccinated this year because the prevailing flu strain that is circulating is resistant to antiviral medication, so treatment once you have the flu is of limited use, Lipsman said.

Residents are cautioned that there is still plenty of time left to catch the flu, since flu season often doesn’t peak until later into the winter.

Those who get the vaccine now can avoid the flu or have a much milder illness if they do get it.  Health care providers also should be certain to get their flu shots to prevent spreading the flu to their patients.

Typical flu symptoms include fever, body aches, headaches, a sore throat, vomiting and respiratory difficulty. Each year in the U.S., more than 226,000 people are hospitalized and 36,000 die from the flu.

New this year is the recommendation to vaccinate all children age five to 18.  Health care workers and household members and caregivers of infants less than six months old are also advised to get flu shots to help protect those most susceptible to the flu.

For more information, call the Westchester County Department of Health at (914) 813-5000 or visit the Health Department’s web site at www.westchestergov.com/health.