Report: Doctors neglect high blood pressure

Report: Doctors neglect high blood pressure

WASHINGTON — A critical new report declares high blood pressure in the U.S. to be a neglected disease — a term that usually describes mysterious tropical illnesses, not a well-known plague of rich countries.

The prestigious Institute of Medicine said Monday that even though nearly one in three adults has hypertension and it’s on the rise, fighting it apparently has fallen out of fashion: Doctors too often don’t treat it aggressively, and the government hasn’t made it enough of a priority, either.

Yet high blood pressure, the nation’s second-leading cause of death, is relatively simple to prevent and treat, the institute said.

This is not rocket science, the report makes clear: Cut the salt. Eat more potassium. Get some exercise. Drop 10 pounds. Those steps could make a big difference in how many people suffer high blood pressure — 73 million at last count. An additional 59 million are on the brink, with blood pressure hovering at levels deemed pre-hypertension.

Dole recuperating from pneumonia, knee surgery

WASHINGTON — Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole is recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after a bout with pneumonia, his spokesman said Monday.

Dole, 86, was admitted to the military hospital about three weeks ago with a respiratory condition, spokesman Michael Marshall said. Dole soon recovered but has remained at the hospital to undergo physical therapy for knee surgery he underwent late last year.

Marshall said the pneumonia set Dole back and that he would need more time in the hospital to regain his strength.

Pediatrician charged with 471 child-sex-abuse counts

DOVER, Del. — A Delaware grand jury returned a sweeping indictment Monday against a pediatrician accused of serial molestation in what could be one of the worst child-sex-abuse cases in the nation’s history.

The 160-page indictment returned by a Sussex County grand jury charges Dr. Earl Bradley of Lewes with 471 counts of sexual crimes against 103 children.

Attorney General Beau Biden said all of the alleged victims, including one boy, were caught on more than 13 hours of video recordings, some dating to 1998, that were seized from Bradley’s office and home.

Bradley, who was arrested in December and initially charged with 29 felony counts for reportedly abusing nine children, is being held with bail set at $2.9 million. His medical license was permanently revoked by the state Board of Medical Practice last week.

Woman convicted of murdering 2 adopted girls

ROCKVILLE, Md. — A Maryland woman who adopted three children despite a troubled past was convicted Monday of murdering two of the girls, whose bodies were stored in a freezer as the woman continued collecting payments meant to help with their care.

Renee Bowman, 44, kept the bodies of the two young girls on ice for months while she continued to collect subsidies paid to parents who adopt special-needs children in the District of Columbia.

The bodies were found after the third daughter escaped by jumping out a window. The girl, now 9 and living with new foster parents, testified in the murder trial last week about the abuse she and her sisters endured — being beaten with a baseball bat and shoes and choked until they lost consciousness.

Number of missing rises

FUNCHAL, Madeira Islands — The number of missing on Madeira has jumped to 32, authorities said Monday, after weekend landslides crashed down the Portuguese vacation island’s steep slopes, smashing into homes and leaving 42 people confirmed dead.

The missing may never be found because they were most likely swept out to sea, officials said.

Doctor pleads guilty to faking research studies

BOSTON — A doctor accused of faking research for a dozen years in published studies that suggested after-surgery benefits from painkillers including Vioxx and Cele- brex pleaded guilty Monday to one count of federal health-care fraud.

An attorney for Dr. Scott Reuben said the anesthesiologist will have to repay $361,932 in research grants and forfeit assets worth at least $50,000 as penalty for his conduct after a plea hearing in U.S. District Court.

Prosecutors alleged the former chief of acute pain at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield sought and received research grants from pharmaceutical companies but never performed the studies. They said he fabricated patient data and submitted information to anesthesiology journals that unwittingly published it.

Associated Press