Friday 01-25-13

Proposed Mo. bill: Make parents tell school if they own guns

ST. LOUIS (KSDK) - Ever since the horrific school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, gun control has been a hot topic. Now comes word of a Missouri lawmaker who wants any parent who owns guns to notify their child's school.
The lawmaker says she hopes the already filed bill will bring awareness to schools and to parents about keeping their guns locked up.
It's the next idea in a long list of proposed ideas for gun control, making it mandatory for parents to notify their child's school about their gun supply.
"I am not trying to take away the gun rights of any parents or any other citizens I believe in the second amendment," says State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal.
She says she wants the violence in schools to stop and this is just one different idea that no one has brought up.
"It encourages parents to make sure they store their guns safely in their home, it also gives the school districts the opportunity to help encourage gun safety in the community and in the household," says the Senator.
"I agree with it, we need to know because a lot of parents aren't governing their homes properly," says parent Danaelle Stidum.
Some parents say the bill doesn't focus the attention on the parents that need to be focused on.
"It concerns me a bit because I think the parents that would have no problem registering the guns aren't the ones you have to worry about, I think it's the ones who don't or who are obtained by the students without their parents knowledge that's the concern," says parent Bill Koster.
The principal of Brentwood High School says the information may help the police more than the school district and what about blaming a parent for guns in their house they don't even know about?
"Maybe a student obtaining a weapon without the parent even knowing about it," says Principal Don Rugraff.
"I understand what they are trying to do, but making us notify them if we have guns is not going to deter the behavior what makes people do what they do with guns," says parent Kris Mills.
This proposal is one of only a handful in Missouri's house and senate. NewsChannel 5's political analyst Dave Robertson told me he's surprised that there aren't more bills being proposed about gun control, but the chances of any bills about the issue being passed is slim to none because of the political atmosphere between the lawmakers and the governor.
  http://www.ksdk.com/rss/article/358395/3/Mo-proposal-makes-parents-tell-schools-about-gun-supply     When to Treat a Cough With Antibiotics   by James Hubbard, MD, MPH
In case you haven’t noticed, it’s the cold and flu season. In fact my last few posts have dealt with “Flu Shots: The Good and the Bad,” things you can to do if you get the flu, and “How NOT to Die From the Flu.”


But now, your cold or flu symptoms are over, except for that lingering cough. Do you need antibiotics? How long can a cough linger and just be related to getting over your virus?

Two new studies investigate these questions and give some surprising (at least to me) findings—findings that I think might help you decide for yourself, especially if you can’t get medical help and antibiotics are in short supply.

First you should know that the majority of bronchial (lung) infections are caused by viruses. Antibiotics don’t kill viruses. And yet we doctors continue to prescribe them for most of those types of infections. Why?

Well, for one reason we’re trying to please you patients. I know that’s a kind of wimpy excuse but it’s true. Many patients get upset if they’ve gone to the trouble to come in for an office visit for a lingering cough, and all they hear is that it’s probably viral; take some over-the-counter somethings and it’ll run its course. Many see it as wasted time and money.
So, prescribing antibiotics is easier than asking you to wait, give your body a chance to fight it off, and come back if you’re not better in a week or two.
Don’t like that excuse? Okay, how about this? We’re afraid we’re going miss the few episodes of bronchitis (inflammation in the lungs that causes coughing) that are bacterial. Even from a detailed history and exam, it can be hard to tell for sure. We’re worried we might miss one, and then you have to come back in worse than ever, or even end up in the hospital—or that we might be missing an early bacterial pneumonia. You can die from that you know.
So what’s the big deal? Why not just antibiotics for all?

http://www.thesurvivaldoctor.com/