Health

Performance-enhancing drugs hit high school level

August 14, 2013 By Jeff Odom

In light of the recent Biogenesis scandal that put a black eye on Major League Baseball, the Florida High School Athletic Association is conducting a major review of its policies against the use of performance-enhancing drugs for student-athletes.

In a release by the organization, which regulates interscholastic athletic programs for high school students at member public and private schools, FHSAA executive director Roger Dearing asked the Sports Medicine Advisory committee to perform a “top-to-bottom review” of existing policies to determine what can be done to eliminate PED use.

“The FHSAA’s overriding priority is the safety, well-being and constructive development of young student-athletes, whose bodies and character are still forming,” Dearing said. “Performance-enhancing drugs undermine every aspect of this goal, and so it is imperative that our student-athletes adhere to a zero tolerance policy toward these inherently unfair and dangerous substances.”

Existing FHSAA policies and bylaws state that student-athletes can be suspended from competing if they have used PEDs, but Dearing said it isn’t enough. Especially after a report by the Miami Herald alleged that two current high school baseball players were clients of the Biogenesis Anti-Aging Clinic in South Florida where many professional baseball players, including New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun and Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz, were found to have allegedly obtained banned substances.

In total, MLB officials suspended 13 players for their involvement.

Dearing said the issue starts and ends with coaches.

“Here is the bottom line for me: As executive director of FHSAA, I believe we must draw a line in the sand against performance-enhancing drugs,” Dearing said. “School districts simply cannot tolerate coaches who encourage or look the other way when athletes use PEDs. Therefore, these coaches cannot be allowed to keep their jobs or have anything to do with young athletes.

“This is more than safeguarding fair play. It’s about saving lives.”

According to the release, Dearing has asked the 15-member committee, which includes 11 physicians, as well as athletic trainers, former coaches and educators, to review a full range of issues related to PED use, including but now limited to:

–Whether existing policies and procedures provide sufficient authority for schools to test and discipline student-athletes who may be using banned substances.

–The legal, policy and fiscal implications of heightened policies against performance-enhancing drugs; and

–Whether the FHSAA prohibition of PEDs would be more effective if set out as a stand-alone policy rather than existing as a part of a broader policy on sportsmanship.

Dearing was joined in his pledge for a review by State Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, who is a former school principal and superintendant and now serves as chief executive officer of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents.

“Performance-enhancing drugs pose a very real, very dangerous threat to high school student-athletes, both physically and psychologically,” Montford said in the release. “I commend the FHSAA for being proactive in addressing the challenge presented by coaches, parents and young athletes who want to get ahead by any means possible, whatever the personal cost.”

Jennifer Roth Manyard, an assistant professor of family and sports medicine with the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville and member of the FHSAA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, said the organization is making positive strides to eliminate PEDs.

“Teenagers are still developing … and PEDs have no place in their lives,” Maynard said in the release. “Whatever the FHSAA can do to stop PEDs from being used by high school student-athletes is a step in the right direction.”

Nothing expected to change at Pasco Regional after takeover

August 7, 2013 By Michael Hinman

Pasco Regional Medical Center in Dade City is now under new ownership after a $7.6 billion buyout of its parent company.

Health Management Associates Inc., the Largo-based company that owns Pasco Regional and 22 other hospitals in Florida, was sold to Community Health Systems Inc., in a deal announced July 30.

For the first time in 13 years, Pasco Regional Medical Center — soon to become Bayfront Health Dade City — has a new owner. But the deal is not expected to finalize until the end of the year. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

Once completed, Community Health Systems will own 25 hospitals in Florida, and 206 nationwide. Before the takeover, Nashville, Tenn.-based Community Health had just two hospitals in Florida, with the closest in Lake Wales.

“We are pleased that this combination will create an even stronger organization for the benefit of our patients, physicians, associates and the communities we serve,” said William J. Schoen, chairman of the board for Health Management, in a release.

The purchase will likely not affect the upcoming name change for the local hospital, which will become Bayfront Health Dade City, according to a Community Health Systems spokeswoman. Tomi Galin referred questions to Health Management spokesman Eric Waller, but added that the acquisition won’t be completed for “several months.”

Waller released a statement about the acquisition that didn’t address any previously announced name changes for the hospital. Instead, he made it clear that no immediate changes were planned for the Dade City hospital in light of the purchase.

“The combination of Health Management and CHS is not expected to impact local hospital operations,” he said. “Our deep commitment to providing the highest quality patient care will not change.”

Pasco Regional announced the name change early last month, before the deal to purchase the hospital chain was finalized.

The Dade City hospital has been through several name changes over the years. It was originally founded in 1973 as Community General Hospital, but was renamed Humana Hospital-Pasco in 1982, according to the facility’s website. In 1993, after the Columbia network of hospitals purchased it, the name was changed to Dade City Hospital.

Five years later, the name was changed again to Pasco Community Hospital, and then was renamed Pasco Regional Medical Center not long after Health Management purchased the hospital in 2000 for $17 million.

The 120-bed acute care hospital is at 13100 Fort King Road in Dade City.

Wesley Chapel’s newest surgeon is a robot named da Vinci

August 7, 2013 By Michael Hinman

Adventist Health System has always stayed on the cutting edge of medicine, dating back to the 19th century when doctors employed by the company championed the dangers of smoking and the health benefits of a little fresh air.

Now the company’s newest facility, Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, is staying ahead of the curve once again with an advanced robotic surgery system that is expected to reduce recovery times with the most precise surgeries available.

The da Vinci Surgical System SI takes over the work on the operating table at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel with a surgeon nearby controlling every aspect of it. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

It’s called the da Vinci Surgical System SI, and the hospital at 2600 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. was expected to use it for the first time Monday. When it’s fully activated, it almost looks like a menacing mechanical spider in the operating room. But the da Vinci has the agility and dexterity beyond any human surgeon that will reduce blood loss, pain, scars and complications from all kinds of surgery ranging from prostate operations to intestinal resections.

“Basically, it does a much more exact surgery,” said Gill Green, director of surgical services at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel. “And with it, you avoid the complications.”

Surgery teams at the 83-bed hospital spent weeks training on the system ahead of their first operation on Monday. They learned not only how to prep a patient for the da Vinci, but also how to use its 3-D remote control that gives the surgeon a view he would struggle to see in a traditional operation. It takes laparoscopic surgery to a whole new level, said Mary Brady, Wesley Chapel’s chief nursing officer.

“Being a robot, the arm pieces are much smaller, and have much more room to work,” she said. “When the surgeon looks into the controller, his screen magnifies everything 10 times. And even if his hands are trembling a bit when he’s working the system, the robot arms are always working in a smooth motion.”

Some patients fear robotic surgery because they think a robot is doing the work.

Like many robotic systems, a surgeon directs the da Vinci controls, using its tools to make surgery less invasive.

“It works for many different types of surgery, but we don’t have to use it if someone doesn’t want it,” Brady said. “There are other alternatives as well, and that’s something that is discussed between the physician and the patient on how they want to proceed.”

Few hospitals are using the da Vinci system in the Tampa Bay area, but they do include Pasco Regional Medical Center in Dade City and St. Joseph’s Hospital-North in northern Hillsborough County.

But it is a steep investment. Florida Hospital wouldn’t say what they paid for the device, but prices can run as high as $1.75 million, according to the undergraduate science journal, the Journal of Young Investigators.

Yet, it’s an investment worth making if it can reduce the complications involved in various types of surgery.

“It’s a continuation of our vision from the very beginning that we would have state-of-the-art technology in this hospital,” said Tracy Clouser, director of marketing for the Wesley Chapel hospital. “We make sure we have only the best in all areas where it provides patient benefits, and better patient care.”

Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel opened last October, becoming Adventist’s 22nd hospital in the state.