Minnesota plays a unique role in the arena of health, with impactful political/cultural moments, and important contributions from institutions such as Mayo Clinic, Hazelden, UCare, among others. Over the decades, MPR News and American RadioWorks have produced a breadth of reports and programming specifically dedicated to the subject of health. This collection includes interviews, debates, speeches, and documentaries that provide greater detail to the many facets of healthcare, from both a local and national perspective.
March 13, 1973 - State daycare legislation. House representative, Arne Carlson speaks in favore of daycare funding. Nixon daycare cutbacks, healthcare, welfare,
March 13, 1973 - Legislation on non-smoking resolution. Note: not a law, but a resolution. Smoking, cigarettes, lucky strikes and Kool commercials, second hand smoke (says it's okay!)
March 13, 1973 - Protest on Nixon daycare cutbacks, and a call for Minnesota healthcare. Nixon daycare cutbacks, healthcare, welfare. Minnesota Children's Lobby.
March 20, 1973 - Several bills are before the legislature this session to regulate the hearing aid industry. Most are licensing bills for dealers of hearing aids. However one bill introduced in the Rep. Mike Sieben and Senator Conzemius requires that before a dealer may sell a hearing aid the buyer must obtain a prescription from a doctor. This ensures that the hearing aid is indicated and needed. The Attorney General?s office has run into the problem of dealers selling the devices to people who didn?t need them, either unwittingly or knowingly. A spokesman from the Attorney General?s office says not all hearing problems can be helped by a hearing aid. There are many different types and the correct type, or strength, is not always being recommended. Other physical problems may lead someone to think he has a hearing problem when he does not Dealers are not necessarily qualified to discover problems that may create hearing loss or the appearance of hearing loss Some dealers sell them much like cars, with the price being determined by the bargaining power of the buyer. The manufacturers suggest list prices and some dealers sell above or below that price The AG?s office has had many complaints about abuses by hearing aid dealers and supposed discounts that weren?t really discounts.
March 22, 1973 - In this summary of legislative activities the Minnesota House passed a bill providing for expanding the number of Metropolitan Council members from 15 to 17 and have the chairman appointed by the governor. The other 16 members would run in newly created districts. The House gave preliminary approval to bill reorganizing state government, creating a department of finance with a Commissioner of Finance appointed by the governor, and a legislative audit commission and a legislative auditor. The Senate judiciary committee approved a bill banning experimentation and research on a ?living conceptive?, defined as any human life from fertilization through the first 265 days of life. Thomas Marhar (sp?), clinical instructor of medicine at Ramsey County Hospital, testified for the bill, saying the law was necessary after the Supreme Court?s abortion decision which will make many more fetuses available for laboratory research. He says: the new law and the trend in this country is away from Judeo-Christian ethics, and the state of medical ethics at this time hasn?t been thought out and it will be years before it will be worked out. Speaking against the proposal was Dr. Bernard Merkin from the University of Minnesota says at they have probably the most active and essentially the only unit in the world looking at the effect of drugs on developing organisms, and after delivery in young children. He says the ability to study tissue from therapeutic abortions for growth abnormalities in fetuses exposed to drugs is crucial information.
April 9, 1973 - Dr. Joseph Wang talks about the history of acupuncture in China and the U.S. He feels it's worthwhile to investigate and study it, and use it in everyday medical practice. He talks about the failure rate and provides possible reasons. Side effects from this treatment are minor, such as infection from dirty needles or tenderness at puncture site. He discusses how acupuncture is practiced in China and training there. As a specialist in anesthesiology he's interested in acupuncture's use in operating rooms, and also for chronic pain such as migraine headaches and lower back pain. In China there have been reports of it healing deafness and some forms of blindness. After an upcoming trip to China he will set up a center in this area if he determines this technique has medical value, including a research laboratory. He feels as the first fluent Chinese anesthesiologist to visit China he must bring back information.
April 10, 1973 - Bill to prevent experimentation on human fetuses was heard again today. Opposing the bill was Dr. Charles McCann, university surgeon and cancer researcher, who says use of embryonic human tissues is indispensible to research now being done to isolate disease viruses such as cancer and multiple sclerosis. He says the bill places serious restrictions on medical research, and that it should be rewritten and made much less restrictive. People who wrote the bill are imposing far-reaching legislation that will affect the future health outlook for people who are alive now and for generations to come. Dr. Chet Anderson of the MMA says if this type of restriction had been around over the last 30 years we would not have practically eradicated polio, smallpox, and prevented rubella. It is a necessity for this type of research to continue.
April 12, 1973 - Heart surgeon Dr. David Sachs talks about heart disease being a plague in society. Due to the American lifestyle most people are on self-destructive trips but don?t realize it. He says no one is to blame but yourself, you have to take responsibility for what?s happening to you, and people use diseases as excuses, covers and masks. Dr. Sachs has created a series of coloring books about medical conditions and the body. He talks about working over 40 years in the medical establishment as a heart surgeon and not feeling fulfilled. He says people need to believe in themselves. Everybody has to do their thing. When your body is in harmony and balance you are functioning right, if you?re jealous, competitive, unhappy no matter what you do your body is out of balance. People have a spiritual obligation to take care of themselves; bodies have an infinite capacity to rebound. He?s sick and tired of the spotlight being on illness, he wants to start talking about the body functioning well. Health insurance and care should be called disease insurance and disease care. He talks about people needing to start to change their lives. Sachs says what?s missing in our government is a leader. There?s confusion and distrust of authority, how can you trust the FDA? There?s lack of communication and believability; everything around us relates to health. Reporter unknown.
May 26, 1973 - A desperate act, a scream for attention, a cry for help: a discussion on adolescent suicide. Connie Goldman interviews members of the staff of the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center and youth counselors from the Center for Death Education and Research at the University of Minnesota.
June 23, 1973 - Migrants in Action held conference in Moorhead on Sunday to discuss problems of Migrant workers in Minnesota. Roberto Trevino talks about Mexicans being a proud people and the only way to accomplish what they want is to get involved. No American is better than the Mexican migrants. Talks about fighting for their rights, white people in power need to help them.