Fred Mogul

Healthcare and Medicine Reporter, WNYC News

Fred Mogul appears in the following:

NJ Congressman Garrett: Medicare Not a Model for Health Care

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

As Congress debates healthcare reform, some Democrats are saying there’s already a “public plan” in place that satisfies many Americans – namely Medicare. But Congressman Scott Garrett, a Republican from northern New Jersey, says the government-backed medical coverage for the elderly is doing a bad ...

Comment

Congressman Anthony Weiner Returns to NYC to Stump for Single Payer

Monday, August 03, 2009

As their August recess begins, members of Congress are returning home to drum up support for pet projects. Brooklyn and Queens Congressman Anthony Weiner is adding his voice to the debate over revamping the nation's health care system by proposing a single-payer system comparable to that in Canada, England and elsewhere. He told WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show that elderly Americans and veterans already benefit from a single-payer system -- through Medicare and the Veteran's Administration.

Comment

Should Buying Derivatives "Naked" be Banned?

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Who's clothed and who isn't when Credit Default Swaps are bought and sold. Guest: Prof. Steven Figlewski, NYU Stern School of Business.

Comment

House Appropriates $70 million for WTC Medical Program

Friday, July 24, 2009

The House of Representatives today appropriated $70 million to maintain the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment program. The money would support a half-dozen clinics in the metropolitan area, and others around the country, for diagnosing and treating people with health problems related to ...

Comment

Study: Air Pollution May Lower IQ

Monday, July 20, 2009

A study measuring the effects of air pollution on pregnant mothers suggests their children might have slightly lower IQ’s. Researchers placed air monitors on the mothers during pregnancy, tracked the children for five years, and then measured their IQ’s. Doctor Frederica Perera says those in ...

Comment

The Impact of Medical Office Regulations

Thursday, July 16, 2009

An estimated half of all surgeries take place in doctors offices rather than hospitals – and we’re not just talking about removing moles or doing tummy-tucks. There’s been a growing call for health authorities to keep an eye on these private medical practices, and starting ...

Comment

State Keeping Closer Tabs
On Private Office Surgery

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Doctors are performing an increasingly broad array of surgical procedures in offices, rather than hospitals. They’re not doing open-heart surgery, but they are doing a lot more than removing moles. This week, a new state law takes effect, subjecting these practices to greater oversight by ...

Comment

Higher Safety Standards Now Required for NY Doctors

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Thousands of medical practices across New York will get closer government scrutiny starting today. A law takes effect requiring doctors who perform surgery in private offices to meet higher standards for patient safety if they do procedures that use “moderate or advanced sedation”.

State Health Commissioner ...

Comment

City Launches "Big Apps" Competition

Monday, June 29, 2009

The city is hopping on the iPhone "app" bandwagon. Mayor Bloomberg is hoping software developers will take new data the city's posting online and turn it into applications for fun and profit. Take restaurant inspection grades.

BLOOMBERG: I think somebody could create an iPhone app that ...

Comment

Tree Inspectors on Trail of Asian Beetle in Prospect Park

Saturday, June 27, 2009

The Asian Longhorned Beetle is chomping its way through the forests of the northeast, destroying maples and other trees. Jackie Beebe is a tree inspector for the U.S Department of Agriculture. We caught up with her, as she got ready to climb one of them ...

Comment

Hunting the Asian Longhorned Beetle

Friday, June 26, 2009

The Asian Longhorned Beetle is chomping its way through the forests of the northeast, destroying maples and other trees. Jackie Beebe is a tree inspector for the U.S Department of Agriculture. We caught up with her, as she got ready to climb one of them in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.

...

Comments [3]

Permanence and Transience on Governors Island

Friday, June 26, 2009

Project for the New American Century

They’re jokingly calling it ‘Staycation Island,’ or so says one of the PR people affiliated with Governors Island. And why not? In the summertime, it’s free to take the ferry there, and once you’re on the island, you can meander around the perimeter and gawk at the city skyline and the Statue of Liberty. Or you can leave the water behind (while still enjoying its breezes), immerse yourself in the island’s interior, and pretend you’re at any number of bucolic destinations much farther away than the 10-minute boat ride from Manhattan or Brooklyn.

Listen to our Morning Edition story on the island's new art installation and check out a slideshow, after the jump.

Comment

Governors Island: Evolution of an Art Enclave

Friday, June 26, 2009

An asymmetrical pyramid of light, a 1950s linoleum kitchen that shudders, a pseudo-documentary of a children’s game gone awry. They’re among 19 new arts installations opening today on Governors Island. WNYC's Fred Mogul paid a visit to the increasingly artsy enclave in the middle of ...

Comment

City to Post Health Warnings Where Cigarettes Sold

Thursday, June 25, 2009

The city is moving ahead on a plan to post health warning signs where people buy cigarettes. Assistant Health Commissioner Sarah Perl says the campaign would be the first of its kind in the nation.

PEARL: We’re going to have it at the place where people ...

Comment

Swine Flu Vaccine Likely to Be 'Prioritized'

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Local pediatricians and others hope that a new swine flu vaccine just announced last week will be widely available by Fall. With the intense interest in pandemic flu, patients are likely to line up for the vaccine, but Dr. Anne Moscona says it’s unlikely there ...

Comment

We Can't Handle the Truth

Friday, June 12, 2009

Dr. Thomas A. Farley, (Spencer T Tucker)

Dr. Thomas A. Farley, (Spencer T Tucker)

City health officials say that 16 people have died from the swine flu, and they now say that 12 of them had 'underlying conditions.' The other four were obese, which may or may not be a risk factor. The Health Department doesn't want us to draw any conclusions from this group who have died, because it's a small number, and there's nothing statistically significant you can say about them -- particularly compared to the hundreds who've gotten sick enough to be admitted to the hospital to the tens of thousands who've reported flu-like symptoms. (All of these numbers are just in New York City).

One well-connected infectious disease expert told me the Health Department is being vague about who has what underlying condition, because, 'For about 50 percent of those who died, they have a plausible explanation, and 50 percent they don't.' The city says that's 75-25, but we have to take their word for it. Some of those who've died have been in their 30s and 40s. That's certainly plausible for someone with a severely compromised immune system, from HIV or cancer; it's a bit more mysterious if those people 'merely' had diabetes or asthma, unless they were pretty advanced. As the New York Times pointed out, if you add up all the underlying conditions, you might account for one in three city residents. How worried should they be about getting swine flu.

Comment

H1N1 Number 15

Friday, June 12, 2009

The 15th New Yorker (at least) has died from Swine Flu. WNYC health reporter Fred Mogul updates the situation here, and Ian Lipkin, MD, discuss.

Comments [4]

Fewer Suffering from Flu, Death Toll in NYC is 16

Friday, June 12, 2009

Newly released figures confirm that people are still visiting emergency rooms with complaints of flu-like illness. But numbers have dropped sharply from the peak a couple weeks ago, and almost no one is being admitted to the hospital with severe illness. WNYC’s Fred Mogul has ...

Comment

City Officials Defend Response to H1N1 Outbreak

Thursday, June 11, 2009

City officials defended their response to the recent H1N1 flu outbreak today in City Council hearings. They addressed complaints they hadn’t given out enough information about what was happening in schools – and about why a small number of people have died. Newly appointed Health ...

Comment

The Decline and Fall of 'Big Law'?

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Demand for legal services in New York is down 10 percent and the industry may have to change its business model. Guest: Alan Feuer, The New York Times.

Comment