Here you will find topics ranging from current events that affect public health in Arizona to overall information about the Arizona Department of Health Services
With all the things that have been going on I somehow neglected to write about Women’s Health Week - which was a couple of weeks ago. The theme this year is “It’s Your Time” and serves to remind women to take time out to take care of themselves. Women in all parts of the world [...]
He’s a guy that’s often thought of as the founder of modern day epidemiology because of his work in tracing the source of a cholera outbreak in England in the mid 1800s. At the time, scientists and the public believed that diseases like cholera were spread by “miasma”- basically that diseases like cholera were spread [...]
We understand that the Governor and the Attorney General are seeking a declaratory judgment in federal court regarding the implementation of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. When further information is available, ADHS will update you. Until then, the Department will continue to issue Qualifying Patient and Designated Caregiver Registry Cards on our website.
Our own Laura Nelson M.D. was honored by the Phoenix Business Journal Thursday night for being one of the 25 Most Admired CEOs in the Valley's business community. The awardees were selected for their outstanding leadership, with a focus on their achievements over the past year. It's no surprise that Dr. Nelson was honored this [...]
Early in my career, I learned the importance of have a few random minutes with someone that I had little access to… someone you bump into in an elevator, sidewalk, or whatever. Someone that can help you with your mission. It could be someone in a key position from a Stakeholder group, your boss's boss's [...]
Do you like a good mystery or are you a budding public health geek looking for some summer reading? Look no further than Medical Detectives by Berton Roueche. It’s a book with dozens of real-life public health short stories and mysteries (they all get solved). The stories include fascinating cases of cyanosis traced to a [...]
The Legislature completed the Regular Session a couple of weeks ago, and Monday marked the deadline for the Governor to make her decision about each bill that came to her desk: sign the bill into law, veto the bill, or do nothing and let the bill become law. Last week I summarized the new laws [...]
The U.S. Attorney for Arizona wrote me a letter today about how the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act and our rules interface with federal law. As you know, Arizona voters passed the Act last November and ADHS created a program to clearly carry out the voters’ wishes. While we've done what we can to set the stage for a medical [...]
An article in the Arizona Republic on Sunday, May 1 included a couple of sentences regarding medical direction at dispensaries that are inaccurate, so I'm writing this to clear it up. The May 1 article suggests that "the presence of an outstanding medical director could be the biggest contributor to an applicant being chosen among competitors to operate a [...]
Prescription drugs can be safe and effective at treating illnesses and conditions, but they can also be tempting for experimental teens, and misuse and abuse of narcotic prescriptions is a growing and now urgent problem. Powerful prescription drugs are often available and easily accessible in many, if not most, homes and many parents don’t recognize [...]
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