The Minnesota Department of Health would regain broad authority to test and store blood samples from newborn babies under legislation that has pitted medical privacy activists against advocates of public health and medical research. The bill, which has passed key committees in the House and Senate, would reverse the direction of recent court rulings, allowing…
When the gas chromatograph spectrophotometer broke late last summer, it was Grant Wallace’s job to fix it. The instrument, which the University of Minnesota graduate student is using to measure the tiny products of pesticide reactions, is more than 10 years old, and its manufacturer no longer offers repair services. With the help of a…
State health officials will start testing mercury levels in newborns at Twin Cities hospitals and clinics this summer as part of a $500,000 investigation to determine if elevated mercury levels among women in immigrant communities can be traced to illicit skin-lightening products. READ MORE
Justine Mrosak entered the exam room, laptop in hand, and began interviewing her patient about his shoulder injury, systematically checking off questions and entering medical data on the computer. At Entira Family Clinics, where the third-year medical student was making her rounds last week, the computer has become an extension of the doctor’s arm, as…
Rebecca Harrington 