15 September, 2010
The September edition of the Massachusetts Medical Society’s Physician Focus television program examines the problem of foodborne illness, how food becomes tainted, the kinds of diseases it can cause, who is most at risk, and what consumers can do to protect themselves.
Food contamination has become an increasing problem in the U.S. and that’s raising concern among most Americans. A recent national survey by Thomson Reuters found that 61 per cent of Americans worry about food contamination. Recent cases of contamination have included lettuce, beef, peanut butter, cookie dough, and eggs – the last being the latest in a growing list of tainted foods.
In Massachusetts, the State Department of Public Health estimates that 1.5 million cases of foodborne illness occur each year. Across the nation, diseases from tainted food cause 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths each year, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control.
Guest for the program is Alfred DeMaria Jr., M.D., Medical Director of the Bureau of Infectious Disease in the Department of Public Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Hosting the program is Bruce Karlin, M.D., a primary care physician in Worcester.
The program is being distributed to public access television stations throughout the state and will be available for viewing online in its entirety beginning in September at www.physicianfocus.org.
Physician Focus is a noncommercial production of the Massachusetts Medical Society, the statewide organization of physicians, and Hopkinton Community Television, HCAM-TV. Now in its sixth year, the half-hour program brings viewers health and medical information on timely topics from physicians and other healthcare experts. Physician Focus is distributed as a public service and currently reaches some 240 communities and 1.8 million households in the state each month through the courtesy of public access television stations.
The Massachusetts Medical Society, with more than 23,000 physicians and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for the patients and physicians of Massachusetts. The Society publishes the New England Journal of Medicine, a leading global medical journal and web site, and Journal Watch alerts and newsletters covering 13 specialties. The Society is also a leader in continuing medical education for health care professionals throughout Massachusetts, conducting a variety of medical education programs for physicians and health care professionals. Founded in 1781, MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country. For more information please visit www.massmed.org, www.nejm.org or www.jwatch.org.
HCAM-TV was founded April 1, 2004 by the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Hopkinton as a nonprofit corporation to manage local access to cable broadcast facilities.
(This story was originally posted on September 8, 2010)
