Remember that amendatory veto Blagojevich put together a while back? The one that would have required insurance companies to cover up to $36,000 a year in occupational, physical, speech and behavioral therapies in addition to psychiatric and psychological services, and an unlimited number of doctor visits for autistic kids until they turn 21? That bill, known as House Bill 4255, died yesterday in the Illinois House, another victim of the feuding between legislators and the......

Illinois had more cases of measles than any other state this year, and according to the CDC, most of the people infected were unvaccinated children who are homeschooled. According to Cook County Public Health Department's Catherine Counard, not vaccinating a child affects more than just one person. "[Parents are] making a choice for the entire community. Because they're putting others at risk. And if their children become infected and expose a newborn infant who then......

A new study published in the Chicago-based Archives of Surgery says that 57.4 percent of the general public and 19.5 percent of medical professionals "believe that divine intervention could save a person when physicians believe treatment is futile." [AP]......

The city will be spraying the Far South Side with mosquito killer tonight around 8pm, so if you live within city limits but south of 95th street, between Halsted and Longwood Drive, keep your windows closed this evening. According to the Chicago Department of Public Health, bugs carrying the sometimes fatal West Nile Virus have been trapped in the area, and the city needs to take "quick and decisive action to protect the public health."......

From the "DUH!" Files: Apparently fast food meals aren't good for kids. The Center for Science in the Public Interest released a report this week that concluded that kids meals at fast food chains exceed the 430 calories-per-meal limit. Among the worst offenders, Chili's makes the list twice with kids meals at or over 1000 calories each. [via MenuPages Chicago] "Rock Star Chef City" alert: BOURDAIN is in town through next week finally filming......

Tomatoes are safe again, but now a specific jalapeño (we like to pronounce it "jha-LA-pen-yo," just for kicks) has been identified as contaminated with salmonella. The contaminated pepper was found in a packing plant in Texas. [Trib]......

Governor Blagojevich used his amendatory veto power Sunday to expand House Bill 4255, which requires public employee health plans to cover preventative physical therapy treatments for multiple sclerosis and to expand autism coverage. The legislation comes from Senate Bill 1900, which did not pass earlier this year, despite broad bi-partisan support. Insurance policies in Illinois will now be required to cover up to $36,000 a year in occupational, physical, speech and behavioral therapies in addition......

Six kids in the northwest suburbs have contracted measles, so the Cook County Department of Public Health is reminding everyone that "vaccinations are the safest and most effective means to prevent serious illness." Measles is highly contagious—90 percent of susceptible contacts become infected—and in developed nations, about 1 in 1,000 measles patients dies from the infection; in developing countries, that rate can be as high as 1 in 4. Around 1 million children die from......

A third rabid bat was found in Waukegan last Sunday, and a fourth bat found in Deerfield, resulting in the Lake County Health Department urging residents to avoid contact with bats. So not cuddling of bats, people! Last year, nine bats testing positive for rabies were found in Lake County. Just a reminder of the effects and transmission of rabies: Rabies is an almost always fatal disease that affects the nervous system of humans and......

I'll mention upfront that I'm afraid of fish, which may affect how disgusting I find this story, but the line "thousands of bloody, hemorrhaging fish" should gross out even the steeliest reader. Thousands! Gaaaah. They washed up on shore near Milwaukee. The fish, round gobies (which have also been linked to botulism), are infected with viral hemorrhagic septicemia, an invasive infection that affects around 40 species of fish, including salmon and trout. It's considered an......

The Chicago Department of Public Health announced today that nine salmonella cases around Chicago have been linked to tainted tomatoes served at Adobo Grill, both at its Wicker Park and Old Town venues. The FDA announced earlier this week that the agency was investigating a nine-case cluster, but wouldn't name where, but local officials say they assume the FDA means these Chicago cases. So far, 383 people in 30 states plus DC have been identified......

It's a near certainty that people who eat at McDonald's on a regular basis, like Morgan Spurlock or Little Stay-Puf in the photo, can gain weight and have other potential health issues. But can someone eating nothing but McDonald's lose weight? That's what Chris Coleson of Richmond, VA did. Eating nothing but the Golden Arches' salads, wraps and the occasional cheeseburger after his wife expressed skepticism that he could even maintain a diet, Coleson has......

A Cary woman was maybe bitten by a rabid bat, so McHenry County officials are warning people stay the eff away from the flying mammals. Bat bites can be so tiny they're almost impossible to detect, so people who've been around bats are often given rabies vaccines as a precaution. This is the 15th report of a rabid bat in Illinois so far this year; 113 were reported last year, but there hasn't been a......

WGN didn't lead off last night's 9 p.m. newscast with more Clinton/Obama drama. Instead, they started the newscast with Jackie Bange's discovery of an advanced rodent civilization in Terminal 1, Concourse C of O'Hare Airport. We're prone to hyperbole. Actually, it's just a pretty serious infestation centered around the terminal's food kiosks. The report, highlighted by video of WGN camera crews setting up cookies like a game of Jenga at a key party for the......

We're always impressed by the lengths people will go to have their voices heard for a good cause, even if we don't always follow their logic. Which is why we love that this man turned to Daniel-san karate chopping to get on Oprah. [Ed note: Try a billboard! It worked for the puppymill people.] Alabama native and karate expert Ron Werstler has spent the past week breaking wood blocks with his hands outside of Harpo......

Photo by Katherine of Chicago Items worth thousands of dollars were stolen from the South Side home where five people were murdered last week. A flat-screen TV, diamond jewelry, several watches and a pair of earrings are among the stolen items. So far, the police don't have any suspects. [Trib] Roscoe Mellencamp's DNA revealed he was the same cougar spotted in Wisconsin a few weeks ago and that he's genetically linked to a big......

Photo by Brantastic Math cookies?! Thank you, internet, for continuing to make my dreams come true. [Evil Mad Scientist] The City settled a lawsuit today with the survivors and the families of victims from a 2003 fire in the Cook County Administration building. The City agreed to pay $50 million to the 24 plaintiffs; Cook County has already agreed to pay $26 million, and the building's management firm has agreed to pay $24 million.......

Well, Lou was already gonna be at The Pitchfork Music Festival (July 18-20) anyway since Dinosaur Jr is playing that Sunday, but now he'll be there opening night as well, leading Sebadoh through Bubble and Scrape! Other new additions are: The Hold Steady (squee!), Elf Power, Caribou, Icy Demons, Boban Markovic Orkestar, Titus Andronicus, Bon Iver, Times New Viking, HEALTH, High Places, and Mahjongg. Holy shit. Really, they just really outdid themselves this year. Getcher......

It’s no secret around here that we love dogs. But what we love even more are dogs with jobs. (Not to be confused with dogs that pretend to have jobs.) Seeing Eye dogs are the most well-known service dogs but seizure- response dogs are becoming more in demand for people who suffer from epilepsy. Seizure-response dogs are trained to get help when their owners have a seizure (so it’s not just a clever name)......

Four people got new kidneys today from living-donor transplants at Northwestern in what doctors there call a "domino exchange," in which donors "agreed to give a kidney to a stranger in exchange for a compatible kidney from an unrelated donor for their sick relative." Like a big old organ web of sharing and caring. Living-donor kidneys are the best kinds of kidneys to get, and donors lead totally normal lives afterwards. April is National Donate......

Is Illinois heading towards legalized medical marijuana? State Senator John Cullerton (pretty website!) hopes so. He's sponsoring a bill that the Senate Public Health Committee approved 6-4 yesterday. A similar measure failed in the Senate last year, but try, try again. The Alternative Treatment for Serious Diseases Causing Chronic Pain and Debilitating Conditions bill would allow some patients to possess "no more than 8 plants and two and one-half ounces of usable marijuana." The bill......

The latest weapon in Chicago's war on drugs may be banning the little plastic bags some drugs come in. No, really. Alderman Robert Fioretti wants to restrict the sale of "self-sealing plastic bags under two inches in either height or width." Apparently only one alderman on the Health Committee found anything remotely strange about this ban. "I just want to make sure that we don’t — how do you say it — bite off your......

Late Friday, Todd Stroger and nine other county commissioners worked to close the Cook County budget for 2008. The compromise deal doubled the county parking taxes and raised the sales tax to 1.75 percent - making Chicago one of the highest taxed cities in the nation. Those tax hikes, coupled with an agreement to cede control of the county Health Services Bureau to an independent oversight panel yielded the elusive ninth vote that Stroger had......

The Cook County Board of Commissioners had a contentious meeting yesterday as they tried to resolve a looming budget shortfall of nearly $300 million. The board must pass a budget by Feb 29 or face a partial shut down of the county government. Board President Todd Stroger has been trying to convince county commissioners and the public that unless the county sales tax is raised to two percent from its current 0.75 percent, county health......

Governor Blagojevich delivered his State of the State and budget address today. He wants to pass a capital bill based on privatizing the Illinois lottery, and says he has "three clear and achievable goals" for our state's economy: 1. "Invest in our infrastructure" 2. "Relief for families" and 3."Tax cuts for businesses." As we comb through the speech (more later today or tomorrow), here's a breakdown of how many times Blago uttered these words: Economics,......

It seems like everybody in town knows Tony Rezko's name. And why not? Besides being under federal indictment, he's a big player in Illinois politics. He's also gotten some national attention, with Former Gov. Jim Edgar musing that Rezko isn't really Obama's problem, and a photo of him with former President Bill Clinton surfacing on the Today show. So who is Tony Rezko, and why is he under indictment? Rezko immigrated to Chicago after high......

Dr. Maines was inoculating 10-day old emryonated hen's eggs with a specimen containing an H5N1 avian influenza virus. This experiment was part of a study to investigate the pathogenicity and transmissibility of newly emerging H5N1 viruses. Identification of genetic markers affecting the ability of H5N1 viruses to transmit efficiently will help in the early identification of emerging H5N1 viruses with pandemic potential. Information gained from this study is important for pandemic preparedness. Image and......

Sha na na na, sha na na na, Sears CEO Aylwin Lewis. Lewis's official last day is Saturday, but his bank account won't know the difference--he'll be collecting his $1 million salary and benefits through 2010. But that's just cause he did so well a godawful job that led to four quarters of net losses. Burn! Things could be worse for Lewis, though. He could be one of the Sears employees from Hoffman Estates who......

++ Only 34 percent of Illinois sex ed teachers talk about condom use, 68 percent talk about birth control, and 30 percent have never been trained to teach sexual health courses, according to a study commissioned by the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health. The authors of the study blame abstinence-only federal funding. ++ Scum of the earth & co. stole computers from a Blue Island school for students with special needs. The police caught them,......

Just days after the death of his father, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has indicated that he may agree to give control of the county hospitals to an independent agency. Stroger's chief of staff Lance Tyson told Crain's Chicago Business "the intent is to take health services for the poor out of the sphere of politics and put it into a sphere of greater business expertise." The proposal to turn the county's health care......