ames Breedin cannot keep track of how often he has been admitted to Howard University Hospital for heart problems. "It's been so many," said Breedin, a 75-year-old disabled former truck driver from Northeast Washington.

One reason for his frequent returns, he says, is that he often can't afford the medications his doctor prescribes to keep his heart problems in check, "so I have to do without." Another is that he fears exercising outside because of neighborhood violence.

Medicare is preparing to penalize hospitals with frequent potentially avoidable readmissions, which by one estimate cost the government $12 billion a year. Medicare's aim is to prod hospitals to make sure patients get the care they need after discharge. But this new policy is likely to disproportionately affect hospitals that treat the most low-income patients, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis of data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

 

Prince George’s County and Children’s National Medical Center, seeking to expand pediatric care in communities where many lack access to primary care, are slated to announce plans Wednesday for a new mobile health service.

The county, Children’s and Dimensions Healthcare, which operates Prince George’s Hospital Center in Cheverly, will focus on communities primarily inside the Beltway. Children’s already provides mobile services in the District.

Health officials vow to make changes..

A coalition formed to promote the sale of locally grown meat products in southern Maryland launched its Prince George’s County campaign Saturday at Miller Farms in Clinton.

Southern Maryland Meats highlighted its new freezer space at the market, focusing on locally grown produce, with sample meatballs.

Barbara Ouzts, 43, of Clinton, said the meatball sample tasted like “real beef,” as opposed to the beef grown in factory farms.

Prince George’s County will get its first teaching hospital by 2017, ending the need for residents to travel outside the county in search of quality medical care, officials said Thursday.

The medical center will be built in central Prince George’s and will be part of a regional medical network that includes a University of Maryland health sciences campus to help train the hospital’s new employees, the governor and county executive said.

This county facility provides some free services & is very useful to pet owners and potential pet adopters.

We often hear from people who think we run the Prince George's County shelter, but that is a municipal facility funded and operated solely by the Animal Management Group (AMG), an office within the Department of Environmental Resources in the Prince George's County government.

Six cooling centers are now open to Prince George's county residents, county officials said in a news release.

The centers will continue to be open on days with CODE ORANGE air quality or temperatures of at least 90 degrees.

Cooling Centers open for Seniors at the following locations: New Carrollton Nutrition Center,..
Camp Springs Senior Activity Center...
for the General Public...

Fairland Sports and Aquatics Center...

Rollingcrest-Chillum Community Center...

Palmer Park Community Center..

Hillcrest Heights Community Center

The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for Prince George's County and much of the region from noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Although predicting highs in the mid 90s, NWS warns the heat index values could climb to 100 or 105.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently imposed a civil monetary penalty of just over $4.3 million against Cignet Health of Prince George’s County in Maryland. Forty-one patients had filed complaints with OCR after being denied access to their medical records by Cignet Health. OCR investigated the matter and determined that Cignet Health had indeed violated the patients’ rights by denying them access to their medical records. The penalty for these violations was $1.3 million.

Amid a greater national and local awareness on health—the National Health Reform, Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign and Bowie's recent ban on smoking on city property—approximately 60 county residents gathered with the Prince George's County Council on Tuesday night to discuss the health issues surrounding the county....

According to the 2011 County Health Rankings, among the 24 jurisdictions in Maryland, Prince George's County ranks 17th for "Health Outcomes" and 18th for "Health Factors." Specifically, the county ranks 19th for mortality or years of potential life lost before 75 years old.

One factor of low mortality is the physical environment, which ranks 23rd, and includes air pollution, access to healthy foods and recreational facilities. Even though access to healthy foods is high—91 percent of zip codes in the county have access to a healthy food outlet—32 percent of adult residents are obese.

T-shirts bearing messages of sexual assault survivors were hung outside of Prince George's County Hospital Center yesterday at a county-wide Take Back the Night Event.

Nearly four years after bacteria from an infected tooth spread to the brain of 12-year-old Deamonte Driver and killed him, the dental clinic named in his memory had made its first stop - at his old school, the Foundation School in Largo. Its mission: to prevent another child from dying from untreated tooth decay.

According to the most recent state statistics, Maryland's infant mortality rate was 7.2 per 1,000 births in 2009. The mortality rate for whites in Prince George's County was 6.0 per 1,000 births, compared to 11.1 for blacks in 2009.

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission lifted the precautionary Boil Water Advisory at 8:45 a.m. for all customers in the affected area in Prince George's County.

Water testing conducted throughout the area since Tuesday indicates there are no signs of harmful bacteria.

Heart attack patients now have more help to save their lives.

Southern Maryland Hospital Center in Clinton has joined Prince George's and Charles counties' Emergency Medical Service units to provide LIFENET, an Internet-based system that transmits heart scans from the ambulance to a waiting laboratory.

The CDC is working closely with state and local health departments, the FDA and the American Association of Poison Control Centers to ensure that we can quickly identify and respond to any potential seafood contamination. However, if you identify a cluster of persons with gastrointestinal illness that may be associated with exposure to oil contaminated seafood, we ask you to:

* investigate the cluster as you would normally investigate a cluster of illness,
* make sure your local and state health department are aware of the situation, and
* notify CDC if a food borne outbreak associated with contaminated seafood is identified.

County EMS says residents should be aware of heat-related symptoms.

With more than 40 days this summer reaching 90-plus degrees, the number of heat-related health calls have increased for emergency services across the county.

Mark Brady, spokesman for the Prince George's County Fire/EMS chief, said when temperatures reach 92 degrees or more, the number of calls increase by 10 percent to 15 percent....

He said many people complain of headaches, difficulty breathing and diziness.

"People need to stay somewhere cool," Brady said. "If they start feeling those symptoms, it means they need to get inside, start cooling down and drink water."

A 20-year-old man died in Prince George's County after collapsing while bicycling, and an official says the death may be linked to the heat Saturday.

Medics were called to Potomac River Park in Oxon Hill around 11:15 a.m. after passers-by saw the man collapse from his bicycle and hit his head on a tree as he fell, said Mark Brady, spokesman for the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department.

The man was riding along a path that runs between Oxon Hill Farm and National Harbor, Brady said. Temperatures reached 100 degrees Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

Three people in Maryland have died from heat-related causes, bringing the total of such deaths this year to 16.

One adult, a person between the ages of 18 and 64, was found dead last month in a car in Prince George's County.... One was a person found outside in Prince George's, while the other was in a Baltimore home. High temperatures on those days reached about 90 degrees.

Very hot and humid conditions are expected in the Prince George's County MD, today. The high temperature is forecast to be 99 degrees, and the heat index could rise to 103 or 104. Air quality is Code Orange (unhealthy for sensitive groups). Citizens and residents be cool indoors and stay hydrated, avoid overexertion, and remain inside in an air conditioned (or shaded) environment when possible. Be watchful for our senior citizens and young children who are showing signs of heat-related illness.

Suburban governments lag behind the District in efforts to help slow the spread of AIDS even though they are home to nearly half of the Washington area residents infected with the disease, according to a study released Tuesday....

The jurisdictions in the study were Montgomery, Prince George's, Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties, as well as the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church and Manassas.

Redskins join walkers to raise money and awareness

Updated 6:53 AM EDT, Mon, Apr 26, 2010

Print Email Share Buzz up! TWITTER FACEBOOK

Hundreds turned out for the Prince George's County Kidney Walk Sunday afternoon.

About 500 people whose lives have somehow been affected by the disease were joined by Washington Redskins players for the 5K walk.

A bureaucratic bottleneck holding up federal funds in Prince George's County has forced some local medical clinics and nonprofit groups to delay or cancel services for people with AIDS.

Donald Shell, health officer for the Prince George's Health Department, said he is aware of the difficulties experienced by some of the groups. He said the delays were the result of the county's lengthy, exhaustive contract review process.

Federal and local monitors have repeatedly expressed concerns about the problems, noting that they affect groups across suburban Maryland and that small providers could be forced to shut down.

The March of Dimes Maryland National Capital Area Chapter has awarded a grant to Greater Baden Medical Services, Inc to support "Hip Hop to a Healthier Life", that is aimed at underserved maternal and child health needs here in Prince George's County. This program will provide health education to teens and young women to link them to resources to address the serious need for pre-conception health and poor birth outcomes in Prince George's county.

Oral Health America, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing access to dental care, has recently awarded a $20,000 grant to the Deamonte Driver Dental Project, a community oral health initiative based in Prince George's County, Maryland.

Kaiser Permanente, one of America's leading health care providers and nonprofit health plans, announced today it approved 500 grants and donations nationwide totaling $90 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. In total, Kaiser Permanente approved $170 million in grants and donations to support efforts to keep people healthy during these tough economic times....

The Food Research Action Center has been awarded $180,000 for the "Afterschool Meal Program and Farmers' Markets Collaborative" to increase access to healthy and affordable foods in Washington, D.C., and Maryland's Montgomery County, Prince George's County and Baltimore. This program strives to ensure that children and teens get enough food to continue learning through the afternoon and that the educational and enrichment activities keep them safely occupied during the after school hours.

Sure, there are plenty of petty annoyances associated with the snow--the slushy pant legs, the buried cars, the closed corner stores. But the latest announcement from the Prince George's County Health Department suggests shoveling could actually mean risking your life.

Sales of stretchers designed specifically for very large patients were expected to reach $50 million in 2012, up from $29.6 million in 2004, while sales of specialized lift systems were projected to rise from $75 million to $193 million. The projections were included in a 2007 article for EMS providers written by Raphael M. Barishansky, now chief of public health emergency preparedness for the Prince George's County Health Department.

Reinforced brackets, hydraulic lifts, extensions for belts, harnesses and blood pressure cuffs, and equipment designed so as many as a dozen people at one time can lift a patient are in use in the District and Prince George's, Montgomery and Fairfax counties, as well as many smaller departments. So, too, are cots widened to about 30 inches, which provide increased surface area while still being able to pass through most internal doors.

But those improvements are not enough once a patient reaches about 700 pounds, a group that has become a new focus.

It took a few trips to the grocery store before Army Capt. Matthew Staton realized he needed help.

"I'd go to the store and forget a five-item list my wife had given me," he said. "I'd just wander up and down the aisles."

Staton eventually sought help for what turned out to be mild traumatic brain injury, a result of exposure to multiple improvised explosive devices in Iraq and head trauma from a stateside car accident.

Travel along a two-block stretch of Central Avenue in Prince George's County, and you'll find a staggering 11 fast-food restaurants.

For community activist Arthur Turner and state Sen. David C. Harrington (D-Prince George's), the strip is evidence of the proliferation of burger joints and Chinese takeouts in the county, especially in poorer, inner Capital Beltway communities.

Pointing to studies that rank Prince George's residents among the least healthy in Maryland, Turner and Harrington want to limit new fast-food restaurants in the county, a far stricter approach than what has been enacted in such places as New York City and Montgomery County, which banned the use of trans fats in those establishments.

As many as 150 people, including dozens of elementary school students, might have come in contact with a rabid calf at an Accokeek farm, and state and local health officials are urging anyone who visited the farm in the past month to call them for medical advice.

The incident could have deadly consequences. Anyone who demonstrates symptoms of rabies, including headaches and nervous system problems, is likely to die, said Donald Shell, the health officer for Prince George's County.

Because early treatment can be effective, officials were trying over the weekend to identify and contact everyone who visited the Hard Bargain Farm in Accokeek between Dec. 21 and Tuesday, when the infected calf was on display, he said.

Suburbia is where the population is aging fastest. At the dawn of the 21st century, 69 percent of people 65 or older lived in the suburbs. More than 285,000 people in that age group live in the three largest counties surrounding Washington: Fairfax, Montgomery and Prince George's.

And aging baby boomers want to remain in the suburbs where they were raised. Eighty-five percent of people 50 or older told the AARP that they plan to live in their communities for as long as they can.

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission serving Montgomery and Prince George's Counties finished 82nd among the 100 largest systems in the country.

Environmental group ranks Md. utility low in pollutant control

"We've never had any drinking-water violations," WSSC spokesman Jim Neustadt said. "Our water is perfectly safe to drink."

But the environmental group said that some EPA standards are lax and that even tiny amounts of pollution can be harmful over years of consumption. It said that samples from all three of the Washington area's big water utilities had at times exceeded pollutant levels posing a cancer risk of 1 in 1,000,000, if the water was consumed over a lifetime.

"This is water that meets all federal standards, but it still contains residues" of some pollutants, said Jane Houlihan, senior vice president for research at the group. Houlihan recommends that WSSC customers filter their water and says others should not rule it out.

The Prince George's County Health Department is offering an evening walk-in flu clinic on December 15, 2009. The clinic targets vulnerable and elderly populations.

It will be held Tuesday December 15, from 4 - 7 p.m. at the D. Leonard Dyer Regional Health Center, located at 9314 Piscataway Road, in Clinton. Health workers will have intranasal and injectable H1N1 flu and season vaccines. You can call 301-883-7834 for more information.

Md. driver, found without pulse, is back home, and fetus is fine

By the time paramedics found Sadé Davis's body in a car submerged in a creek Saturday, she was clinically dead.

The 23-year-old Clinton woman, 34 weeks pregnant, had no pulse and was not breathing. One paramedic who was on the scene admitted that, for a moment, she thought, "We cannot save her, but we're definitely going to save this kid."

But neither, it seems, was destined to die.

Prince George's County Council member William A. Campos (D-Hyattsville) and Prince George's state Dels. Jolene Ivey (D) and Victor R. Ramirez (D), both of Cheverly, will host a forum about the flu from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Northwestern High School cafeteria, 7000 Adelphi Rd. in Hyattsville. Donald Shell, Prince George's health officer, will be on hand to give residents the most up-to-date information on swine flu, the seasonal flu and the county's public health plan.

In a mint-green living room in Prince George's County, five scared women prepared to die.

It was 1987, and Pat Nalls had just learned she had AIDS. Complications from the disease had taken her husband and 3-year-old daughter. Grieving and sick, with two healthy children depending on her, Nalls had returned to the cemetery to buy a third plot for herself. She was 29.

Prince George's County will begin immunizing adults against swine flu Thursday afternoon at Spring Hill Lake Elementary School.

"We're expecting a big turnout," said Dr. Donald Shell, Prince George's County's Health Director. "But we also want to make sure our residents know this is not going to be the only opportunity to get the swine flu vaccination."

Under a settlement agreement reached with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, deaf patients at the Fort Washington Medical Center in Prince George's County, Md., will be screened and provided with sign language interpreters whenever interpreter services are necessary for effective communication.

The settlement was negotiated following an investigation by the Department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in response to a complaint from a deaf patient. The man entered the emergency room late one evening accompanied by his 11-year-old son. Although the man and his son requested an interpreter, none was provided, and the medical staff relied on the son to interpret for his father in the emergency room.

Officials at a Lanham hospital unveiled this week an $86 million addition they say will improve patient care and services for local residents when the building opens later this month.

The new Doctors Community Hospital wing, which has been in the works for five years, includes all-private rooms and 90 beds.

The Prince George's County Health Department also reminded residents of the importance of flu preparation as flu season approaches.

"Flu shots will be very important this year" said Health Officer Donald Shell, M.D., M.A. "The Health Department urges residents to go to their local pharmacy, grocery store or private health care provider to receive the high demand shots."

Big Tigger is still doing big things in the community. The radio show host is sponsoring the third annual HIV/AIDS Ride for Life on Sunday, August 23, 2009.... The ride will span 10 miles from DC to Prince George's County.... It is the largest African-American motorcycle benefit for HIV/AIDS awareness.

Doctors Community Hospital in Prince George's County has been fined by Maryland health regulators after failing to notify them that a patient had died and that at least seven others suffered serious harm last year as a result of mistakes by the medical staff.

The 185-bed medical surgical hospital in Lanham paid the $30,000 fine last month for violating a Maryland law that requires hospitals to report serious medical errors. State officials agreed to reduce a proposed penalty of $95,000 as long as the hospital uses the remaining $65,000 to develop a patient safety program.

If you're a Laurel resident, you live in one of four counties - Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery or Prince George's. Citizens have access to special mobile crisis units that can help them during times of personal distress. During emergency mental illness or behavioral situations, the trained individuals of the Mobile Crisis Teams come to their aid. These emergencies include, but are not limited to, suicide threats or attempts, children/adolescents with serious emotional issues and intense family conflict. MCT teams are able to carry out an Emergency Petition in dangerous situations.

Nearly 500 supporters joined the National Kidney Foundation Serving the National Capital Area (NKF/NCA) on Sunday, April 19 at the Inaugural Ronald D. Paul Companies Kidney Walk at the Mall at Prince George's. To date, Walk participants have raised close to $25,000 and fundraising efforts will continue through May 19. Once fundraising closes, the Ronald D. Paul Companies will match, dollar for dollar, all funds raised by walkers which will bring to total to over $50,000 to fight kidney disease in our community.

Other states that aren't currently on the CDC's list, such as Maryland, have reported likely cases and have sent samples to the CDC for further testing.

There's late word that another probable case of swine flu has been found in a second Prince George's County school. This time it's University Park Elementary in Hyattsville.

The county health department disclosing that that school and Montpelier Elementary in Laurel will both close down for two weeks as per a new CDC guidelines. Health officials say they are taking the steps to reduce and stop the spread of the H1N1 virus. A new health department hotline has been set up to answer citizens' questions about the swine flu. All weekend multiple county agencies, including the police and fire departments, homeland security and social services are brainstorming to come up with the best ways for dealing with the crisis.

Gov. Martin O'Malley said that although Maryland still has no confirmed swine flu cases, guidelines from the CDC direct schools with probable cases be closed for up to 14 days.

An 8-year-old Prince George's County student at Montpelier Elementary School in Laurel has been diagnosed with a probable case of swine flu, the first reported case in the county, state and county officials announced Friday afternoon.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's (D) newly formed swine flu advisory board said during a press conference in Baltimore that state officials ordered the school's closure Friday.

Approximately 350 to 400 people joined the walk-a-thon at Watkins Park in Upper Marlboro, for the March of Dimes march for preterm babies in Prince George's County, which has the highest rate of babies born prematurely, primarily to Black mothers.

According to Nate Brown, Communications Director for March of Dimes in Prince George's County, "We're not sure why Black mothers have the highest rate of babies born prematurely here in the county. The women wearing purple badges here have received some of our services, primarily at Children's Hospital in Washington, DC, where most of our preemies that need medical help are hospitalized," Brown said.

School districts around the nation are increasing the price of lunch to make up for the high cost of food.

Cash-strapped counties like Prince George's say it's a small price to pay for a healthy meal.

For 10 years, students in Prince George's County only paid $1.85 for their lunch. But the high cost of food and gas has forced the school system to raise its price to $2.25 at the beginning of the academic year.

Andrews Air Force Base in Camp Springs will receive $23.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act recently passed by Congress and signed by President Obama, Rep. Donna F. Edwards (D-Md.) said.

Edwards said the funds will be used to repair, upgrade and modernize facilities on base and to increase job opportunities.
(This page also includes: County Health Department Raises STD Awareness, Bowie Baysox Offer Seniors Discount Tickets, & Public Art Program Seeks Experienced Visual Artists)

Six months before you won the 2008 election, chef Rasheed Abdurrahman had a good feeling about your chances. He wanted to bring healthfully prepared foods to Prince George's County and teach people how to cook that way as well. So he named his new place in honor of your home town, a.k.a. "Shikako," a word that is of Indian origin and refers to the many wild onions and leeks that grew where the city of broad shoulders now stands....

Wild Onion Cafe 6504 America Blvd., in University Town Center, Hyattsville; 301-209-0630; http://www.wildonioncatering.com. Hours: Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturdays, noon to 9 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 8 p.m.

Prince George's County continues to have the second-highest rate of sexually transmitted diseases in Maryland and the second-highest number of reported AIDS and HIV cases, according to the county's top health official. Prince George's trails only Baltimore in both categories.

Where to Get Tested in Prince George's County http://www.co.pg.md.us/Government/AgencyIndex/Health/std.asp?nivel=foldmenu(4)

Locally, Holy Cross Hospital has a "memory academy" based on "The Memory Bible," a self-help book by a neurologist at UCLA's Center for Aging. The hospital started offering the academy in September 2007 and now has about 30 instructors who teach its five-week class at senior centers in Montgomery, Prince George's and Fairfax counties.

More than 90,000 homes and businesses in a wide swath of Prince George's County that includes National Harbor are being told to boil their water through Inauguration Day as officials run tests in the wake of a massive water main break yesterday in Temple Hills.

At least 90,000 people in parts of Prince George's County were left without water yesterday as more than 20 water main breaks wreaked havoc there and across the Washington region. Four families were forced out of their homes at the site of the worst break in Temple Hills, and 72 residents at a Bethesda nursing home had to be moved from their rooms after a pipe burst.

Officials said many of those without water were in an area bounded on the north by the District of Columbia border, on the south by Henson Creek Stream Valley Park, on the west by Indian Head Highway and on the east by Silver Hill Road and Suitland Parkway.

If you paid any attention to last year's Presidential campaign, you'll remember ads touting the benefits of "clean coal" power, sponsored by the industry group American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. (The ads featured lumps of coal plugged into an electrical cord.) Designed in part to respond to the growing green campaign against coal power — which accounts for about 30% of U.S. carbon emissions — the ads promised high-tech and eventually carbon-free power, emphasizing coal's low cost compared to alternatives, its abundance in America and its cleanliness.

...That's not entirely true. As we grapple with global warming, coal can be cheap or it can be (somewhat) clean. But the sea of ash in Tennessee shows it can't both, and that's a reality we need to face as we plot America's energy future.

A team of paramedics got a shock early this morning when they walked out of an emergency room in Prince George's County to find their ambulance missing.

More than 150,000 people in Prince George's County do not have health insurance, the highest number in the state.

According to a report released last month by the U.S. Census Bureau, 20 percent of Prince George's County's eligible population did not have any health insurance as of 2005, the highest rate in Maryland.

As details emerge surrounding last week's abandonment of a newborn near the Washington, D.C.-Takoma Park border by a recent immigrant, local law enforcement officials and advocates are discovering the need to better educate young women and immigrants on Maryland's Safe Haven Law.

Maryland's Safe Haven Law passed in October and allows mothers to leave their newborn babies in the custody of a responsible hospital, fire or police station without being prosecuted. It is designed to protect babies who may be put in life-threatening situations by mothers who fear legal action for giving up their newborn children, according to the Maryland Department of Human Resources. Newborns must be 10 days old or younger and unharmed for mothers to be protected under the law.

A recent report commissioned by the Maryland General Assembly has concluded that state services for drug addicts and alcoholics falls far short of the need, a problem it says is most profound in Prince George's County.

The report comes as new figures show that several counties, including Prince George's, regularly return hundreds of thousands of dollars in unspent substance abuse treatment funds to the state.

Three days after a medic unit was out of service down the street from a cardiac arrest call, the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department has again changed its furlough policy. A revised directive issued today by Chief Lawrence Sedgwick Jr. clearly states, "There will be no Medic Unit that will be placed out of service as a result of furloughs".

On Monday evening, STATter 911 first told you about a cardiac arrest call that occurred in Largo, MD earlier in the day. Medic 846 is stationed a little more than a mile from the home of 74-year-old Lawrence Waller. When Waller's wife, Tennie, called 911 because her husband was having trouble breathing, Medic 846 was unavailable due to the crew being on eight-hours of furlough leave without pay.

School leaders say strain not contagious

School and health leaders in Prince George's County are reassured parents that students were not at risk after a seventh-grader died of bacterial meningitis.

Students attending Walker Mill Middle School in Capitol Heights took letters home on Tuesday.

According to the letters, the meningitis strain was not contagious, and no preventive treatment is necessary for students or staff.

In a move that could reduce the number of medevac flights in Maryland, state emergency medical officials announced yesterday that ambulance teams will be required to consult with doctors before deciding whether flying some accident victims to a trauma center is better than driving them to a local hospital.

The change, in response to a deadly helicopter crash in Prince George's County about a week ago, won't apply to victims with obviously traumatic injuries. But the state will stop automatically ordering medevac transportation based on the nature of an accident, as it does with hundreds of flights each year. Emergency workers will now speak with doctors before deciding whether such cases warrant a helicopter flight, said Dr. Robert R. Bass, director of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems.

The goal is to shed 50 million pounds. The target is the black community, which suffers disproportionately from obesity and its unhealthy side effects.

The 50 Million Pound Challenge, a national campaign aimed at encouraging weight loss and healthy living, comes to Prince George's County today with a 5K race, health screenings, entertainment and a fitness fair at Bowie State University.

The program, which has enlisted more than 690,000 people nationwide who have lost almost 3 million pounds since April 2007, provides a diet, an exercise plan and advice for changing unhealthy habits.

The Prince George's County Health Department is taking part in National Preparedness Month by sponsoring several activities throughout the month of September.

"While it is important for all Prince George's County Residents to be mindful of emergency preparedness all year, said Donald Shell, M.D., M.A., Health Officer. "National Preparedness Month is a great opportunity for us to raise additional awareness about the importance of being prepared for emergencies in advance."

There are key elements that will help Prince George's County residents better prepare for any emergency: get an emergency supply kit, make a family emergency plan, be informed about the different types of emergencies and their appropriate responses, and get involved in your community's efforts.

Heterosexual contact has become the most common mode of HIV transmission in Prince George's County, accounting for nearly half of all new HIV infections, according to the Prince George's County Health Department.

Prince George's County is ranked second in Maryland for reported cases of HIV/AIDS, behind Baltimore City, according to the state's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

"Our issue is heterosexual transmission," said Donald Shell, Health Officer for Prince George's County. According to Shell, sexual contact between heterosexuals accounts for 48 percent of newly diagnosed cases of HIV, while homosexual contact between men accounts for 31 percent and injected drug use for 17 percent of new cases.

The Prince George's County Health Department launched a syphilis and HIV/AIDS awareness campaign last week, in response to high levels of the sexually transmitted diseases in the area.

Marvelyn Brown was a Nashville, Tenn. teenager who met her "Prince Charming" while still in high school. She considered herself athletic, attractive and her future seemed bright.

Living with HIV was not in those future plans.

Brown, now 24, wants to share her personal journey in her new autobiography The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful, and (HIV) Positive with Courtney E. Martin, due out in bookstores on Aug. 19....

Prince George's County is not immune to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Based on a 2007 report from the state's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the region is second in the state in HIV and AIDS cases. Blacks represented 88 percent of HIV/AIDS cases in the county, compared to whites at 10 percent and Latinos at 4 percent.

Before he received a new kidney, Nathan Fossett felt tired all the time....

Fossett, who learned in 2002 at age 58 that he had been born with just one kidney, said he was lucky. He only had to wait nine months for a transplant....

Fossett's story defies the numbers. People who need a kidney often spend about five years waiting for a transplant....

More than 350 Prince George's County residents — about 17 percent of the 2,100 on the Washington, D.C., suburban organ donation waiting list — are waiting for a transplant.

Minority health issues account for a great deal of the need for donors. Because of predispositions to high blood pressure, diabetes and other conditions, roughly 75 percent of the people whose kidneys shut down are black, transplant officials say. Kidneys filter toxins from the bloodstream.

More Than 60 Attendees at Pr. George's Medical Convention and Two Hotel Employees Fall Ill

More than 60 people who became ill this week after attending a medical conference at the just-opened Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Oxon Hill were exposed to the norovirus, Prince George's County health officials said yesterday.

With prospects all but dead for legalizing same-sex marriage or even civil unions this year, gay rights advocates scored a small victory yesterday in their piece-by-piece pursuit of legal rights now denied gay and lesbian couples in Maryland....

Religious objections proved the determining factor in a key, evenly split Senate committee that a marriage or civil unions bill needed to clear before getting to the floor. The swing vote was C. Anthony Muse, a Prince George's County Democrat who was lobbied intensely by gay rights advocates and lawmakers to pass a civil unions bill. But Muse, pastor of an evangelical Christian church in Upper Marlboro, said he ultimately was bound by biblical teachings that say only men and women should marry. The bills are likely to languish without a vote.

The Prince George's County Health Department in conjunction with the Prince George's County Public Schools is taking precautionary measures after a case of Tuberculosis has been identified in a local school.

"Our goal is to protect the heath of our citizens and prevent the spread of disease in our county", said Donald Shell, M.D., M.A., Health Officer. "Once we find a confirmed case of Tuberculosis, it is standard operating procedure for the Health Department to investigate and determine who else may be at risk for exposure."

Put him in an institution. He'll be nothing but a vegetable.

That was the advice doctors gave Nancy and Lawrence Capone 42 years ago, shortly after they learned their fifth child, Ken, had cerebral palsy.

The doctors were only pushing the prevailing wisdom at the time, but the Capones "wouldn't even hear of it," said Ken's half-brother, Steve Harrell. "There was no way Kenny was going in any institution."

Four decades later, Ken Capone's cerebral palsy has left him unable to walk or talk. The Prince George's County man has such limited use of his arms that he uses a headstick both to operate his motorized wheelchair and type messages to others on a computer that sits on his wheelchair.

The increasing diversity of three of Maryland's largest counties is exacerbating already serious health disparities within communities, according to a new report.

Those disparities are not uniform across Montgomery, Prince George's and Frederick counties, despite the jurisdictions' similarities and parallel growth in their immigrant populations. Often, the differences seem inexplicable.

The health bill includes a pot of money for Prince George's County, whose financially troubled health-care system treats many low-income and uninsured people. Dimensions Healthcare System, which operates Prince George's Hospital Center and other county facilities, will get $50 million over four years, but only if the legislature or state and county leaders can reach a long-term financial solution for the system.

We can imagine few things more painful to parents than the realization that they've left their kids vulnerable to illness, permanent damage or even death. That's why the issue of immunization brings such heated reactions.

At one extreme, prosecutors in Prince George's County, Md., are threatening to jail the parents of more than 2,300 students who failed to get required vaccinations.

Prince George's County schools will go to court to get thousands of kids immunized and back in class.

The first in a series of circuit court hearings will take place Saturday.

Prince George's County leaders said they see no reason to continue withholding funds from the ailing Dimensions Healthcare System, which one month ago was locked in a bitter battle with the county that reached the state appeals court.

"We just have to sit down and figure out a timeframe for when we will transfer money," said County Executive Jack Johnson to Prince George's Hospital Center staffers in a joint meeting Friday morning with Dimensions Chairman Bill Williams. "Then we will come up with a blueprint for long-term success and work on it together."

Since June, the county had suppressed $14 million in funding allocated to Dimensions to keep it operational until June 2008, when a long-term solution could come in effect. The county's decision to ultimately unfreeze the funds lays to rest fears that the cash-poor system might close its six facilities, which serve a total 180,000 people a year.

The newly coordinated efforts between the county and Dimensions is a reversal of their relationship from even one month ago....

Dozens of Prince George's Ministers Focus Their Sermons on Domestic Violence

The Rev. Bucas Sterling III had a special message yesterday for his congregation at Kettering Baptist Church: If you are in an abusive relationship, you should get help, whether you are the victim or the victimizer.

Domestic violence will be in the spotlight Sunday, as ministers in Prince George's County try to reach out to individuals who've suffered abuse.

Project Safe Sunday was started five years ago and is designed to address an issue that people find hard to talk about.

Prince George's County has more domestic violence cases reported than any other county in Maryland.

Local leaders such as Prince George's County State's Attorney Glenn Ivey said the first step is talking about the problem.

Underneath the roar of nearly 2,000 motorcycles leaving RFK Stadium heading to Upper Marlboro Sunday was an outpouring of hope.

"(We're) very pleased at the turnout," said Big Tigger, "I only thought 500 people would show up."

Big Tigger, along with WPGC and the Street Corner Foundation hosted the inaugural HIV/Aids Ride for Life in hopes of increasing awareness about the disease and its effects on the community....

Many of the buildings at the Cheltenham Youth Facility, including dormitories, the dining hall and the health center are ''dilapidated" and ''should be razed as soon as possible" according to the quarterly report issued by the state's Office of the Independent Juvenile Justice Monitor....

The ouster of Dimensions Healthcare System's volunteer board chairman, Calvin Brown, engineered by Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson, was the latest example of political gamesmanship that serves no one, least of all the 180,000 patients who use Prince George's Hospital Center and other Dimensions facilities each year. [ "Hospital Operator Ousts Foe of Johnson," Metro, Sept. 14].

Mr. Johnson and the Prince George's County Council have demonstrated that they have no plan to solve the county's health-care crisis. While Mr. Johnson plays the blame game, committed doctors, nurses and technicians who are justifiably worried about their pensions are jumping ship....

Maryland Residents are Reminded to Eliminate Standing Water and Protect Themselves against Mosquito Bites

ANNAPOLIS (September 18, 2007) - The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) today announced the first state detection of a West Nile virus (WNV) mosquito pool in Maryland in 2007. State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) laboratory results completed yesterday confirmed the presence of WNV in mosquitoes collected on August 27 in the Cottage City area of Prince George's County. The U.S. Department of Defense has also recently collected WNV positive mosquitoes in Montgomery County....

After a closed-door meeting with more than 50 physicians from Laurel Regional Hospital, Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) said he increasingly believes the county's troubled hospital system should be "doctors-run."

He provided few specifics about the idea but said community trust in the hospitals might be restored if Dimensions Healthcare System, the nonprofit company that has run the hospital system for more than 20 years, were replaced with a group of doctors....

As Classes Begin, Schools Aim To Avoid Repeat of Fiasco

With classes starting today, Prince George's County is conducting a massive effort to ensure that older students have the proper vaccinations, hoping to avoid a repeat of last winter's immunization debacle that left hundreds of students unable to attend school.

Health officials have run about 45 immunization clinics since June, every weekday and one night a week. But they won't know until students arrive today how many have met the state mandate requiring students in grades six through 10 to receive shots for chickenpox and hepatitis B. Those without proper vaccinations will have 20 days to comply....

The struggling Prince George's County Hospital System is facing a much tougher year to get financial help from the state, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown said Thursday, but he pledged to continue "our commitment to the survival of the hospital."

Brown said the state's $1.5 billion structural deficit will make next year's legislative session harder than the last one to create a stable funding source for the troubled hospital system.

"There are a lot of competing interests and that's just to hold what we have, let alone improve in those areas that we want to," Brown told hospital officials before taking a tour of the center.

Along the way, Brown met Brian Boyle, a 21-year-old from Charles County who said he owes his life to the hospital. Now, he's trying to call attention to saving it.

The battle between Prince George's County government and Dimensions Healthcare System over control of Dimensions' board of directors obscures what is really at stake: many human lives ["Hospital Payment on Hold After Ruling," Maryland Briefing, Aug. 2].

Prince George's hospitals -- which include the state's second largest trauma center -- serve more than 180,000 patients a year. Yet the system has struggled financially for years, surviving precariously on short-term funding, the latest being an emergency appropriation of $9 million in May. However, County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) has made the release of much of that funding contingent on Dimensions Healthcare changing its board of directors, a condition the county is stubbornly insisting on even as the system sinks ever closer to bankruptcy....

Product Marketed Under a Variety of Brand Names The affected Lakeside cut green beans are sold nationwide under the following labels: Albertson's, Happy Harvest, Best Choice, Food Club, Bogopa, Valu Time, Hill Country Fare, HEB, Laura Lynn, Kroger, No Name, North Pride, Shop N Save, Shoppers Valu, Schnucks, Cub Foods, Dierbergs, Flavorite, IGA, Best Choice and Thrifty Maid.

U. S. health officials are warning consumers not to eat certain brands of French Cut Green Beans in 14.5 ounce cans manufactured by Lakeside Foods Inc, of Manitowoc, Wisconsin because the product may not have been processed adequately to eliminate the potential for botulism toxin. This warning is not related to another recent warning for botulism.

The canned green beans may cause botulism if consumed. FDA is providing this warning to make consumers aware of the possible risk of serious illness from eating these products. As of August 1, 2007, FDA had not received reports of illnesses related to the product.

The botulism toxin is very potent, and botulism is a life-threatening illness. Symptoms of botulism can begin from six hours to two weeks after eating food that contains the toxin. The symptoms may include double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness that moves progressively down the body, affecting the shoulders first then descending to the upper arms, lower arms, thighs, and calves. Botulism also may cause paralysis of the breathing muscles, which can result in death unless assistance with breathing (mechanical ventilation) is provided. Individuals who show these symptoms and who may have recently eaten the product should seek immediate medical attention.

The specific codes (top line of can code) involved are: EAA5247, EAA5257, EAA5267, EAA5277, EAB5247, EAB5257, ECA5207, ECA5217, ECA5227, ECA5297, ECB5207, ECB5217, ECB5227, ECB5307.

Consumers who have any of these products or any foods made with these products should dispose of them immediately. If the code on an affected can is missing or unreadable, consumers should throw the product out. Lakeside Foods has informed FDA that it is voluntarily recalling all of the potentially contaminated products.

Lakeside Foods recommends that consumers with any questions or concerns about the recall should call the company at 800-466-3834 ext. 4090.

Three years ago, I was a very sick patient in the shock trauma unit of Prince George's Hospital Center. I wouldn't be here right now without the determination and support of the amazing staff of that hospital. I hope that the politicians who hold the future of the hospital in their hands can take a step take back and realize what would be lost if it closes.

On July 6, 2004, a month after graduating from Maurice J. McDonough High School, I was involved in a devastating car accident -- one that altered my life forever. While I was driving home from swim practice, my 1994 Chevy Camaro was hit on the driver's side by a dump truck. The impact of the crash demolished the Camaro, and rescue workers had to use the "jaws of life" to pry open the surreal wreckage to reach me. I was in grave condition as I was transported to Prince George's Hospital. My parents later told me that I had only 15 minutes to live. My heart had been knocked across my chest, and I had lost 60 percent of my blood.

I suffered a broken clavicle, pelvis and ribs, and severe nerve damage to my left shoulder. I was stabilized after several operations, but it was unclear whether I had brain damage or what my quality of life would be.

I spent more than two months in a chemically induced coma. I lost 100 pounds, and my parents stood over my bed and wept at my condition. When I regained consciousness, I was still in excruciating pain from the severe injuries.

Over the next few months, I endured paralysis, pneumonia, infections, seizures and more pain. But the nurses and doctors at Prince George's Hospital never gave up. Along with my family and friends, those compassionate and caring doctors and nurses became part of my support group and were instrumental in my recovery.

Even as I improved physically, I remained confused and struggled with amnesia and basic functions. Then, suddenly, I started talking. All the nurses and doctors ran in, breaking into tears when they heard me speak. It was the moment they had been hoping for.

My miracle was the result of their care.

My mother says that Prince George's hospital does not get the credit it deserves -- my family knows that the people there make miracles happen, because I am alive and thriving.

After 14 surgeries, 36 blood transfusions and 13 plasma treatments, I am doing well, beyond anyone's expectations. I just finished my second year at St. Mary's College, where I compete on the swim team. I am also a personal trainer and am training to compete in an ironman triathlon.

If Prince George's Hospital had not been there, I would not be here. I know that there are many people like me whose lives were saved by the hospital's caring and talented staff. I can't imagine our community without the hospital.

I urge county leaders to do whatever it takes to keep Prince George's Hospital open. Our lives depend on it.

A surgeon famous for his appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show swung by Prince George's County last Friday to deliver his message of empowerment.

No topic was too silly or sensitive for discussion, as Dr. Mehmet C. Oz fielded questions from flatulence to racial differences in health maintenance.

Before the presentation, County Executive Jack B. Johnson recognized Dr. Oz "for his tireless efforts to improve the quality of life and health for people around the nation."

During the question and answer period, Sybrenda L. Queen, who works for the State's Attorney's Office, felt free to speak up about her addiction to ice.

Queen's doctor had advised her to stop eating ice, but Dr. Oz said it shouldn't affect her health. It might be bad for her teeth, though, he teased.

Between such unusual habits and your more mundane ones — what food you eat, how much you exercise, whether you stress out — you control 70 percent of how well and long you live, said Dr. Oz, who heads the Cardiovascular Institute at Columbia University Medical Center.

Waist size figures prominently in the part of your health that you can change. The circumference of your waist should be no more than half your height, said Dr. Oz. Waist size, relative to height, is a better indicator of your fitness than weight, he added.

Building muscle mass enables you to start losing weight, said Dr. Oz. Whereas fat is designed to store calories, "muscle is like a furnace" that burns them.

As a start, Dr. Oz recommended 30 minutes of exercise per day.

"Walking is the number one bit of advice that I give people," he said.

Food is another part of the equation. You make the big decisions at the supermarket, not in the kitchen, said Dr. Oz.

Queen, who has a 4-year-old child to look after, has decided to phase out buying sweets.

"Right now we can go to the pantry and get the Pop Tarts, the lemon tarts and the Twinkie," she said.

A high-fiber breakfast can also help. It fills you up and helps you consume fewer calories overall, said Dr. Oz.

Even averaging 100 fewer calories per day will suffice, he said. Achieving that by better eating and exercise should offset the 1.8 to 2 lbs. that the average 20-to-40-year-old gains per year, according to a February 2003 report published in Science.

Chantay Crews, a county government worker who attended Dr. Oz's presentation, plans on watching her food intake. With a family history of diabetes, she wants to avoid unhealthy, high-caloric foods.

Obesity increases your risk of diseases such as diabetes. In November 2004 the Centers for Disease Control found a strong correlation between obesity and diabetes: About 55 percent of adults with diabetes were obese, compared with just over 30 percent of adults overall.

Stress control is another part of Dr. Oz's regimen. Take a tip from the Eastern religions and practice "good, deep belly breathing," he said.

Lastly, change your relationship with your doctor. Studies show that patients either forget or remember incorrectly half of what doctors tell them, he said.

The solution? Ask questions, engage your doctor in dialogue and get a second opinion. One-third of second opinions will produce a different treatment plan, he said.

Queen knows the value of a second opinion. After the presentation, she filled her plastic cup to the brim with ice.

A Circuit Court judge ruled Thursday that Prince George's County doesn't have to pay the operator of its hospital system $12 million for fiscal 2008 but has two weeks to pay $2 million it pledged for FY 07.

"I'd say that we are disappointed in as [far] as we understand the decision," said Dunlop Ecker, chief executive officer of Dimensions Healthcare System, which runs Prince George's County Hospital system.

Although Judge Dwight D. Jackson issued a temporary injunction requiring the county to pay Dimensions $2 million, a hearing on whether the injunction should become permanent is scheduled to begin Sept. 10.

Jackson determined there was no contract binding the county to make any payments, but said Dimensions could have reasonably believed would get the $2 million....

Possible Closings Would Overwhelm Other Facilities

Greater Southeast Community Hospital and Prince George's Hospital Center serve thousands of the region's most vulnerable people, many of whom cannot afford medical care. But the issues that have pushed the two institutions to the edge of failure go far beyond the burden of poor and uninsured patients.

According to local officials, health policy experts and past hospital administrators, strikingly similar circumstances underlie the parallel free falls this year of the District and Prince George's County facilities. Some stem from changes largely out of the hospitals' control, some from leadership and funding questions long ignored or inadequately addressed. Still others trace to poor management or protracted political acrimony.

"There's fault all over the place," said Thomas Chapman, chief executive of the HSC Foundation, who headed Greater Southeast from 1982 to 1992.

"Plenty of blame to go around," noted John M. Colmers, secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

As the hospitals' futures became more tenuous during the spring, worries about care and fiscal ultimatums resurrected painful memories of the unwinding of D.C. General Hospital, which the city shuttered in 2001. They also renewed a fear: What if the institutions collapse?

Losing another emergency room in Southeast Washington would be troubling, health leaders agree. Losing a busy trauma center in Cheverly would be crippling. But losing both -- and diverting thousands of patients -- would be devastating. In an increasingly regional health system, the repercussions could overload many hospitals.

"I've called it heading for a perfect storm," said Sharon Baskerville, executive director of the D.C. Primary Care Association and a former member of Greater Southeast's board. "I don't think either government is going to let that happen, but my concern is that millions and millions of dollars could get thrown at it without a long-term solution."

That solution is nowhere in sight, but the dual crises, which have been building for decades, could be nearing pivotal decisions.

Thursday, a judge will consider a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit company that runs Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly and two health campuses in Laurel and Bowie. All are owned by the county, and if Dimensions Healthcare System does not get a bailout, it says it will have no cash left by early September. Its board of directors is threatening to declare bankruptcy or close the hospitals.

Greater Southeast is in better shape, because District health officials recently pressured its for-profit parent corporation to pay $2 million a month to remedy severe staffing, equipment and supply shortages. It remains far from a full-service hospital, however. And if the money stopped tomorrow, the turnaround would, too.

"We're sending, from a public policy perspective, perhaps all the wrong messages we can send," said Michael Barch, a longtime health care administrator and former chief executive of the city's Public Benefit Corp.

The Washington area's changing composition, especially the growing number of low-income residents, has squeezed hospitals in every jurisdiction. Still, few have faced the same emergency. Institutions in Northern Virginia have been cushioned by a broader distribution of uninsured patients, the strength of the Invova Health System and stability in governance. Potomac Hospital, for example, where nearly a third of care delivered is uncompensated, has had the same chief executive since 1978....

Dimensions Healthcare's board of directors voted Monday night not to accept Prince George's County's ultimatum that four board members resign or it will stop funding the county hospital system.

The vote puts in jeopardy the future of the hospital system, which has about 2,300 employees and serves 180,000 people per year.

"The county executive has said and has continued to say there will be no more funds until the board is reconstituted," Jim Keary, a spokesman for County Executive Jack Johnson, said after the vote.

Dimensions, which is more than $100 million in debt, runs the county-owned system.

"Once again," Keary said, "you see that people are more concerned about their own future then the health of people of Prince George's County."

Before the vote, board Member Donald Foran said, "I'm not opposed to a reconstitution of this board; not in any way, shape or form — except for when it's dictated how it's going to be done."

Almost two weeks ago, the county demanded that four of 11 board members resign: Chairman Calvin Brown, George Bone, Foran and William Williams, according to Dimensions spokeswoman Suzanne Almalel.

The county wanted the resignations by Monday and a reconstitution by this Sunday.

"We need more opportunity to effect change and to have more say in the direction of the hospital system," Johnson spokesman John Erzen said recently. Steve Smith, an attorney for the board, said options for the system if the board voted not to accept the county's terms, would include "alternatives that the board was considering before and possibly others."

In April, Dimensions Chief Executive Officer Dunlop Ecker said the system faced bankruptcy or closure before the county pledged to fund it through June 2008. The county

already provided Dimensions with $7 million. Prince George's budgeted an additional $12 million for fiscal year 2008 and is withholding another $2 million pending the resignations.

When the county previously provided Dimensions with $5 million in February, the board agreed to reconstitute itself, among other things, if it required any subsequent county appropriations.

Smith contended Monday that a letter and conversations specifically pertaining to the funding through June 2008 included no conditions and supersede the previous legislation.

"The county government is pushing the hospital to the brink," Del. Doyle Niemann said, "and it could easily push it over."

Federal authorities have discovered at a Silver Spring, Md., discount store fake "Colgate" toothpaste contaminated with the same poisonous chemical that has been found in some Chinese toothpaste.

    Colgate's legitimate manufacturer, the Colgate-Palmolive Co., which is the world's largest toothpaste maker, yesterday warned that the counterfeit product, labeled as being manufactured in South Africa, was found in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania as well as in Silver Spring.

    Food and Drug Administration inspectors found the toothpaste containing diethylene glycol at the Dollar Power Store on 16th Street in Silver Spring. Diethylene glycol is a poison used in antifreeze and brake fluid. It also is used as a lower-cost substitute for the sweetener glycerin.

    The Silver Spring tube tested positive for the chemical, while two other tubes tested negative, the FDA said.

    The counterfeit toothpaste is labeled as "Manufactured in South Africa," Colgate said yesterday, although the New York consumer products manufacturer, does not import toothpaste into the U.S. from that country.

    The rest of the store's purported Colgate from South Africa was destroyed, according to a store employee who asked that her name not be used.

    She added that she did not think any of the suspect toothpaste had been sold.

    The store's owner could not be reached for comment.

    The FDA is attempting to trace the product back to its source. It will expand its investigation to other states if there is evidence that the counterfeit toothpaste was shipped to other states.

    Colgate-Palmolive said it does not use and has never used diethylene glycol as a Colgate toothpaste ingredient.

    It is not certain that the toothpaste actually came from South Africa, according to FDA spokesman Doug Arbesfeld.

    "Even though it says made in South Africa on it, we can't be confident that that's true until we trace it back through an investigation, because it also says 'Colgate' and it's not Colgate," he said.

    According to Colgate-Palmolive, counterfeit packages examined so far contain a number of misspellings, including "isclinically," "SOUTH AFRLCA" and "South African Dental Assoxiation."

    The FDA stopped imports of Chinese toothpaste last month for testing after reports that tainted toothpaste had been exported from China to the Dominican Republic, Panama and Australia. The agency has since issued a warning to consumers not to use Chinese toothpaste after finding more tainted tubes.

    FDA investigators have been examining the shelves of discount stores where fake toothpaste typically is sold. The South African "Colgate" got caught in that dragnet, Mr. Arbesfeld said.

    China was the source of 81 percent of all counterfeit products seized last year, according to government statistics.

    The toothpaste was distributed by MS USA Trading of North Bergen, N.J., which announced it is recalling five-ounce tubes of Colgate because of possible contamination.

    The company said the recall includes toothpaste branded as Regular, Gel, Triple and Herbal, adding that no illnesses had been reported.

    "We do not make it, we don't import it, we just buy it from a guy," MS USA Trading manager Chris Kim told the Associated Press. A telephone message left for the source identified by Mr. Kim -- a man he knows only as "Dialo" -- was not immediately returned yesterday.

    "Production of the product has been suspended while the company continues their investigation as to the source of the problem," the company said, although the firm could not be reached for clarification of that statement.

    Colgate said it is working with the FDA to help identify who is responsible for the counterfeit product.

    Shares of Colgate-Palmolive fell 61 cents to $66.85 on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday.

    Consumers suspecting they may have purchased counterfeit product can call Colgate toll-free at 800/468-6502.

    MS USA Trading also said consumers with questions may call 201/869-0010.

Prince George''s County leaders asked four Dimensions Healthcare System board members to step down as part of a condition that the board agreed to earlier this year for providing additional county money to the ailing hospital network.

During a Thursday executive session of the system''s 11-member board, Michael Herman, chief of staff to County Executive Jack Johnson and a county-designated board member, asked for resignations by June 25 of four board members with close ties to Dimensions Healthcare or its facilities.

The changes affect three designated Dimensions representatives: Donald Foran, board chairman of Prince George''s Hospital Center; Bill Williams, board chairman of Laurel Regional Hospital; and George Bone, representative of the Prince George''s County Medical Society, according to a memorandum of understanding circulated by Herman and bearing Johnson''s name. The county has also required any nondesignated board members who have served longer than five yearsto step down, affecting board Chairman Calvin Brown.

The county goes a step further, calling for those board members being replaced to resign from their officer posts at the hospitals and for the new board to vote to modify its bylaws and building lease agreements to allow for the changes.

Opposing these measures may prove costly for the Dimensions board."

If Dimensions fails to perform any of its obligations under this MOU, Dimensions must return any monies appropriated and received from the county under the FY 2006-2007 budget," the memo reads, "and nofurther appropriated monies under said budget will be expended to Dimensions."

Brown immediately tabled any discussion on the matter and moved to adjourn the meeting, leaving the MOU unsigned and any next steps up in the air. But according to the MOU, the county expects the new board to take office by July 1 after the remaining members elect replacements for the four men during a special meeting."

The ball''s in their court," said John Erzen, a Johnson spokesman. "This is something that was agreed to earlier this year. We are simply looking for them to live up to their agreement. We certainly lived up to ours."

County leaders say their intent is to change the board''s makeup by decreasing the number of designated board spots, mostly representing Dimensions, from eight to five, and increasing the number of board spots open to the public from three to six, allowing for more taxpayer representation to help decide the system''s fate.

The system is enacting one of three conditions, which calls for a reconstitution of the board, that the county laid down in February when it doled out $5 million in emergency funds to the cash-strapped system.

The conditions, which the Dimensions board agreed to after some hesitation in February, were to kick in if the county transferred more money to Dimensions.

In May, county leaders, who have promised to fund the system through June 2008, paid the first $9 million installment of their agreement, although it was unclear then whether the county would enforce the three conditions. Brown had said then that those conditions were not discussed when county officials hadannounced their intent to fully fund the system for the next 15 months.

The county has budgeted an additional $12 million to fund the system for this next fiscal year, totaling only $21 million of the $33 million Dimensions had originally requested through June 2008.Dimensions estimates the county''s budgeted amount will last it through April 2008, but the parties are considering changes in the pension payments for Dimensions employees to help make up the difference.