Pediatrics

When Patti Waggoner saw a baby-size tuxedo displayed in a department store, she didn't think "wedding" or "baptism" or any sort of celebration. "My first thought was, 'Oh, a little casket suit,' " she says. There's a bleak side to this 36-year-old survivor of Hodgkin's lymphoma from Valley Village. Her skin is pale, her nails painted black. Tattoos circle her ankles and run down her back and upper arms: of pirates, bats and the seven deadly sins.

Infants born to obese mothers are a third more likely to suffer significant birth defects, including spina bifida, heart defects and at least five others, according to a study released today.

Escalating an already heated national debate, a first-of-its-kind TV channel is set to premiere today designed specifically for babies -- an age group that the American Academy of Pediatrics says should be kept away from television altogether. The round-the-clock channel is called BabyFirstTV. For $9.99 a month, it is available initially by satellite through DirecTV and later through cable TV providers as well.

Drug maker Wyeth removed a mercury compound from a popular nasal spray more than a decade ago to skirt warning label requirements, but continued using the chemical in infant vaccines for several years until it came under pressure to stop.

With a key vote scheduled for today, opposition is building to a proposal by Los Angeles County health officials to close pediatric and obstetric wards at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center in an attempt to stabilize the troubled public hospital. A hospital advisory board formed by the county Board of Supervisors is lobbying against the cuts. Two of the five supervisors want to delay the vote on the plan by six weeks.

A bitterly divided Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors took the first step Tuesday toward closing pediatric, obstetric and neonatology wards at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, saying it might be the last chance to save the troubled public hospital. By a 3-2 vote, the board decided to hold a state-mandated public hearing Oct. 18 to formally consider the cuts recommended by the county health department.

Several elected officials on Friday condemned a proposal by a Los Angeles County agency to close obstetrics and children's wards at troubled Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, vowing at a community meeting that the public hospital would not be downsized without a fight. "This edifice, this center, must go forward.... It's like death by a thousand cuts," U.S. Rep. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) told the gathering of more than 100 people.

Los Angeles County health officials Friday abandoned their proposal to close the obstetric, pediatric and neonatal wards at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center after belatedly discovering that the move would have cost them $29 million in government aid. The county Department of Health Services made the announcement just three days after releasing plans for an Oct. 18 public hearing on the controversial recommendations -- the final step in a two-month process.

A state health agency is investigating whether there is a "systemic problem" with a doctor-owned group working for the insurance industry that has turned down numerous requests by other doctors here for pediatric specialty care for children, officials say. Investigators are looking to see if the rejections are based on legitimate medical disagreements or on a desire by the group to boost its profits by illegally holding down costs for health-maintenance organizations.

Pediatricians unable to trace the cause of bleeding lungs in infants should ask parents whether they've had severe water damage in their homes, a national pediatricians group recommended Monday. Severe water damage in wood, wallpaper, ceiling tiles and paper products can sometimes give rise to toxic mold called "stachybotrys" that can attack the lungs of infants and cause bleeding, the American Academy of Pediatrics said.