Physical Examinations

For busy people, time is money. And when you've got more money than time, the cost of an executive physical examination is kind of like the price of a yacht. If you have to ask, you can't afford it. Tom Gilmore arrived at L.A.'s Good Samaritan Hospital on a bright Friday morning, sporting a dark blue Nike warmup suit the hospital had sent.

PHOENIX -- The Dodgers appear to be close to a deal with veteran left-hander Paul Maholm. [UPDATED, 4:06 p.m.: The Dodgers announced they have signed Maholm to a one-year, major-league contract. ] Maholm was among the Dodgers pitchers and catchers to undergo physical examinations Saturday at the team's spring training complex. Maholm declined to speak to reporters and the Dodgers wouldn't confirm they have a deal with him. The contract figures to be a minor-league deal.

Physical examinations will replace saliva samples for verifying the gender of athletes at next month's world track and field championships in Tokyo, the sport's governing body said in London.

The Dodgers are close to signing former All-Star Dan Haren, who could add depth to the battered back end of their rotation. Haren agreed to a one-year, $10-million contract that includes a vesting option for 2015, according to people familiar with the situation who spoke under the condition of anonymity because the deal is pending a physical examination. The contract could be finalized as early as Monday. Haren is coming off the two worst seasons of his career. He was 12-13 with a 4.33 earned-run average with the Angels in 2012 and 10-14 with a 4.67 ERA with the Washington Nationals this year.

In his nine years as a chiropractor, Tim Ursich has performed physical examinations on aspiring athletes, deciding whether the youths are fit to participate in sports at such high schools as Rolling Hills on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Bishop Montgomery in Torrance and Redondo Union in Redondo Beach.

PHOENIX -- The Dodgers appear to be close to a deal with veteran left-hander Paul Maholm. [UPDATED, 4:06 p.m.: The Dodgers announced they have signed Maholm to a one-year, major-league contract. ] Maholm was among the Dodgers pitchers and catchers to undergo physical examinations Saturday at the team's spring training complex. Maholm declined to speak to reporters and the Dodgers wouldn't confirm they have a deal with him. The contract figures to be a minor-league deal.

Amy Joyce received her wake-up call loud and clear the last two weeks after reading countless stories about the football-related deaths of two Southland high school players. So at a cost of $1,500 to her family, Joyce has scheduled her son, Cody, a senior wide receiver and defensive back at Hart High in Newhall, to undergo an extensive physical examination today. Hart is one of the area's top teams, and Cody, a top college prospect, seldom leaves the field during a game.

The NFL's medical liaison said Monday that each team's physical examinations were comprehensive, that it was too early to judge whether the death of 23-year-old San Francisco 49er lineman Thomas Herrion was caused in part by obesity, and that one test that might have found a difficult-to-detect heart problem wasn't necessary. Dr.

Facing stiff opposition from area medical doctors, the California Chiropractic Assn. on Monday derailed its own campaign to get the Los Angeles Unified School District to accept sports screening physical examinations by chiropractors. The Board of Education had been scheduled to vote on a proposal to change school district rules to allow chiropractors and some other licensed medical practitioners to perform the exams that are required for all students who participate in athletics.

The Orange County Grand Jury has recommended that school districts bar first-graders from classes if they have not been medically screened. Under state law, children who enter the first grade must undergo a health screening. However, the state law does not have enforcement provisions that would forbid children to attend school if they don't receive the exams. The screenings catch medical problems such as hearing loss that could affect a child's ability to learn.

President Obama is fit as a fiddle, but he should lower his cholesterol and kick his smoking habit. That was the opinion of White House physician Jeffrey Kuhlman on Sunday after Obama's first routine physical examination since becoming president. The 90-minute exam, conducted at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., found that the 48-year-old Obama was in "excellent health" and "fit for duty." The doctor said Obama did not need to return for another routine exam until August 2011, after he turns 50. Although Obama has cut back on cigarettes, he has not quit and the doctor recommended that he "continue smoking cessation efforts," including nicotine gum. And although Obama generally eats well, the doctor said his cholesterol had risen significantly since his last exam in July 2008.

Any good physical examination is highly individual, whether it's with the family doctor who's known you since childhood or with a team at a hospital-based executive physical program. Patients going for an executive physical can expect a packet of information to precede their visit. They'll fill out head-to-toe medical information and answer questions about lifestyle and family medical history so that a team of physicians can design a physical for their unique needs.

For busy people, time is money. And when you've got more money than time, the cost of an executive physical examination is kind of like the price of a yacht. If you have to ask, you can't afford it. Tom Gilmore arrived at L.A.'s Good Samaritan Hospital on a bright Friday morning, sporting a dark blue Nike warmup suit the hospital had sent.

As boys grow up and become sexually active, they cut back on regular visits to the doctor, sometimes for reasons of cost and lack of health insurance. But a new study cites another factor: boys' beliefs about what it means to be a man. The study of 15- to 19-year-olds, led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Children's Center, suggests that young men view visits to a healthcare provider as a sign of weakness.

SITTING in a cold, sterile room in a blue paper dress, you tell yourself you're taking care of business. That's when the doctor listens to your heart and lungs, hits the knees with a mallet, shines a flashlight into eyes, nose and mouth -- and pronounces you fit as a fiddle. Ready to go for another year. Don't kid yourself. Study after study has found that the annual physical exam is almost worthless, a medical anachronism that should be buried alongside the iron lung and mercurochrome.

The NFL's medical liaison said Monday that each team's physical examinations were comprehensive, that it was too early to judge whether the death of 23-year-old San Francisco 49er lineman Thomas Herrion was caused in part by obesity, and that one test that might have found a difficult-to-detect heart problem wasn't necessary. Dr.

SITTING in a cold, sterile room in a blue paper dress, you tell yourself you're taking care of business. That's when the doctor listens to your heart and lungs, hits the knees with a mallet, shines a flashlight into eyes, nose and mouth -- and pronounces you fit as a fiddle. Ready to go for another year. Don't kid yourself. Study after study has found that the annual physical exam is almost worthless, a medical anachronism that should be buried alongside the iron lung and mercurochrome.

Nearly 10,000 children in Orange County entered first grade last year without proof of taking a state-mandated physical examination, in many cases because of widespread abuse of a loophole that allows parents to waive the exam for religious or cultural reasons.

What do you get for a $7,500 executive physical? Doug Shafer, a stressed-out Napa Valley vintner, was willing to fork over the cash to find out. At 7:35 a.m. on a recent Wednesday, Shafer pulled a black BMW X5 into a reserved parking space at St. Helena Hospital, a regional medical center overlooking vineyards. A nurse escorted him to his room, where every detail was personalized. The medical staff wore blue, his favorite color. His room was blue too.

A Northwestern University doctor acknowledged burning records of a physical he gave Rashidi Wheeler three weeks before the football player died during a 2001 training drill. Dr. Mark Gardner testified for nearly 6 1/2 hours Thursday in a lawsuit that Wheeler's parents filed against the university. Only lawyers for Wheeler's family were able to question Gardner before the deposition ended for the day. He is expected to continue questioning at a later date.