Drug abuse is certainly one of the problems of the state of Colorado. This problem doesn’t affect one specific group, race, or socio-economic component. It has affected almost every family in America. Many of these people go on to get arrested and moved through the states penal system. As of 2002, 61.7% of males arrested in Denver tested positive for drug use.

Drug abuse is seen when an individual becomes chronic or a regular drug user. In this case, a physical dependency on the drug is developed. Abuse of drugs usually starts during an individual’s adolescent years. On average, this is around the age of 12 since taking drugs has become a common social activity for many in society. Because of this, more ranges of people find themselves facing addiction.

With the growing concern of drug abuse in the state, more employers are conducting drug testing. Hiring employees with drug problems can cause many concerns for a business. There is also liability on behalf of the company involved with this issue. Drug testing firms are hired to provide data that shows if a potential employee is a drug user. Here are some problems seen from drug abuse in the workplace:

Erratic Behavior

Drug abuse can cause the addict to start acting weird under the influence. This will depend on the type of drug being used. Erratic behavior is connected to drugs like heroin, opium, and cocaine. Heroin and cocaine account for much of the state’s drug use. The Denver area especially has become the largest source of drugs for most addicts.

Loss of Productivity

Some people indulging in drug abuse are able to hide their problems. These are the limited few who can perform work tasks despite their condition. Others, however, are not competent enough to do their jobs. As a result, they may either mess whatever tasks they’re handling or cost the company a large sum of money.

Drug abuse has found its way into most families in this country, and it continues to do so until some action is taken against it. However, with the popularity of drug testing, maybe addicts will become motivated enough to leave this habit once and for all.

By: Stanley E. Renner

People looking to sing the praises of their physician or to voice displeasure over his or her practices have increasingly turned to ratings websites.

But some doctors are taking steps to stop such postings by having patients sign a one-page “gag order” prohibiting them from publishing and airing public comments about the doctor before receiving treatment. The gag-order contracts, created by the Medical Justice Corp., have not been challenged yet, but raise the question whether squelching a doctor rating is a violation of free speech.

Doctors who have adopted the “gag order” procedure have no qualms about possibly stifling a patient’s First Amendment rights from going off on a certain medical professional.

“Your reputation is critical,” Dr. Nick Slenkovich, a plastic surgeon in the Denver area, said in a recent Angie’s List Magazine article. “If you lose it, it’s gone.”

Ratings and information on health care have exploded on the Internet. Health ratings websites offer everything from a review of doctors in your area to the typical cost for a certain medical procedure, lab test or doctor’s visit – all in the name of providing patients and potential patients the most information possible to make decisions about their health care.

Ratings and profiles abound about physicians, nursing homes and hospitals. And the information is available and used by corporations, hospitals, consumers and health plans in making health care decisions.

With these sites getting millions of hits each month and so much riding on these rankings and ratings, should people be able to post anonymously about a doctor or hospital? Some experts feel that by having to provide a name with each doctor rating, people would not give an honest assessment of their medical experience and instead give the physician or medical center high marks to avoid uneasiness at their next appointment. Others feel that without registration requirements, disgruntled patients can go off on a tangent against a physician or medical facility when the patient might be at some fault as well.

Health institutions, including hospitals and nursing homes, can get a sense of how they are stacking up against the competition with such ratings and likely won’t be impacted by one or two negative ratings from patients. The ratings help hospitals target their strengths and weaknesses and where patients want the facility to be down the road.

But ratings get a little more personal with doctors who can be slammed by a disgruntled patient or two on a website with not many reviews and that can affect his or her business.

While many of the rating sites are free, there are some that charge for certain information – data that had only been available to clients, but may have benefit for the public as well.

Some ratings sites don’t accept public comment, basing their ratings of the doctors on public and private third-party reports and information. Their experts do the risk adjustments based on demographic characteristics of patients, the severity of patient’s illnesses, and differences in procedures and regions, so that viewers of the site are getting an apples-to-apples comparison of doctors and not just one or two people’s view of the physician.

By: Andrew Stratton

Buying dentures is not cheap anymore by any means. The average cost of an upper denture alone is over $1250.00 (national average 2005 survey) and most dental insurance does not cover dentures because it’s considered to be cosmetic. So what does a person have to do in order to find affordable dentures? Well, one excellent option is called a discount dental plan.

Discount dental plans don’t work like insurance does. These dental plans simply offer you a big discount (up to 60%) off of the usual cost of regular dental care. They are an excellent dental care option because, unlike insurance which will not cover any condition that is considered to be “pre-existing”, you can still get a substantial discount if you need to be seen for an existing problem.

Here’s an example of a discount dental plan and how it will work in your favor. This example is going to be from the state of Colorado in the Denver area, zip code 80015, which is actually the suburb of Aurora. The cost of an upper denture using this particular discount plan in Aurora is only $694.00, a savings of $556.00 off the average national cost. Of course, this savings may be more or less where you live. Also, this estimate is based on high grade dentures, not cheap material.

The cost of joining a plan like this one is only $100.00 per year or $150.00 for a family. You’ll also continue to save money each time you go to the dentist for the entire year. Vision a pharmacy benefits are even available with some plans, as well as cosmetic dentistry. If you’re in need of dentures and the cost has been an issue, you should take a look at getting a discount dental plan. There’s a good chance that it just may be your best option.

By: Joe Stewart

It does not happen in any other industrialized nation — but in the U.S., because of the nature of the profit-driven health care industry, medical and hospital bills due to personal injury can cause victims and their families extreme financial hardship — even bankruptcy and the loss of a home.

It’s not right, it’s not fair – but since lawmakers in Washington D.C. are little inclined to change the system, the only recourse for those in the Denver area who are in this situation is to obtain the services of a Denver personal injury lawyer.

How Legal Services Can Help

The area of personal injury law is very broad and covers a wide range of situations that range from property damages to injuries done to one’s reputation (i.e., slander and libel). In extreme cases, it addresses situations in which one has lost a family member because of someone else’s negligence. In this case, a Colorado wrongful death lawyer can assist in getting some kind of compensation from the party responsible.

A personal injury or wrongful death suit does not usually involve illegal or criminal activities (although they can be – and these components are dealt with separately in the criminal courts). In most cases, the injury or death has occurred because of either:

o carelessness or negligence on the part of the party responsible
o a defective or toxic product

In the case of the latter, a Denver wrongful death lawyer would go after the manufacturer of the product. In the former case, the lawyer will file suit against either the individual, his/her insurer and/or a business (for example, if an employee of John’s Widgets, Inc. had caused the injury or death while on the clock and performing his/her duties, the company would bear the liability).

The important thing about winning a personal injury or wrongful death suit is to prove that the party being held responsible had a “duty of care” toward the injured party and had failed to exercise that duty. Proving this in civil court can be challenging and the law has numerous “gray areas” in these matters – so it’s a good idea to have a Denver personal injury lawyer to represent you.

Obtaining Services

Fortunately, if you are injured or have lost a loved on because of another’s negligence, you will not have to come up with money to retain the services of a Colorado wrongful death lawyer or other legal professional. The lawyers will review your case for free, and if it is determined to have merit, will take the case on a “contingency basis.” This means that all lawyer’s fees will be a percentage of any court award (usually about one-third); you will pay nothing unless your Denver Personal Injury Lawyer wins your case.

By: Jonathan Blocker