Lieutenant Colonel Richard J. Berrettini, RN, CRNP, 52, of the Army National Guard, died January 11 of injuries he sustained while serving at Camp Clark in Khowst, Afghanistan. Berrettini, of Eldred, Pennsylvania, was a school nurse in nearby Port Allegany. Injured in a roadside bombing January 2, Berrettini was flown to medical centers in Germany and then Texas, where he died.
"He just had a way about him that would put people at ease," said Andrew Barrett, ANP-BC, a former coworker at the ED of Bradford Regional Medical Center in Bradford, Pennsylvania. Berrettini had a great sense of humor and great nursing skills, said Brian Benjamin, LPN, also of Bradford Regional. Asked for his favorite memory of Berrettini, Benjamin sighed. "I only have about a million of them," he said.
Berrettini spent 15 years as a school nurse in elementary and high schools. In Afghanistan, he cared for Camp Clark personnel and for Afghan citizens, especially children. He had nearly completed his one-year tour of duty when he was injured; two others died and one other was injured in the blast. Berrettini is survived by his wife and two grown sons.
Captain David J. McDill, who served with Berrettini at Camp Clark, said, "He hated me saluting him, but I did it because it's a sign of respect. And he earned mine.
Jennifer Moser
NewsCAPS
The birth rate for teens ages 15 to 19 increased for the first time since 1991, rising 3% from 2005 to 2006, the National Center for Health Statistics reported in December 2007. The birth rate among children ages 10 to 14 fell slightly. Childbearing among unmarried mothers rose more than 7% and now makes up 38% of all births; more than 80% of teens who give birth are not married. The rate of Cesarean delivery increased 3% between 2005 and 2006, to 31.1% of all births, a record high.
The Food and Drug Administration rescinded approval of intranasal desmopressin for treating primary nocturnal enuresis in children, according to a December 4, 2007, bulletin from MedWatch, the agency's adverse event reporting program. There have been 61 cases of severe hyponatremia and seizures, including two deaths, associated with intranasal desmopressin. The tablet form may still be prescribed except in the presence of any factors that could affect thirst, water intake, or fluid and electrolyte balance, especially concomitant medications and habitual or psychogenic polydipsia. Parents should be taught to restrict fluids around the time of tablet administration and to contact the child's physician if signs and symptoms of hyponatremia&-such as nausea, vomiting, fatigue, or muscle cramps&-occur.
Acupuncture results for chronic low back pain: superplacebo effect? In the September 24, 2007, issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, German researchers compared acupuncture and conventional therapy for chronic low back pain. They also compared "verum acupuncture" with sham acupuncture. In the verum acupuncture group, needles were inserted deeply into patients' verum points or meridians. In the sham acupuncture group, the needles were inserted less deeply and not into meridians. The traditional care group received combinations of various therapies, including physical therapy, analgesics, and swimming. At six months, 47% of the verum acupuncture group, 44% of the sham acupuncture group, and 27% of the conventional therapy group reported improvements in pain and function. The acupuncture findings suggest a common underlying mechanism that may act on pain or the transmission or processing of pain signals&-"a kind of superplacebo effect," suggest the authors. Because of these findings, acupuncture has been made a paid insurance benefit for the first time in Germany.