Pulling punches: State Rep. Stuart Bishop and state Sen. Norby Chabert got into a fist fight at the River Room on Laurel Street in Baton Rouge on Tuesday night in a dispute over legislation, The News-Star reports. Bishop, R-Lafayette, said Chabert, R-Houma, “punched me several times” during the altercation. “We had a gentleman’s disagreement and settled it with our hands,” said Bishop, adding Chabert, a longtime friend, wasn’t happy with him over a bill that he’d blocked as chairman of the House Natural Resources committee. Chabert is chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Committee. “I love Stuart like a brother, and sometimes brothers fight,” Chabert said. “We are both passionate people and sometimes that gets the best of us. Obviously, I regret the incident.” Read the full story.
No sponge left behind: Woman’s Hospital is taking an extra step to prevent complications from surgical items left behind in patients with a new brand of supplies embedded with a radiofrequency tag, according to a hospital news release. The Medtronic Situate disposable sponges, gauze and towels can be detected by a wand that uses low-frequency radio waves. If a sponge is left behind, it will alert staff of the item’s location. The standard surgical procedure requires manually counting and recording all cotton disposable items used on or in a patient, and though it is rare for something to be left behind, mistakes can happen and may result in another surgery for a patient. The Medtronic technology can further prevent them.
Service: Restaurant and hotel employees in New Orleans are pushing for a free health clinic for workers in their industry, most of whom don’t have access to affordable health care, WDSU-TV reports. More than 88,000 people work in New Orleans’ hotels, restaurants and attractions, and a group of those workers protested at a New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp. board meeting Tuesday. The protesters want the city’s hotel occupancy tax to go toward creating a health clinic to treat hospitality workers. RIght now the tax funds the Louisiana Superdome Commission and the Morial Convention Center. Read the full story.
