Those who weren’t already marching toward EMR nirvana before the Big O laid out his economic recovery plan had to be lacing ‘em up after he said, “We will make the immediate investments necessary to ensure that within five years all of America’s medical records are computerized.”

But no one likes to march in a swamp and that’s pretty much what we’re in when it comes to safeguarding patient privacy in the golden era of EMRs.

Basically, lawmakers can’t agree how to do it.

It hasn’t helped that just recently, security breaches at insurance companies, hospitals and government agencies have compromised the personal health information of several hundred thousand people.

There is no shortage of ideas how to do it. One proposal for example would prohibit the sale of all personal health information contained in EMRs unless the patient consents.

Another calls for patients to control particularly sensitive information like HIV tests and records of abortions and psychotherapy.

A third allows patients to recover damages from organizations that improperly use or disclose their health information.

But there are others who see the privacy kerfuffle as at best meddlesome and at worst a threat to the quality of care.  

Karen Ignani, president of a Big Insurance trade group for example, complained to Congress that requiring patient consent before disclosing personal health information for any reason would, among other things hinder disease management initiatives that coordinate care across providers.

Whatever, the Big O’s people say he wants strong privacy protections but he won’t be happy if the dispute ends up delaying the bill, and no one wants to displease the Big O right now.

NASA scientists have detected methane in the atmosphere of Mars, making it more likely—though far from certain—that life exists or existed on the planet.

In early 2003, the scientists observed methane plumes arising from 3 regions of the Red Planet’s northern hemisphere. A little more than a pound of the gas was vented per second according to the scientists, and 19,000 metric tons were spewed in total.

Methane is the primary component of what Earthlings call natural gas. Most of the methane found on Earth is produced by living things (cows come to mind) as a byproduct of food digestion.

But some non-biological processes also produce methane.

So Martian methane comes either from living things past or present, weird and wholly unexplained geological activity or a comet strike.

Lisa Pratt put her money on the former. “Perhaps we need to…think in terms of present-day life holding on somewhere in the subsurface,” she said at a NASA briefing covered by CNN and the New York Times.

The Indiana University geologist who was not involved with the research added, “It’s prudent that we begin to explore Mars looking for the possibility of a life form that’s exhaling methane.”

The NASA scientists observed the methane plumes on Mars using the Keck Telescope and a NASA-owned Infrared Telescope in Hawaii. They recently published their findings in Science.

Abbott Laboratories announced last week it has acquired Advanced Medical Optics of Santa Ana, California for $2.8 billion.

The deal valued the Lasik eye surgery supplier at $22 per share, which had to open a few eyes since the company had been trading under $9 and Lasik isn’t thought to be a recession-proof procedure.

Not only that, Advanced Medical’s contact-lens solution was pulled off the market 2 years ago after it was linked to a potentially sight-threatening infection known as Acanthamoeba keratitis. 

But even the most vociferous critics would have to agree, Abbott’s recent track record on acquisitions is above reproach. The device maker has dropped $21 billion in the last 10 years on acquisitions beginning with a $680 million purchase of Perclose in 1999.

That represented a jaw-dropping 60 times earnings but in time most came to evaluate that buy as smart, even frugal.

Two years later Abbott acquired Knoll Pharmaceuticals from BASF for $6.9 billion. At the time Knoll was a sleepy producer of thyroid hormone-replacement drugs but then wouldn’t you know it?

It developed Humira, a blockbuster monoclonal antibody used for rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, psoriasis and other conditions. Now, Abbott receives 70% of its earnings per share from drugs, and most of that comes from Humira. 

Abbott then acquired Guidant’s interventional cardiology business, and it too turned to gold. Guidant’s Xience drug-eluting stent recently whipped Boston Scientific’s Taxus in head-to-head trials. 

“We note ABT’s solid track record of timing, executing and integrating transactions,” understated Leerink Swann in a written statement picked up by the Wall Street Journal.

And remember, Advanced Medical traded in the mid-20s before the Feds played Russian roulette with Lehman Brothers and the chamber turned out to be loaded.