CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2005-11-15

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Hello, I'm Bob Schaefer and welcome to

[0:02] the CBS Evening News online edition.

[0:05] Just ahead, seniors begin picking which

[0:07] prescription drug plan they want, but

[0:10] many are just plain confused. Sharon

[0:12] Alonszi will have the story. Also,

[0:15] millions want to quit smoking and a new

[0:17] drug may help. We'll have the promising

[0:19] results of a recent study. and fat and

[0:22] fit. Our cross-country obesity series

[0:25] continues with a man who weighs in 300

[0:28] lb and competes in triathlons. It's all

[0:32] starting now on the CBS Evening News

[0:34] online edition.

[0:36] They won't be able to get their drugs

[0:38] until January, but for more than 40

[0:41] million senior citizens, this is day

[0:43] one, the first day they can sign up for

[0:45] Medicare's new prescription drug

[0:48] benefit. But which plan? At what monthly

[0:50] premium? and who's eligible for what.

[0:53] President calls it the greatest advance

[0:55] in healthcare since Medicare began, but

[0:57] a critic calls it a profusion of

[1:00] confusion. We'll be devoting a lot of

[1:03] attention to this over the coming

[1:04] months. And we begin tonight with Sharon

[1:07] Alonsy in Bristol, Pennsylvania.

[1:10] >> Across the country, seniors are calling

[1:12] the new Medicare drug plan a

[1:14] prescription for confusion. There are

[1:17] more than 80 plans in Pennsylvania. It's

[1:19] terrible.

[1:21] And I think all they're doing is

[1:22] confusing senior citizens like

[1:24] 76-year-old Shirley Skoolie.

[1:27] >> I am very confused and I don't like it

[1:30] and right now I'm not going to sign up

[1:32] for it.

[1:32] >> Starting today, seniors have to sort

[1:34] through dozens of plans being pitched by

[1:36] dozens of companies. So, are you more or

[1:39] less taking the place of Medicare

[1:41] offering a dizzying array of premiums,

[1:43] deductibles, co-pays, and coverage

[1:45] options? In New York, Terry Pepe has to

[1:48] pick from 46 plans.

[1:50] >> It's like gunfire. It comes at you from

[1:53] all directions. So many books and

[1:55] pamphlets, and it just it's just too

[1:58] confusing.

[1:59] >> Workshops were supposed to help seniors

[2:01] sift through the choices.

[2:03] >> Every time they

[2:05] change it all,

[2:06] >> but look at these faces. This is not a

[2:08] group of people who've just been

[2:09] enlightened. Where do you begin?

[2:12] >> I don't know. That's That's

[2:14] mindboggling, I tell you. mind-boggling

[2:16] to millions. A new study reveals that

[2:19] 35% of seniors only somewhat understand

[2:21] the new Medicare plan and that more than

[2:24] 60% say they don't understand it at all.

[2:27] You're an expert on Medicare. When you

[2:29] look at the programs, what do you think?

[2:32] >> It's it would be almost impossible for

[2:34] me to walk my own mother through this

[2:35] program.

[2:36] >> Robert Hayes heads a national consumer

[2:38] service specializing in Medicare.

[2:40] >> Check with your pharmacist. Today, their

[2:42] call center was jammed with angry

[2:44] seniors trying to make sense of it all.

[2:47] >> Well, there's two concerns. One, many

[2:49] people will be paralyzed into

[2:51] indecision. The other is that many

[2:53] people will make wrong decisions

[2:54] >> and then end up paying more for your

[2:57] pills. It's a Medicare maze with options

[2:59] and decisions at every turn.

[3:02] Fortunately, seniors have till May to

[3:04] find their way out, but experts worry

[3:06] some might be lost along the way. Sharon

[3:09] Alonsy, CBS News, Bristol, Pennsylvania.

[3:12] >> If you smoke cigarettes, you have a lot

[3:14] of company. The government says just

[3:16] over 20% of Americans still smoke

[3:18] despite the health warnings. Well, if

[3:21] you tried and failed to kick the habit

[3:23] with patches or pills, there is a new

[3:25] drug that just may work for you. CBS

[3:28] News medical correspondent Elizabeth

[3:30] Kaleda now with the inside story.

[3:34] Millions of American smokers want to

[3:36] quit, but the vast majority fail every

[3:40] single day. That's why there's so much

[3:43] excitement about an experimental drug

[3:45] that could change those odds. It's

[3:48] called Verenocin, and new research out

[3:50] tonight shows it has great potential.

[3:53] The results of these studies were really

[3:56] compelling. In two separate studies,

[3:58] researchers followed 2,000 smokers

[4:00] taking Verin and Bupropion, the main

[4:04] ingredient in popular antis-smoking

[4:06] drugs like Zyban. After 12 weeks, 44% of

[4:10] the smokers on Verenocin quit compared

[4:13] to 30% on bupropion. Verenic is a brand

[4:17] new class of drug and unlike nicotine

[4:20] replacement methods and

[4:21] anti-depressants, it works in a totally

[4:24] different way. With a onetwo punch, it

[4:27] first blocks nicotine from entering the

[4:30] brain, but also mimics the effects of

[4:32] nicotine in the body, preventing

[4:34] cravings and withdrawal. Carlos, who's

[4:37] tried to quit four times this year and

[4:39] is now in a support group, is ready for

[4:42] help. At times I'll be willing to try

[4:44] almost anything.

[4:45] >> Still, experts in quitting smoking

[4:47] resist calling it a breakthrough.

[4:50] >> It is not a miracle cure compared to

[4:52] what's already out in the marketplace.

[4:54] >> Some like Cheryl Hilton say a year after

[4:57] quitting, people taking Verenquin did no

[4:59] better than smokers using bupropion

[5:02] combined with nicotine replacement.

[5:04] What's out there is already good, but

[5:05] there are a lot of people who can't take

[5:07] it. So the more you have in the arsenal,

[5:08] the better. And with 50 million

[5:11] Americans addicted to tobacco, most

[5:13] agree that anything new and anything

[5:15] different is a breath of fresh air. Bob,

[5:18] >> thank you very much. Alyssa, if you

[5:20] doubt that America has a weight problem,

[5:22] the latest figures from the government

[5:24] show 30% of adults are obese, their

[5:27] weight way out of proportion to their

[5:29] height. But is it possible to be both

[5:32] heavy and fit to have your cake and eat

[5:35] it too? In her latest road series, Mika

[5:37] Brazinski is touring America to report

[5:40] on the epidemic of obesity. Tonight,

[5:43] she's in Alexandria, Louisiana.

[5:46] Bob, here in the South, fried food and a

[5:48] laid-back lifestyle can be a recipe for

[5:50] disaster. In Louisiana, nearly one out

[5:53] of every four people is considered

[5:55] obese. But we ran into one guy who is

[5:57] getting healthier despite his size.

[6:01] >> It's hard. At nearly 320 lbs, Michael P

[6:05] is taking a run at being fat and fit.

[6:09] >> So, you you say this isn't running?

[6:11] >> No, this is slogging.

[6:12] >> Slogging? What's slogging?

[6:14] >> It's slow jogging.

[6:18] >> But he's doing more than just pounding

[6:20] the pavement and pumping iron.

[6:21] >> I'm a triathlete.

[6:22] >> You're a triathlete? That's right. The

[6:25] ultimate fitness challenge, usually

[6:27] reserved for those built of muscle and

[6:29] bone. In the last three years, he's

[6:32] swam, run, and biked more than 20 races

[6:35] at about half the Olympic distance. And

[6:37] along the way, he's lost 70 lbs and won

[6:41] a new respect for himself.

[6:43] >> If I didn't work out, I I would say,

[6:45] "Yeah, you're probably right. You know,

[6:47] you're fat and you can't be fit." But by

[6:49] being out there and doing the things

[6:50] that I'm doing, I I think, you know,

[6:52] that's a myth that we're disproving.

[6:54] Medical professionals say it is possible

[6:56] to be fat and fit, but stress low impact

[6:59] workouts like swimming and biking.

[7:02] Michael still battles the bulge, but has

[7:04] lowered his blood pressure. Doctors say

[7:06] those who follow his lead may also

[7:08] dramatically reduce their chances of

[7:10] heart attack, stroke, and diabetes.

[7:14] It was a picture of himself with his

[7:16] newborn son that got him off the couch

[7:18] and into the gym.

[7:20] >> And he looked like a preeie. And I knew

[7:22] then and there, you know, I was a

[7:24] mammoth of a man.

[7:26] >> I had to do something that would change

[7:28] my life so that I could be there and I

[7:30] could go and play and go to the soccer

[7:32] games and I could run with him and be

[7:34] active.

[7:36] >> Today he still makes a big splash, but

[7:39] he's earned the respect of his training

[7:41] partners.

[7:42] >> To be able to carry that luggage up and

[7:44] down, up and down for 40 laps, that's

[7:47] that's pretty amazing. [music]

[7:48] had a gentleman stop and wonder if

[7:50] something was wrong because I was

[7:52] running and he never seen a big guy run

[7:55] as far as I did.

[7:57] >> Offered me a ride.

[7:58] >> It's one of several experiences he's put

[8:01] into a book based on a struggle when big

[8:03] boys try. How would you characterize

[8:05] your size and your weight today?

[8:07] >> Not to the point I want to be, but

[8:10] certainly not the point I was. And I,

[8:12] you know, I'm still being molded in

[8:14] shape and uh and I'll accept that and

[8:16] I'll accept who I am today and knowing

[8:18] that tomorrow I want to be somebody

[8:20] better.

[8:21] >> And that optimistic approach is probably

[8:23] Michael's greatest strength. And

[8:25] although he admits to some ups and downs

[8:26] now and then, he says he hasn't had any

[8:29] serious health problems since he took on

[8:31] this challenge. Mika Bzinski, CBS News,

[8:34] Alexandria, Louisiana. More stories are

[8:37] just a click away, but don't forget to

[8:38] join me on television for the on air

[8:40] edition of the CBS Evening News. On

[8:43] Wednesday's broadcast, could the

[8:45] accidental misuse of some popular cold

[8:48] medicines be causing infant death? We'll

[8:51] have details in the health watch for

[8:53] cbsnews.com.

[8:55] I'm Bob Schaefer.