Alzheimer's Support Group to meet March 5

MALONE -- The Alzheimer's Caregivers Support Group meets the first Wednesday of every month from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Third Age Adult Day Center, 24 Fourth St., Suite 7, Malone, on the Alice Hyde Medical Center campus. The group, which meets next on March 5, is a program of the Alzheimer's Disease Assistance Center that offers education about Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, fellowship with others giving care to loved ones affected by the disease and information about services available in the community. There is no charge to attend. For more information, call 564-3370 or (800) 388-0199.

Walk-ins welcome at immunization clinics

MALONE -- Franklin County Public Health Services will hold three immunization clinics in March, offering Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, TD, MMR, Menactra and HPV to ages 19 to 26, tDap for ages 19 to 64 and the shingles vaccine to those 60 and older. Insurances cannot be billed for those vaccinations. A parent with current immunization records must accompany all children. Vaccinations are available for ages 18 and under for those who do not have insurance that pays for them.

Clinics will be held at the Franklin County Annex, 125 Catherine St., Malone, from 9 to 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 5, 12 and 19. For more information, to make an appointment or to verify a certain vaccine is available, call 481-1709. Walk-ins are welcome.

NAMI seeks input

on Drug List

ALBANY -- National Alliance on Mental Illness-New York State (NAMI-NYS) is seeking comments about the potential impact by the Preferred Drug List for anti-depressants that would be created by Gov. Eliot Spitzer's proposed budget.

Should the proposal pass, according to a press release from NAMI, anti-depressants paid for by Medicaid that don't appear on a Preferred Drug List (PDL) won't be prescribed unless the doctor calls and receives approval for the patient every time the patient needs a new prescription.

Medications that run the greatest risk of being excluded from the PDL are "original brand," non-generic medications. Currently, all anti-depressants except for Lexapro, Cymbalta and Extended Release Effexor have generic counterparts. Patients who are currently taking medications that do not get on the PDL will either have to switch to another medication or have their doctor call Albany to "prevail," the next time they need a new prescription.

NAMI wants to hear personal accounts of finding the right anti-depressant, switching from one anti-depressant to another and switching from an original brand to a generic.

Contact NAMI Deputy Director Jeff Keller at jkeller@naminys.org or (800) 950-3228.

Blood drives set for Essex/Franklin counties

ALBANY --Numerous blood drives by the American Red Cross are scheduled in Essex and Franklin counties in March.

Blood donors must be healthy, at least 17 years old (16 with a New York state permission slip) and must weigh a minimum of 110 pounds. Donors can give blood every 56 days. To verify eligibility, call (800) GIVE-LIFE or visit the Red Cross Web site: www.donatebloodnow.org. Every donation, says the Red Cross, can help as many as three different patients. Walk-ins are welcome, but participants are encouraged to register ahead of time.