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Study finds America’s hospital emergency rooms are overcrowded with patients

America’s hospital emergency rooms are overcrowded with patients who may be better served in doctors’ offices or other clinic settings, according to a national study of insured emergency patients conducted by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation on Health Care and the Schneider Institute for Health Policy at Brandeis University.

28 Apr 2004

Medicare triples customer phone support

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. today announced that Medicare has more than tripled the number of customer service representatives available through its toll-free information line, 1-800-MEDICARE, which also received a record number of calls on Monday.

28 Apr 2004

Launch of first national multicultural diabetes prevention campaign

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) launched the first national multicultural diabetes prevention campaign

28 Apr 2004

HIV drug market will grow to an $8 billion industry by 2013

Decision Resources, Inc., a research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and health care issues, forecasts that the HIV drug market will grow to more than $8 billion by 2013.

28 Apr 2004

Russia's housing conditions linked to high rates of asthma amongst children

Scientists from the University of Birmingham, UK, have worked with the Harvard School of Public Health and universities in Russia to look for the first time at environmental factors causing breathing problems in Russian children.

28 Apr 2004

New Caesarean section guidelines from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Caesarean section (CS) is the end point of a number of care pathways hence it is not possible to cover all the clinical decisions and pathways which may lead to a CS in one guideline.

28 Apr 2004

Sprouts and broccoli may reduce risk of high blood pressure

Glucoraphanin, also known as sulforaphane glucosinolate (SGS(TM)), a naturally-occurring compound found in broccoli sprouts and broccoli, may reduce risk of high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and stroke, according to new research published in the May 4 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.

28 Apr 2004

Wyeth to appeal $1 billion awarded to the family of a woman who died after using fen-phen diet drug

Wyeth said today it will appeal today's verdict in the case of Jerry Coffey (representing the estate of Cynthia Cappel-Coffey), et al. v. Wyeth, et al.

27 Apr 2004

Menopause often wrongly blamed for poor sleep

Middle-aged women often complain that they sleep poorly, and both women and their health care providers point to menopause as the cause. But University of Michigan researchers Jane Lukacs and Nancy Reame say it may be time to put that assumption to rest.

27 Apr 2004

McGreevey signs landmark legislation designed to improve patient safety

Governor James E. McGreevey today signed landmark legislation designed to improve patient safety and save lives through comprehensive reporting of medical errors by hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities.

27 Apr 2004

Guidelines include Strattera as an ADHD therapy option

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), the leading professional organization for child and adolescent psychiatry, today issued guidelines that highlight the importance of accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

27 Apr 2004

Illinois, hospital beds and other health care services to be monitored

Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich today announced the launch of a $450,000 Web-based system that provides the state with up-to-the-minute information from more than 200 hospitals in Illinois on the availability of beds and other critical health care services necessary to guide the response to an act of terrorism or other public health emergency.

27 Apr 2004

Upsurge in people with mental illness seeking treatment in emergency departments is taking toll on patient care

A recent upsurge in people with mental illness seeking treatment in emergency departments is taking a significant toll on patient care and hospital resources nationwide, according to a new survey of emergency physicians conducted by the nation's leading mental health organizations and the American College of Emergency Physicians.

27 Apr 2004

Medical students are seeking to uncover a silent killer, glaucoma

Like private eyes, a group of medical students at the College of Medicine are seeking to uncover a silent killer attacking unsuspecting citizens of Tucson: glaucoma.

26 Apr 2004

SARS experts head to China

At the request of the Chinese Ministry of Health, WHO is today sending the first members of an international team to help investigate the source of SARS cases recently reported in Beijing and the eastern province of Anhui. The team, which is expected to begin work on Wednesday, will include experts in epidemiology, virology, infection control, and laboratory biosafety.

26 Apr 2004

Indiana promotes National Infant Immunization Week

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that each day 11,000 babies are born in the United States who will need to be immunized against 12 serious diseases before the age of two years.

26 Apr 2004

Injections of adult stem cells could repair hearts

Injections of adult stem cells into damaged heart tissue significantly improved heart function in patients with severe congestive heart failure, according to results of the first prospective randomized trial of the experimental therapy presented today at the American Association for Thoracic Surgery.

26 Apr 2004

Health care workers in BC are on strike to protect health care

Health care workers are on strike at health care facilities across the province to back their fight for a fair, negotiated contract settlement that protects health services and decent jobs.

26 Apr 2004

Overview of West Nile virus before season starts

West Nile virus is a newly emergent virus of the family Flaviviridae, found in both tropical and temperate regions. It mainly infects birds, but is also the cause of a number of conditions in humans, horses, and some other mammals. It is transmitted by bites of infected mosquitoes.

24 Apr 2004

WHO calls for Sudan humanitarian assistance

Intensified and urgent action is needed in the Greater Darfur Region of western Sudan to address one of the most severe humanitarian emergencies today. Given the current situation, the humanitarian crisis will last several months.

23 Apr 2004