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Heart attack death rates drop in hospitals; CDC reports increase in colon cancer screening rate

USA Today: Hospital heart attack death rates fell, according to new Medicare data. "Death rates at 4,569 hospitals that treat Medicare patients who suffer heart attacks fell by almost half a percentage point, from a national average of 16.6% last year to 16.2%. Death rates for most hospitals ranged from about 14.5% to 17.9%. ...

8 Jul 2010

Obama uses recess appointment to install Berwick as head of Medicare, Medicaid

President Barack Obama Wednesday will use a recess appointment to install Harvard Professor Donald Berwick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the White House announced Tuesday.

8 Jul 2010

Drug initiative granted rights to develop TB compounds for potential treatment of NTDs

The Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative now has the rights to "develop a class of potential anti-[tuberculosis] compounds" for the treatment of Chagas disease, African sleeping sickness and leishmaniasis, Reuters reports (Nebehay, 7/7).

8 Jul 2010

Patients willing to travel for cheaper, better care; Especially when the boss pays

Employers, in search of better deals on surgeries, are in some cases sending employees they insure hundreds of miles for medical care, Kaiser Health News/USA Today reports. "Forget about traveling to Thailand or India for low-cost surgery. … By steering workers to facilities with high-quality care and lower prices, employers say they can reduce their costs 20% to 40% — more than enough to cover the travel expenses."

8 Jul 2010

Asian Development Bank, U.N. call on Asia-Pacific countries to increase agriculture funding to ensure food security

Countries in Asia and the Pacific should increase investment in agriculture by $120 billion annually through 2050 to address hunger and prevent major food price increases, U.N. and Asian Development Bank (ADB) officials said Wednesday, the Associated Press reports. According to the officials, the "onus for funding the investments would be on private sources and governments," the news service writes (7/7).

8 Jul 2010

Olaparib shows promising results against inherited forms of breast and ovarian cancer

Olaparib, a new type of experimental drug called a PARP inhibitor, has shown promising results against inherited forms of breast and ovarian cancer in two small clinical trials led by scientists at the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit at King's College London.

8 Jul 2010

Pelosi urges Democrats to talk up health care; Businesses feel early impact of law

"Speaker Nancy Pelosi is doubling down on healthcare reform, betting that it will do Democrats more good than harm in November's elections," The Hill reports.

8 Jul 2010

Advocates continue to push for Michigan to opt out of federal health law despite setback

The Detroit News: "A Michigan Healthcare Freedom Act allowing Michiganians to opt out of the federal healthcare bill will be introduced when the Legislature resumes session July 21." The proposal was announced Tuesday, after a petition drive against the federal healthcare plan fell short. The grassroots organizers of that effort "hoped to get a question on the November election ballot asking Michigan voters to decide if they want to opt out of the federal health care overhaul, but they failed to collect enough petition signatures by Monday's deadline".

8 Jul 2010

MonoSol partner Strativa receives FDA approval for Zuplenz OSF

MonoSol Rx, the developers of PharmFilm® technology and a drug delivery company specializing in film pharmaceutical products, in collaboration with APR Applied Pharma Research s.a. of Switzerland and Labtec GmbH of Germany, today announced that its partner, Strativa Pharmaceuticals has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Zuplenz® oral soluble film for the prevention of postoperative, highly and moderately emetogenic cancer chemotherapy-induced, and radiotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

8 Jul 2010

States, federal government move forward with high-risk pools

The federal government began accepting applications for the high risk pools it will run in 29 states and the District of Columbia last Thursday, PBS Newshour reports. The other 21 states chose to run their own pools and may be on different schedules.

8 Jul 2010

Experts propose solution to burden of medical school debt

The Wall Street Journal Health Blog: "Educational debt is a serious burden for young [and middle-aged] doctors — the median amount owed for both premedical and medical school was $145,000 for those graduating from public med schools in 2008 and a whopping $180,000 for private school grads.

8 Jul 2010

Vitamin E may help prevent cognitive deterioration in elderly people: Study

High levels of several vitamin E components in the blood are associated with a decreased risk for Alzheimer's disease in advanced age, suggesting that vitamin E may help prevent cognitive deterioration in elderly people. This is the conclusion reached in a Swedish study published in the July 2010 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

8 Jul 2010

Scientists identify new strategy for treating movement disorders

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and Stanford University have shown how key circuits in the brain control movement. The research, published in the journal Nature not only establishes the function of these circuits, but offers promise for treating movement related disorders, such as Parkinson's disease.

8 Jul 2010

Patients cope with navigating the health care system

Americans who lose employer coverage between now and 2014, when much of the health overhaul kicks in, "may find buying insurance on their own unaffordable." But for those without coverage and who can't afford to buy it "there are ways to cope."

8 Jul 2010

What do EMRs mean for patient privacy?

The Miami Herald: The federal government is spending billions to make electronic medical records a standard feature of physician offices and hospitals, but the change is not without a cost — to doctors' balance sheets, and possibly to patient privacy.

8 Jul 2010

Finance Committee lawmakers press insurer on failing to pay Part D claims

In a recent letter, Senate Finance Committee leaders Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, demanded that an insurer that was kicked out of the Medicare Part D drug program pay its outstanding claims.

8 Jul 2010

Bowel cancer screening test may be less likely to spot cancerous changes in summer: Study

A new study suggests that the test used in the Italian national bowel cancer screening programme may be less likely to spot cancerous changes in summer than it is in winter.

8 Jul 2010

Crooks defraud health care system with fake insurance plans and phony Medicare, Medicaid claims

"Massive unemployment and a changing health care system is creating a breeding ground for con artists." Fake health insurance is one of the "fastest growing scams." Advertisements for such products are "stapled to neighborhood telephone polls, flyers left on your car or maybe you'll get a phone call from someone who's selling health insurance at extremely low rates, as low as $29.99 a month in some cases, says Jim Quiggle of the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. The sad truth is that often these bogus policies pay little or nothing on claims, leaving consumers with exorbitant medical bills" (Haley, 7/6).

8 Jul 2010

Common glucose test accurately predicts Type II adult-onset diabetes, study finds

A common test to diagnose gestational diabetes -- a temporary condition which can harm both mother and child if left untreated -- also has predictive power for Type II adult-onset diabetes, a new Tel Aviv University study finds.

8 Jul 2010

Patent issued for jellyfish protein for therapeutic application

Quincy Bioscience, a research-based biotechnology company, announced the issuance of United States patent No.7,671,015. The patent covers the use of aequorin-containing compounds for the purpose of preventing and alleviating symptoms and disorders related to calcium imbalance.

7 Jul 2010

Research News and Research

Heart attack death rates drop in hospitals; CDC reports increase in colon cancer screening rate

Obama uses recess appointment to install Berwick as head of Medicare, Medicaid

Drug initiative granted rights to develop TB compounds for potential treatment of NTDs

Patients willing to travel for cheaper, better care; Especially when the boss pays

Asian Development Bank, U.N. call on Asia-Pacific countries to increase agriculture funding to ensure food security

Olaparib shows promising results against inherited forms of breast and ovarian cancer

Pelosi urges Democrats to talk up health care; Businesses feel early impact of law

Advocates continue to push for Michigan to opt out of federal health law despite setback

MonoSol partner Strativa receives FDA approval for Zuplenz OSF

States, federal government move forward with high-risk pools

Experts propose solution to burden of medical school debt

Vitamin E may help prevent cognitive deterioration in elderly people: Study

Scientists identify new strategy for treating movement disorders

Patients cope with navigating the health care system

What do EMRs mean for patient privacy?

Finance Committee lawmakers press insurer on failing to pay Part D claims

Bowel cancer screening test may be less likely to spot cancerous changes in summer: Study

Crooks defraud health care system with fake insurance plans and phony Medicare, Medicaid claims

Common glucose test accurately predicts Type II adult-onset diabetes, study finds

Patent issued for jellyfish protein for therapeutic application

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