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States struggle with immigrants' care and funding mental hospitals

News outlets report on a variety of health issues at the state level including immigrants' challenges when trying to access new care in Massachusetts and a proposal by employees to cut some services but keep open a mental hospital in Maryland.

6 Nov 2009

Study reiterates that U.S. health quality trails spending compared with other countries

"Despite spending more than twice as much as other developed countries, the United States still lags behind in terms of access and quality, an international survey said Wednesday," Agence France-Presse reports.

6 Nov 2009

Senators make health reform positions known

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that a "health care overhaul faces a tough sell among the Louisiana delegation:" "Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said the bill pending ... isn't aggressive enough in trying to curb rising health care costs. But she also said that doing nothing is not an option with so many Louisiana families and small businesses unable to afford health coverage.

6 Nov 2009

UCSF HIV researchers receive two NIH grants to improve health of HIV positive patients

UCSF HIV researchers have received two NIH grants of $1 million each to study the use of web-based, patient controlled personal health records to improve health and HIV prevention outcomes for HIV positive patients.

6 Nov 2009

Exposure to higher levels of air pollution increases infants' risk for bronchiolitis

Infants who are exposed to higher levels of air pollution are at increased risk for bronchiolitis, according to a new study.

6 Nov 2009

Prevalence of lactose intolerance may be far lower than previously estimated, says study

Prevalence of lactose intolerance may be far lower than previously estimated, according to a study in the latest issue of Nutrition Today. The study, which uses data from a national sample of three ethnic groups, reveals that the overall prevalence rate of self-reported lactose intolerance is 12 percent - with 7.72 percent of European Americans, 10.05 percent of Hispanic Americans and 19.5 percent of African Americans who consider themselves lactose intolerant.

6 Nov 2009

Higher levels of phosphorus in blood linked to increased calcification of coronary arteries, says study

Higher levels of phosphorus in the blood are linked to increased calcification of the coronary arteries— a key marker of heart disease risk, according to a study in an upcoming issue of Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). "This may help to explain why even early-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk that is not otherwise explained by traditional risk factors," comments Katherine R. Tuttle, MD (Providence Medical Research Center, Spokane, WA).

6 Nov 2009

New FDA program targets drug dosage errors

Federal Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg announced a new "Safe Use" program for drugs on Wednesday.

6 Nov 2009

Pelosi says House will pass health bill; measure gains AARP, AMA backing

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says she will have enough votes to pass Democratic health care legislation by Saturday. "The statement, however, is a tacit acknowledgement that she doesn't have them yet," The Hill reports.

6 Nov 2009

Average cost of patient deaths much higher than patients who were discharged alive

One of every three people who died in 2007 in the United States were in the hospital for treatment at the time of their deaths, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The cost of their hospital stays was about $20 billion.

6 Nov 2009

Rice University's new BRC awarded $2M NIH grant to develop an inexpensive test for oral cancer

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded researchers in Rice University's new BioScience Research Collaborative (BRC) a $2 million Grand Opportunity (GO) grant to develop a fast, inexpensive test for oral cancer that a dentist could perform simply by using a brush to collect a small sample of cells from a patient's mouth.

6 Nov 2009

Walls Street journal examines big pharma's 'growing interest' in emerging-market vaccine development, production

The Wall Street Journal examines "big pharma's growing interest in a corner of healthcare - emerging-market inoculations," in light of a recent move by Novartis to purchase an 85 percent stake in the Chinese vaccine maker Zhejiang Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical Co. In the summer, drug maker Sanofi-Aventis SA made a similar move to acquire a majority stake in India's Shantha Biotechnics, the newspaper notes.

6 Nov 2009

DOJ investigates alleged fraud by drugmakers; sanctions on wellcare lifted

"A $112 million settlement involving alleged drug kickbacks that the Justice Dept. announced with the nation's largest nursing home pharmacy and a generic drug manufacturer on Nov. 3 is part of a wide-ranging investigation of suspected Medicaid fraud by the pharmaceutical industry," Business Week reports. "Critics say the continuing probe, which involves Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and other major drugmakers, highlights what they describe as an industry practice of paying money to outfits that provide drugs to consumers, in return for preferential treatment."

6 Nov 2009

FDA: Sexual enhancement product "Stiff Nights" can dangerously lower blood pressure and is illegal

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers that Stiff Nights, a product marketed as a dietary supplement for sexual enhancement, contains an ingredient that can dangerously lower blood pressure and is illegal.

6 Nov 2009

HHS announces contract awards for up to 120,000 treatment courses of intravenous antiviral drugs

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced contract awards for up to 120,000 treatment courses of intravenous (IV) antiviral drugs to help treat hospitalized 2009 H1N1 influenza patients.

6 Nov 2009

Lack of evidence a problem for policymakers, doctors and patients

One category of medical mysteries that stumps expert doctors and policymakers alike falls under the heading: What works? News reports on two new studies - and one that was never completed - offer insight into that issue.

6 Nov 2009

Democrats must clear remaining hurdles on path to health vote

As House Democrats move towards a weekend vote, they must resolve a series of outstanding issues, The Hill reports. Blue Dog Democrats, a fiscally conservative voting bloc, said up to 30 of their members "are considering voting against the bill because of concerns that it will increase healthcare costs in its second 10 years."

6 Nov 2009

Patients should bring up financial concerns with their doctors in view of high health insurance costs

As health insurers require people to base more treatment decisions on out-of-pocket costs, physicians should learn to talk to patients about money, according to researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

6 Nov 2009

Obama to visit House Dems Friday to rally support for Saturday health bill vote

"In a last-minute exercise of presidential hand-holding, President Obama plans to travel to Capitol Hill on Friday morning to meet with House Democrats, one day before they vote on his highest domestic priority: a bill to overhaul the nation's health care system," The New York Times reports.

6 Nov 2009

Malaria experts discuss eradication at MIM conference

In a session at the 5th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Pan-African Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, experts discussed the tools required to eradicate the disease and highlighted insecticide and drug resistance in some parts of the world, Xinhua reports. Researchers noted that resistance to artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) has been documented in western Cambodia and "has now also been reported in the west of Thailand and in eastern Myanmar," the news service writes (Ooko/Zhuoyun, 11/5).

6 Nov 2009

Research News and Research

States struggle with immigrants' care and funding mental hospitals

Study reiterates that U.S. health quality trails spending compared with other countries

Senators make health reform positions known

UCSF HIV researchers receive two NIH grants to improve health of HIV positive patients

Exposure to higher levels of air pollution increases infants' risk for bronchiolitis

Prevalence of lactose intolerance may be far lower than previously estimated, says study

Higher levels of phosphorus in blood linked to increased calcification of coronary arteries, says study

New FDA program targets drug dosage errors

Pelosi says House will pass health bill; measure gains AARP, AMA backing

Average cost of patient deaths much higher than patients who were discharged alive

Rice University's new BRC awarded $2M NIH grant to develop an inexpensive test for oral cancer

Walls Street journal examines big pharma's 'growing interest' in emerging-market vaccine development, production

DOJ investigates alleged fraud by drugmakers; sanctions on wellcare lifted

FDA: Sexual enhancement product "Stiff Nights" can dangerously lower blood pressure and is illegal

HHS announces contract awards for up to 120,000 treatment courses of intravenous antiviral drugs

Lack of evidence a problem for policymakers, doctors and patients

Democrats must clear remaining hurdles on path to health vote

Patients should bring up financial concerns with their doctors in view of high health insurance costs

Obama to visit House Dems Friday to rally support for Saturday health bill vote

Malaria experts discuss eradication at MIM conference

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