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Viewpoints: House chairman calls for Shinseki resignation; Hagan's case for Obamacare

Since January of 2013, I've served as the chairman of the House Veterans' Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee, which is tasked with the oversight responsibility of making sure that the VA meets all of our nation's obligations to our veterans.

12 May 2014

First Edition: May 12, 2014

Today's headlines include news about the inner-workings of some state-based health exchanges. Reporting for Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with NPR, Richard Knox writes: "Previous drug treatments didn't clear the virus from Bianco's system. But it's almost certain that potent new drugs for hep-C could cure him.

12 May 2014

Pfizer reports positive results from rLP2086 Phase 2 study for invasive meningococcal disease

Pfizer Inc. announced today the results from two Phase 2 studies of bivalent rLP2086, Pfizer's recombinant vaccine candidate, currently under development for the prevention of invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B in 10 to 25 year olds.

12 May 2014

Obama's pick to head HHS draws praise from Democrats and Republicans during first confirmation hearing

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who has been nominated by the White House to become the next Health and Human Services secretary, also faced tough questions about the health law's implementation and the trouble-plagued healthcare.gov. Her answers revealed some policy positions and what her priorities will be if she wins the Senate's OK.

12 May 2014

VA secretary Shinseki subpoenaed in VA wait list probe

The subpoena asks for all email and other correspondence to look into the alleged secret wait list that sought to make wait times at a Phoenix VA hospital seem shorter than they really were.

12 May 2014

Mass. plan for new health insurance exchange has estimated price tag of $121 million

After millions of dollars have already been spent on attempts to fix Massachusetts' online marketplace, known as the Health Connector, insurers and some exchange board members say the cost is too high.

12 May 2014

Research roundup: Unearthing factors in hospital readmissions; dissecting the enrollment surge

Using inpatient data from an urban teaching hospital, we examined how elements of individual characteristics and neighborhood socioeconomic status influenced the likelihood of readmission ... Patients living in high-poverty neighborhoods were 24 percent more likely than others to be readmitted, after demographic characteristics and clinical conditions were adjusted for. Married patients were at significantly reduced risk of readmission, which suggests that they had more social support than unmarried patients. These and previous findings that document socioeconomic disparities in readmission raise the question of whether CMS's readmission measures and associated financial penalties should be adjusted for the effects of factors beyond hospital influence at the individual or neighborhood level, such as poverty and lack of social support (Hu, Gonsahn and Nerenz, May 2014).

12 May 2014

Federal judges hear 'origination clause' challenge to health law

The case, brought by the Pacific Legal Foundation in Sacramento, Calif., argues the law's insurance mandate is unconstitutional because the Constitution's origination clause requires all revenue-raising measures to originate in the House of Representatives and this legislation began in the Senate.

12 May 2014

Whitehead Institute scientists identify genetic cause of hemifacial microsomia

Whitehead Institute scientists have identified a genetic cause of a facial disorder known as hemifacial microsomia (HFM). The researchers find that duplication of the gene OTX2 induces HFM, the second-most common facial anomaly after cleft lip and palate.

12 May 2014

Hagan defends Medicaid expansion, criticizes GOP rival in Burwell hearing

During a nomination hearing Thursday for Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Sen. Kay Hagan -- a North Carolina Democrat in a tough re-election battle -- criticized North Carolina Republicans for declining to expand the Medicaid program under the health law. Her GOP opponent, Thom Tillis, is the state House speaker.

12 May 2014

Shorter men live longer, shows research

Short height and long life have a direct connection in Japanese men, according to new research based on the Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program (HHP) and the Kuakini Honolulu-Asia Aging Study (HAAS).

12 May 2014

Virtual doctors visits await regulation, grow in popularity

And recommendations on digital privacy protections for electronic health records could come as early as June.

12 May 2014

Study: Calcium supplements may not increase risk of cardiovascular disease in women

Calcium supplements are widely taken by women for bone health. Previous studies have suggested that calcium supplements may increase risk of cardiovascular disease, but the data has been inconsistent.

12 May 2014

Senate to vote on exempting veterans from employer mandate

Meanwhile, USA Today looks at Congress' failure to pass legislation that would address the fragmentation of mental health services following the 2012 shootings in Newtown, Conn., and Sen. Lindsey Graham plans to push a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

12 May 2014

New Colombia Resources, Phoenix Tears Foundation to develop cannabis-based medicine for skin cancer

New Colombia Resources, Inc., a U.S. company with coal and other resource assets in Colombia, is pleased to announce an agreement of collaboration with the Phoenix Tears Foundation for the research and development of a cannabis based medicine to treat skin cancer in Colombia.

9 May 2014

Flatiron Health agrees to acquire Altos Solutions

Altos Solutions, creators of OncoEMR, the first web-based oncology-specific electronic medical record, today announced an agreement to be acquired by Flatiron Health.

9 May 2014

EU-funded project finds way to improve patients' pain treatment after surgery

Millions of people undergo surgery each year. Many of them suffer from moderate to severe pain afterwards. This post-operative pain may impede recovery or even lead on into chronic pain. Now, the EU-funded project PAIN-OUT, completed in 2012, may have found a way to improve patients' pain treatment after surgery.

9 May 2014

First Edition: May 9, 2014

Today's headlines include highlights from the first Senate confirmation hearing for Sylvia Mathews Burwell, President Barack Obama's pick for Health and Human Services Secretary.

9 May 2014

Federal exchange spent $647 per enrollee -- a relative bargain

Meanwhile, Oregon names an official to oversee its shift to the federal exchange, while other stories examine the slow start of California's small business exchange and the higher costs faced by some Arizona families forced to switch their children from the Children's Health Insurance Program to private insurance when that state ended the program.

9 May 2014

Longer looks: Understanding downsides of saturated fat, sugar; will innovation save U.S. health care system?

The streetlights in Buenos Aires are considerably dimmer than they are in New York, one of the many things I learned during my family's six-month stay in Argentina. The front windshield of the rental car, aged and covered in the city's grime, further obscured what little light came through. When we stopped at the first red light after leaving the hospital, I broke two of my most important marital promises. I started acting like my wife's doctor, and I lied to her. I had just taken the PET scan, the diagnostic X-ray test, out of its manila envelope (Dr. Peter B. Bach, 5/6).

9 May 2014

Health Care News and Research

Viewpoints: House chairman calls for Shinseki resignation; Hagan's case for Obamacare

First Edition: May 12, 2014

Pfizer reports positive results from rLP2086 Phase 2 study for invasive meningococcal disease

Obama's pick to head HHS draws praise from Democrats and Republicans during first confirmation hearing

VA secretary Shinseki subpoenaed in VA wait list probe

Mass. plan for new health insurance exchange has estimated price tag of $121 million

Research roundup: Unearthing factors in hospital readmissions; dissecting the enrollment surge

Federal judges hear 'origination clause' challenge to health law

Whitehead Institute scientists identify genetic cause of hemifacial microsomia

Hagan defends Medicaid expansion, criticizes GOP rival in Burwell hearing

Shorter men live longer, shows research

Virtual doctors visits await regulation, grow in popularity

Study: Calcium supplements may not increase risk of cardiovascular disease in women

Senate to vote on exempting veterans from employer mandate

New Colombia Resources, Phoenix Tears Foundation to develop cannabis-based medicine for skin cancer

Flatiron Health agrees to acquire Altos Solutions

EU-funded project finds way to improve patients' pain treatment after surgery

First Edition: May 9, 2014

Federal exchange spent $647 per enrollee -- a relative bargain

Longer looks: Understanding downsides of saturated fat, sugar; will innovation save U.S. health care system?

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

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