Health Care News and Research

RSS

New blood test accurately detects presence of breast cancer and monitors response to treatment

Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center investigators report they have designed a blood test that accurately detects the presence of advanced breast cancer and also holds promise for precisely monitoring response to cancer treatment.

15 Apr 2014

Henry Schein launches new iPad online ordering application to help veterinary practitioners

Henry Schein Animal Health, the leading companion animal health distributor in the United States, and the U.S. animal health business of Henry Schein, Inc., announced today that it has launched a new iPad® online ordering application to help veterinary practitioners manage their product purchases.

15 Apr 2014

Johnson & Johnson's sales increase 3.5% to $18.1 billion in first quarter 2014

Johnson & Johnson today announced sales of $18.1 billion for the first quarter of 2014, an increase of 3.5% as compared to the first quarter of 2013. Operational results increased 5.3% and the negative impact of currency was 1.8%. Domestic sales increased 2.2%. International sales increased 4.5%, reflecting operational growth of 7.9% and a negative currency impact of 3.4%.

15 Apr 2014

First Edition: April 15, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about the Congressional Budget Office's latest estimate of the costs for expanding health insurance.

15 Apr 2014

Study of VA hospitals finds experienced nurses are most cost-effective

When it comes to the cost and quality of hospital care, nurse tenure and teamwork matters. Patients get the best care when they are treated in units that are staffed by nurses who have extensive experience in their current job, according to a study from researchers at Columbia University School of Nursing and Columbia Business School.

15 Apr 2014

Viewpoints: Sebelius withstood attacks, but wasn't 'warrior' for law; Burwell offers GOP chance to focus on law's problems

Kathleen Sebelius was known for her patience and cool under savage attack by Republicans, who treated her as a stand-in for the health law. She sat through hearings calmly reciting talking points while they fumed and fulminated for their audience. But that turned out to be one of her biggest liabilities ... What the health law needed in its first years was a cheerful, populist warrior who could laugh at the truly ridiculous distortions and lies Republicans invented about it, and roar back with the truth. Instead, she came across as a mild technocrat. She never emerged from the defensive crouch she assumed after the law's calamitous debut (David Firestone, 4/11).

15 Apr 2014

CBO projects health law subsidies will cost less than previously expected

The new CBO projections find that the health law's expansion of health coverage will, from 2015–2024, cost $104 billion less than previously projected.

15 Apr 2014

Va. GOP not backing down in Medicaid stalemate

Despite appeals from traditional allies such as local hospitals, chambers of commerce and business leaders, Republicans in Virginia's House of Delegates remain firm in their stand against expansion. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania's request to set up a modified expansion is moving into a negotiation phase with federal officials, and union members take the fight to voters in Florida.

15 Apr 2014

What is 'preventive' care? answer causing patient-doctor friction

Access to preventive care at no charge to the patient is a tenet of the health law, but differences over just what's considered "preventive" are causing friction between doctors and patients, reports The Wall Street Journal. Other stories look at how California community clinics have yet to see increased demand for primary care doctors and how plans are targeting newly insured diabetics to avoid costly complications.

15 Apr 2014

Highligts: Calif.'s medical system for prisons; gender therapy in Boston; Ga. public health money

California's $840-million medical prison -- the largest in the nation -- was built to provide care to more than 1,800 inmates. When fully operational, it was supposed to help the state's prison system emerge from a decade of federal oversight brought on by the persistent neglect and poor medical treatment of inmates.

15 Apr 2014

New drug combination proves effective in treating patients with HCV genotype 1

Treatment options for the 170 million people worldwide with chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) are evolving rapidly, although the available regimens often come with significant side effects. Two multi-center clinical trials led by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center show promise for a new option that could help lead to both an increase in patients cured with a much more simple and tolerable all oral therapy.

15 Apr 2014

Researchers find link between patient satisfaction and SDM during radiation treatment

Playing an active role in their radiation treatment decisions leaves cancer patients feeling more satisfied with their care, and may even relieve psychological distress around the experience, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania report in the journal Cancer.

15 Apr 2014

Study shows 25 percent of Colorado foster kids on psychotropic drugs

The rate is 12 times greater than for other children on government insurance, a new study in Colorado finds.

15 Apr 2014

High cost of potent hepatitis drug presents challenges across the U.S.

Sovaldi, the hepatitis C treatment drug, is considered a breakthrough for patients with the disease. However, since, it won federal approval in December, lawmakers, insurers and patient advocates have begun an all-out revolt over it's high price point of $1,000 a daily pill or $84,000 over 12 weeks of treatment.

15 Apr 2014

Conservatives continue health law attack barrage

Leading Republicans readying for a White House run in 2016 also unofficially kicked off their campaigns in New Hampshire Saturday by hammering the health law.

15 Apr 2014

What challenges lie ahead for exchanges

Questions about 2015 premiums, the age and health status of the newly insured and the impact of premiums on the working poor will be answered in the months ahead. In addition, the New York Times looks at the reasons that New York's state-based exchange may have become one of the most competitive in the country.

15 Apr 2014

New split over abortions in cases of rape

A rift between U.S. anti-abortion activists has spotlighted divisions about whether to exempt abortions in the case of rape or incest from anti-abortion policies. In other news, the New York Times reports on a surge in prescriptions for opioid painkillers among pregnant women.

15 Apr 2014

MRI information can speed onset of effective treatments for concussion patients

Researchers using information provided by a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique have identified regional white matter damage in the brains of people who experience chronic dizziness and other symptoms after concussion.

15 Apr 2014

Obama turns to 'proven manager' to shepherd HHS and health law

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, whom President Barack Obama named to replace outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, is a relatively unknown 'budget wonk' who is being asked to navigate some difficult terrain to keep the president's signature achievement on track.

15 Apr 2014

Gaining too much or too little weight during pregnancy may increase risk of having obese child, says study

Gaining both too much or too little weight during pregnancy appears to increase the risk of having an overweight or obese child, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published today in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

15 Apr 2014