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Viewpoints: Revamping health law regs -- again; Arkansas decision on Medicaid reverberates nationwide

The Obama administration wrote a new chapter Wednesday in the "if you like your health plan, you can keep it" chronicles, decreeing that plans it once derided as "junk" or "substandard" can remain in effect until October 2017 -- long after the next presidential election. The point, administration officials say, is to help those in the market for individual or small-group plans make a smoother transition into Obamacare (Jon Healey, 3/5).

7 Mar 2014

TAZ gene represents potential target for drug therapies to treat aggressive types of breast cancer

Significance: Understanding more about how the different types of cells in breast tissue develop improves our knowledge of breast cancer. TAZ represents a potential new target for drug therapies to treat aggressive types of breast cancer.

7 Mar 2014

Doctors' unconscious biases does not affect high BP treatment for minority patients, says study

Doctors' unconscious biases favor whites but do not affect high blood pressure treatment for their minority patients, according to a University of Colorado Boulder study, even though a previous study by the same research group found that doctors' biases are reflected in lower ratings by African-American patients.

7 Mar 2014

Vitamin D boosts survival of breast cancer patients

Breast cancer patients with high levels of vitamin D in their blood are twice as likely to survive the disease as women with low levels of this nutrient, report University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers in the March issue of Anticancer Research.

7 Mar 2014

Researchers identify communication strategies aimed at creating risk perceptions about generic drugs

Although there is widespread consensus among the scientific community that the composition of generic drugs is identical to that of brand name drugs, this is not the case among the public.

7 Mar 2014

Highlights: Va. mental health budget; Calif. nursing home Bankruptcy; nurses' practice in Minn.

Lawmakers in Richmond are deep in budget negotiations and will soon decide which parts of the mental health-care system will receive a funding boost. The House and Senate proposals have a number of differences, and what emerges will likely be a mash-up of the two (Shin, 3/5).

7 Mar 2014

Researchers examine association between diabetes and obesity

It's by now well established that obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes. But what exactly is it about extra body fat that leads to insulin resistance and blood glucose elevation, the hallmarks of diabetes?

7 Mar 2014

LSUHSC model of care provides mental health services in areas after by Gulf Oil Spill

A model of care developed by the Department of Psychiatry at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine to provide mental health services after the Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill reduced both mental health and general medical symptoms.

7 Mar 2014

Medicaid expansion: With Arkansas 'private' plan authorized for another year, officials now focus on possible fixes

After surviving an effort earlier this week to defund it, supporters of the state's private option are now working on alterations that will smooth its future. Meanwhile, the back-and-forth over whether to pursue the expansion continues in Virginia and Utah.

7 Mar 2014

White House says risk corridors will be budget neutral; key health law official resigns

In news on the implementation of the health overhaul, administration officials seek to rebut Republican charges that the risk corridors will be a "bailout" for the insurance industry. Meanwhile, Gary Cohen, who helped oversee many of the rules for rolling out the law, is leaving the government.

7 Mar 2014

Arizona sued over abortion restrictions

Abortion providers filed suit Wednesday to block new state regulations that limit the use of the most common abortion drugs. Meanwhile, two more Texas abortion clinics are closed as a result of that state's restrictions, bringing total closures to 12.

7 Mar 2014

Research: Expanded smoking cessation benefits should give more people opportunity to quit

People on Medicaid in the U.S. are 68 percent more likely to smoke than the general population. New research in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggests that expanded smoking cessation benefits offered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) should give more people the opportunity to quit.

7 Mar 2014

Groups, insurers, officials mobilize for health law enrollment push

March 31 is the deadline for signing up for insurance, and young adults and minorities are among the groups being targeted.

7 Mar 2014

Obama administration announces new round of health law rule changes

Among the wide-ranging set of changes, the one drawing the most attention is the administration's decision to allow some consumers to keep health coverage into 2017 that does not comply with the overhaul's minimum standards.

6 Mar 2014

Feds to probe troubled state exchanges

The Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress, will look at what went wrong with several state exchanges, including Oregon's, which failed to deliver despite large infusions of federal money.

6 Mar 2014

Study links association between eating red, processed meat and risk of developing cancer in gut

Recent reports warn about a link between eating red and processed meat and the risk of developing cancer in the gut. These reports have resulted in new nutritional recommendations that advise people to limit their intake of red and processed meats.

6 Mar 2014

Study shows how changes in organized cell membrane network of heart muscle leads to heart failure

Colchicine, a drug that's used to treat gout, has the beneficial side effect of lowering the risk of heart attack in patients taking it. Conversely, taxol, a drug for treating cancer, has the opposite effect; raising the risk of heart failure.

6 Mar 2014

House votes to delay individual mandate

The House took its 50th vote to change the health law, passing a bill that would delay the individual mandate to carry health insurance for one year. The measure will likely never be taken up in the Democrat-led Senate.

6 Mar 2014

Elsevier launches medical reference and learning platforms for clinicians, students

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced the launch of the fully redesigned Expert Consult and Student Consult, its two medical reference and learning platforms, now powered by Inkling, the creator of engaging, intuitive digital books for some of the world's most respected publishers.

6 Mar 2014

First Edition: March 6, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about health law rule changes announced yesterday by the Obama administration.

6 Mar 2014

Health Care News and Research

Viewpoints: Revamping health law regs -- again; Arkansas decision on Medicaid reverberates nationwide

TAZ gene represents potential target for drug therapies to treat aggressive types of breast cancer

Doctors' unconscious biases does not affect high BP treatment for minority patients, says study

Vitamin D boosts survival of breast cancer patients

Researchers identify communication strategies aimed at creating risk perceptions about generic drugs

Highlights: Va. mental health budget; Calif. nursing home Bankruptcy; nurses' practice in Minn.

Researchers examine association between diabetes and obesity

LSUHSC model of care provides mental health services in areas after by Gulf Oil Spill

Medicaid expansion: With Arkansas 'private' plan authorized for another year, officials now focus on possible fixes

White House says risk corridors will be budget neutral; key health law official resigns

Arizona sued over abortion restrictions

Research: Expanded smoking cessation benefits should give more people opportunity to quit

Groups, insurers, officials mobilize for health law enrollment push

Obama administration announces new round of health law rule changes

Feds to probe troubled state exchanges

Study links association between eating red, processed meat and risk of developing cancer in gut

Study shows how changes in organized cell membrane network of heart muscle leads to heart failure

House votes to delay individual mandate

Elsevier launches medical reference and learning platforms for clinicians, students

First Edition: March 6, 2014

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

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