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Congressional partisan wrangling over CHIP, postal retiree health coverage, mandatory Medicare cuts

On Capitol Hill, Republicans are charging that the health law is encouraging businesses to drop coverage and politicians prepare for the next fight on some of the law's provisions.

3 May 2012

First Edition: May 2, 2012

Today's headlines include a report that House Republican lawmakers want to cut bonuses to states for enrolling low-income kids in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.

3 May 2012

Smokers with variants in specific genes at increased risk for hot flashes

Women who smoke and carry specific variations in the genes that impact their metabolism are at higher risk of developing hot flashes in comparison with smokers who do not carry these gene variants, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

3 May 2012

African-Americans with HIV less likely to adhere to ART therapy

African-Americans with HIV are much less likely to adhere to drug therapy than others with the disease, according to a University of Michigan study.

3 May 2012

Optimum blood vitamin D levels to reduce risk of major medical events

In testing older patients' blood vitamin D levels, there's uncertainty about where the dividing line falls between enough and not enough. The threshold amount has become controversial as several scientific societies set different targets.

2 May 2012

Diagnosis of neonatal abstinence syndrome triples between 2000 and 2009

About one baby is born every hour addicted to opiate drugs in the United States, according to new research from University of Michigan physicians.

2 May 2012

Study assesses perceived impact of CMS payment policy on hospital infection prevention efforts

The 2008 decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to cease additional reimbursement to hospitals for certain healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) has led to enhanced focus on infection prevention and changes in practice by front-line staff, according to a national survey of infection preventionists published in the May issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

2 May 2012

Sanofi Pasteur announces new quadrivalent influenza vaccine Phase III pediatric data

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, announced today new Phase III data for its investigational quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV) in children 6 months through 8 years of age.

2 May 2012

Eating more sweet berries can keep our brains healthier

Eating more sweet berries can keep our brains healthier, according to a new study published in the Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society. This news comes at a time when U.S. Census data shows the elderly population increasing faster than the total U.S. population.

2 May 2012

May issue of WHO Bulletin available online

The May issue of the WHO Bulletin features an editorial on the establishment of an evidence base for e-health; a public health round-up;

2 May 2012

'Mandatory oversight' of potentially dangerous biological research will be necessary

"In the sobering annals of disaster prevention, genetic manipulation of the H5N1 influenza virus is looming as a seminal case," John Steinbruner, director of the Center for International Security Studies at the University of Maryland, writes in an opinion piece in The Hill's "Congress Blog," noting that two "laboratory experiments have rendered the highly virulent avian strain transmissible among ferrets, strongly suggesting that it would be transmissible among humans as well."

2 May 2012

NIH study indicates safety of anti-HIV drug tenofovir during pregnancy

Infants born to women who used the anti-HIV drug tenofovir as part of an anti-HIV drug regimen during pregnancy do not weigh less at birth and are not of shorter length than infants born to women who used anti-HIV drug regimens that do not include tenofovir during pregnancy, according to findings from a National Institutes of Health network study.

2 May 2012

Tips for parents to engage their children in discussions about alcohol

During Alcohol Awareness Month, and with prom and graduation season just around the corner, now is a critical time for parents to engage their teens in discussions about alcohol, according to the Health Alliance on Alcohol.

2 May 2012

Viewpoints: Romney's argument that health law would kill free enterprise; FDA's delay in cutting use of antibiotics in animals

In my column on Sunday, I quoted Mitt Romney's warning last week that President Obama's health reform law could doom the free-enterprise system in the United States. "With Obamacare fully installed," Romney said, "government will come to control half the economy, and we will have effectively ceased to be a free-enterprise society." Could that be true? Would "Obamacare," which relies mostly on free-enterprise health insurance companies, really turn America into a socialist state?

2 May 2012

Roundup: Mass. premium increases muted; Iowa cuts payment to charity after fraud probe; Ga. asks EMS providers to save scarce drugs

State regulators on Monday approved third-quarter health insurance rates that will raise premiums an average of just 1.2 percent in the market serving small businesses and individuals, continuing a trend of more modest increases seen over the past three quarters. And several carriers, including Tufts Health Plan of Watertown and Fallon Community Health Plan, based in Worcester, will reduce their rates -- a rarity in Massachusetts health care -- according to data from the state Division of Insurance.

2 May 2012

Uncomfortably high rates of maternal deaths during childbirth raise concerns: Study

According to latest figures more than a 100 mothers have died in childbirth in London in the last five years. This is twice the rate in the rest of the country. There were 11 deaths in 2005-6, compared with 29 in 2010-11. Births in London have soared by 27 per cent in the last decade from 106,000 in 2001 to 134,000 in 2011, but numbers of midwives and doctors have not kept pace.

30 Apr 2012

Overweight and obese teenagers with diabetes may be difficult to treat: Study

According to a major study released Sunday, several ways to manage blood sugar in teens newly diagnosed with diabetes were tested. The researchers found that nearly half of them failed within a few years and 1 in 5 suffered serious complications. This is concerning since there is an epidemic rise of Type 2 diabetes brought on by obesity.

30 Apr 2012

Some public health advocates disagree with Indian government's decision to roll out pentavalent vaccines, IPS reports

"Ignoring widespread concern over the safety, efficacy and cost of pentavalent vaccines" -- which provide protection against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) -- "India's central health ministry has, this month, approved inclusion of the prophylactic cocktail in the universal immunization program in seven of its provinces," Inter Press Service reports.

30 Apr 2012

Hospitals seek to cut costs, compete smartly

In Colorado, New Hampshire, Florida and Kansas, hospitals are trying to be strategic to beat marketplace challenges.

30 Apr 2012

House passes student loan plan that siphons health law's prevention trust fund

The student loan issue has become a politically charged showdown with the health law in the middle of the controversy.

30 Apr 2012

Public Health News and Research

Congressional partisan wrangling over CHIP, postal retiree health coverage, mandatory Medicare cuts

First Edition: May 2, 2012

Smokers with variants in specific genes at increased risk for hot flashes

African-Americans with HIV less likely to adhere to ART therapy

Optimum blood vitamin D levels to reduce risk of major medical events

Diagnosis of neonatal abstinence syndrome triples between 2000 and 2009

Study assesses perceived impact of CMS payment policy on hospital infection prevention efforts

Sanofi Pasteur announces new quadrivalent influenza vaccine Phase III pediatric data

Eating more sweet berries can keep our brains healthier

May issue of WHO Bulletin available online

'Mandatory oversight' of potentially dangerous biological research will be necessary

NIH study indicates safety of anti-HIV drug tenofovir during pregnancy

Tips for parents to engage their children in discussions about alcohol

Viewpoints: Romney's argument that health law would kill free enterprise; FDA's delay in cutting use of antibiotics in animals

Roundup: Mass. premium increases muted; Iowa cuts payment to charity after fraud probe; Ga. asks EMS providers to save scarce drugs

Uncomfortably high rates of maternal deaths during childbirth raise concerns: Study

Overweight and obese teenagers with diabetes may be difficult to treat: Study

Some public health advocates disagree with Indian government's decision to roll out pentavalent vaccines, IPS reports

Hospitals seek to cut costs, compete smartly

House passes student loan plan that siphons health law's prevention trust fund

Discover how SciY empowers scientists

Why use light scattering to analyze proteins and viral vectors?

Changing the landscape of R&D to build clinical success from the ground up

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