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Arkansas' abortion ban energizes backers of fetal heartbeat laws

That state's adoption of the nation's strictest abortion ban -- after 12 weeks of pregnancy, when a fetal heartbeat is usually found -- is spurring advocates to push similar legislation in Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, North Dakota and Wyoming. Legal scholars say such laws have little chance of withstanding federal court scrutiny.

13 Mar 2013

Researchers to develop methods for identifying diseases linked to metabolic disorders, obesity

Seven of ten persons with obesity suffer from the serious metabolic complications. Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden have now been entrusted with the task of leading an international research project to develop methods for identifying which individuals are in the risk zone.

13 Mar 2013

First Edition: March 12, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about this week's roll out of budgets on Capitol Hill and how Democratic and Republican fiscal blueprints will underscore key partisan differences.

12 Mar 2013

Patients challenge hospital fees

The Boston Globe reports on this trend. In other news, CQ HealthBeat reports that the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission gave a nod to shared-decision making between doctors and patients.

12 Mar 2013

Some Republican health staffers flee the hill

Politico reports that some GOP health care staffers have left Capitol Hill to take lobbying jobs that offer more money, fewer hours and less frustration.

12 Mar 2013

Think Africa Press examines Jadelle Access Program

Think Africa Press describes how "[t]he Jadelle Access Program is aiming to make Jadelle progestogen implants -- a long-acting and reversible form of contraception -- available to more than 27 million women in more than 50 countries worldwide."

12 Mar 2013

State roundup: Sequestration's impacts include less grant dollars

Sequestration spares Medicaid and almost all of Medicare, but automatic cuts to other federal health-care programs will make it more difficult for low-income Americans to get maternal and infant care, vaccinate their children, and receive treatment for mental illness.

12 Mar 2013

Drug to treat leishmaniasis fails in 20% of patients, study shows

"One in five people treated for a serious form of leishmaniasis in Nepal relapse after a year," Nature reports, adding, "The finding, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases last month, is 'an alarming signal' for campaigns to eliminate the neglected disease, say researchers."

12 Mar 2013

Listen to women's needs when designing HIV prevention strategies

According to "results from a large HIV prevention trial among African women" known as VOICE and released last week, "none of the prevention methods tested in the study made a difference in HIV infection rates, because few women actually used them as directed," AVAC Executive Director Mitchell Warren writes in an opinion piece published in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

12 Mar 2013

Examining the need for better data, policy, services to prevent GBV

"This past week I traveled to India and Burma to meet with leaders of the private sector, civil society, and government who are charting their nations' bright and prosperous futures," USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah reports in the agency's "IMPACTblog."

12 Mar 2013

With budget battle, Republican lawmakers renew push to undo health law

The budget plan for 2014 being advanced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., includes a proposal to give states more authority over Medicaid. Meanwhile, the bill being considered by the Senate to fund the federal government through the end of this year does not include the funds for the exchanges that the administration wanted.

12 Mar 2013

Super gonorrhea spreads important health message to Parliament House

NPS MedicineWise launched its policy priorities in Canberra, spreading super gonorrhea toys around Parliament House to highlight the importance of fighting antibiotic resistance.

12 Mar 2013

Health officials worried MDR-TB will become more common worldwide, in U.S.

The case of a Nepalese man with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) traveling through 13 countries before illegally entering the U.S. from Mexico, "first described by Betsy McKay at the Wall Street Journal, provides a window on a problem that health officials say is sure to arise more and more often," NPR's "Shots" blog reports.

12 Mar 2013

State health law implementation efforts trigger confusion -- and even arguments

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that businesses continue to find some provisions of the law "bewildering" while the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel offers a view on the size and scope of issues in play in Wisconsin.

12 Mar 2013

Health law's Medicaid expansion triggers flurry of state legislature debates, decisions

The Washington Post reports that Arkansas has discovered "wiggle room" regarding the expansion. Meanwhile, debates in state legislatures continue over what should happen in Arizona, Utah, California and Texas. And, in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Corbett plans a meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

12 Mar 2013

States consider 'dental therapists' to address concerns about dental care shortage

Dentists are voicing their concerns over patient care as more states consider licensing "dental therapists" to help alleviate a dental care shortage -- and so far only two states are using them.

12 Mar 2013

High-level dialogue on health in post-2015 development agenda concludes in Botswana

UNAIDS reports on the high-level dialogue on health in the post-2015 development agenda that took place last week in Botswana.

12 Mar 2013

Examining importance of global health governance

In a New England Journal of Medicine review article, Julio Frenk and Suerie Moon of the Harvard School of Public Health write that the world faces "a trio of threats: first, the unfinished agenda of infections, undernutrition, and reproductive health problems; second, the rising global burden of non-communicable diseases and their associated risk factors, such as smoking and obesity; and third, the challenges arising from globalization itself, such as the health effects of climate change and trade policies, which demand engagement outside the traditional health sector."

12 Mar 2013

China to keep family planning policy, merge health ministry and family planning commission

"China will not change its basic state policy on family planning, Wang Feng, deputy head of the State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform, told a press conference Monday in response to a question regarding the possibility of a change in the policy," Xinhua reports.

12 Mar 2013

Progress report on health exchanges: More may be happening in some states than expected

Politico reports some states that have been reticent or even opposed to setting up their own exchanges, like Ohio and Virginia, may be more hands-on than expected. Various reports from the Associated Press and MinnPost chart action in other states.

12 Mar 2013