Health Care News and Research

RSS

Guidelines to help people with allergies during bad weather

As this winter continue to take many parts of the country on a temperature roller coaster ride—from seasonal bone-chilling cold to springlike warmth and then back again—many people find themselves reaching for pain relievers or other remedies to deal with runny noses and other symptoms associated with sinus and allergy problems.

31 Jan 2013

No proof of added benefit from aclidinium bromide in adults with COPD

The drug aclidinium bromide has been approved since October 2012 for widening the narrowed airways of adults with chronic-obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has now examined the added benefit of the drug pursuant to the "Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products" (AMNOG).

31 Jan 2013

No added benefit from perampanel in patients with epileptic fits

The drug perampanel has been approved since July 2012 as adjunctive therapy for adults and children aged 12 years and older with epileptic fits (seizures).

30 Jan 2013

Obama administration expected to continue science and technology diplomacy agenda, SciDev.Net reports

"The Obama administration is expected to continue including science and technology (S&T) in its diplomacy agenda, according to interviews with a number of people recognized for their contributions to international science cooperation," SciDev.Net reports.

30 Jan 2013

Report calls for greater emphasis on preventive care

A report issued by the Trust for America's Health is urging a revamp of state and local public health efforts to better integrate and focus prevention strategies.

30 Jan 2013

State roundup: Fla. leaders pay less for coverage than workers

In statehouses around the country, some of the nation's biggest biotechnology companies are lobbying intensively to limit generic competition to their blockbuster drugs, potentially cutting into the billions of dollars in savings on drug costs contemplated in the federal health care overhaul law.

30 Jan 2013

WHO discusses 'zero draft' of new Global Mental Health Action Plan

"The World Health Organization (WHO) discussed the 'zero draft' of a new Global Mental Health Action Plan last week, which, if adopted, would set clear goals for progress and aim to improve accountability in improving mental health care around the world," GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog reports.

30 Jan 2013

States and the Medicaid expansion: This year's big choice

One of the biggest decisions governors and legislatures will wrestle with in 2013 is whether to pursue the health law's Medicaid expansion.

30 Jan 2013

Officials consider suicide's place in mental health gun control debate

Officials are looking at suicides as a major cause of gun death in America. In Maryland, a mental health gun control task force is considering recommending that medical personnel report suicide threats to authorities while suicides also take center stage in Massachusetts.

30 Jan 2013

U.N. calls for additional funding for humanitarian response in Syria

"As fighting continues in Syria's civil war, the United Nations has said that it will be forced to cut already reduced food rations to hundreds of thousands of refugees unless a huge cash injection is found," Al Jazeera reports.

30 Jan 2013

States look to speed shift of high-risk pool enrollees into exchanges

Meanwhile, the Associated Press checks on the status of the online insurance markets in the District of Columbia, New York, New Mexico and South Carolina.

30 Jan 2013

When hospitalists feel overburdened by workload, patient care suffers

A survey finds that hospital-based general practitioners feel overburdened by patient loads to the point where it has a negative impact on patient assessments, satisfaction and possibly safety outcomes.

30 Jan 2013

HIV/AIDS Legal Assessment Tool aims to tackle HIV-related discrimination

Writing in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Jennifer James, founder of Mom Bloggers for Social Good, examines the HIV/AIDS Legal Assessment Tool created by the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative.

30 Jan 2013

Calif. Medicaid providers appeal court decision that would allow cut in pay

California is also preparing for a boom of children who will soon qualify for dental care in the Medicaid program. In the meantime, transitions in the Kansas' Medicaid program encounter problems.

30 Jan 2013

Study shows high stress levels among rural pregnant women

Stress during pregnancy puts mothers' and their babies' health at risk, previous research has shown. Now, a University of Missouri study indicates low-income pregnant women in rural areas experience high levels of stress yet lack appropriate means to manage their emotional and physical well-being. Health providers should serve as facilitators and link rural women with resources.

30 Jan 2013

Blog examines next steps should a therapeutic AIDS vaccine be developed

In a post in the "Tomorrow Global" blog, Danielle Parsons, an HIV/AIDS specialist, highlights a number of advances made in the search for an AIDS vaccine, writing, "All of this work is promising, and it's starting to feel like we're back on track for a successful therapeutic vaccine in the next decade."

30 Jan 2013

House lawmaker explores new ways to fill veteran mental health care gap

Veterans who have trouble getting timely mental health care from Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics should also have access to thousands of health care providers who care for military personnel and their families, says the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.

30 Jan 2013

Post-2015 development goals should address shortcomings of current MDGs

"Later this week, a group of 26 people will meet in Liberia to discuss how the world should tackle global development challenges over the next decade or two," Ben Leo, global policy director of the ONE Campaign, writes in a TrustLaw opinion piece.

30 Jan 2013

House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health gains 7 new members

"The subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that oversees international health issues, including infectious disease, maternal and child health and global health programs, and population programs, as well as human rights issues and agencies, has seven new members," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" reports and "profiles the four new Republicans to join the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations."

30 Jan 2013

U.S. Supreme Court should end 'counterproductive' federal anti-prostitution pledge

In the Huffington Post's "Politics" blog, journalist and author John-Manuel Andriote notes the U.S. Supreme Court this month agreed to hear a case challenging the federal anti-prostitution pledge, which requires groups that receive federal funding for overseas HIV/AIDS programs to sign a pledge denouncing prostitution and sex trafficking as a condition for receiving funding, and describes the history of the policy.

30 Jan 2013