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Workers, employers, elderly and hospitals all worried about effects of fiscal cuts

As negotiations drag on to cut federal debt, many groups are concerned about how potential changes in spending will affect them.

19 Dec 2012

WASH improvements necessary to fight NTDs, and vice versa

"We know that in addition to drugs to treat and control [neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)], improvements to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) can help prevent re-infection and contribute to lasting health, education and economic improvements," Anupama Tantri, a senior program officer with the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, writes in the group's "End the Neglect" blog.

19 Dec 2012

Amgen expected to enter a guilty plea to unspecified charges

The biotech giant is expected to plead guilty in a New York federal court criminal case. Some reports suggest the charges relate to "misbranding" -- which refers to the promotion of drugs for uses that have not gained the Food and Drug Administration's approval.

19 Dec 2012

Automatic U.S. budget cuts would hurt global health efforts

In a post on the PATH blog, Rachel Wilson, senior director for policy and advocacy at PATH, examines the consequences of budget negotiations and "what enacting billions of dollars in automatic spending cuts could mean for people living in poverty around the world.

19 Dec 2012

'Repackaging' of U.N. cholera initiative detracts attention from epidemic's origin

"Those following the two-year-old saga of the United Nations and cholera in Haiti were startled by" the U.N.'s announcement last week of a $2.2 billion initiative to help eliminate cholera in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

19 Dec 2012

18 states plan to operate their own health exchanges

The deadline for states to inform the federal government if they would operate healthcare exchanges under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law was December 14.

19 Dec 2012

CSIS paper examines U.S. role in global polio eradication

The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) has published a paper, titled "The U.S. Role In Global Polio Eradication," that "provides an overview of the global polio eradication effort, emphasizing the U.S. role," according to the paper's summary. t forward."

19 Dec 2012

University of Maryland, Baltimore hosts first national conference on oral and systemic health

By hosting the first national conference on oral and systemic health in Baltimore on Dec. 10, the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) took another major step toward true interprofessional health care education, says Jay A. Perman, MD, president of the University.

19 Dec 2012

Health care quality: Hospital readmission rates, innovations in patient care

Modern Healthcare reports on new research that raises questions about the relationship between shorter hospital stays and higher hospital readmission rates.

19 Dec 2012

Medicare issues in play: IPAB, the doc-fix and the eligibility age

News outlets report on how specific Medicare-related proposals and provisions are holding up in the continuing negotiations to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.

19 Dec 2012

Obama, Boehner trade 'fiscal cliff' offers, express optimism about possible deal

President Barack Obama's latest offer does not include a Republican proposal to increase the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports on how health care spending is driving the nation's debt, while USA Today details a new poll showing the public favors the president in the fiscal talks.

19 Dec 2012

Documented prevalence of autism on the rise in New Jersey

Newly published research led by Walter Zahorodny, PhD, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), shows that over a four year period in the past decade, the documented prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) rose substantially in a sampling of four New Jersey counties.

19 Dec 2012

Meeting participants discuss HHS framework for funding H5N1 avian influenza research

CIDRAP News reports on a two-day meeting at the National Institutes of Health during which "researchers, biosecurity experts, and others" discussed the "crafting of a framework for funding H5N1 avian influenza gain-of-function studies." The meeting "is the latest chapter in an intense scientific controversy that was triggered by the publication of two recent studies involving lab-engineered H5N1 strains that showed signs of being transmissible in mammals," according to the news service.

19 Dec 2012

Study finds coverage to help kick smoking can be tricky

In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: Most people who smoke want to quit, and the 2010 health-care law is supposed to make it easier for them by requiring many insurance plans to cover smoking-cessation treatments with no out-of-pocket cost to members.

19 Dec 2012

More surgeons opting for hospital jobs

General surgeons and surgical subspecialists are opting for hospital employment over private practice, according to a database study published online December 17 in the Archives of Surgery.

19 Dec 2012

Reflections on selection of Ambassador Goosby to head U.S. Office of Global Health Diplomacy

Noting U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator "Ambassador Eric Goosby has been selected to head the U.S. Department of State's new Office of Global Health Diplomacy, officially turning the page in the ongoing saga of the program formally known as the Global Health Initiative (GHI)," Amanda Glassman, director of global health policy and a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), writes in the center's "Global Health Policy" blog that the appointment "stirred many of the same questions and concerns that arose from the GHI death notice and left me wondering: is this news a Christmas miracle or a lump of coal for U.S. global health programs?"

19 Dec 2012

Small ceramic indoor cookstoves do not reduce pneumonia incidence among children, study shows

"Small ceramic indoor stoves, such as those sold by women in AIDS self-help groups in Africa, do save fuel and cut down on eye-irritating smoke, a new study has found -- but they do not save children from pneumonia," the New York Times reports.

19 Dec 2012

Views on Conn. shootings: Mental illness doesn't generally lead to violence; Need for more treatment options; Helping the survivors

It's possible that preventing people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other serious mental illnesses from getting guns might decrease the risk of mass killings. Even the Supreme Court, which in 2008 strongly affirmed a broad right to bear arms, at the same time endorsed prohibitions on gun ownership "by felons and the mentally ill." But mass killings are very rare events, and because people with mentally illness contribute so little to overall violence, these measures would have little impact on everyday firearm-related killings.

19 Dec 2012

Hypnotherapy helps fight irritable bowel syndrome symptoms

Hypnotherapy helps fight IBS symptoms. These are the findings of a thesis from Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden which proposes implementing this treatment method into the care of severe sufferers of this common disease.

19 Dec 2012

Roundup: Minn. court rules relatives deserve same pay for personal care attendant work; Colo. governor wants $18.5M for expanded mental health care

The state's effort to reduce pay for some personal care attendants has hit a snag. The Minnesota Appeals Court ruled Monday that the state's attempt to pay PCAs who care for relatives 20 percent less than other personal care attendants is unconstitutional. "They have the same training, they have the same experience, they're limited to the same number of maximum hours," said attorney David Bradley Olsen, who represents 11 agencies and several personal care assistants who sued over the matter.

19 Dec 2012

Health Care News and Research

Workers, employers, elderly and hospitals all worried about effects of fiscal cuts

WASH improvements necessary to fight NTDs, and vice versa

Amgen expected to enter a guilty plea to unspecified charges

Automatic U.S. budget cuts would hurt global health efforts

'Repackaging' of U.N. cholera initiative detracts attention from epidemic's origin

18 states plan to operate their own health exchanges

CSIS paper examines U.S. role in global polio eradication

University of Maryland, Baltimore hosts first national conference on oral and systemic health

Health care quality: Hospital readmission rates, innovations in patient care

Medicare issues in play: IPAB, the doc-fix and the eligibility age

Obama, Boehner trade 'fiscal cliff' offers, express optimism about possible deal

Documented prevalence of autism on the rise in New Jersey

Meeting participants discuss HHS framework for funding H5N1 avian influenza research

Study finds coverage to help kick smoking can be tricky

More surgeons opting for hospital jobs

Reflections on selection of Ambassador Goosby to head U.S. Office of Global Health Diplomacy

Small ceramic indoor cookstoves do not reduce pneumonia incidence among children, study shows

Views on Conn. shootings: Mental illness doesn't generally lead to violence; Need for more treatment options; Helping the survivors

Hypnotherapy helps fight irritable bowel syndrome symptoms

Roundup: Minn. court rules relatives deserve same pay for personal care attendant work; Colo. governor wants $18.5M for expanded mental health care

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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