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RMHC, UTHealth School of Dentistry partner to bring oral and mobile pediatric care in the Houston area

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Dentistry and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Houston/Galveston, Inc.(RMHC) have joined forces to bring oral, mobile pediatric care to the Houston area.

5 Oct 2012

Longer looks: The time is now for community health workers; Patients sharing in medical decisions; One doctor's plea for help

By the time Frederick Pegues Jr. was resting in bed at Temple University Hospital, the irony struck him hard. Here, he had just finished a month-long course in being a community health worker, sponsored by Temple University Hospital. He had learned how to help patients navigate a complicated health system. Yet he himself had not been able to get the help he needed.

5 Oct 2012

Heart attacks linked with mortality risk in people with schizophrenia

The risk of death resulting from heart attack is higher in people with schizophrenia than in the general public, according to scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).

4 Oct 2012

First Edition: October 4, 2012

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz, working in collaboration with the PBS Newshour, reports: "The future of Medicaid -- the state-federal workhorse of the nation's health system that provides health coverage to the poorest and sickest Americans -- hangs in the balance on Election Day. President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney have vastly different approaches to the program."

4 Oct 2012

Scripps Health receives Qualcomm Foundation grant to support digital medicine research projects

Scripps Health announced today that it has been awarded a $3.75 million grant from the Qualcomm Foundation, to be used for the Scripps Translational Science Institute, which was established by Scripps Health in collaboration with various parties to support the development of breakthrough digital technologies designed to revolutionize the practice of medicine.

4 Oct 2012

Nature examines future of AMFm

"Although no official decision has been announced about whether to continue the ... Affordable Medicines Facility-Malaria (AMFm), many of those familiar with it have told Nature that it must change or be phased out after this year," the magazine reports in an article examining the future of the pilot program that distributes malaria drugs in seven African countries.

4 Oct 2012

Penn researchers to begin Microbion's BisEDT gel Phase 2 trials in post-surgical orthopedic infections

A team of researchers led by Samir Mehta, MD, chief of the Orthopaedic Trauma & Fracture Service at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has received a $2.5 million grant from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP), provided through the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), to begin Phase 2 human trials of a study that examines the effective treatment of post-surgical orthopedic infections using Microbion Corporation's topical BisEDT drug.

4 Oct 2012

An expanded role for some nurses?

A federal agency is weighing whether to reimburse a specialized type of nurse for giving chronic-pain treatments, a move opposed by some doctors and one that critics say could complicate the battle against prescription painkiller abuse.

4 Oct 2012

Zimbabwe set to attain 'universal' ARV coverage

"Zimbabwe is set to attain 'universal' coverage for AIDS treatment thanks in part to an $84 million disbursement on Tuesday by the United Nations-backed Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria," the U.N. News Centre reports.

4 Oct 2012

Health policies will play role in debate's political theater

As new polls show a narrow margin separating them, President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will face questions on their plans for Medicare, Medicaid and overhauling the health system during tonight's debate. The focus will be on domestic policy, and at least 15 minutes will be dedicated to health care.

4 Oct 2012

Obama should promote, invest more in PMI to gain votes

Leading up to the debates this month and the November presidential election, "President Obama would be wise to talk up our effective aid programs and the soft power they provide with regional allies," particularly the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), Roger Bate, a resident scholar with the American Enterprise Institute, and Kimberly Hess, a researcher with Africa Fighting Malaria, write in a New York Daily News opinion piece.

4 Oct 2012

Parsing health and Medicare plans amid campaign promises

News outlets analyze the presidential candidates' proposals for tackling Medicare and Medicaid costs, as well as how these differing ideas are playing among voters.

4 Oct 2012

States ask, answer questions on health law implementation

Even as some states didn't meet the target set by the Department of Health and Human Services for submitting their "benchmark" plans regarding the health law's essential health benefits, others offered specifics about what would be covered and what plans would be their choice.

4 Oct 2012

Blog assesses key elements of Global Fund's new funding model

In an article on the International HIV/AIDS Alliance's webpage, the organization compares a new funding model adopted by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to its own "key principles" and "outline[s] how civil society is involved in refining the process of how money will be allocated."

4 Oct 2012

Court approves Abbott settlement for wrongly marketing Depakote

The pharmaceutical company will pay $1.5 billion for marketing the drug for non-approved uses.

4 Oct 2012

Mayo Clinic releases new app to help fight anxiety

Mayo Clinic is releasing an app this week for Apple iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch called Anxiety Coach, a self-help tool that assists people in reducing a variety of fears and worries ranging from extreme shyness to obsessions and compulsions.

4 Oct 2012

Report: Overhaul will bring new customers, challenges to the insurers

A report released Tuesday by the health care consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers outlines how various changes put in place by the 2010 health law will change the insurance industry.

4 Oct 2012

Reuters examines debate over proposed reproductive health bill in the Philippines

Reuters examines how Philippine President Benigno Aquino is supporting "a reproductive health bill that will, if passed by the two houses of Congress, guarantee access to free birth control and promote sex education," despite the "country's powerful Catholic church."

4 Oct 2012

Leaders announce expansion of successful maternal, child health program in Tanzania

"Tanzania has made significant advances in cutting maternal deaths thanks to a United Nations-sponsored program that brings public and private sectors together to resolve one of the most stubborn but preventable woes afflicting the developing world," but more must be done to scale up efforts to save lives, leaders involved in the program said during a news conference on Tuesday at U.N. Headquarters, the U.N. News Centre reports.

4 Oct 2012

Leaders gather at Columbia University event to discuss local, global responses to AIDS

A UNAIDS feature story reports on an event, titled "A Future without HIV/AIDS: Dream or Reality?," held at Columbia University on September 28 and co-hosted by the World Leaders Forum and the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP).

4 Oct 2012