Health Care News and Research

RSS

Australian ruling on cigarette logo ban a 'landmark event' for global health

"The ruling this week by Australia's high court to uphold its government's right to introduce 'plain packaging' for tobacco products is a landmark event for global health," John Seffrin, CEO of the American Cancer Society, writes in this Health-e opinion piece.

18 Aug 2012

Study demonstrates how Elesclomol blocks oxidative phosphorylation in melanoma

A laboratory study led by UNC medical oncologist Stergios Moschos, MD, demonstrates how a new targeted drug, Elesclomol, blocks oxidative phosphorylation, which appears to play essential role in melanoma that has not been well-understood. Elesclomol (Synta Pharmaceuticals, Lexington, MA) was previously shown to have clinical benefit only in patients with normal serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), a laboratory test routinely used to assess activity of disease.

18 Aug 2012

Australia upholds cigarette logo ban, dealing a 'major blow' to global tobacco

"Australia's highest court Wednesday rejected a challenge from big tobacco companies to tough new plain-packaging laws due to come into effect later this year, in a legal battle closely watched around the world," the Wall Street Journal reports, adding, "The ruling is a major blow for global tobacco giants that had been seeking to stop Australia implementing the new laws, fearing the move would set a precedent for other countries to follow."

18 Aug 2012

Views from Mass.: Novel effort to curb health costs is being closely watched

Now Massachusetts, which has the highest per capita health spending of any state in the country, is moving on the cost front. A bill signed last week by Democratic Governor Deval Patrick seeks to cut expenses by shifting the entire health system away from traditional open-ended fee-for-service medicine and setting legal limits on what the state and its residents are willing to pay. According to a statement by Patrick, the new law "cracks the code on cost," by "ushering in the end of fee-for-service in Massachusetts in favor of better care and lower costs."

18 Aug 2012

Ryan pressed on $716 billion, 10-year Medicare cut

Romney criticizes those reductions in the future growth of Medicare, which were put in place by the 2010 health law. But his running mate, Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan, is put on the spot by reporters about why he included those same reductions in his budget proposals, which were passed twice by the House.

18 Aug 2012

Gates blog examines global implications of Australian ruling on cigarette logo ban

"In one of the most significant victories for public health policy, the Australian High Court upheld the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act, which effectively removes the last form of advertising available to the tobacco industry in the country -- logos on cigarette packs," Cynthia Lewis, a senior program officer for the tobacco initiative at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes in the foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog.

18 Aug 2012

Climate change poses risks to food supply, may lead to price spike, experts warn

"Downpours and heat waves caused by climate change could disrupt food supplies from the fields to the supermarkets, raising the risk of more price spikes such as this year's leap triggered by drought in the United States," Reuters reports.

18 Aug 2012

Blog examines potential health implications of global child marriage act for women, girls

In this post in Management Sciences for Health's (MSH) "Global Health Impact" blog, Belkis Giorgis, senior technical advisor for the Leadership Management and Governance Project at MSH, reports on the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act (House Resolution 6087), which "establishes a strategy to prevent child marriage and promote the empowerment of girls."

18 Aug 2012

Views on Medicare feud: Both sides working toward cuts; If vouchers aren't the answer, what is?

Americans who don't count themselves confused by the current debate over Medicare must be in the minority. Mitt Romney and Republican running mate Rep. Paul D. Ryan accused President Obama of hurting seniors by cutting $716 billion from the federal health program. The president retorts that the Republicans would "end Medicare as we know it." The truth is that both sides have plans that dramatically change the nearly half-century-old program.

18 Aug 2012

Blog interviews health reporter regarding Haiti's cholera outbreak

In this post in KPLU 88.5's "Humanosphere" blog, journalist Tom Murphy interviews reporter Jonathan Katz, "the first to break the story connecting U.N. peacekeepers from Nepal to the" cholera outbreak in Haiti.

18 Aug 2012

AHCA approves Cleveland Clinic Florida applications for heart, liver and kidney transplant services

Cleveland Clinic Florida is pleased to announce that the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) in Florida has approved its applications for heart, liver and kidney transplant services.

18 Aug 2012

Safety net hospitals prepare for changes from health law; Patients hesitant to challenge doctors

Safety-net hospitals – which often provide care to low-income and uninsured populations – are facing reduced federal and state support for uncompensated care under the Affordable Care Act. However, this study points out that 23 million people will remain uninsured and continue to need care from the hospitals.

18 Aug 2012

Viewpoints: Calif. health exchange off to good start; Fay Vincent on access problems for disabled; How 'upcoding' increases health costs

The California Health Benefits Exchange, established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to offer subsidized private coverage to most of the uninsured, represents an excellent opportunity to improve the quality and cost of healthcare in this state.

18 Aug 2012

New patient survey shows improved quality of decisions about herniated disc surgery

A new patient survey can show improvements in the quality of patient decision-making about whether or not to undergo surgery for a herniated disc, reports a study in the August 15 issue of Spine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

18 Aug 2012

State news: Tenn. abortion clinic closes; Tex. wrestles with funding for Women's Health Program; Mich. lawmakers pass bill to cut state share of teachers' health care

A Knoxville abortion provider has closed after 38 years, citing a newly enacted Tennessee law that requires doctors to hold admitting privileges at local hospitals. The Volunteer Women's Medical Clinic in Knoxville closed Friday. In a public letter titled "End of an Era," Executive Director Deb Walsh wrote that she was unable to keep their doors open in part due to the "Life Defense Act," which requires physicians to obtain admitting privileges at area hospitals.

18 Aug 2012

First Edition: August 17, 2012

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Jenny Gold reports on a new survey about accountable care organizations: "Few hospitals interested in becoming accountable care organizations are ready to take on financial risk, according to a survey released Friday from The Commonwealth Fund."

17 Aug 2012

Electronic PMP use may have impact on demand for drug treatment programs, painkiller abuse

A Rhode Island Hospital researcher has found that the use of electronic prescription drug monitoring programs (PMPs) may have a significant impact on the demand for drug treatment programs and how prescribers detect and respond to abuse of painkillers.

17 Aug 2012

Parsing Medicare policy and politics

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's promise to restore the Medicare cuts made by President Obama's health care law would move the insolvency date of the program closer, reports The Associated Press. Other news outlets examine the Medicare policy specifics that Rep. Paul Ryan, the likely GOP vice presidential pick, has advanced in his House budget proposals.

17 Aug 2012

Ryan sees Medicare issue as opportunity

Paul Ryan addressed Medicare in a stump speech for the first time, saying the debate is one "we will win." But Vice President Joe Biden offered a very different view of the Republicans' Medicare plan, calling it a "voucher system."

17 Aug 2012

Top-of-the-ticket sparring focuses on Medicare

In a Wednesday campaign appearance, President Barack Obama and GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney went on the attack, trading barbs over the Medicare program. For Romney, it included taking steps to distance himself from the ideas advanced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Paul Ryan, his pick for running mate.

17 Aug 2012

Health Care News and Research

Australian ruling on cigarette logo ban a 'landmark event' for global health

Study demonstrates how Elesclomol blocks oxidative phosphorylation in melanoma

Australia upholds cigarette logo ban, dealing a 'major blow' to global tobacco

Views from Mass.: Novel effort to curb health costs is being closely watched

Ryan pressed on $716 billion, 10-year Medicare cut

Gates blog examines global implications of Australian ruling on cigarette logo ban

Climate change poses risks to food supply, may lead to price spike, experts warn

Blog examines potential health implications of global child marriage act for women, girls

Views on Medicare feud: Both sides working toward cuts; If vouchers aren't the answer, what is?

Blog interviews health reporter regarding Haiti's cholera outbreak

AHCA approves Cleveland Clinic Florida applications for heart, liver and kidney transplant services

Safety net hospitals prepare for changes from health law; Patients hesitant to challenge doctors

Viewpoints: Calif. health exchange off to good start; Fay Vincent on access problems for disabled; How 'upcoding' increases health costs

New patient survey shows improved quality of decisions about herniated disc surgery

State news: Tenn. abortion clinic closes; Tex. wrestles with funding for Women's Health Program; Mich. lawmakers pass bill to cut state share of teachers' health care

First Edition: August 17, 2012

Electronic PMP use may have impact on demand for drug treatment programs, painkiller abuse

Parsing Medicare policy and politics

Ryan sees Medicare issue as opportunity

Top-of-the-ticket sparring focuses on Medicare

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®

Latest News