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State roundup: The effects of proposed Calif. budget cuts; Fewer free vaccinations in Texas

Low-income children in rural California communities are in jeopardy of losing their doctors and health care plans under Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposal, state lawmakers, doctors and health advocates say. The governor is proposing to transfer nearly 900,000 children enrolled in Healthy Families, the state's Children's Health Insurance Program, to Medi-Cal – a program aimed at serving the state's poorest families, seniors and disabled residents.

30 May 2012

Outcomes of next month's Rio+20 summit will have 'deep repercussions' for future generations

In this post in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog," Gro Harlem Brundtland and Fernando Henrique Cardoso, both of whom are involved in Elders+Youngers, an inter-generational dialogue on the future of the planet initiated by the Elders, a group of eminent global leaders working together for peace and human rights, comment on a "lack of urgency in the run-up to the Rio+20 summit next month," writing, "The meeting provides a historic opportunity to chart a sustainable future for the world," but "at the moment, there is a real chance the opportunity will be thrown away."

30 May 2012

Aid agencies warn April's steep increases in grain prices will affect Sahel nations during lean season

"Unexpectedly sharp price rises in April for local cereals like millet, rice, and maize in parts of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Chad mean many vulnerable people in the drought-hit Sahel could find it even harder to get enough to eat," IRIN reports.

30 May 2012

Cabazitaxel offers added benefit for men with metastatic prostate cancer

Cabazitaxel has been approved since March 2011 in men with metastatic prostate cancer who no longer respond to conventional therapy with hormone blockers and have already been pre-treated with the cytostatic drug docetaxel.

30 May 2012

Researchers develop STeleR post-stroke rehabilitation program

Researchers led by Regenstrief Institute investigator Neale Chumbler, Ph.D., a research scientist with the Center of Excellence on Implementing Evidence-Based Practice at the Richard Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis, have developed STeleR, a home telerehabilitation program that they report improves lower body physical functioning after a stroke.

30 May 2012

Widespread cholera vaccination needed in Haiti while improvements made to water, sanitation systems

"As the world's worst outbreak of cholera continues to ravage Haiti, international donors have averted their gaze," a Washington Post editorial writes. The editorial notes that a "pilot project to vaccinate Haitians against the disease ... reached only one percent of the population, with no immediate prospect of expansion," and "of the 100 or so cholera treatment centers that sprang up around the country after the disease was detected 19 months ago, fewer than a third remain."

30 May 2012

Officials at WHA fail to agree on convention to encourage R&D into health issues in developing countries

Health officials attending last week's World Health Assembly "failed to come to an agreement on a binding convention on stimulating research and development [R&D] focusing on the health problems of developing countries," BMJ reports.

30 May 2012

House plans vote on amended FDA user fee reauthorization bill, hears from docs on Medicare payment fix

The GOP-led House will vote on an amended version of the FDA reauthorization bill, and medical officials are urging action on Medicare payments.

30 May 2012

Health law opinions: 'Improvised explosive' device tax; Iowa legislators force role for brokers on insurance exchanges

"Taxmageddon" isn't only about the half-trillion-dollar blow to the economy that arrives in 2013 on the end of the Bush-Obama tax rates. Several of the Affordable Care Act's worst tax increases kick in too, such as the new excise tax on medical devices. The 2.3 percent levy applies to the sale of everything from cardiac defibrillators to artificial joints to MRI scanners. The device tax is supposed to raise $28.5 billion from 2013 to 2022, and it is especially harmful because it applies to gross sales, not profits.

30 May 2012

Towers Watson acquires Extend Health

Towers Watson, a leading global professional services company, today announced the completion of its acquisition of Extend Health, Inc., which operates the largest private Medicare exchange in the United States.

30 May 2012

SafeStitch Medical officially changes name of AMID Stapler

SafeStitch Medical, Inc., is pleased to announce that it has officially changed the name of the AMID Stapler to AMID Hernia Fixation Device to better describe the functionalities of the device.

30 May 2012

Participants of 5th International Parliamentarian Conference on Population, Development reiterate commitment to 1994 program of action

"Participants at the Fifth International Parliamentarians' Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) ended a two-day meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday with a joint pledge to advocate for increased funding for full implementation of the decades-old ICPD Programme of Action," Inter Press Service reports.

30 May 2012

EMA CHMP issues positive opinion to Eisai’s Fycompa for treatment of partial-onset seizures

Eisai announced today that the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion for the use of Fycompa (perampanel) as an adjunctive treatment of partial-onset seizures, with or without secondarily generalised seizures, in patients with epilepsy aged 12 years and older.

29 May 2012

Study focuses on the best way to change multiple health behaviors

A new study, supported in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, suggests that a combination of mobile technology and remote coaching holds promise in encouraging healthier eating and physical activity behavior in adults. The study focused on the best way to change multiple health behaviors.

29 May 2012

Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly covers some of the biggest challenges facing public health

The Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly concluded Saturday after adopting 21 resolutions and three decisions on a broad range of health issues. The six days of discussions involved nearly 3000 delegates, including health ministers and senior health officials from amongst the 194 WHO Member States, as well as representatives from civil society and other stakeholders.

28 May 2012

Nearly half of Iraq, Afghan war vets seek medical compensation benefits

America's newest veterans are filing for disability benefits at a historic rate, claiming to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of former troops the nation has ever seen. A staggering 45 percent of the 1.6 million veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now seeking compensation for injuries they say are service-related. That is more than double the estimate of 21 percent who filed such claims after the Gulf War in the early 1990s, top government officials told The Associated Press.

28 May 2012

Cardinal Wuerl says bishops are united in fight with administration over contraception rule

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, on Sunday denied a split among Catholic bishops about the lawsuit challenging the Obama administration's rule mandating that employers and health insurance plans cover contraception. "I have yet to see among the bishops any split at all," Wuerl said on "Fox News Sunday." "The bishop who was quoted saying he was concerned issued a statement saying that was not his position."

28 May 2012

Study: 10 percent of veterans go without health insurance

Of the 1.3 million veterans who lack health coverage, the study says about 630,000 of them would likely qualify for Medicaid under the health law expansion, and as many as 520,000 could qualify for subsidized health coverage in insurance exchanges.

25 May 2012

Muslim women, religious leaders being enlisted in global campaign to eradicate polio

"The last three countries where polio is still paralyzing children -- Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria -- said on Thursday that they have enlisted Muslim women and religious leaders to allay fears of vaccination and wipe out the disease," Reuters reports.

25 May 2012

Mass. hospital agrees to $750,000 settlement over 2010 data breach

South Shore Hospital, Weymouth, Mass., has reached a $750,000 settlement agreement of a lawsuit over a 2010 data breach involving the records of 800,000 individuals, the hospital and the Massachusetts attorney general's office have announced.

25 May 2012

Health Care News and Research

State roundup: The effects of proposed Calif. budget cuts; Fewer free vaccinations in Texas

Outcomes of next month's Rio+20 summit will have 'deep repercussions' for future generations

Aid agencies warn April's steep increases in grain prices will affect Sahel nations during lean season

Cabazitaxel offers added benefit for men with metastatic prostate cancer

Researchers develop STeleR post-stroke rehabilitation program

Widespread cholera vaccination needed in Haiti while improvements made to water, sanitation systems

Officials at WHA fail to agree on convention to encourage R&D into health issues in developing countries

House plans vote on amended FDA user fee reauthorization bill, hears from docs on Medicare payment fix

Health law opinions: 'Improvised explosive' device tax; Iowa legislators force role for brokers on insurance exchanges

Towers Watson acquires Extend Health

SafeStitch Medical officially changes name of AMID Stapler

Participants of 5th International Parliamentarian Conference on Population, Development reiterate commitment to 1994 program of action

EMA CHMP issues positive opinion to Eisai’s Fycompa for treatment of partial-onset seizures

Study focuses on the best way to change multiple health behaviors

Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly covers some of the biggest challenges facing public health

Nearly half of Iraq, Afghan war vets seek medical compensation benefits

Cardinal Wuerl says bishops are united in fight with administration over contraception rule

Study: 10 percent of veterans go without health insurance

Muslim women, religious leaders being enlisted in global campaign to eradicate polio

Mass. hospital agrees to $750,000 settlement over 2010 data breach

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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