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Nature publishes first of two controversial studies on H5N1 avian flu

"In a long-awaited study that helped prompt a contentious debate over the wisdom of conducting research that has the potential to help as well as harm, scientists reported Wednesday that they had engineered a mutant strain of [H5N1] bird flu that can spread easily between ferrets -- a laboratory animal that responds to flu viruses much as people do," the Los Angeles Times (Brown, 5/3).

4 May 2012

Can doctors in small practices catch a break on meaningful use requirements?

The chair of a House subcommittee on health technology has asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to exempt doctors in small practices or those who are nearing retirement from new health IT requirements.

4 May 2012

In global study, U.S. ranks very low in preventing premature births

A World Health Organization/United Nations/March of Dimes report ranks countries on their premature birth rates.

4 May 2012

MSF official discusses WHO Working Group final report on R&D

The Results for Development Institute's Center for Global Health R&D Policy Assessment blog features an interview with Judit Rius Sanjuan, U.S. manager of the Access Campaign of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), who discusses the final report of the WHO Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development: Financing and Coordination.

4 May 2012

U of A engineers develop wireless health-monitoring system

An interdisciplinary team of engineers at the University of Arkansas has developed a wireless health-monitoring system that gathers critical patient information, regardless of the patient's location, and communicates that information in real time to a physician, hospital or the patient herself.

4 May 2012

UNFPA Director urges India to address family planning needs

India "has to actively and aggressively address the issue of family planning" in order to improve human development indicators, including health, education and living standards, UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin said Wednesday, Reuters reports.

4 May 2012

Reuters profiles GAVI Alliance CEO Seth Berkley

Reuters profiles GAVI Alliance CEO Seth Berkley, recounting his childhood and early career, providing a brief history of GAVI since its inception in 2000, and discussing Berkley's goals and vision for the alliance.

4 May 2012

UnitedHealthcare offers ‘SignatureValue Alliance’ in California

UnitedHealthcare is offering "SignatureValue Alliance" in California, a new health benefits plan featuring high-performance care provider networks committed to delivering effective, evidence-based and cost-efficient care.

4 May 2012

State governments wrestle with Medicaid expenses, lawsuits

Officials reckon with health care costs in the context of budget dilemmas in Illinois, Kentucky, Connecticut, Alabama and Wisconsin.

4 May 2012

Study confirms U.S. health spending far outpaces other industrialized nations

According to The Commonwealth Fund, the U.S. spends more than 12 other industrialized countries, but the care here is not necessarily better.

4 May 2012

State roundup: Pittsburgh insurer, hospital extend contract despite ongoing fight

A restaurant workers' group and a Los Angeles community clinic have launched a unique cooperative to provide health coverage to a group of people excluded from federal health care reform -- illegal immigrants. The pilot program, believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, offers preventive and primary care to low-wage, uninsured workers in the restaurant industry. Legal immigrants and other restaurant workers who don't meet the criteria or cannot afford coverage under the health care law are also eligible.

4 May 2012

Accretive Health says Minnesota Attorney General misled public, acted in bad faith

The Chicago-based company says last week's report by the Minnesota Attorney General did harm, and that the company will seek legal remedies.

4 May 2012

Urodynamic tests before SUI surgery may not be necessary for women

A routine, but expensive, test for women who undergo stress incontinence surgery may not always be necessary, according to a study published in the latest issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

4 May 2012

The Supreme Court rule could have 'unintended consequences' for Medicare payments

The Associated Press reports that a high court decision to strike down the health law could be disruptive to Medicare's payment systems.

4 May 2012

Blog posts respond to report on premature births

The March of Dimes Foundation, the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health, Save the Children, and the WHO on Wednesday released a new report, titled "Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth," showing that 15 million infants are born prematurely each year, 1.1 million of those infants die, but 75 percent of those deaths are preventable.

4 May 2012

HIV/AIDS funding does not undermine efforts to fight other diseases, study suggests

"While the battle against HIV/AIDS attracts more donor funding globally than all other diseases combined, it has not diverted attention from fighting unrelated afflictions -- such as malaria, measles and malnutrition -- and may be improving health services overall in targeted countries, according to a study on Rwanda published" Wednesday in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, an American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) press release reports.

4 May 2012

Women's health, health law issues heating up campaigns

News outlets examine how women's health issues and the health law are affecting the presidential race as well as specific campaigns for Senate, congressional and state races.

4 May 2012

Chagas disease especially harmful for expectant mothers; New, better treatments needed

"Chagas disease -- a parasitic infection transmitted through an insect commonly known as the 'kissing bug' -- is one of the most common infections among pregnant women in the Western Hemisphere," Peter Hotez, president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and director of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, writes in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

4 May 2012

NHC first quarter net income decreases 36.5% to $10,508,000

National HealthCare Corporation, a publicly traded long-term health care company, today announced net income available to common shareholders for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 of $10,508,000 compared to $16,556,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, a decrease of 36.5%.

4 May 2012

Without funding, thousands of malnourished Somali children at risk of death, UNICEF warns

UNICEF on Wednesday "warned that thousands of acutely malnourished children in Somalia are at risk of death because little money is available to help them," VOA News writes, adding, "UNICEF said it has received only 12 percent of its $289 million emergency appeal for humanitarian operations this year."

4 May 2012