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Stop TB Partnership, TAG release report on tuberculosis research funding

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports the findings from the second edition of the 2011 Report on Tuberculosis (TB) Research Funding and Trends from 2005-2010, released Thursday by Treatment Action Group (TAG) and the Stop TB Partnership.

30 Mar 2012

First Edition: March 30, 2012

Today's health policy headlines include reports that the House yesterday approved the $3.5 trillion budget plan proposed by Paul Ryan -- which includes deep cuts in entitlements and will likely trigger the election-year fiscal debate.

30 Mar 2012

Cancer cells grow and proliferate more robustly when exposed to human cells

New research from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute and the Rambam Medical Center may lead to the development of new methods for controlling the growth of cancer, and perhaps lead to treatments that will transform cancer from a lethal disease to a chronic, manageable one, similar to AIDS.

30 Mar 2012

Democrats respond to Ryan budget plan with billboard, cries of foul

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney offered his support for the plan advanced by Rep. Paul Rayn, R- Wis., causing Democrats to point out inconsistencies with his attacks on the health law. Meanwhile, Democrats have posted a billboard in Ryan's hometown criticizing his proposals on Medicare.

30 Mar 2012

Paying doctors and hospitals for better outcomes may not pay off

Medicare's largest effort to pay bonuses to hospitals that hit key performance measures -- or dock them if they miss -- did not lead to fewer deaths for heart attacks and heart bypass surgery, a new study finds. The analysis could lead to a reexamination of the idea of paying providers based on quality metrics, rather than on volume, which is key to the health law.

30 Mar 2012

Health law continues to trigger salvos in Mass. Senate race

Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren continue to spar over health policy issues. At the same time, Brown's election to the Senate could continue to impact the fate of the health law.

30 Mar 2012

High court and severability: What parts of the law could fall?

On Wednesday, the nine justices pondered what parts -- if any -- of the health law could go forward if the individual mandate is overturned. The discussion involved fundamental consitutional questions.

30 Mar 2012

Study looks at how health care providers react to medication alerts in EMR systems

A study by Regenstrief Institute and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs investigators provides the first in-depth look at how health care providers react to medication alerts generated by electronic medical record systems. The researchers plan to use this information to improve the design of medication alerts and diminish the phenomenon known as alert fatigue, where providers can become desensitized and may start unintentionally ignoring some important warnings.

30 Mar 2012

Examining potential implications of the Affordable Care Act on global health

In this post in the Global Health Governance Blog, contributing blogger David Fidler, a professor of law at Indiana University's Maurer School of Law, examines the potential implications of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on global health law, writing, "In the midst of this constitutional and political moment, I find myself wondering what this seminal American case means, if anything, beyond the United States in the realm of global health."

30 Mar 2012

ASD more prevalent among New Jersey children: CDC

New statistics issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders found among 8-year-old children in a sample area of New Jersey is significantly higher than in most other states surveyed.

30 Mar 2012

Medicaid questions complete the court's health law review

At some points during the Supreme Court's consideration of the health law's Medicaid expansion, conservative justices not only questioned this provision of the law, but the program itself.

30 Mar 2012

Demand for dentist anesthesiologists in pediatric dental practices is on the rise

The demand for dentist anesthesiologists in pediatric dental practices is on the rise. More than 70 percent of board-certified pediatric dentists in the United States provide mild to moderate sedation in their practices. Nearly that many, 60 to 70 percent, would use a dentist anesthesiologist if one were available. However, supply cannot yet meet the demand.

30 Mar 2012

Three nominees for World Bank presidency commence race with statements

Several news outlets published articles recapping comments made Wednesday by the three nominees for the World Bank presidency.

30 Mar 2012

Researchers, experts debate publication of H5N1 research amid updated studies

"As researchers from both sides of the debate over two controversial H5N1 studies weighed in Tuesday on full publication versus a more cautionary approach, two U.S. journals" -- the Journal of Infectious Diseases (JID) and its sister publication, Clinical Infectious Diseases -- "said they are developing policies to address any future such instances," CIDRAP News writes.

30 Mar 2012

Family planning bill may get vote in Philippines congress, Bloomberg News reports

Bloomberg News examines family planning in the Philippines, where "one in five women of reproductive age ... have an unmet family planning need, the U.N. Population Fund says, leading to unintended pregnancies and population growth twice the Asian average."

30 Mar 2012

The Supreme Court arguments are over - what happens now?

News outlets sum up the oral arguments and preview when to expect a decision, what impact the legal review might have on politics and what other ripple effects could occur.

30 Mar 2012

House poised to approve Ryan budget plan

Passage of the GOP budget advanced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., will likely be along party lines. Meanwhile, a bipartisan alternative was rejected Wednesday.

30 Mar 2012

Voiding the mandate, or the entire law, would upend plans by insurers, employers

Popular provisions that have already gone into effect, such as letting children stay on their parents' insurance plans until they turn 26, would fall if the law is thrown out. If only the mandate is declared unconstitutional, however, the law would still affect millions.

30 Mar 2012

U.N. official warns millions at risk of starvation in African Sahel

"Millions of people in Africa's turbulent Sahel region are on the brink of starvation due to drought and conflict, the United Nations said on Wednesday, and aid response plans are less than 40 percent funded ahead of an expected crisis peak," Reuters reports.

30 Mar 2012

Scientific research is crucial to preventing, controlling, eradicating infectious diseases

The debate about two studies showing that, with few genetic mutations, H5N1 bird flu strains could become more easily transmissible among ferrets, a laboratory model for humans, "has become a debate about the role of science in society.

30 Mar 2012