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Setting the scene: Court arguments offer different kind of drama

With no Twitter, cameras or telephones allowing reports from inside the court, much of the action will take place on the outside. A range of groups have planned demonstrations. All the while, the lawyers involved in the arguments have been busy with "moot court" practice sessions; spectators have been waiting in line in hopes of getting a seat; and stakeholders, such as the health care industry, are anxiously watching for clues to the outcome.

26 Mar 2012

Doctors adjusting (or not) to e-prescribing, smartphones

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will penalize doctors who fail to reach electronic prescribing rules.

26 Mar 2012

Amped up health law debate creeps into presidential, congressional races

Mitt Romney raises his attack on the Democrats' health care law while GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum assails Romney for championing the Massachusetts health law -- and takes the fight to the steps of the Supreme Court.

26 Mar 2012

Spectator point-by-point guides to the Supreme Court's health law review

As the health law's challengers and defenders head to court, media outlets take big-picture looks at how the upcoming three days of arguments could play out, provide primers that detail the key aspects of the issues in play as well and give a heads up on what to watch for.

26 Mar 2012

Politics provides the backdrop for justices' consideration of health law

The proceedings at the high court could shake the fall elections in a variety of ways. Even before the arguments begin, both sides of the fight are a bit battleworn from the court's past rulings and the path that has led to this week's clashes.

26 Mar 2012

CCTA identifies more patients with coronary artery disease

Coronary CT angiography (CCTA) scans allow doctors to determine safely and more quickly which patients at low-to intermediate-risk for a heart attack can be discharged from hospital emergency departments (EDs) than traditional methods, according to the results of a large, multicenter American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) trial published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

26 Mar 2012

Cheney surgery sparks discussion of age and heart transplants

Over the weekend, former Vice President Dick Cheney, who is 71, received a new heart after he had waited 20 months.

26 Mar 2012

States brace for impact of health law ruling

Even with the health law's future in question, news reports indicate that some states are pressing forward with implementation, while another -- Massachusetts -- considers itself untouched by what becomes of the federal law. All the while, the politics of the health overhaul will play a significant role at the state level, too.

26 Mar 2012

First Edition: March 26, 2012

Today marks the beginning of the Supreme Court's three days of oral arguments regarding the health law. Headlines break down the key points of those arguments, as well as the political and historical context in which they will be advanced.

26 Mar 2012

$Economic burden of fragility fractures in Europe far exceeds previous estimates$

Economic burden of fragility fractures in Europe far exceeds previous estimates

Researchers at the European Congress of Osteoporosis & Osteoarthritis in Bordeaux have presented new data * which shows that the economic burden of fragility fractures in the 27 member states of the European Union far exceeds previous estimates, with hip fractures accounting for around 55% of costs.

26 Mar 2012

Asahi Kasei announces commencement of tender offer for ZOLL

Asahi Kasei Corporation, Japan's leading diversified chemical manufacturer with businesses in the health care, chemicals & fibers, homes & construction materials, and electronics sectors, announced today the commencement of a tender offer through its indirect wholly owned U.S. subsidiary Asclepius Subsidiary Corporation for all outstanding shares of common stock of ZOLL Medical Corporation for $93 per share, net to the seller in cash, without interest and less any required withholding taxes.

26 Mar 2012

Mutational profiling could determine which AML patients will benefit from dose-intensive chemotherapy

An international group of researchers, including those from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., have published a paper in the March 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine reviewing the results of a study that analyzed mutations in 18 genes of 398 patients who had acute myeloid leukemia.

26 Mar 2012

Komen facing fundraising challenges, resignations of executives

U.S. breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure is feeling a pinch on donations following a controversy over its funding for Planned Parenthood, a leading provider of birth-control and abortion services. A few of the group's flagship "Race for the Cure" fundraising events have failed to meet targets, a Komen spokeswoman said on Friday.

26 Mar 2012

Fairfax Family Practice Centers, Cigna launch collaborative accountable care initiative

Cigna and Fairfax Family Practice Centers, a primary care family medical practice based in Northern Virginia, have launched a collaborative accountable care initiative to expand patient access to health care, improve care coordination, and achieve the "triple aim" of improved health outcomes (quality), lower total medical costs and increased patient satisfaction.

26 Mar 2012

Plouffe defends, Graham and Bachmann attack health law

As the Supreme Court takes up President Obama's health care law this week, the White House dispatched a top political aide to the Sunday talk shows to make the case for the law that will go far in defining Obama's legacy. "As it relates to the Supreme Court, we're confident that it's going to be upheld," senior Obama adviser David Plouffe said on ABC's This Week. ... In the meantime, Republican presidential candidates -- while hoping that the Supreme Court strikes down the law -- have vowed to repeal the law.

26 Mar 2012

Romney assails health law; Obama embraces 'Obamacare'

Mr. Romney used much of the event to mark the two-year anniversary of Democrats' national health care law, something he described as the "centerpiece" of President Barack Obama's failure as a president. "It's amazing how many things are wrong with it," Mr. Romney said. "I got a whole list here." That list did not include the law's requirement for individuals to buy health insurance, the subject of a closely watched Supreme Court case. While Mr. Romney was governor of Massachusetts, he signed a state law with a similar mandate.

26 Mar 2012

Court's review of Medicaid expansion could affect other federal programs

A major issue in the Supreme Court battle over the new health care law is whether Congress can force states to make a huge expansion of Medicaid, to add millions of low-income people to the rolls. States say the federal law is unconstitutionally coercive because all their Medicaid money would be at risk if they flout the new requirement. The states argument has implications that go far beyond health care.

26 Mar 2012

Supreme Court watch: Counting down to health law's historic arguments

Two years and three days after President Barack Obama signed into law a health care overhaul aimed at extending medical insurance to more than 30 million Americans, the high court begins three days of hearings over the law's validity. The challenge from 26 states and a small business group puts the court smack in the middle of a heavily partisan fight over the president's major domestic accomplishment and a presidential election campaign in which all his Republican challengers oppose the law.

26 Mar 2012

Social rejection, internalized shame may contribute to depression in lung cancer patients

Studying the role of social stigma in depression for lung cancer patients, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., have found that depression can be heightened by a lung cancer patient's sense of social rejection, internalized shame and social isolation. These factors may contribute to depression at rates higher than experienced by patients with other kinds of cancer.

26 Mar 2012

Periodontal treatment linked with decrease in hospital admissions, medical care costs

Today, during the 41st Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR), held in conjunction with the 36th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, an abstract titled "Periodontal Therapy Reduces Hospitalizations and Medical Care Costs in Diabetics" to determine if periodontal treatment was associated with the number of hospitalizations and cost of medical care among diabetics with periodontal disease.

26 Mar 2012