Health Care News and Research

RSS

Viewpoints: Politics overtakes Plan B; Gingrich's entitlement plans; Cheeseburgers and death

Once again, the politics of birth control have trumped science and sound public policy. On Wednesday, the Obama administration overruled a carefully reasoned decision by the Food and Drug Administration to make the so-called morning-after pill available without prescription to adolescent girls below the age of 17.

9 Dec 2011

Global health R&D funding from wealthy nations fell 6% in 2010, annual G-FINDER report finds

"A group that tracks funding for neglected diseases released its fourth annual report Wednesday, showing for the first time since 2007 a decrease in government and public spending in global health research and development," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

8 Dec 2011

Working night shifts may raise risk of diabetes: Study

About 26% percent of the American workforce, including health-care workers and sanitation staff, need to work night shifts. Earlier research has shown that regular night shifts may disrupt the circadian rhythm, raising the risk of heart disease, obesity, ulcers and even depression.

8 Dec 2011

First Edition: December 8, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about the HHS decision on the Plan B morning after pill, as well as the latest progress reports from Capitol Hill on the payroll tax break extension and the doc fix.

8 Dec 2011

Race, ethnicity, and insurance status influence follow-up care

According to the results of a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, African-Americans, Hispanics and uninsured patients use fewer post-hospitalization services after traumatic injury, including home health care, skilled nursing care, and rehabilitation.

8 Dec 2011

Pending budget cuts could jeopardize health, safety of state's most vulnerable seniors

California's low-income seniors with disabilities are struggling to remain in their homes as public funding for long-term care services shrinks and may be slashed even further, according to a new study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research conducted with support from The SCAN Foundation.

8 Dec 2011

Agreement on climate deal unlikely at Durban U.N. conference, Ban says

"Only a binding global accord on cutting greenhouse gases will spare Africa, the world's poorest continent, more devastating floods, droughts and famine, a senior African climate change official said on Tuesday" at a U.N. climate conference in Durban, South Africa, Reuters reports.

8 Dec 2011

Women face disproportionately high risks from climate change, UNEP report says

"Women, particularly those living in mountain regions in developing countries, are facing disproportionately high risks to their livelihoods and health from climate change, as well as associated risks such as human trafficking, according to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)," released at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, the UNEP News Centre reports.

8 Dec 2011

Study contradicts premise of framing effect on making health decisions

The behavior of consumers who are faced with making decisions about their health is not significantly influenced by the way health messages are worded or framed, according to a large, new study by researchers at the University at Buffalo and other institutions.

8 Dec 2011

Study raises questions about breast cancer therapy

The study, which looked at Medicare records of more than 130,000 women, found that those who underwent the faster treatment, called brachytherapy, were about twice as likely to have a mastectomy in the following five years -

8 Dec 2011

House hearing on malaria progress, challenges

This post in the "Malaria Policy Center" blog describes a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights, titled "Fighting Malaria: Progress and Challenges," that was held on Monday.

8 Dec 2011

Federal officials push greater medical use of gene sequencing

Almost a year after researchers in Wisconsin published a groundbreaking paper describing their use of genetic sequencing to diagnose and treat a 4-year-old boy, a national health agency is shifting its focus to put $416 million into making the secrets of our genetic script part of standard medical practice.

8 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: Insurance safety net; Orszag on shift in health plans

In this country, three subjects that are guaranteed to generate a heated debate are religion, politics and, you guessed it, health insurance. Of the first two, Mark Twain observed that "people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand."

8 Dec 2011

AIDS.gov blog posts mHealth Summit update

This post by AIDS.gov Director Miguel Gomez in the AIDS.gov blog provides an update on the second day of the mHealth Summit taking place in Washington, D.C.

8 Dec 2011

Lawmakers debate value of cameras in the courtroom

A Democratic senator dismissed those fears Tuesday, saying cameras would not cheapen the high court's proceedings. "I'm trying to picture Ruth Bader Ginsburg turning into Judge Judy. I just don't think it's going to happen," Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said during a hearing on the subject Tuesday.

8 Dec 2011

Medicaid news: Ariz. appeals court upholds cuts; federal spending increases

In the Arizona decision, a three-judge panel allows an enrollment freeze to continue. Meanwhile, a new analysis finds federal spending on Medicaid nationwide increased 344 percent between 1990 and 2007.

8 Dec 2011

Court considers health care execs' liability

After decades in relative obscurity, a U.S. legal doctrine that holds corporate officers liable for company wrongdoing is finding its way back into some high-profile health care prosecutions.

8 Dec 2011

Medicare enrollment deadline extended — for some

Kaiser Health News reports that federal officials are extending this Dec. 7 deadline for at least two days -- but only to those seniors who contact any of several sources of assistance.

8 Dec 2011

Global plan of action needed to end AIDS

After "President Obama threw the full weight of the U.S. government behind a vision" to end the AIDS epidemic in a World AIDS Day speech, "[n]ow the question is: How will we achieve this goal? What are the priority actions to take today, tomorrow, and years from now?" Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention, writes in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog.

8 Dec 2011

On the campaign trail, Obama to step up health law defense

Advisers expect that, while campaigning, President Barack Obama will talk about the law's specific benefits. In other news, a new ad by GOP hopeful Ron Paul that will run in Iowa targets fellow candidate Newt Gingrich. Health care policy issues are among the items the ad highlights.

8 Dec 2011