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Scientists discover key biochemical step underlying heart failure

Some 5.8 million Americans suffer from heart failure, a currently incurable disease. But scientists at Temple University School of Medicine's (TUSM) Center for Translational Medicine have discovered a key biochemical step underlying the condition that could aid the development of new drugs to treat and possibly prevent it.

6 Mar 2013

Health law implementation largely untouched by automatic spending cuts

The Associated Press reports that only a small fraction of the overhaul's funding is subject to the sequester's cuts. Meanwhile, the Obama administration indicates that insurers will have to report rate increases no matter how small and offers rules to clarify other provisions.

5 Mar 2013

The clock runs out on averting sequestration

Time ticked down to March 1 -- also known as sequestration D-day -- without the White House and lawmakers finding a way to avert the scheduled cuts.

3 Mar 2013

Registration open for Society of Interventional Radiology's Annual Scientific Meeting

Online meeting registration is open for the Society of Interventional Radiology's Annual Scientific Meeting April 13 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

1 Mar 2013

State lawmakers' positions on Medicaid expansion key to plans' future

Even after governors -- both Republican and Democrat -- express their interest in opting for the health law's Medicaid expansion, the action that follows in state legislatures is important to watch. News reports follow from states including California, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Virginia.

1 Mar 2013

World Bank proposes agenda for improving status of women, addressing GBV

"The World Bank is ramping up its efforts for global policymakers to address gender-based violence [GBV], proposing an agenda for improving the status of women and directing more research toward the economic and social costs of violence," TrustLaw reports.

1 Mar 2013

AAPP, Wolters Kluwer Health partner to publish official journal effective with June 2013 issue

Wolters Kluwer Health and the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) announced today an agreement to publish its official journal effective with the June 2013 issue. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW), part of Wolters Kluwer Health, will be the journal's publisher of record.

1 Mar 2013

Griffith University's Institute for Glycomics launches human trials for Streptococcus A vaccine

Griffith University's Institute for Glycomics has launched human trials for a vaccine against Streptococcus A, the germ that causes rheumatic fever.

1 Mar 2013

Other governors pressured for and against Medicaid expansion

In North Carolina, lawmakers passed legislation barring the state from expanding the program for the poor, while in Pennsylvania, Kansas and West Virginia, supporters are pressing the economic and political advantages of the health law provision made optional by the Supreme Court.

28 Feb 2013

N.J.'s Christie joins ranks of GOP govs to opt to expand Medicaid

The decision by Gov. Chris Christie would provide health insurance to an estimated 104,000 of the poorest 1.3 million uninsured residents of the state. With this move, Christie follows other Republican governors who were staunch opponents of the health law, including Ohio's John Kasich and Florida's Rick Scott.

28 Feb 2013

First Edition: February 27, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about N.J. Gov. Christie's decision to pursue the health law's Medicaid expansion.

27 Feb 2013

Smoking prevention and cessation campaigns: an interview with Dr DePinho, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Dr Mohar, National Cancer Institute of Mexico

There are more than 94 million former and current smokers in the United States, and more than 21 million in Mexico, according to the 2009 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) Fact Sheet.

27 Feb 2013

Complementary medicine risks: an interview with Dr Andrew Boyden, NPS MedicineWise

Complementary medicines include products containing herbs, vitamins, minerals, nutritional supplements, homoeopathic medicines, certain aromatherapy products and traditional Chinese medicines. For this reason they are also called herbal, natural or alternative medicines.

26 Feb 2013

Finding solutions to global health problems might mean creating more risk

"Scientists are aware that their interventions in the natural world will have unintended effects, and in order to behave ethically, these potential risks must be considered," Maggie Koerth-Baker, science editor at BoingBoing.net, writes in a New York Times opinion piece, adding, "Even something as innocuous as a mosquito net may carry a considerable downside."

26 Feb 2013

Viewpoints: Health care 'price gouging;' Health law pushing employers to cut workers' hours; Medicare spending must be tamed

Steven Brill's cover story on the Looking Glass world of healthcare pricing may be the longest article Time Magazine has ever published, but more importantly, it is a fresh sign that the medical-industrial complex should be worried as the deadline for launching Obamacare rolls closer.

26 Feb 2013

UCSD molecular biologist to receive Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences

Napoleone Ferrara, MD, PhD, the molecular biologist credited with helping decipher how tumors grow and now senior deputy director for basic sciences at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center, was today named one of 11 recipients of the inaugural Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, which comes with a $3 million cash award.

21 Feb 2013

States pursue different paths to health exchanges

With Friday's deadline now passed, it is clear the federal government will run the insurance marketplaces created by the health law in about half the states. Only a handful of the states opted to partner with the feds.

20 Feb 2013

Reports warn premium spikes, dropped workers could result from health law

The New York Times reports that some companies could avoid requirements in the health law by insuring their own employees -- a move that might drive up costs for workers of other companies. Other outlets look at concerns that young, healthy people buying policies in new online markets could see a jump in insurance costs.

20 Feb 2013

Gates Foundation blog series examines contraception options for women, girls

Writing in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Gary Darmstadt, head of the family health division at the foundation, and Monica Kerrigan, a family planning expert, introduce the blog's new series, "What's Your Method?," which "offers a window into many of the contraceptive options for women and girls around the world."

20 Feb 2013

Concerns raised about insurance markets under new law

Companies can avoid many standards in the new law by insuring their own employees, rather than signing up with commercial insurers, because Congress did not want to disrupt self-insurance arrangements that were seen as working well for many large employers.

19 Feb 2013