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Medicare will still cover Avastin for breast cancer, despite revocation of FDA approval

The FDA announced that Avastin, while still approved for other cancers, is more harmful than helpful to breast cancer patients.

22 Nov 2011

Significant drops seen in AIDS-related deaths, new HIV infections, UNAIDS report shows

UNAIDS on Monday released its World AIDS Day Report 2011, "which shows more people than ever living with HIV, but deaths and new infections steadily dropping," the Guardian reports.

22 Nov 2011

U.N. makes statement, WaterAid releases report on sanitation to coincide with World Toilet Day

"The United Nations independent expert on access to water and sanitation as a human right on Saturday urged States to allocate more resources to improving sanitation and promote efficient use of existing hygiene facilities, stressing that people are entitled to decent toilets," the U.N. News Centre reports.

22 Nov 2011

Super committee ends talks without deal

Late Monday afternoon, the co-chairmen of the congressional super committee announced that their talks had ended in stalemate. In a joint statement, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, said, "After months of hard work and intense deliberations, we have come to the conclusion today that it will not be possible to make any bipartisan agreement available to the public before the committee's deadline."

22 Nov 2011

If there's no deficit reduction deal, what happens next?

Both parties are jockeying for position, trying to spin the super committee's expected announcement of failure into political victory. Meanwhile, some news outlets are examining what happens next for the automatic cuts, which will be triggered in 2013 if the deficit panel indeed does not offer a plan.

22 Nov 2011

Increasing food supply through production, trade policies necessary to prevent widespread hunger

"If we are to succeed in alleviating poverty and providing the necessary framework for sustainable development on our planet, there is no more pressing need than ensuring the supply of affordable food for our people," Pascal Lamy, director-general of the World Trade Organization, writes in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog."

22 Nov 2011

MIT, Pfizer announce new location for CVMED and Neuroscience research units

Pfizer Inc. and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) today held the official groundbreaking of the new location of Pfizer's Cardiovascular, Metabolic and Endocrine Diseases (CVMED) and Neuroscience research units at 610 Main Street, Cambridge, MA.

22 Nov 2011

Racial disparities in emergency diverticulitis surgery

Black senior citizens who need surgery for the intestinal disorder diverticulitis are significantly more likely to die in the hospital than their equally ill white counterparts, even when each racial group carries the same health insurance, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.

22 Nov 2011

Hypertension on the rise in Canada

Hypertension in Canada is increasing, and it is projected that more than one-quarter of Canadian adults will be diagnosed with hypertension by 2012/13, according to a study in CMAJ.

22 Nov 2011

Older home health care patients are prescribed PIMs three times higher than others

Older adults receiving home health care may be taking a drug that is unsafe or ineffective for someone their age. In fact, nearly 40 percent of seniors receiving medical care from a home health agency are taking at least one prescription medication that is considered potentially inappropriate to seniors, a new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine has revealed.

22 Nov 2011

Review highlights promising interventions to improve reproductive health of women living with HIV in developing countries

An article published in the Journal of the International AIDS Society on Friday "reviews the evidence of what works to meet the sexual and reproductive health needs of women living with HIV in developing countries and includes 35 studies and evaluations of eight general interventions using various methods of implementation science from 15 countries."

21 Nov 2011

Financial incentives effective at altering 'simple' behaviors in socially disadvantaged groups

Financial incentives work for doctors. Could they work for patients, too? Could they encourage them to change unhealthy behaviors and use preventive health services more? In some cases, yes, according to Dr. Marita Lynagh from the University of Newcastle in Australia, and colleagues. Their work, looking at why financial incentives for patients could be a good thing to change risky health behaviors, indicates that incentives are likely to be particularly effective at altering 'simple' behaviors e.g. take-up of immunizations, primarily among socially disadvantaged groups.

21 Nov 2011

New insights into immune-system changes that may trigger cartilage breakdown

Challenging long-held notions that osteoarthritis is a result mainly of wear and tear on the joints, researchers led by Dr. William H. Robinson of the Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System and Stanford University have provided new insights into the immune-system changes that may trigger cartilage breakdown.

21 Nov 2011

Expert panel discusses Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health 10 years after declaration's adoption

Intellectual Property Watch reports on a panel event at the World Intellectual Property Organization held by the intergovernmental South Centre and non-governmental Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) on November 14, 10 years after the World Trade Organization (WTO) adopted the Doha Declaration on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and Public Health.

21 Nov 2011

Recommendations aim to enhance health and quality of life for frail and vulnerable patients in nursing home care

More than 1.5 million adults live in nursing homes in the United States, and approximately 30 percent of people will diewith a nursing home as their last place of residence. As this population continues to increase, so will the need for physicians to assist those patients with proper care and guidance in making end-of-life decisions.

21 Nov 2011

Wall Street Journal CEO Council highlights global health as priority area

The Wall Street Journal last week held its CEO Council, "assembl[ing] nearly 100 chief executives of large companies for a day and a half to discuss the policy choices facing business and government, and the effects those choices may have on the global economy."

21 Nov 2011

Health Care News and Research

Medicare will still cover Avastin for breast cancer, despite revocation of FDA approval

Significant drops seen in AIDS-related deaths, new HIV infections, UNAIDS report shows

U.N. makes statement, WaterAid releases report on sanitation to coincide with World Toilet Day

Super committee ends talks without deal

If there's no deficit reduction deal, what happens next?

Increasing food supply through production, trade policies necessary to prevent widespread hunger

MIT, Pfizer announce new location for CVMED and Neuroscience research units

Racial disparities in emergency diverticulitis surgery

Hypertension on the rise in Canada

Older home health care patients are prescribed PIMs three times higher than others

Review highlights promising interventions to improve reproductive health of women living with HIV in developing countries

Financial incentives effective at altering 'simple' behaviors in socially disadvantaged groups

New insights into immune-system changes that may trigger cartilage breakdown

Expert panel discusses Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health 10 years after declaration's adoption

Recommendations aim to enhance health and quality of life for frail and vulnerable patients in nursing home care

Wall Street Journal CEO Council highlights global health as priority area

Health policies, entitlements grab headlines in GOP campaign coverage

Super committee failure looms

U.N. appeals for $5.5M to fight cholera in DRC

Political cartoon: 'Briefly Noted?'

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

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