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Oxfam report warns about steep increases in food costs, demand

With food costs rising for the second time in three years, Oxfam released a report on Tuesday predicting "the price of some staples such as corn will double in the next 20 years amid a permanent crisis caused by rising demand, flat crop yields and climate change," Associated Press/Forbes reports.

1 Jun 2011

Repro-Med Systems receives FDA marketing approval for new subcutaneous needle sets

Repro-Med Systems, Inc., announced today that it has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to begin U.S. marketing of its new Subcutaneous Needle Sets which the company is promoting as the HIgh Flo RMS Subcutaneous Needle Sets.

1 Jun 2011

USAID report questions Haitian quake death toll

The death toll from the January 2010 earthquake that struck Haiti was significantly lower than the toll claimed by Haitian leaders, according to the draft of a report prepared for USAID not yet publicly released, the Associated Press/Herald Sun reports.

1 Jun 2011

Administration seeks to stop Medicaid providers, recipients from suing states

Medicaid recipients and health care providers cannot sue state officials to challenge cuts in Medicaid payments, even if such cuts compromise access to health care for poor people, the Obama administration has told the Supreme Court.

1 Jun 2011

New online job sites for health care, life science and medical industries

Springer has launched a network of job sites designed to attract and showcase the unique talent and highly qualified audience that uses Springer tools which are some of the industry's most trusted, prestigious and trafficked sites for research.

1 Jun 2011

UNAIDS Director says Pope's comments on condoms open dialogue for HIV prevention

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe on Saturday "told a Vatican conference [Pope Benedict XVI] had opened the door to greater dialogue with his groundbreaking comments on condoms and HIV prevention - even as Vatican officials stressed abstinence and marital fidelity as the best prevention," the Associated Press reports.

1 Jun 2011

Scans, hospital infections at heart of new quality issues

A new diagnostic imaging test that can detect plaque in the arteries of the heart is not an efficient tool for screening people not experiencing symptoms of heart disease, a recent study found.

1 Jun 2011

Lax tax rules in developing countries hinder aid, Clinton says

In a speech to the OECD last week, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that foreign aid is undermined by lax tax enforcement systems in developing countries and their wealthy citizens who avoid paying taxes, Agence France-Presse reports.

1 Jun 2011

Health law implementation issues: Challenges with exchanges, doc-owned hospitals

A small but growing number of prominent, Republican governors — including Mitch Daniels and Haley Barbour — are taking the lead to shape a key component of the health care overhaul their party fought so hard to kill. It's a delicate balancing act for Republicans who, on the one hand, oppose federal health reform, even challenging its constitutionality in federal court, and, on the other hand, are pragmatically trying to control as much of the implementation process as they can.

1 Jun 2011

UNICEF publishes vaccine costs in an effort to promote price competition

UNICEF for the first time on Friday published the prices it pays pharmaceutical companies for vaccines, "as the world's biggest buyer of lifesaving immunizations aims to spark price competition in the face of rising costs," the Associated Press/Washington Post reports (5/28).

1 Jun 2011

Media examine funding for HIV/AIDS as disease turns 30

"As the war on AIDS heads into its fourth decade, the need for funds is spiralling relentlessly higher, prompting a quest for new resources from consumer levies to contributions from developing giants," Agence France-Presse/France 24 reports (5/30).

1 Jun 2011

Ontario's doctors urge people to quit smoking on ‘World No Tobacco Day’

Today is World No Tobacco Day and Ontario's doctors are taking the opportunity to remind people about the dangers of smoking and are urging smokers to talk to their doctor about how they can quit for good.

1 Jun 2011

Romney and other GOP leaders have complicated histories with health law

The former governor has faced a fusillade from the right for the plan they call RomneyCare. But a look back at the birth of the Mass. law shows why he can't, and won't, back away. It was an amazing political feat, and no one's role was bigger than his. ... Six years later, the decision to press ahead with an individual mandate has had far-reaching and still evolving consequences.

1 Jun 2011

ACLU and Planned Parenthood sue South Dakota

Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit in federal court charging that a South Dakota abortion law set to take effect July 1st violates both free speech rights and a woman's right to obtain an abortion.

1 Jun 2011

Wall Street Journal reports on U.N. AIDS declaration negotiations prior to high level meeting

The Wall Street Journal reports on negotiations surrounding a U.N. declaration to be discussed at the High Level Meeting on AIDS scheduled for June 8-10 in New York.

1 Jun 2011

At the 30 year mark, AIDS epidemic still poses challenges

Thirty years after America started battling HIV/AIDS, deaths linked to the virus have plummeted. New HIV cases are down by three-quarters. Life expectancy has more than tripled. Many HIV-positive people lead active lives, often on a single pill a day. But there's a darker side: More than 1.2 million Americans still are living with HIV/AIDS, and 40,000 new infections and 16,000 deaths are expected this year.

1 Jun 2011

Government questions plantiff's standing in challenge to health law

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments on the Thomas More Law Center case in Cincinnati tomorrow. Government lawyers say one of the plaintiffs lacks standing.

1 Jun 2011

Hospitals facing pressure to hold down costs and cut infections; drug shortages reported

For the first time in its history, Medicare will soon track spending on millions of individual beneficiaries, reward hospitals that hold down costs and penalize those whose patients prove most expensive. The administration plans to establish "Medicare spending per beneficiary" as a new measure of hospital performance, just like the mortality rate for heart attack patients and the infection rate for surgery patients.

1 Jun 2011

New York Times examines 30 years of AIDS

The New York Times looks at the evolution of the battle against AIDS since the first federal announcement of the disease 30 years ago this week. "The epidemic has brought a new focus on the power of epidemiology to identify a disease's transmission patterns long before discovery of its cause.

1 Jun 2011

Advocates express aid concerns after G8 summit ends

After the conclusion of the G8 summit in Deauville, France, last week, development experts expressed concern that the G8's aid package, aimed at encouraging democracy mostly in North Africa, would result in less aid for the rest of the continent, Inter Press Service reports.

1 Jun 2011