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Analysis calls for experimental evidence to determine best way to disclose information to patients

Giving patients data about the risks and benefits of a medical intervention is not always helpful and may even lead them to irrational decisions, according to an article in the Hastings Center Report. That finding calls into question whether it is essential to disclose quantitative data to patients to help them make informed decisions.

16 Apr 2011

Obama makes it official: 1099 repeal signed into law

Because the 1099 reporting requirement was a non-health related revenue-raising provision within the health law, its repeal is paid for with a payback provision that recoups funds from people who exceed their estimated income level during the course of the year after receiving subsidies for health insurance.

16 Apr 2011

Family-based HIV prevention interventions needed for juvenile offenders, say BHCRC researchers

More intensive or family-based HIV prevention interventions may be needed to encourage juvenile offenders to use condoms and stop engaging in risky sexual behavior, say researchers from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center.

16 Apr 2011

World Bank President raises concerns about volatile world food prices' impact on poverty

"World Bank President Robert Zoellick on Thursday warned of rising food inflation and high oil prices resulting from political turmoil in the Middle East as risks to world growth, as they threaten to push more people into poverty," the Wall Street Journal's "Dispatch" blog reports.

16 Apr 2011

Congress approves current-year spending plan, votes on defunding health law as part of agreement

Separate measures to defund the health law and Planned Parenthood, which were voted on as part of the compromise that enabled the broader spending bill to move to a vote in both chambers, were approved in the House but defeated in the Senate.

16 Apr 2011

Abbott submits ARCHITECT 25-OH Vitamin D assay application to FDA for clearance

According to a recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a third of Americans have vitamin D levels that are either inadequate or deficient. While many people know that vitamin D is necessary to help the body absorb calcium, which helps create strong bones and muscles, many don't know that insufficient levels of this important vitamin may lead to other health problems.

16 Apr 2011

Research roundup: Oral health; details of Medicare's IPAB

Trends And Variation In End-Of-Life Care For Medicare Beneficiaries With Severe Chronic Illness - This report explores the shifts in the use of medical resources to treat Medicare beneficiaries at the end of life between 2003 and 2007.

16 Apr 2011

House to vote today on GOP blueprint to trim $6 billion in spending

The fiscal framework relies on cuts to Medicaid as well as a revamp of the Medicare program. Meanwhile, reaction continues regarding the budget outline unveiled earlier in the week by President Obama.

16 Apr 2011

Camp, Hatch allege misuse of Medicare advantage bonus payments

The GOP lawmakers allege that the administration's use of certain bonus payments that are available through a demonstration program are for political gain.

16 Apr 2011

Investigators provide call to action for training of future physicians to master relationship skills

With mounting evidence that patient-centered care improves medical outcomes, investigators from the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine are providing a call to action for the training of future physicians to master relationship skills as well as the burgeoning scientific knowledge needed to practice 21st Century medicine.

16 Apr 2011

Politics in play around health law implementation issues

For instance, the governor of Oklahoma returned a $54 million grant in part to demonstrate her opposition to implementing the overhaul. Meanwhlie, the Center for Public Integrity reports on how insurance brokers are trying to change key parts of the measure. Finally, Politico Pro explores what might be next for the repeal movement.

16 Apr 2011

Roundup: Medicaid bill headed for Florida Senate floor; Texas nursing home funding vulnerable in state budget

The Texas Legislature is faced with a budget challenge that has pitted the Republican majority's desire to cut government spending against a vulnerable target: nursing homes.

16 Apr 2011

Children who have eczema with hay fever more likely to develop allergic asthma

Children who have eczema, particularly when occurring with hay fever, are nine times more likely to develop allergic asthma in their 40s, a new study reveals.

16 Apr 2011

Novocure receives FDA approval for NovoTTF-100A System to treat GBM

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved the NovoTTF-100A System, a new device to treat adults with glioblastoma multiforme that recurs or progresses after receiving chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

15 Apr 2011

Viewpoints: Ryan responds to Obama; calling Ryan's 'bluff'; 'magical solutions'

This week the House of Representatives will take the first real step in addressing our looming fiscal crisis by bringing "The Path to Prosperity," a budget resolution for next year and beyond, to the House floor. This budget offers a clear contrast to the president's speech on Wednesday. … [A] deficit speech that doesn't even rise to the level of a plan. Missing was a credible way to curb out-of-control spending.

15 Apr 2011

First Edition: April 15, 2011

Today's headlines include reports about yesterday's passage of the short-term spending compromise as well as debate and detail regarding health care costs, entitlement reform and other long-term budget concerns.

15 Apr 2011

Economists urge G20 finance ministers to support Tobin tax to fund global development

One thousand economists have signed a letter calling on G20 finance ministers, who are meeting in Washington this week, to support the "so-called 'Robin Hood tax' or Tobin tax on transactions in financial markets," the Guardian reports.

15 Apr 2011

Driving Safety Initiative launched to help reduce road accident casualties

The independent Commission for Global Road Safety on Tuesday in London announced the launch of the Driving Safety Initiative to "help reduce worldwide crash casualties," the New York Times' "Wheels" blog reports.

15 Apr 2011

WHO group hopes to have virus-sharing draft agreement finalized by Friday

Countries are narrowing in on a "deal to speed up their response to the next flu pandemic by sharing virus samples in return for access to affordable vaccines," co-chairs of a WHO working group told reporters on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

15 Apr 2011

Safer-sex education leads to fewer episodes of unprotected sex

Teaching young women how to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) increases condom use and might reduce their number of sexual partners, but little research exists on whether educational programs reduce rates of STIs such as human papillomavirus, according to an updated research review from England.

15 Apr 2011