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TFAH applauds overall increase in disease prevention funding, expresses concern over CDC cuts

The Trust for America's Health (TFAH) applauds the President's budget for an overall increase in disease prevention funding, reflecting the new funds provided by the Prevention Fund from the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but expresses extreme concerns over the cuts to funding for core programs at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and for emergency preparedness.

15 Feb 2011

House GOP advances plans for continuing resolution, includes about $9 billion in HHS spending cuts

Some of the specific reductions in the CR, a spending bill which provides current year funding for the federal government, are aimed at the National Institutes of Health and community health centers.

15 Feb 2011

New grant for patient safety research to prevent 'fumbled handoffs' leading to medical errors

When a football player drops the ball or fumbles a handoff, his team might lose yardage or return to the line of scrimmage to re-do the play. In healthcare, dropping the ball means a patient might not get necessary follow-up care or worse.

15 Feb 2011

Viewpoints: Expediting SCOTUS health law review; birth control funding; budget cutting and the stock market

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take the extraordinary step of leapfrogging past federal appeals courts to decide the constitutionality of the new health-care law.

15 Feb 2011

Joslin upgrades its website to raise awareness about diabetes in Latino population

Latinos are twice as likely to develop diabetes as Caucasians, and half the Latinos born in the United States in this century are expected to get the disease. Helping to meet this challenge, Joslin Diabetes Center's Latino Diabetes Initiative—a comprehensive effort that combines clinical care, patient education, community outreach, research and healthcare team education—has upgraded its website with additional resources for Latinos with diabetes and their families in both English and Spanish.

15 Feb 2011

Pneumococcal vaccine officially rolled out in Kenya

"Kenya on Monday became the first African country to introduce a routine vaccine against pneumococcal disease, which claims the lives of more than half a million children under five each year," Deutsche Presse Agentur/The Hindu reports. The GAVI Alliance, which is supporting the vaccine's roll out, "is aiming to introduce the vaccine to 19 developing countries - including Nicaragua, Guyana, Yemen and Sierra Leone - within a year and hopes to reach more than 40 nations by 2015, depending on funding."

15 Feb 2011

New algorithm guides plastic surgeons in managing women with ALCL after breast augmentation

In the wake of a recent FDA statement linking breast implants to a rare cancer called anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a newly updated algorithm provides plastic surgeons with guidance in managing women with breast lumps or swelling after breast augmentation.

15 Feb 2011

Study confirms anti-inflammatory properties of Oligonol in humans

A recently published study in Nutrition Research and Practice has verified the anti-inflammatory effects in humans of Oligonol® lychee fruit polyphenol. The study examined Oligonol intake on cortisol and related cytokines in healthy young men. Both cortisol and cytokine concentrations are inflammatory markers known to increase when stress such as exercise is caused on the body.

15 Feb 2011

Veterans organizations urge Administration and Congress to invest $65.3B to meet veterans health-care, benefits

Four of the nation's leading veterans service organizations are urging the Administration and Congress to invest $65.3 billion to sufficiently meet veterans health-care and veterans benefits needs. For the Department of Veterans Affairs, the administration has proposed $61.9 billion in discretionary spending for fiscal year 2012. The budget proposal now goes to Congress for consideration.

15 Feb 2011

ASU, Mayo sign agreement to broaden collaboration in health care, medical research and education

Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University have signed an agreement to broaden and deepen their collaboration in health care, medical research and education. The agreement is a formal commitment to enhance the relationship built over the past eight years.

15 Feb 2011

AFP/News24 reports on uptick in dengue outbreaks in Latin America

"An outbreak of dengue fever across much of Latin America has killed 31 people since the start of the year and is showing no sign of relenting," Agence France-Presse/News 24 reports in a piece that notes the recent increase in dengue cases in the region over the past few years. Since the start of the year, "nearly 46,600 confirmed or suspected cases have been detected in the region, according to an AFP tally based on official figures," the news service reports.

15 Feb 2011

Electronic medical records in the age of government controlled internet ‘kill switches’

Egypt’s crisis has raised alarms about national security and economic impact for Americans if regime change leads to an anti-US government controlling a strong ally in the Middle East. This crisis raises another more personal concern for Americans that has been overlooked by the national media: the security and availability of your electronic medical records in the event of a government-imposed “kill switch” for the Internet.

15 Feb 2011

House Republicans release CR proposing to cut $100B from FY11 budget

House Republican leaders on Friday evening released legislation "designed to fund the rest of the fiscal year, which includes $100 billion in discretionary spending cuts compared with President Obama's fiscal 2011 budget request," National Journal reports.

15 Feb 2011

Researchers to develop automation system for sedation control in hospital ICUs

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Northeast Georgia Medical Center are one step closer to their goal of automating the management of sedation in hospital intensive care units. They have developed control algorithms that use clinical data to accurately determine a patient's level of sedation and can notify medical staff if there is a change in the level.

14 Feb 2011

Governors, mayors face fiscal challenge with costs of retiree health benefits

Governors and mayors facing large deficits have set their sights on a relatively new target — the soaring expense of health benefits for millions of retired state and local workers (Greenhouse, 2/13).

14 Feb 2011

State Roundup: Calif. adult day care; S.C.'s budget cuts; Minn. 'boomer bust'

As Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed slashing government aid for poor people, he argues that California still provides more generous benefits than many other states. … State-by-state comparisons are complicated. ... While California pays health costs for a larger share of its population, it spends less per person. It reimburses health care providers less and covers a younger, healthier group of people (Yamamura, 2/14).

14 Feb 2011

Oral bisphosphonates outweigh the risk associated with jaw disease

A commonly prescribed osteoporosis drug is associated with a slightly elevated risk of developing the rare, but serious condition, osteonecrosis of the jaw; nonetheless the risk remains extremely low. These findings are published online in the Journal of Dental Research, the official journal of the International and American Associations for Dental Research.

14 Feb 2011

NIH awards renewal grant to BMC's CARE unit to expand education of physicians-in-training

The Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit in the Section of General Internal Medicine at BMC was recently awarded a $1,886,087 renewal grant from the National Institutes of Health to expand its education of physicians-in-training to become sophisticated implementers of substance use screening, assessment and treatment research.

14 Feb 2011

GE Healthcare to leverage SAS technology to help hospitals address preventable adverse medical events

SAS, the leader in business analytics software and services, and GE Healthcare have entered into a joint development and marketing agreement by which GE Healthcare will leverage SAS technology to analyze and deliver relevant, detailed patient safety information to help hospitals address preventable adverse medical events.

14 Feb 2011

AP: Crooks find Medicare Part D an easy target

Crooks are taking advantage of lax oversight in Medicare's Part D prescription drug program to obtain highly addictive drugs including oxycodone, Ritalin, and methadone, according to results of a federal probe.

14 Feb 2011

Health Care News and Research

TFAH applauds overall increase in disease prevention funding, expresses concern over CDC cuts

House GOP advances plans for continuing resolution, includes about $9 billion in HHS spending cuts

New grant for patient safety research to prevent 'fumbled handoffs' leading to medical errors

Viewpoints: Expediting SCOTUS health law review; birth control funding; budget cutting and the stock market

Joslin upgrades its website to raise awareness about diabetes in Latino population

Pneumococcal vaccine officially rolled out in Kenya

New algorithm guides plastic surgeons in managing women with ALCL after breast augmentation

Study confirms anti-inflammatory properties of Oligonol in humans

Veterans organizations urge Administration and Congress to invest $65.3B to meet veterans health-care, benefits

ASU, Mayo sign agreement to broaden collaboration in health care, medical research and education

AFP/News24 reports on uptick in dengue outbreaks in Latin America

Electronic medical records in the age of government controlled internet ‘kill switches’

House Republicans release CR proposing to cut $100B from FY11 budget

Researchers to develop automation system for sedation control in hospital ICUs

Governors, mayors face fiscal challenge with costs of retiree health benefits

State Roundup: Calif. adult day care; S.C.'s budget cuts; Minn. 'boomer bust'

Oral bisphosphonates outweigh the risk associated with jaw disease

NIH awards renewal grant to BMC's CARE unit to expand education of physicians-in-training

GE Healthcare to leverage SAS technology to help hospitals address preventable adverse medical events

AP: Crooks find Medicare Part D an easy target

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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