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AMCs should adjust and adapt to new health care reform laws: New England Journal

Academic Medical Centers must adjust and adapt to the new health care reform laws or risk marginalization in the new health care arena, according to a New England Journal of Medicine Perspective article published online February 2.

3 Feb 2011

African first ladies gather to discuss HIV/AIDS

On the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday, the General Assembly of the Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) gathered to discuss the continent's progress against HIV/AIDS, Walta Info reports.

3 Feb 2011

Republicans advance plans for Senate vote on repealing health overhaul

The vote, which is likely to occur Wednesday, will be symbolic because Senate Democrats are confident they can defeat the GOP amendment in a procedural vote. But momentum continues to build regarding an effort to delete a small, revenue-raising provision of the sweeping law, which could cause its own wrinkles.

3 Feb 2011

Study: Health insurers consolidate market power

Meanwhile, Aetna mailed letters Tuesday to notify customers in Colorado that it will be exiting the individual market there.

3 Feb 2011

Health law ruling draws different state reactions

State officials are sorting a legal decision issued Monday by a federal court judge in Florida overturning the health law. Their challenge is to determine how and whether to proceed with their implementation responsibilities. Some, like Florida's governor, appear to favor taking steps to stall its progress.

3 Feb 2011

Blue Shield of California agrees to postpone rate increase

With this announcement, Blue Shield joins other large California insurers — Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna and PacifiCare — in agreeing to the delay.

3 Feb 2011

Analyzing the health law's 'prognosis'

As experts continue to parse the specifics of a federal Judge's Monday ruling striking down the health overhaul, experts speculate about what the Supreme Court could decide. Meanwhile, insurers, health industry stakeholders and even state officials mull their next steps.

2 Feb 2011

Legal decision triggers political twists

News outlets report on some of the political issues surrounding the individual mandate and Monday's legal decision striking down the health law.

2 Feb 2011

New study: Clinical trials exclude older patients due to age-related conditions

Older individuals, who constitute a rapidly growing population in the United States, account for a disproportionate share of health care utilization and cost. Yet more than half of clinical trials exclude people based on their age or age-related conditions, according to a new study by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars- at the University of Michigan.

2 Feb 2011

Federal judge's ruling could lead to new, patient-focused reforms to American health care system

Coalition to Protect Patients' Rights (CPPR) spokesman, Dr. Donald J. Palmisano, today said that a federal judge's ruling on the unconstitutionality of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate could lead to new, patient-focused reforms to the American health care system.

2 Feb 2011

New state scorecard finds geographic disparities in health insurance coverage for children

Two years after the reauthorization and expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program, a new Commonwealth Fund state-by-state scorecard evaluating how the health care system is working for children finds that federal and state action on behalf of children has helped preserve, and even expand, health coverage for this group, despite the severe recession.

2 Feb 2011

Elsevier acquires Cancer Information Group's oncology journals portfolio

Elsevier, the leading global publisher of scientific, technical, and medical information products and services, announced today that it acquired the oncology portfolio of journals previously published by CIG Media Group LP., (operated as Cancer Information Group).

2 Feb 2011

Survey finds 75% of workers use their employers for medical and health information

The number of U.S. employees who turn to their employer and health plan for medical and health information has increased sharply over the past few years, according to a nationwide survey of employees conducted by the National Business Group on Health, a non-profit association of more than 300 large employers.

2 Feb 2011

Size of influenza-laden particles linked to risk of infection

A parent's wise advice to never go to a hospital unless you want to get sick may be gaining support from scientific studies on a specific airborne virus.

2 Feb 2011

Bill Gates' annual letter calls for focus on eradicating polio, governments to sustain foreign aid

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "urged developed nations to help him wipe out polio 'once and for all' at an event to release his third annual letter [.pdf] Monday," Agence France-Presse reports.

2 Feb 2011

New national initiative to increase heart attack awareness among women

A woman suffers a heart attack every minute in the United States. But according to a 2009 American Heart Association survey, only half of women said they would call 9-1-1 if they thought they were having a heart attack -- and many women did not even recognize several key symptoms. This combination has led to dangerous consequences.

2 Feb 2011

At AU Summit, U.N. Secretary-General calls for more efforts to empower women, stop sexual violence

On the final day of the two-day African Union Summit taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called for greater efforts to reduce sexual violence, particularly during armed conflicts, Ezega.com reports.

2 Feb 2011

Daily Report Global Health Conversations: Reflections on Haiti's health system

January 12 marked one year since a major earthquake struck Haiti killing hundreds of thousands and significantly damaging its capital city, Port-au-Prince. To learn more about how the quake has affected health care in Haiti and get a sense of health priorities moving forward, Jaclyn Schiff of the Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report spoke with Wesler Lambert, a Haitian-born physician who has worked with Partners in Health/Zanmi Lasante since 1997.

2 Feb 2011

FDA issues reminder about safe use of non-sterile alcohol prep pads

Following a recent recall of potentially contaminated non-sterile alcohol prep pads, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today reminded health care professionals about the safe use of non-sterile alcohol prep pads to clean and disinfect the surface of the skin.

2 Feb 2011

Viewpoints: On Judge Vinson's decision; Medicaid and long-term care; Doctors' ennui; Insurers' profits

Federal Judge Roger Vinson opens his decision declaring ObamaCare unconstitutional with that citation from Federalist No. 51, written by James Madison in 1788. His exhaustive and erudite opinion is an important moment for American liberty, and yesterday may well stand as the moment the political branches were obliged to return to the government of limited and enumerated powers that the framers envisioned.

2 Feb 2011