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News outlets report on sessions at World Health Summit

As the World Health Summit continues in Berlin, some media outlets wrote about the discussions taking place.

14 Oct 2010

White House will delay W-2 insurance reporting requirement, other health reform news

CongressDaily reports that the Obama administration announced Tuesday it will delay for one year a provision of the health law that requires employers to report the value of an employee's health plan on tax forms. The White House says the extra time is necessary to give employers time to prepare to comply with the requirement. "Under the overhaul law, all employers who provide health insurance are required to include the information on workers' tax forms after 2010.

14 Oct 2010

West African cholera epidemic exacerbated by flooding; more than 1,800 deaths reported

The WHO says 1,879 deaths have been reported from cholera in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger, the Associated Press reports. The wave of cholera started a few months ago and nearly 40,500 cases have been reported in the region so far. Nigeria alone has experienced nearly 1,200 deaths, its worst cholera outbreak in two decades, according to the article (10/12).

14 Oct 2010

$FDA warns of risk of atypical thigh bone fracture in patients taking bisphosphonates$

FDA warns of risk of atypical thigh bone fracture in patients taking bisphosphonates

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today warned patients and health care providers about the possible risk of atypical thigh bone (femoral) fracture in patients who take bisphosphonates, a class of drugs used to prevent and treat osteoporosis. A labeling change and Medication Guide will reflect this risk. Bisphosphonates inhibit the loss of bone mass in people with osteoporosis.

14 Oct 2010

Various health groups examine cost, quality issues

The Air Force's top uniformed officer on Tuesday warned that growing healthcare costs could hurt other critical military needs. Schwartz said that the Pentagon pays $40 billion in healthcare costs for military members and retirees, and is expected to pay as much as $60 billion by 2015 about 13 percent of the entire Pentagon budget.

14 Oct 2010

Media examines challenges of delivery, strategic impact, branding of U.S. aid to Pakistan

PBS' NewsHour reports on the difficulty of getting U.S. aid to Pakistani flood victims and the branding of USAID assistance.

14 Oct 2010

Planned Parenthood launches campaign for free contraceptives as part of health law

NPR's Shots blog reports that the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is joining Planned Parenthood on a campaign to allow free prescription contraceptives as part of the health reform law.

14 Oct 2010

Berwick: New technology will make coordinating care easier

Health care practitioners have new information technologies at their disposal that will make coordinating care among providers easier and more effective than the old health maintenance organization model of 40 years ago, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services told a group of policy experts Tuesday.

14 Oct 2010

States grapple with Medicaid problems in access, improper payments

The Washington Post reports on the District of Columbia's Medicaid program and mental health coverage. "The federal government handed [the city] an opportunity to save $56 million over four years by expanding Medicaid this summer and they jumped at it. They switched 35,000 low-income residents from the city-funded D.C. Health Care Alliance insurance plan to a Medicaid plan and reaped the reward.

14 Oct 2010

Health care workforce faces strains, shifts

Kaiser Health News / NPR "Last year, half of new doctors were hired by hospitals, according to the Medical Group Management Association, a professional organization for physician practices. According to a 2009 report by the American Medical Association, one in six doctors works for a hospital, and the number is quickly growing.

14 Oct 2010

Insurance companies denied policies to 1 of every 7 applicants, probe finds

The Wall Street Journal: The four largest for-profit health insurers in the U.S. -- Aetna Inc., Humana Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc., and WellPoint Inc. -- "on average denied policies to one out of every seven applicants based on their prior medical history," according to a congressional investigative report released yesterday by Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.).

14 Oct 2010

World Food Prize symposium to give out award; focus on issues facing smallholder farmers

Global agriculture officials and as many as 60 farmers from around the world this week at the annual World Food Prize symposium in Des Moines, Iowa will focus on the challenges facing small farmers, the Associated Press reports.

14 Oct 2010

Stony Brook professor receives 2010 NIH Director's New Innovator Award

Balaji Sitharaman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University, is a 2010 recipient of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's New Innovator Award.

14 Oct 2010

Anger, seniors and Ad campaigns: Health reform politics

A poll released Tuesday shows most seniors in Medicare's prescription drug benefit program don't know that the health law "closes Part D's coverage gap," The Hill's Healthwatch blog reports.

14 Oct 2010

AACE publishes consensus statement for continuous glucose monitoring

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) today published a consensus statement for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) online, and the statement will be published in the next issue of the association's official medical journal Endocrine Practice.

14 Oct 2010

Justices wrestle with issue of protecting vaccine makers

The Supreme Court is grappling with the question of how much protection the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act was meant to provide vaccine manufacturers against lawsuits. The case involves Hannah Bruesewitz, whose parents claim that a Wyeth-manufactured D.T.P. vaccine she received as an infant in 1992 led to developmental problems.

14 Oct 2010

Researchers propose Nintendo Wii gaming to control gestational diabetes in women

Many women have trouble finding time to exercise in their busy lifestyles. That's especially true for pregnant women who live in northern climates such as Canada, where the weather can limit outdoor activity during winter months every year. But exercise is critical to managing gestational diabetes, a growing problem that occurs in 2 to 9 per cent of pregnancies.

14 Oct 2010

Stop TB Partnership launches Global Plan to Stop TB 2011-2015

The WHO's Stop TB Partnership "laid out a new plan on Wednesday to combat tuberculosis and the nearly 2 million deaths it causes each year," Reuters reports.

14 Oct 2010

Researchers seek to end disparities in cancer, stroke care

HealthDay/U.S. News & World Report: Research has shown that there is a racial gap in breast cancer care, "with black and Hispanic women less likely to get recommended breast cancer treatments than white patients."

14 Oct 2010

Stony Brook professor receives NIH grant to optimize cardiovascular devices

Danny Bluestein, Ph.D., Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University, has been awarded a five-year, $7.5 million grant by the National Institutes of Health. The award marks the first time a Stony Brook professor has received a Phase II Quantum Grant, given by The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), a division of the NIH, to make a profound improvement or quantum leap forward—in health care.

14 Oct 2010