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OpEds: Health costs and new law; Penn. doctor supply; Anesthesiologists vs. nurses

Some sort of Medicare-for-all program remains the only equitable way that every American can be provided with adequate and affordable coverage. This wouldn't be socialized medicine and it wouldn't be state-run healthcare (David Lazarus, 9/7).

7 Sep 2010

Also in Global Health News: India's antibiotic use; Abstinence curriculum in China; Child, maternal health in India; Plumpy'nut; PEPFAR funds to Uganda

"The health ministry has formed a committee to frame a policy for antibiotic use, following an uproar over a Lancet study that traced a drug-resistant bacterial superbug's origins to India," LiveMint.com reports. The panel will also look into the "excessive use of antibiotics among Indians," partly fueled by self-medication, that has increased resistance to the drugs. The article notes that the Indian government "rejected the findings of the report" but has "taken note of a lack of policy on antibiotics" (Pandeya, 9/3).

7 Sep 2010

Amedica completes $30 million financing

Amedica Corporation, a developer of a broad range of innovative, unique spine and total joint implants, announced that it has completed a $30 million financing. The financing consists of $15 million in private equity and a debt facility of $15 million. Zions First National Bank provided the debt facility, and Creation Capital of New York and Austin, Texas, acted as the placement agent for the private equity piece. Creation Capital is an established banking concern that specializes in high-growth emerging health care technologies.

7 Sep 2010

St. Jude Medical to invest $60M in CardioMEMS

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, and privately-held CardioMEMS today announced that they have reached an agreement under which St. Jude Medical will make a $60 million equity investment in CardioMEMS, a medical device company that has developed a wireless sensing and communication technology to assess cardiac performance.

7 Sep 2010

KHN column: Social Security's Disabled Adult Child program: A key program often below the radar

In this Kaiser Health News column, Harold Pollack writes: "Intellectual disability is often accompanied by costly illnesses and social service needs.

7 Sep 2010

Health 2.0 Developer Challenge: Teams are putting final touches on their applications

With only a few weeks left until the deadlines of the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge more than 40 teams are putting the final touches on their applications for the 10 prizes. Winners will be announced by Todd Park, CTO of U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Aneesh Chopra, Federal CTO, at the Health 2.0 Conference on October 7-8, in San Francisco.

7 Sep 2010

Medicare will experiment with expansion of hospice coverage

In this Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: "Many people may not realize that, in some ways, the new health law will expand options for patients at the end of life.

7 Sep 2010

Sometimes a hospital stay does not mean you’re admitted

This Kaiser Health News story by Susan Jaffe, produced in partnership with The Washington Post, looks at an increasing use of hospital observation care for Medicare beneficiaries rather than admission as an inpatient.

7 Sep 2010

Popularity of e cigarettes increase despite FDA's stance

Electronic cigarette sales and popularity continues to increase on a daily basis despite the US Food and Drug Administration's attempts to label the products as unsafe and untested for their intended purpose. Thousands of electronic cigarette reviews online dispute the stance of the FDA, many of them stating that the products have not only been tested, but by and large have been found to be less harmful than traditional cigarettes.

7 Sep 2010

Public and private expenditure in long-term elderly care

The September Policy Brief by Ricardo Rodrigues and Andrea Schmidt aims to present information on the current picture of public and private expenditure on long-term care for older people and to discuss the challenges of financing care. Moreover it provides preliminary results on potential redistribution effects of home care benefits (based on SHARE data).

7 Sep 2010

Study finds increase in patient traffic to hospital emergency departments

About 17 percent of all visits to hospital emergency departments across the United States could be treated at retail medical clinics or urgent care centers, potentially saving $4.4 billion annually in health care costs, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

7 Sep 2010

Endocrine Society releases new clinical practice guideline on congenital adrenal hyperplasia

Today, The Endocrine Society released a new clinical practice guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). The guideline features a series of evidence-based clinical recommendations developed by an expert task force.

7 Sep 2010

Berwick planning Medicare test sites for new health care models

The Boston Globe, "Newly installed Medicare chief Donald Berwick, keeping a low public profile after encountering controversy over his appointment, is moving quickly behind the scenes to seed the US health care system with 100 to 300 sites to test new models of caring for patients.

7 Sep 2010

Survey reveals lack of public awareness about radiotherapy's importance in treating cancer

Only one in ten people know that radiotherapy helps cure forty per cent of cancer patients according to new figures published by Cancer Research UK today.

7 Sep 2010

To win senior votes, some campaigns focus on Medicare fears

With Labor Day weekend the traditional start of intense campaigning, some news coverage focused on seniors' health care.

6 Sep 2010

Childhood cancer survivors 5 times more likely to get cancer again: Study

According to a new study, children who survive cancer are at a higher risk of cancer later in life or may die early of other cause. The study included almost 900 young cancer survivors treated at Sydney Children's Hospital, from 1972 to 1999, alongside new cancer cases and early deaths. The risk of cancer was five times higher in childhood cancer survivors, the results showed, compared with the overall NSW population, that these survivors were seven and a half times more likely to die early.

5 Sep 2010

New VA regulation helps to get recognition, treatment for three disorders in Agent Orange exposure

A new VA regulation adding three health conditions to the list of those presumed to have been caused by exposure to the toxic defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War was published this week. Pending a 60-day congressional review, the regulation will make some 200,000 veterans eligible for VA benefits over the next year and a half.

4 Sep 2010

Single-dose of experimental malaria drug clears parasites in mice, represents potential new class of drugs to treat malaria in humans

An experimental malaria drug was shown to effectively treat the disease in mice with only a single dose, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science, Reuters reports (Kelland, 9/2). The new drug, known as NITD609, "represents an entirely new class of medicines to treat malaria ... Human trials, backed by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG, could begin later this year," the Wall Street Journal writes (Naik, 9/3).

4 Sep 2010

Almost half of all Americans use prescription drugs each month

Nearly half of all Americans used at least one prescription drug per month in 2008, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Bloomberg reports. That's a 10 percent increase over the preceding decade. Over that time, yearly spending by Americans on drugs doubled to $234 billion. "The two biggest-sellers last year were Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor for high cholesterol and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s clot-buster, Plavix.

4 Sep 2010

At U.N. MDG summit, ministers will propose world currency tax to fund development aid

"A group of 60 nations, including France, Britain and Japan, will propose at the U.N. [summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)] this month that a tax be introduced on international currency transactions to raise funds for development aid, ministers said on Wednesday," Reuters reports (Irish, 9/1).

4 Sep 2010

Health Care News and Research

OpEds: Health costs and new law; Penn. doctor supply; Anesthesiologists vs. nurses

Also in Global Health News: India's antibiotic use; Abstinence curriculum in China; Child, maternal health in India; Plumpy'nut; PEPFAR funds to Uganda

Amedica completes $30 million financing

St. Jude Medical to invest $60M in CardioMEMS

KHN column: Social Security's Disabled Adult Child program: A key program often below the radar

Health 2.0 Developer Challenge: Teams are putting final touches on their applications

Medicare will experiment with expansion of hospice coverage

Sometimes a hospital stay does not mean you’re admitted

Popularity of e cigarettes increase despite FDA's stance

Public and private expenditure in long-term elderly care

Study finds increase in patient traffic to hospital emergency departments

Endocrine Society releases new clinical practice guideline on congenital adrenal hyperplasia

Berwick planning Medicare test sites for new health care models

Survey reveals lack of public awareness about radiotherapy's importance in treating cancer

To win senior votes, some campaigns focus on Medicare fears

Childhood cancer survivors 5 times more likely to get cancer again: Study

New VA regulation helps to get recognition, treatment for three disorders in Agent Orange exposure

Single-dose of experimental malaria drug clears parasites in mice, represents potential new class of drugs to treat malaria in humans

Almost half of all Americans use prescription drugs each month

At U.N. MDG summit, ministers will propose world currency tax to fund development aid

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