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California, health insurers reach agreement to reinstate coverage for some former members

About 3,400 California residents whose health insurance was canceled by Kaiser Permanente, Health Net and PacifiCare soon will be notified that they might be eligible for new coverage and compensation for medical bills incurred while they were uninsured, the Los Angeles Times reports.

13 Aug 2008

Venezuelan Indians dying from rabies spread by bats

Scientists from the United States say early investigations into the deaths of a number of tribal Indians in northeastern Venezuela suggest that they may have been infected by a type of rabies carried by bats.

13 Aug 2008

Newly discovered molecular switch creates new path to study birth defects and cancer

Researchers have discovered a central molecular switch in fruit fly embryos that opens new avenues for studying the causes of birth defects and cancer in humans.

11 Aug 2008

Advocates say expanding Utah's health care subsidy program could push children out of SCHIP

Utah advocates for children and low-income residents on Tuesday said that a federal waiver sought by the state that would allow more low-income families into the state's premium subsidy plan will, in effect, push out children now covered by SCHIP, the Salt Lake City Deseret News reports.

3 Aug 2008

Inherited form of hearing loss stems from gene mutation

Pat Phalin learned she had hearing loss at 30, when she volunteered to give hearing tests at her local school. The pupils heard sounds she could not hear.

31 Jul 2008

Retirement could be hazardous for the health

A study by the ABS based on 2004-05 health data and labour force statistics on older workers aged 45 to 74, also took into account people not in the workforce and those too ill to work.

30 Jul 2008

Rochester launches first health survey of deaf population

This summer, researchers in the Rochester, N.Y., region are conducting the nation's first survey to measure the basic health status of deaf people and their knowledge of health issues.

29 Jul 2008

Veterans' hotline averted more than 1,200 suicides in first year

More than 22,000 veterans have called a veterans suicide hotline since its launch in July 2007, and 1,221 suicides have been averted, according to government data to be released on Monday, the AP/Baltimore Sun reports.

29 Jul 2008

Senate Republicans to begin campaign against Medicare fraud

Senate Republicans have begun "piecing together a crusade" against Medicare fraud in an effort to make the issue an important part of the health care reform debate in the next Congress, CongressDaily reports.

29 Jul 2008

Patient liaison is the focus of a new medical centre

"I was completely stunned. Nearly everything he was saying to me was going right over the top of my head. I could see his lips moving but I could not process or absorb his words"- a patient on hearing her doctor diagnose breast cancer.

28 Jul 2008

Research on pre-eclampsia in mice may have important implications for humans

In a new March of Dimes-funded study of pre-eclampsia, a serious and potentially deadly disorder that affects about 5 percent of pregnancies, researchers have found results in mice that may have important implications for diagnosis and treatment in humans.

27 Jul 2008

Soyfoods Association response to research on soy in men

Headlines claiming "soy products lower sperm count" do not tell the whole story. The small scale, preliminary study that Dr. Jorge Chavarro, published online in Human Reproduction, is based on recollected intake of soyfoods and not on specific diets containing soyfoods.

24 Jul 2008

ACLU urges Congress to define medical privacy as patient control of electronic health records

The American Civil Liberties Union today urges the House Energy and Commerce Committee to require patient control of medical records and compensation for privacy breaches to be a part of the standards set for converting to electronic patient records.

23 Jul 2008

House hearing to consider more federal funds for state Medicaid programs as part of second economic stimulus package

The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee on Tuesday plans to hold a hearing that "might turn up the heat on congressional leaders to include Medicaid relief for states in a second economic stimulus package," CongressDaily reports.

23 Jul 2008

Tattoos - who gets rid of them and why

According to a new report women are far more likely than men to have a tattoo removed and the suggestion is that they are motivated to do so by the social stigma associated with tattoos and negative comments from others.

22 Jul 2008

FDA settles with Californian hearing device manufacturer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reached a settlement with California hearing device manufacturer Advanced Bionics LLC and its president and CEO Jeffrey Greiner over alleged violations of federal law

17 Jul 2008

Sudden loss of hearing might be an early sign of stroke

Preliminary research culled from a national medical insurance records database in Taiwan suggests that sudden loss of hearing might be an early sign of vulnerability to stroke, foreshadowing an actual cerebrovascular event by as much as two years, according to a study reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

27 Jun 2008

Senate panel approves $153.1 billion for discretionary spending in labor-HHS-education bill for FY 2009

The Senate Appropriations Labor, HHS, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee on Tuesday by voice vote approved a $631 billion fiscal year 2009 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, CQ Today reports.

26 Jun 2008

GOP lawmakers, health care officials raise concerns with proposed health disparities bill at house panel hearing

Republican legislators and representatives of several minority health advocacy groups on Tuesday at a House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing raised concerns over several measures within a proposed bill (HR 3014) intended to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. health care system, CQ HealthBeat reports.

26 Jun 2008

Dr. Death decides to face the music in Australia

The news that the Indian-born doctor, surgeon Jayant Patel, dubbed 'Dr Death' will return to Australia voluntarily has been welcomed by Australian authorities and the doctor's former patients.

26 Jun 2008