Health Care News and Research

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Parents, young adult children eagerly await health insurance expansion

The provision of the new health law that allows young adults to stay on their parents' insurance plan is in the news.

10 May 2010

$Free online fracture-risk calculator$

Free online fracture-risk calculator

FRAX- is a free online fracture-risk calculator (http://www.shef.ac.uk/FRAX/) that has been developed by the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Metabolic Bone Diseases at the University of Sheffield, UK. More and more physicians around the world are using the tool as an aid in making informed treatment decisions in the course of a clinical assessment of their patients.

10 May 2010

Costs and quality of cancer care in the U.S.

A new analysis finds that the costs of treating cancer have nearly doubled over the past two decades and that the shares of these costs that are paid for by private health insurance and Medicaid have increased.

10 May 2010

Scientists develop dry, inhalable measles vaccine, will begin testing in India this summer

CBSNews.com reports on the development of a dry, inhalable measles vaccine by researchers at the University of Colorado-Boulder (CU-Boulder), who hope that their work will "help pave the way for the inexpensive treatment of a range of other illnesses" (Cooper, 5/5).

10 May 2010

President says health reform already delivering 'real benefits'

The Associated Press: "The new health care law already is helping millions of people through tax breaks for small businesses and assistance for families with young adults, President Barack Obama said Saturday" (Babington, 5/8).

10 May 2010

Lancet examines Canada's G8 strategy for maternal, child health initiatives

A Lancet World Report examines the details of the Canadian government's strategy for the G8 maternal and child health initiative and reactions from global health leaders and politicians to the plan, including the announcement during a meeting of G8 leaders Halifax, Nova Scotia, that the initiative would not support abortion.

10 May 2010

Majority of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans experience multi-symptom pain disorders

Dr. Gallagher further noted the VA's pain care challenge is magnified by a 90 percent injury survivor rate from these conflicts compared with only 40 percent in the Vietnam War. VA clinicians are now challenged to manage pain in blast survivors with one or several other consequences of blast, such as head injuries causing mild to severe TBI, physical disfigurement and social stigma, emotional trauma, and often post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

10 May 2010

MIT, South Africa announce plans to join patent pool for 'neglected diseases'

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and South Africa's Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) will join the Pool for Open Innovation against Neglected Tropical Diseases, Science|Business reports.

10 May 2010

Canada commemorates National Nursing Week

The theme of this year's National Nursing Week - Nursing: You Can't Live Without It! - reflects the value of the profession to the health system and celebrates the largest group of health-care providers in Canada who, each day, make important personal and professional contributions to the health and lives of Canadians.

10 May 2010

House committee to investigate Johnson & Johnson after kids' Tylenol recall

A House committee is looking at Johnson & Johnson after the company announced a recall of children's medicines. "Lawmakers requested information on Thursday from regulators about Johnson & Johnson's recall of Children's Tylenol and other over-the-counter pediatric medicines, saying the company's repeated recalls 'point to a major problem' with production," Reuters/The New York Times reports.

10 May 2010

Women's empowerment, regional integration, malaria prevention discussed at WEF on Africa

On the second day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa, Graca Machel, founder and president of the Foundation for Community Development, called on African governments to implement strategies aimed at empowering women in order to accelerate the continent's social and economic development, Tanzania Daily News/allAfrica.com reports.

10 May 2010

FAO head calls for more African agriculture investment to boost food security

Country and donor under-investment in agriculture has hindered food security across Africa, Jacques Diouf, director-general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said on Thursday at the group's 26th Regional Conference for Africa in Luanda, Angola, Reuters reports.

10 May 2010

GP practices to get funds to employ full time nurses

There are nearly 40 percent GP practices in Australia who do not employ the services of a trained nurse. Authorities believe that there are 441,000 unnecessary hospital admissions each year only because of inability of patients to manage their chronic diseases due to lack of knowledge, or their inability to get adequate follow up care.

9 May 2010

President's cancer panel focuses on environmental chemicals

An expert panel that advises the president on cancer said Thursday that Americans are facing 'grievous harm' from chemicals in the air, food and water that have largely gone unregulated and ignored. The President's Cancer Panel called for a new national strategy that focuses on such threats in the environment and workplaces.

7 May 2010

Texas CHIP program faces budget uncertainties while Arizona Governor restores funds for health care programs for the poor

Seven years ago, state leaders working to close a $9.9 billion budget gap took a hatchet to government health insurance for children of the working poor. Thousands of children paid the price when officials tightened eligibility rules and whacked dental, vision and mental health benefits. Gradually, benefits were restored to the Children's Health Insurance Program and, this month, enrollment reached roughly the same level as in 2003.

7 May 2010

PCMA releases statement on PBM Audit Reform and Transparency Act of 2010

Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have pioneered tools - including incentivizing the use of generic medications, e-prescribing, and mail-service pharmacies - that improve savings, access, and safety for consumers and payers. Since the key to access is affordability, payers and policymakers alike should explore broader use of PBMs' cost-savings tools and reject approaches that make prescription drugs more expensive.

7 May 2010

States consider action on health care reform

State leaders around America are considering their options in complying with or challenging the new health law.

7 May 2010

IBM to analyze best way to cut childhood obesity

IBM "will put computer models to work analyzing the reams of available data on the different factors that might affect obesity - things such as consumer behavior, the location of grocery stores, the availability of physical activity facilities and even community transportation options - and see how those factors interact.

7 May 2010

Hospitals' financial woes cause shake-ups in three cities

"Some doctors from St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan fear they won't be covered for malpractice insurance for care they provided while on staff before the hospital's demise. They believe the failed institution has a legal obligation to continue to provide the coverage. The doctors fear they may have to buy their own medical malpractice coverage for the next several years, policies they say can cost $40,000 a year when purchased individually" (Sataline, 5/7).

7 May 2010

Physicians saying no more often to drug reps

A report out Thursday on the accessibility of doctors to pharmaceutical reps showed that fewer physicians are letting reps visit them. "The number of physicians who were 'rep-accessible,' defined as meeting with at least 70% of salespeople who come calling, dropped by 18% from last year, according to sales and marketing consultants ZS Associates."

7 May 2010