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Guidant imposed criminal penalty over $296M for withholding cardioverter defibrillator failure information

Guidant LLC pleaded guilty today in St. Paul, Minn., before U.S. District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank to criminal violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the Justice Department announced. The medical device manufacturer's admission of criminal wrongdoing is the result of a four-year investigation into Guidant's handling of short-circuiting failures of three models of its implantable cardioverter defibrillators: the Ventak Prizm 2 DR (Model 1861) and the Contak Renewal (Models H135 and H155).

7 Apr 2010

Toronto Star examines cost of fighting maternal mortality, Canada's G8 initiative

Experts say that fighting maternal mortality will cost the world a total of $24 billion annually, or an additional $12 billion per year, the Toronto Star writes in an article about Canada's G8 maternal and child health initiative and a maternal health conference that is being planned ahead of the G8 meeting.

7 Apr 2010

Media outlets examine urbanization, health ahead of World Health Day

Several media outlets examine the health risks associated with rapid urbanization around the world - the theme of this year's World Health Day, to be marked on Wednesday.

7 Apr 2010

Annual Medicare report delayed to reflect impact of health law, the AP reports

The Associated Press: "The Obama administration is delaying release of the annual report on the financial health of Social Security and Medicare so that the new report can reflect the impact of the recently passed health care overhaul." The AP says that, according to an administration official, the report "will be delayed until June 30, three months later than it usually comes out."

7 Apr 2010

Wisconsin residents may switch health insurance due to reform; Florida lawmakers seek changes to Medicaid

Some 60,000 Wisconsin residents could be shifted in the coming years from the state's BadgerCare Plus health coverage for the poor to commercial plans, under the federal health reform law. That's just one option that Wisconsin officials will have as they work through the effects of the sweeping federal law on the state's own extensive Medicaid health programs.

7 Apr 2010

Policy Roundup: Health law's effect on insurance plans, mandate enforcement issues

Kaiser Health News: "Consumers and employers who provide health insurance are scrambling to understand what will change in their premiums and benefits once provisions of the recently passed law go into effect." Some of the answers they seek are unclear because the legislation leaves out details the health department must fill in during the regulatory process.

7 Apr 2010

Patients with sickle cell disease require acute care: Study

Patients with sickle cell disease average about 2.5 hospital visits per year, with 18- to 30-year old patients more likely to require acute care or rehospitalization, according to a study in the April 7 issue of JAMA.

7 Apr 2010

Financial stake in surgery centers motivates doctors to operate more often

When doctors become invested in an outpatient surgery center, they perform on average twice as many surgeries as doctors with no such financial stake, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Health System.

7 Apr 2010

Ontario invests millions of dollars in universal flu vaccine campaign

The millions of dollars invested by the province of Ontario in its universal flu vaccine campaign saves lives and is a sensible investment, according to an economic analysis by a researcher at the University of Toronto and the University Health Network.

7 Apr 2010

Sebelius vows implementation of health law will be clear, transparent

"U.S. health officials aim to move swiftly and clearly to implement newly enacted healthcare reforms, the nation's health secretary said in remarks on Tuesday aimed at selling Americans on the benefits of the controversial changes," Reuters reports. In excerpts of a speech to be delivered today at the National Press Club, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius explained health officials would work "to be as clear and transparent as possible" as the law is implemented. "

7 Apr 2010

Medicare advantage insurers won't see increase in 2011

Payments for Medicare Advantage plans, which are operated by private health insurers, will be frozen at this year's rates in 2011, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports.

7 Apr 2010

Many health care professionals not aware of health problems associated with mouth breathing

For some, the phrase "spring is in the air" is quite literal. When the winter snow melts and flowers bloom, pollen and other materials can wreak havoc on those suffering from seasonal allergies, usually causing a habit called "mouth breathing."

7 Apr 2010

Large increase seen in Social Security disability applications

The Fiscal Times reports on the rapidly growing number of people applying for Social Security retirement benefits and federal disability insurance because of the poor economy and job market. "Last year, applications totaled 2.6 million for retirement benefits and over 3 million for disability benefits — both representing modest increases over the previous year.

7 Apr 2010

IPS examines malnutrition, obesity in Latin America

Inter Press Service examines malnutrition and factors contributing to the rising rates of "obesity and obesity-related illness - such as type II diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, some forms of cancer and osteoporosis - in Latin America, and especially among the poorest sectors of the population."

7 Apr 2010

Flexible spending accounts getting slightly less flexible

Kaiser Health News staff writer Andrew Villegas writes about how FSA rules are going to be different.

7 Apr 2010

Children with FASD show high prevalence of developing epilepsy

Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder show a very high prevalence of developing epilepsy and having seizures, according to a national study by Queen's University researchers.

7 Apr 2010

Insurers sue Mass. regulators over rejected rate hikes

Massachusetts insurers are suing the state government after regulators rejected proposed double-digit premium rate increases that would have gone into effect April 1. The move would spell hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for the six insurers that joined the suit, the firms said.

7 Apr 2010

Frequency of complex fusion procedures for lower back increased among Medicare recipients

The frequency of complex fusion procedures to treat spinal stenosis of the lower back increased between 2002-2007 among Medicare recipients, while the rates of decompression and simple fusion procedures decreased, according to a study in the April 7 issue of JAMA.

7 Apr 2010

Berwick, Blumenthal may form dream team at CMS

Healthcare IT News: "If Donald Berwick, MD, is confirmed as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, he and David Blumenthal, MD, the national coordinator for health IT, would be a 'dream team' in pursuing a coherent national healthcare and health IT strategy. At least that's the assessment of Kerry Weems, who spent 25 years in senior roles at the Health and Human Services Department and was acting administrator of CMS from Sept. 2007 until the Obama administration took over.

7 Apr 2010

Today's OpEds: Harkin, Coleman, Leavitt and others

Despite all the talk recently about how our nation has become divided and ungovernable, we have proved not only that we are governable, but also that we still have the capacity to act with boldness and vision (Sen. Tom Harkin, 4/6).

7 Apr 2010