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Supreme Court to hear case on vaccine side effects

The Associated Press: The Supreme Court will hear a case to decide whether drug makers can be sued by families who claim their children have suffered health problems from vaccines, going against a 1986 federal law that shields drug makers from most lawsuits and instead sets up a federal vaccine court to handle disputes.

10 Mar 2010

New York Times examines millennium villages in Africa

The New York Times examines development and health improvements in Sauri, Kenya, which was the first Millennium Village in Africa, a project conceived by economist Jeffrey Sachs, which aims "to show that tightly focused, technology-based and relatively straightforward programs on a number of fronts simultaneously - health care, education, job training - could rapidly lift people out of poverty."

10 Mar 2010

Side-Out Foundation sponsors new advanced breast cancer clinical trial

The Side-Out Foundation, which pairs volleyball enthusiasts with breast cancer researchers, is sponsoring a new clinical trial for up to 25 patients with advanced breast cancer.

10 Mar 2010

Physician's perspective: Bundling Medicare payments could cut costs, without reducing quality

The Washington Post has a section today titled "Scenes from the 21st century doctor's office."

10 Mar 2010

States struggle with strapped budgets, cuts to health programs

The Dallas Morning News: "Lawmakers have been thinking ahead to a massive shortfall, topping $10 billion, that's probably coming when they write the next budget in 2011. But state officials told them Monday that they'll have to fix a hole in the current budget, too.

10 Mar 2010

Racial disparities persist in hospice use

Even as medical caregivers try to change practices, racial disparities in hospice care continue, according to a study in the March 8 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

10 Mar 2010

Obama attacks insurers, rallies public to press Congress to approve health reform

"The White House is mounting a stinging, sustained broadside against health insurance rate increases," The Washington Post reports, adding that President Obama "and his health secretary staged a two-pronged attack Monday in a stern letter to health insurance chief executives and a speech in which the president castigated insurance companies 22 times.

10 Mar 2010

UCSF prevention experts release Positive Prevention Toolkit for HIV/AIDS caregivers

UCSF prevention experts have released the Positive Prevention Toolkit, a collection of resources designed to enable HIV/AIDS caregivers to provide prevention messages when interacting with HIV-positive patients. The goal is to help patients modify their behavior to reduce risk and decrease the spread of HIV.

10 Mar 2010

Stupak indicates abortion compromise possible for health bill

Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., who is leading a coalition of anti-abortion Democrats standing in the way of party leadership efforts to pass a health bill, signaled Monday that the impasse may be close to resolution.

10 Mar 2010

Governor Kaine urges Hispanics to take part in the final push for health reform

Following President Obama's call on Congress last week to act now to pass health insurance reform, DNC Chairman Tim Kaine issued this Spanish-language video calling on Latinos to take part in the final push for health reform – reform that would benefit the Latino community.

10 Mar 2010

Medical miracles more likely, but at what cost?

The Fiscal Times reports on medical miracles and their place in the national health care reform debate with a likely subheading: high health care costs.

10 Mar 2010

Many doctors, hospitals unhappy with health IT rules, despite windfall

Though the federal government plans to give doctors up to $44,000 each, as well as millions of dollars to hospitals, to help buy health information technology, many providers are unhappy with the stimulus-funded program, the Huffington Post Investigative Fund reports. "Some rural health organizations fear the program could exacerbate a 'digital divide' by concentrating the funding in elite hospitals that already computerize their records."

10 Mar 2010

Long term care facilities receive increased scrutiny

The New York Times: "The Senate Finance Committee has opened an investigation into patient deaths and allegations of substandard treatment at long-term care hospitals, small specialty medical centers that treat chronically ill patients. The investigation focuses on the Select Medical Corporation, a for-profit corporation that runs 89 long-term care hospitals, more than any other company."

9 Mar 2010

Dems discuss plans to advance health reform; Opposition steps up its game

"Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, predicted that the Congress would wrap up its healthcare bills for President Barack Obama's signature before lawmakers leave for a holiday recess." He said he believed "that we will have the bill on the president's desk by the time we leave on March 27th."

9 Mar 2010

Cornyn and Boehner sharpen criticism of Obama health proposal

"National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn said Monday that if some type of health care legislation is able to limp its way out of Congress, GOP candidates across the country are poised to make it the premiere issue of the fall campaign," Politico reports. "While Cornyn said his personal preference would be to stop a bill entirely, his campaign committee is already preparing its attack line for a scenario that assumes Democrats squeeze a bill through the controversial reconciliation process in the next month."

9 Mar 2010

Senate test vote today on bill to extend COBRA subsidy, doc fix and state Medicaid funding

The Senate is poised to consider a measure today that would include extending subsidies for COBRA benefits and unemployment insurance, prevent the Medicare payment cut for doctors and provide additional funding to state Medicaid programs.

9 Mar 2010

ACIST Medical Systems to provide CVi contrast injection system to HealthTrust Purchasing Group

ACIST Medical Systems, Inc., a world-leading provider of contrast-delivery systems for cardiology and radiology imaging, announced today that HealthTrust Purchasing Group, LP (HealthTrust), Brentwood, Tenn., one of the leading health care group purchasing organizations, has awarded the company a three-year contract, effective December 1, 2009, for ACIST cardiovascular injection technology, the ACIST | CVi® Contrast Delivery System.

9 Mar 2010

Health overhaul policy tidbits

NPR: For those who have forgotten what the Senate's bill would actually do as the debate has turned to politics and procedure, "a short refresher" may come in handy. The legislation's main concepts include the requirement that individuals buy health insurance, a plan that would help eliminate pre-existing condition exclusions and spread risk more widely, and subsidies to help people buy coverage to meet the new requirement (Rovner, 3/9).

9 Mar 2010

Administration, health insurers point fingers at each other in premium hike dust-up

The Obama administration and insurance industry executives are continuing their battle over rate increases.

9 Mar 2010

VA streamlining Agent Orange claims process

USA Today: "The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to announce today that it will fully automate how it pays claims for illnesses related to exposure to the chemical Agent Orange to keep an overburdened system from collapse.

9 Mar 2010