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Foreign donors must coordinate more with Haiti's government, Haitian Prime Minister says

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive "demanded more information on Wednesday about foreign aid pouring into the earthquake-stricken country and urged that his government not be sidelined in reconstruction efforts," Reuters reports.

5 Mar 2010

Hospitals across the nation celebrate National Nutrition Month

Hospitals across the nation are celebrating National Nutrition Month by changing their food service offerings and staging events to draw more attention to their participation in the Health Care Without Harm Balanced Menus program, which advocates a "Less Meat, Better Meat" approach to hospital food service operations.

5 Mar 2010

UnitedHealth Group statement: Expand access to quality care for all Americans

We sought to make clear our longstanding commitment to expanding access to quality care for all Americans, and also to discuss the many factors that are driving up the cost of care for millions of people across the United States. To achieve true and sustainable reform, it is essential to first bring costs under control.

5 Mar 2010

Study finds Pfizer's pneumonia, meningitis vaccine protects against recurrent pneumonia in HIV patients

Pfizer's Prevnar 7 vaccine, which protects against pneumonia and meningitis, has been shown to reduce the risk of recurrent pneumococcal infection in patients living with HIV in Malawi, according to a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, Reuters reports.

5 Mar 2010

Chile has enough food, fuel for citizens, President says

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said on Wednesday that the country has enough food and fuel to meet citizens' needs, Dow Jones Newswires reports. She said the government has adequate resources to enable business recovery and to help rebuild houses, and she wants the private sector to play a major role in the rebuilding effort. "Soon it will be the time to get back on our feet and entrepreneurs will be up to the challenge," she said, according to the news service.

5 Mar 2010

Report finds public health funding is lagging as states cut back, federal programs remain flat

In a year when flagging state and local economies forced major cuts in public health spending, federal grants for disease prevention and emergency preparedness failed to fill the breach, according to a new report from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America's Health, which advocate for increased health spending.

5 Mar 2010

Sebelius meets with insurance execs, challenges them to be transparent

Reuters: During a meeting today, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius pressed the CEOs of some of the nation's largest health insurers about increases in insurance premiums. "The meeting added more uncertainty for an industry that has already become Democrats' top target in their bid to overhaul the nation's healthcare system, and shares of health insurers continued to fall in late-morning trading."

5 Mar 2010

The White House full court press on health care

Reuters: President Obama is holding "two meetings with Democratic legislators at the White House on Thursday as he pushes for a vote this month on his healthcare overall plan." The first, which was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. EST, "is expected to include 11 left-leaning members and leaders of minority groups in the House of Representatives, a White House spokesman said." The second meeting "is with leaders of the New Democrat Coalition, a group of centrist Democrats. Seven U.S. representatives are expected to attend that meeting" (Zengerle, 3/4).

5 Mar 2010

Free CRC screening programs for uninsured

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer death among men and women nationwide, yet only half of people who need CRC screening receive it. The American Gastroenterological Association Institute is working to educate patients about the importance of screening and to encourage everyone age 50 and older to get screened for CRC.

5 Mar 2010

Some small businesses see burden in 'Cadillac' tax

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jenny Gold, in collaboration with NPR, writes about this proposed tax. It could make it more difficult for small businesses to purchase health coverage.

5 Mar 2010

Sebelius takes on health insurers

The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones: When health insurance executives meet with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at the White House Thursday to discuss premiums, they will "face a regulator who is well-versed in the complexities of the industry." Sebelius, whose resume includes a stretch as a state insurance commissioner, "is taking aim at rising premium rates as she joins President Barack Obama's push for an overhaul of the nation's health-coverage laws.

5 Mar 2010

Abortion language in health care bills continues to rankle both sides

"Pro-life advocates say the Democrats' health care bill would send millions of dollars to community health care centers without restrictions to keep the money from being used to fund abortions, potentially expanding access to the procedure." The National Right to Life Group "calls the Senate bill, which could come up for a vote in the House, 'the most pro-abortion piece of legislation to come before the House of Representatives.'"

5 Mar 2010

Obama pushes reconciliation, action on health care overhaul

In his White House speech Wednesday afternoon, President Barack Obama outlined his updated health overhaul plan and endorsed a legislative maneuver meant to move the congressional efforts on health care reform forward.

4 Mar 2010

Heartburn drug Kapidex to be marketed under new name Dexilant

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a name change for the heartburn drug Kapidex (dexlansoprazole) to avoid confusion with two other medications – Casodex and Kadian. Effective in late April 2010, Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc. will market Kapidex under the new name Dexilant.

4 Mar 2010

Political heat tests the President's calm composure

The Washington Post: For a president "who so famously rejects drama," recent times have marked "one of the wildest policitcal stretches in recent memory." President Obama has said during yesterday's White House speech that, at stake in this legislative struggle is the nation's ability not only to solve health care problems, but "our ability to solve any problem."

4 Mar 2010

New Jersey hospital offers luxury with health, wellness

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on Virtua Health system's newly opened Health and Wellness Center in New Jersey, and calls it "the new face of luxury." The center was a $31 million investment by the non-profit group and it is expected to do well. "While many New Jersey hospitals grapple with barely-there operating margins and a national slowdown in construction, Virtua is growing.

4 Mar 2010

AMA enters health IT partnerships

The American Medical Association has made deals with computer retailer Dell, and Ingenix, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, to "help physicians adopt and implement electronic health records", the Chicago Tribune reports.

4 Mar 2010

Federal court rejects California Medicaid cuts

The San Francisco Chronicle: "A federal appeals court barred California on Wednesday from lowering Medi-Cal payments to doctors and hospitals by 5 percent and from cutting in-home care workers' wages by nearly 20 percent, saying the state's budget crisis doesn't justify violating federal laws that protect the poor and disabled.

4 Mar 2010

Washington State cracks down on prescription fraud with new paper and ink

The Seattle Post Intelligencer/Everett Herald: "Patients who get written prescriptions will see changes this summer aimed at curbing fraud. Come July 1, prescriptions will be printed on tamper-resistant paper with Mission Impossible-like ink that changes color when rubbed with a finger.

4 Mar 2010