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Opinions: Future of PEPFAR; family planning

A Washington Post editorial examines the future of PEPFAR under the Obama administration, as outlined in a five-year strategy released earlier this month. Though "[m]any organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, continue to worry that Mr. Obama is 'flat-lining' funding for the vital program," this "ignores Mr. Obama's move to make PEPFAR the center of a larger $63 billion global health initiative to develop more comprehensive and integrated approaches to care," the editorial writes.

15 Dec 2009

Health hazards of BPA: Call for FDA to make its announcement before Christmas

Environmental health advocates hope that U.S. FDA will make its promised announcement about health hazards of bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic sex hormone linked to cancer, behavioral changes, reproductive harm and other illnesses, in time for Christmas.

15 Dec 2009

Study compares status of health care systems in U.S. and UK

The well-worn notion that patients in the United States have unfettered access to the most expensive cancer drugs while the United Kingdom's nationalized health care system regularly denies access to some high-cost treatments needs rethinking, a team of bioethicists and health policy experts says in a report out today.

15 Dec 2009

Anthem Blue Cross to receive Tri-County Commercial contract renewal award

Anthem Blue Cross announced today that the California Department of Health Care Services intends to award Anthem the Tri-County Commercial contract renewal to provide Medi-Cal benefits to residents in the Fresno, Kings and Madera Counties.

15 Dec 2009

Utah may be forced to raise Medicaid payments for dentists; mandatory student insurance would benefit Florida

News outlets report on Medicaid dental payments in Utah, student insurance in Florida, Illinois budget woes and emergency rooms in Massachusetts.

15 Dec 2009

Spending on health care eventually leads to economic growth increase

As the national discussion of health care focuses on costs, a new study from North Carolina State University shows that it might be more accurate to think of health care spending as an investment that can spur economic growth.

15 Dec 2009

White House asks Reid to cut deal with Lieberman, Politico reports

"The White House is encouraging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to cut a deal with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and eliminate the proposed Medicare expansion in the health reform bill, according to an official close to the negotiations," Politico reports.

15 Dec 2009

States in money pinch turn low-income women away from free cancer screenings

The Associated Press reports that women with low incomes are being turned away or put on long waiting lists for free cancer screenings in at least 20 states.

15 Dec 2009

Senate holdouts threatening '09 health care reform bill passage

The Washington Post: "The next 48 hours will be critical to the fate of health-care reform in the Senate, as Democratic leaders struggle to settle disputes that stand in the way of holding a final vote this year on the massive package reports on the distance among senators that has to be bridged before a bill can pass."

15 Dec 2009

Majority of dialysis patients face readmission to acute care facilities, says study

A new study by University of Cincinnati (UC) nephrologists shows that most dialysis patients admitted to long-term care hospitals face readmission to acute care facilities, and those with acute kidney failure don't often recover full kidney function.

15 Dec 2009

Poor access to safe and nutritious foods can pose serious health challenges for diabetes patients

Preparing a healthy meal loaded with fresh vegetables seems like an easy thing to do. But for some people living with diabetes, having access to nutritious food can be difficult --- and may have a detrimental effect on their health and well-being, according to a new study led by Ryerson University.

15 Dec 2009

Medicare actuary: Health costs would rise after overhaul

The Senate's health overhaul plan would cover 33 million more people but fail to curb rising health costs, could threaten some Medicare patients' access to care, and may sink profits for one-fifth of hospitals and nursing homes, according to news accounts of an HHS report released Friday afternoon.

15 Dec 2009

SBi secures $30mm credit facility to fund business expansion

Small Bone Innovations, Inc. (SBi), a leading, privately held orthopedics company focused exclusively on technologies and treatments for the small bones & joints, has closed on a $30mm credit facility to fund accelerated business expansion and refinance existing indebtedness.

15 Dec 2009

Manchester Pharmaceuticals' Chenodal now available for patients suffering from gallstones

Manchester Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(TM) announced today the availability of Chenodal(TM) 250 mg (chenodiol tablets). On October 22, 2009, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Chenodal, an important therapy for patients suffering from gallstones in whom surgery poses an unacceptable health risk due to disease or advanced age.

15 Dec 2009

Long-term care proposal raises cost, sustainability concerns

"Embedded in sweeping health legislation passed by the House and being debated on the Senate floor is a major new federal insurance program," called the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, or Class Act, The New York Times reports.

15 Dec 2009

Demystifying Psychiatry: A resource for patients and families

Psychiatric disorders are underdiagnosed, poorly treated and highly stigmatized, according to psychiatrists Charles F. Zorumski, M.D., and Eugene H. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D. So these Washington University physicians have written a book to address those problems.

15 Dec 2009

New reports highlight health care costs

Several new studies on health care costs reveal interesting findings.

15 Dec 2009

Women's health becomes political issue in health care debate

"The heated Capitol Hill debate over health care coverage for mammograms has exploded onto the political scene, shaping the 2010 electoral landscape and recalibrating the battle for a crucial constituency: the women's vote," Politico reports.

15 Dec 2009

Primary care shortage affecting communities as hospitals struggle to keep up

CNN reports that five years ago "roughly half the doctors leaving medical school entered the work force as primary-care physicians; just 20 percent of current medical students are planning to work in primary care."

15 Dec 2009

Microbicide does not reduce women's risk of HIV infection, study shows

Pro 2000, a vaginal microbicide gel designed to reduce women's risk of HIV infection, showed "no evidence that it reduces the risk of HIV infection," according to the results of a series of clinical trials in Africa, Britain's Medical Research Council (MRC) said on Monday, Reuters reports.

15 Dec 2009