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'Model' tobacco cessation program reduces smoking rate by 26%

A "model" tobacco cessation benefit offered to Massachusetts' Medicaid participants has produced an astounding 26% drop in smoking rates in only two and a half years, and has already been linked to decreases in heart attacks, hospitalizations for asthma and COPD, and a significant decrease in birth complications.

19 Nov 2009

Pennsylvania physicians say demand for charitable care has increased

A report publicly released today by the Institute for Good Medicine at the Pennsylvania Medical Society suggests demand for charitable care provided by physicians increased significantly in the past year, and that their ability to meet the demand may be unsustainable.

19 Nov 2009

Elder parents more likely to be happier with informal home care

Most families, at some point, will struggle with a decision about how best to provide long-term care for an elderly parent. A new study co-authored by University of Virginia economics professor Steven Stern suggests that you shouldn't assume a home-care professional can better care for your parent than you can.

19 Nov 2009

Medicare fraud: New Jersey hospital to pay over $3.02M to resolve allegations

The United States has entered into a settlement with a New Jersey hospital and filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit against a New York hospital involving allegations that the hospitals defrauded Medicare, the Justice Department announced today.

19 Nov 2009

FDA: Plavix-Prilosec combination may reduce anti-clotting effect

Patients should avoid using the stomach acid reducer Prilosec/Prilosec OTC (omeprazole) with the anti-clotting drug Plavix (clopidogrel), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned on Nov. 17.

19 Nov 2009

Freescale Semiconductor expands its 8-bit microcontroller portfolio

Freescale Semiconductor is expanding its 8-bit microcontroller (MCU) portfolio with devices ideal for personal diagnostic and portable health care products that require low-power operation and advanced display capabilities.

19 Nov 2009

Publicly released report cards do not appear to improve hospitals' performance, says new study

An analysis of quality of cardiac care following the public release of data on measures of care at hospitals in Ontario, Canada, did not result in significant systemwide improvement in hospitals' performance on most quality of care indicators, according to a study to be published in the December 2 issue of JAMA. The study is being released early online because of its presentation at an American Heart Association scientific conference.

19 Nov 2009

Sen. Grassley prods med schools about medical journal ghostwriting practices

"Senator Charles E. Grassley wrote to 10 top medical schools Tuesday to ask what they are doing about professors who put their names on ghostwritten articles in medical journals — and why that practice was any different from plagiarism by students," The New York Times reports.

19 Nov 2009

U.S. to consider purchasing some food aid locally, acting USAID head says at World Food Summit

The U.S. is interested in potentially using more locally-produced food aid rather than U.S. grown food as a way to expand investment in agricultural development in the developing world, said Alonzo Fulgham, acting head USAID, "on the sidelines of a World Food Summit in Rome" on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

19 Nov 2009

WHO to launch yellow fever vaccination campaign in West Africa

The WHO on Tuesday announced it would lead a week-long, multi-country vaccination campaign in Africa next week to protect those "deemed at highest risk from yellow fever," Reuters reports.

19 Nov 2009

Humana to commence 'Limited Income Newly Eligible Transition' program for CMS

Effective Jan. 1, 2010, Humana will begin administering the Limited Income Newly Eligible Transition (LI-NET) program for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This program allows individuals who receive Medicare’s low-income subsidy to also receive immediate prescription drug coverage at the point of sale if they are not already enrolled in a Part D plan.

19 Nov 2009

Opinions: Fighting TB; currency transaction tax

Though tuberculosis "is one of the world's leading killers … few citizens, scientists and policymakers are demanding more attention to TB research, treatment and prevention. … It's time to bring TB research into the 21st century," Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, writes in an MSNBC opinion piece.

19 Nov 2009

Sebelius issues statement on mammography guidelines as GOP attacks health reform proposals

ABC News: "HHS Secretary Sebelius did her best to ride the wave of incredulous opposition to the new government-sponsored guidelines advising women to hold off on regular mammograms til age 50. Perhaps anticipating that opponents of the President's health reform efforts will argue that this is a glimpse of the future under Obamacare."

19 Nov 2009

CareRadius suite, a first-ever care management system from Landacorp

Landacorp today announced the public release of CareRadius suite, the only care management application of its kind to successfully achieve a large-scale, live implementation.

19 Nov 2009

GAVI Alliance drives down pentavalent vaccine costs, data shows

The "co-ordinated buying policy" of the GAVI Alliance has driven down "[t]he price of a vaccine that helps babies fight off killer diseases," according to data released by the group, Reuters reports. In 2010, the price of pentavalent vaccine, which protects against Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b), diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and hepatitis B, will fall "below $3.0 - a drop of almost $0.50 cents per dose on the 2009 price," according to the news services.

19 Nov 2009

Some House Democrats face questions about House bill positions; outside groups defend vulnerable 'yes' votes

Democrats are still taking issue with particular votes of other House lawmakers on health care reform. Meanwhile, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is taking a hard line against the people in her caucus she thinks "threw me under the bus," Politico reports.

18 Nov 2009

Senate health reform bill timeline slipping, Reid plans caucus meeting today

Senate action on health care reform before the Thanksgiving break seems less likely "as the upper chamber still doesn't have a final version of the bill," The Hill reports.

18 Nov 2009

AAHSA commends Senator Reid for including CLASS provisions in health reform bill

The American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) commends Senator Reid (D-Nev.) for his leadership on ensuring that the Community Living and Supportive Services (CLASS) Plan provisions are included in the Senate's health reform bill.

18 Nov 2009

U.S. health officials testify before Senate Committee about H1N1 vaccine campaign

U.S. health officials defended their handling of the country's H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine campaign Tuesday "against criticism that their plan to protect Americans was confusing and over-optimistic," Reuters reports (Fox, 11/17).

18 Nov 2009

New Senate health bill to be topic of Democrats closed-door meeting

The Associated Press: "Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada met Wednesday morning at the Capitol with Vice President Joe Biden to go over the game plan on health care. Crucial to the White House and Reid is winning over a handful of reluctant moderate Democrats."

18 Nov 2009