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Science-based health policies could prevent nearly 4m maternal, child deaths in Africa, report says

Nearly 4 million deaths among women and children in sub-Saharan Africa could be prevented annually if relatively inexpensive, "science-based health policies" reached 90 percent of families, according to an African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI) report (.pdf) published Monday, Nature News reports.

10 Nov 2009

Recent 'death panel' uproar echoes age-old controversy

Kaiser Health News staff writer Christopher Weaver details events similar to this summer's "death panel" controversy, but that happened decades ago. "It was early summer. A senior federal health official wrote a memo suggesting that living wills -- documents that can convey patients' wishes about when to end life support -- could help curb health-care costs.

10 Nov 2009

Report finds hospitals rebound from recession

Hospitals are beginning to rebound from the recession, which many economists think ended last month. The Dallas Morning News reports: "Thompson Reuters Corp., a New York-based financial information company, tracked 439 hospitals nationwide - 37 in Texas - covering small, medium and large community hospitals and teaching hospitals" to create a report released Monday that showed the change.

10 Nov 2009

House health bill votes stir political action, ads

The Washington Post reports that "the House's passage Saturday of a sweeping health-care bill has pushed the advertising battle over reform into a new phase, as competing groups have taken to the airwaves to thank or punish Democrats for their votes."

10 Nov 2009

Clinton delivers health reform pep talk to Senate Dems

The Associated Press reports on Former President Bill Clinton's pep talk to Senate Democrats today. Stressing what he said was "an economic imperative," he told "anxious Senate Democrats ... to pass a health care bill soon because the U.S. economy can't resist the toxic combination of exorbitant medical costs and nearly 50 million uninsured for much longer."

10 Nov 2009

Dutch health minister critiques U.S. health system

The New York Times interviews Ab Klink, the Dutch health minister, about the Dutch view of U.S. health care: "The health system in the United States may be twice as expensive as those in Europe, and the population may be less healthy, but at least Americans have access to many more choices of doctors and insurers.

10 Nov 2009

GSK to donate 50M H1N1 vaccine doses to WHO in coming months

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline announced plans on Tuesday to donate 50 million doses of its H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine to the WHO for use in developing countries within the next few months, Reuters reports. "We expect to start receiving [the first of the H1N1 doses] at the end of the month or early December and that the full 50 million will come by the end of spring," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said, adding, "We hope it is the first of many donations."

10 Nov 2009

Six universities aim to expand drug access in developing countries

Six universities have agreed to an effort to "encourage companies to give poor countries better access to drugs and medical products stemming from discoveries made on their campuses," Bloomberg reports (Lauerman, 11/9).

10 Nov 2009

African leaders meet to discuss ways to increase access to water in Africa

In tandem with Africa Water Week, the African Minister's Council on Water (AMCOW) Summit kicked off in Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday, where discussions will center on ways to increase the water supply in Africa, BuaNews/allAfrica.com reports (11/9).

10 Nov 2009

White House firm on health reform timeline, sends mixed abortion messages

Roll Call: "Even as Senate Democrats continue to grope for a way forward on health care, the White House asserted Monday that its Dec. 31 deadline for final passage of the legislation is solid. 'When we say the end of the year, we've got a pretty firm end-of-the-year deadline,' White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said."

10 Nov 2009

AMA sticks with House bill endorsement

The American Medical Association, the official physician lobby, reiterated its endorsement of the House bill Monday. The Associated Press/The Washington Post reports that the AMA "on Monday rebuffed dissident members and voted to stick with support for ongoing health reform efforts, while reiterating wariness over proposals that threaten doctors' pocketbooks and independence.

10 Nov 2009

First Edition: November 10, 2009

As the focus of health overhaul efforts move to the Senate, abortion issues have become hot topics.

10 Nov 2009

National Pain Summit calls for better pain care in America

Pain medicine physicians from the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) continued to advance the call for better pain care as they joined with physician leaders from across the country in a closed-door National Pain Summit that took place adjacent to an AMA meeting last week in Houston, Texas.

10 Nov 2009

Health care reform should benefit shift workers: Circadian Age

Circadian Age, Inc. – ‘Working Nights’ – a company dedicated to helping shift workers and their families adjust to their unique lifestyles, is concerned with making sure that any health care reform will benefit the 25 million Americans working shifts. These workers represent 10% of the insured population, but incur 17% of the health care costs.

10 Nov 2009

Health information technology's 11% combined annual growth rate to continue through 2013: Scientia Advisors

Health information technology (HIT) is the fastest growing segment of the $1 trillion global health care marketplace—and its “impressive” 11 per cent combined annual growth rate is likely to continue through 2013, according to a Scientia Advisors global industry review released today.

10 Nov 2009

Lawsuit against California Department of Health Care Services

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has filed a federal lawsuit against David Maxwell-Jolly, Director of the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) seeking an injunction to prevent implementation of a new state law singling out nonprofit safety net providers—including AHF—forcing drastic Medi-Cal (Medicaid) reimbursements cuts for drugs purchased by AHF clinics and other safety net providers while favoring giant national for-profit pharmacy chains including Rite Aid, CVS, Walgreens and others.

10 Nov 2009

1,000 GeckoSystems' CareBots can be produced per month, says a first tier manufacturer

GeckoSystems Intl. Corp. announced today that during their first annual "Mobile Robots in Motion" conference last week, a first tier contract manufacturer after viewing numerous demonstrations, examining and discussing GeckoSystems' first product, the CareBot™ is confident that within six months they could produce GeckoSystems' CareBot at the rate of one thousand (1,000) per month.

10 Nov 2009

Study: Patients with difficult to treat hepatitis C are half as likely to initiate treatment

A new study by Mount Sinai researchers has for the first time found that patients with more difficult to treat forms of hepatitis C are half as likely to initiate treatment for the disease, when compared to patients with hepatitis C that is easier to treat. Marital status also affected whether patients chose treatment, as did whether or not they had other diseases.

10 Nov 2009

CCH issues a Special Tax Briefing on the tax provisions of the health care bill

The House version of health care reform - the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which passed by a vote of 220-215 on Saturday, November 7, 2009 - mandates several significant changes to the tax code and differs in many ways from the tax provisions likely to appear in any Senate version, requiring extensive reconciliation to reach final agreement.

10 Nov 2009

SBA provision, antitrust exemption and FTC involvement need to be addressed in Senate, says PIA

Inclusion of a provision in the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) allowing insurance agents to sell health policies offered by health insurance exchanges is positive, but other issues remain to be addressed in the Senate, according to the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA).

10 Nov 2009