Health Care News and Research

RSS

First edition: September 28, 2009

A look at today's headlines reveals that specific issues regarding the health overhaul effort continue to get significant attention and trigger debate.

28 Sep 2009

WellPoint covers administration costs for H1N1 vaccines

Each year, influenza causes illness, hospitalizations and deaths, and severely strains the health care delivery system. This year, seasonal flu is complicated by the emergence and rapid spread of the H1N1 virus. In an effort to ensure that individuals and their families can take the appropriate actions to help protect themselves against the H1N1 virus, WellPoint's affiliated health plans will cover the administration of the H1N1 vaccine without co-pay or deductible for all health plan members. Plans also are encouraging self-insured employers to cover the cost of the vaccination for their employees.

28 Sep 2009

Merck, Qiagen pledge cervical cancer tools at CGI, meeting highlights effects of gender inequality

Drugmaker Merck & Co. announced Wednesday at the Clinton Global Initiative's (CGI) annual meeting in New York that it will "donate more than $500 million of its Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine" with the goal of improving women's health in developing countries, Bloomberg reports.

From QIAGEN Manchester Limited 28 Sep 2009

American Lung Association in Indiana holds flu panel discussion

In an effort to educate Indianapolis area residents about the importance of annual seasonal influenza vaccination, the American Lung Association in Indiana is kicking off the 2009-2010 influenza season by holding a flu panel discussion at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School on September 24 at 6:30 p.m. to educate the community about the dangers of influenza.

28 Sep 2009

Pelosi tries to unite divided Democratic factions in House

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is facing a difficult task in the House: herding the different Democratic factions to fashion a single health care bill.

28 Sep 2009

Health inequalities linked to socioeconomic status

Prostate cancer patients of low socioeconomic status are more likely to die than patients with higher incomes. That is the finding of a new study from Swiss researchers to be published in the December 1, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

28 Sep 2009

Physicians should implement new measures while diagnosing prenatal Down syndrome

New prenatal tests for Down syndrome are soon to be offered to all pregnant women across the United States, yet telling an expectant couple that their child will be born with Down syndrome is a task very few physicians are trained for, claims research published in the American Journal of Medical Genetics.

28 Sep 2009

WHO Asia-Pacific Countries pledge to use artemisinin with other drugs by 2015 to prevent drug-resistance

On Wednesday, nine of the 10 countries in the WHO's Asia-Pacific region "that suffer most" from malaria pledged to phase out the use of artemisinin-only to treat malaria and use it in combination with other drugs by 2015, Reuters reports (Lyn, 9/23).

28 Sep 2009

AMA President: Alberta's health care system needs change

Alberta's health care system needs change, but change must be planned with proper consultation and true feedback from physicians, the public and other health professionals. This was the message of outgoing Alberta Medical Association (AMA) President Dr. Noel W. Grisdale.

28 Sep 2009

Progress on the Baucus Bill is in the eye of the beholder

The New York Times: "Senate Democrats on Friday preserved the guts of their proposal to reinvent the health care system, but Republicans scored political points on several issues, like the effects of the bill on older Americans. The Democrats beat back Republican attacks on the legislation as the Senate Finance Committee deferred some of the most contentious issues to next week."

28 Sep 2009

Fresh from G-20, Obama renews health care push

President Barack Obama on Saturday resumed his push to overhaul the health care system, telling a Congressional Black Caucus conference that there comes a time when 'the cup of endurance runs over.

28 Sep 2009

Photographs from the Frontlines of Health

On exhibit for the first time in Canada, Providence Health Care and AstraZeneca Canada are co-presenting Beyond Barriers: Photographs from the Frontlines of Health, which celebrates the compassion and ingenuity of health professionals (doctors, nurses, social workers and others) working on Canada's frontlines.

26 Sep 2009

NCPA commends U.S. Senate Finance Committee's approval of the Cantwell amendment

The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) today commended the U.S. Senate Finance Committee for approving by unanimous, voice vote an amendment by U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) to lower health care costs through common-sense disclosure requirements for any pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) participating in the health insurance exchanges envisioned in Chairman Max Baucus’ (D-MT) America’s Healthy Future Act.

26 Sep 2009

Cantwell amendment will raise cost of prescription drugs: PCMA

“America’s pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) believe strongly in the principle of transparency and empowering payers to make informed health-care purchasing decisions resulting in lower prescription drug costs and higher quality. Regrettably, today’s amendment moves the health care system in the opposite direction.”

26 Sep 2009

Biden emerges as health care messenger

The vice president took the stage Wednesday for the administration's health reform campaign with a talk with seniors at Leisure World in suburban Maryland. The Associated Press reports: "Vice President Joe Biden sought to reassure nervous seniors Wednesday that they won't see cuts in their Medicare benefits if the nation's health care system is revamped. ...

26 Sep 2009

Morphotek announces preliminary data from Phase II trial of farletuzumab

Morphotek(R), Inc., a subsidiary of Eisai Corporation of North America, today announced preliminary data from a Phase II trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of farletuzumab in platinum-sensitive epithelial ovarian cancer subjects experiencing their first relapse. Farletuzumab (MORAb-003) is a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets the Folate Receptor Alpha (FRA).

26 Sep 2009

Millennium Foundation announces fundraising initiative for global health

The Millennium Foundation for Innovative Finance for Health today announced MASSIVEGOOD, a new, innovative travel-related fundraising initiative that will help finance health care for the world's poor.

26 Sep 2009

Behavioral hospital receives Champion in Health Care award

Eating Recovery Center (www.eatingrecoverycenter.com), the only behavioral hospital in Colorado focused on comprehensive and sustainable treatment of eating disorders, was honored as a "Champion in Health Care" by the Denver Business Journal at the newspaper's annual awards ceremony last night.

26 Sep 2009

NSF funds UAB to purchase highly-specialized imaging system

The National Science Foundation has awarded $431,200 to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Physics to facilitate the purchase of a new highly-specialized imaging system - the first of its kind in Alabama - that will be a centerpiece of a new interdisciplinary research laboratory on campus.

26 Sep 2009

European CHMP recommends marketing approval for Sanofi-aventis' Multaq

Sanofi-aventis announced today that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has adopted a positive opinion recommending to grant a marketing authorization in the European Union for Multaq(R) (dronedarone - 400mg Tablets).

26 Sep 2009