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Gibbs says The White House still "hopeful" on bipartisan support

"The Obama administration is still hopeful it can get bipartisan support for a health insurance overhaul, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday," Dow Jones Newswires reports. "In remarks to reporters at the White House, Gibbs disputed media reports the administration has cast aside such hopes and is preparing to push the controversial health-care bill through Congress on a party-line vote."

19 Aug 2009

House Democrats request insurers' financial records

"Dozens of the nation's largest insurance firms must decide whether to honor a request from House Democrats for detailed financial records, part of an investigation into executive compensation and other business practices in an industry that opposes President Barack Obama's health care proposals," The Associated Press reports.

19 Aug 2009

Hospitals rebounding from the economic recession

The development could spare patients the higher fees hospitals may otherwise have had to charge to keep their books balanced, the Dallas Morning News reports.

19 Aug 2009

70 percent of specialty doctors oppose health-care reform proposals

Chairman of the ASMD, Alfred O. Bonati, M.D., said that, "As a physician, the results of this poll are not surprising to me. Any doctor who has ever dealt with Medicare knows that government coverage severely limits our abilities to deliver care that best fits the needs of the patient and the patient's family. We know that government coverage does not allow for flexibility, creativity, or, sometimes, even compassion."

19 Aug 2009

Battle over proposal to disclose drug price deals

"Some Democratic lawmakers looking for ways to overhaul the nation's health-care system are targeting the companies that handle drug benefits for more than 210 million Americans, setting off a lobbying battle over how much pricing information the companies should disclose," The Wall Street Journal reports.

19 Aug 2009

Baucus: Finance negotiators 'on track' toward bipartisan health bill

MSNBC's First Read reports that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus released a statement earlier today saying that his panel "is still working on a bipartisan bill." According to MSNBC, Baucus said: "Bipartisan progress continues.

19 Aug 2009

AstraZeneca Canada files a New Drug Submission (NDS) for FluMist in Canada

AstraZeneca Canada Inc. announced today that it has filed a New Drug Submission (NDS) for FluMist(R) (Influenza Vaccine, Live Attenuated Intranasal) with Health Canada.

19 Aug 2009

U.S. Food and Drug Administration launches new Center for Tobacco Products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today launched its new Center for Tobacco Products in an historic effort to curb the hundreds of thousands of deaths caused by those products each year.

19 Aug 2009

Canada's doctors send strong message to New Brunswick Government

At their General Council Meeting in Saskatoon today, Canada's doctors strongly supported the New Brunswick Medical Society's struggle against their government's violation of a duly ratified contract agreement.

19 Aug 2009

Cutting Medicare Advantage costs may be politically difficult

The Los Angeles Times reports: "President Obama, struggling to discredit bogus charges that his healthcare overhaul would create 'death panels,' soon could face another emotionally charged obstacle -- a plan to trim the federal subsidy for a program used by nearly a quarter of Medicare beneficiaries.

19 Aug 2009

Health care - what a mess!

With the pundits scaring the living crap out of Americans on both sides of the issue, it is understandable that we are confused, frustrated, concerned and scared of this new health care program being proposed by the Obama Administration.

19 Aug 2009

Obama misleads on abortion funding in health reform

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement after President Obama said that it's a "fabrication" and "distraction" to say abortion funding is included in the health care reform plans.

19 Aug 2009

H1N1 vaccine orders top 1 billion, WHO Says

"Northern hemisphere countries have so far ordered more than one billion doses of swine flu vaccine, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday, sparking warnings over shortages," Agence France-Presse reports. While some countries, including Greece, The Netherlands, Canada and Israel, have ordered enough vaccine to inoculate their citizens, "[o]thers, such as Germany, the United States, Britain and France, have put in orders that would cover between 30 and 78 percent of people," the news service writes.

19 Aug 2009

Newly appointed NIH director includes global health on priority list

Francis Collins, the newly appointed director of the NIH on Monday outlined his top five priorities for the U.S. research agency during a town hall meeting with NIH staff, Science's blog "Science Insider" reports. Collins emphasized the agency's commitment to "high-throughput technologies," "translational research," "health care reform," "global health" and "empower[ing] the biomedical research community," the blog writes (Kaiser, 8/17).

19 Aug 2009

Common-sense precautions for H1N1

Doctors and hospitals nationwide expect a surge in H1N1 influenza cases during the upcoming flu season. In a new video and the tips below, Yvonne Maldonado, MD, chief of infectious disease at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, explains what every parent should know about H1N1 flu as children head back to school.

19 Aug 2009

Improving the health and well-being of U.S. lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teens

Research indicates that the social stigma that surrounds lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) teens leads to a variety of health risks such as substance use, risky sexual behaviors, eating disorders, suicidal ideation, and victimization.

19 Aug 2009

Message from The White House: The President is not backing away from the public plan

"White House spokesman Robert Gibbs insists the Obama administration has not shifted its goals on health care reform or distanced itself from a government-run public insurance option." He told reporters today that stories indicating the Obama administration was backing away from including the public option in its push to overhaul the health system were "overblown."

19 Aug 2009

Retirees at risk: The precarious promise of post-employment health benefits

A nearly two-decade trend that is stripping away employer-provided health-care benefits for retirees in private business will likely continue and could soon hit an even deeper pool of government retirees, new research by a University of Illinois elder law expert warns.

19 Aug 2009

Kyl says GOP won't support co-op proposal

"The number two Senate Republican said Tuesday replacing a public health care option with a nonprofit private cooperative wouldn't win any more Republican support, saying they are essentially the same thing," The Wall Street Journal reports. "Sen. Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.), said Republican objections were more fundamental than simply changing the name of a new national entity to compete with private medical insurers."

19 Aug 2009

Bioheart's executive management team strengthened by the inclusion of board members

Bioheart, Inc., (OTC Bulletin Board: BHRT) a company committed to delivering intelligent devices and biologics that help monitor, diagnose and treat heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases announced today that several of its Directors have joined the Company's executive management team. In addition to assuming the position of Chairman of the Company's Board of Directors, Karl E. Groth, Ph.D., became the Chief Executive Officer; Peggy A. Farley became Chief Operating Officer; and Mark P. Borman became Chief Financial Officer. Howard Leonhardt will continue as Chief Scientific and Technology Officer, and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board. Mr. Leonhardt, the Company's founder, thus will be able to focus on enhancing the Company's existing technologies and strengthening its position as the leader within the cardiovascular arena of the stem cell therapy industry.

19 Aug 2009