Health and Human Services News and Research

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Single shared REMS for TIRF products receives FDA approval

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a single shared Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for the transmucosal immediate-release fentanyl (TIRF) products. This new shared system will replace the individual REMS and allow prescribers and pharmacies to enroll into just one system, easing the burden on the health care system.

30 Dec 2011

National Mentor Holdings fourth quarter revenue increases 5.0% to $271.5 million

National Mentor Holdings, Inc. today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended September 30, 2011.

27 Dec 2011

LRI praises U.S. Congress for legislation that addresses early lupus detection and treatment

A top legislative priority of the Lupus Research Institute (LRI) -- funding for a nationwide lupus education effort for healthcare providers -- is included in the Fiscal 2012 omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 2055) signed into law today by President Obama after passing in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

26 Dec 2011

President Obama to provide federal funding for Alzheimer's programs

As the world's leading voluntary health organization advocating for Alzheimer's care, support and research, the Alzheimer's Association is pleased that Congress and President Obama have responded to calls by the Alzheimer's Association on behalf of people with Alzheimer's disease, caregivers, health professionals and researchers, to provide federal funding for several programs critical to the Alzheimer's community.

26 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: Picking the 'right fights'; Sebelius's 'special place' in history

Republicans do need to fight for their priorities, but it helps to pick the right fights. They should return in 2012 ready to make their differences clear on taxes, health care, regulation, and how to grow an economy (12/23).

23 Dec 2011

Texas Democrats oppose state's MLR waiver request

The state's Democratic House members urge HHS to reject the Perry administration request to give Texas insurers more time to meet medical loss ratio standards in the health law.

23 Dec 2011

Harkin blasts South Carolina over exchange grant

The chairman of the Senate HELP Committee wants the HHS inspector general to investigate whether a $1 million federal grant was misused.

23 Dec 2011

Potential new strategy against bacteria with multi-drug resistant organisms

Vaccines with broader reach might be made by stimulating specialized immune cells to recognize foreign cell membrane proteins that are shared across bacterial species, say researchers from Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in a report published online today in Immunity.

23 Dec 2011

New working definition of recovery from mental disorders and substance use disorders

A new working definition of recovery from mental disorders and substance use disorders is being announced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

23 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: Republicans' 'gift' to Obama; Essential benefits rule a 'lump of coal'

One photo snapped Wednesday on Capitol Hill captured the essence of Congress in 2011. It showed a group of senior House Republicans sitting on one side of a long table, waiting for their Senate counterparts to show up for a negotiating session the House had demanded. ... What viewers should really have seen in the photo was the Republican leadership team whose miscalculations may soon cause payroll taxes to go up - and unemployment benefits to be truncated, and payment rates to Medicare doctors slashed. That's on the verge of happening.

23 Dec 2011

Surprising finding about implants used in hip replacement surgery

A new study, bringing together an interdisciplinary team of physicians and engineers from the United States and Germany, made a surprising finding about implants used in hip replacement surgery: Graphite carbon is a key element in the lubricating layer that forms on metal-on-metal hip implants. The lubricant has more in common with the lubrication of a combustion engine than that of a natural joint.

23 Dec 2011

Roundup: Texas members oppose state's MLR waiver; Calif.'s disability case takes unusual turn

If you want to know what a Tea Party America might look like, there is no place like Kansas. In the past year, three state agencies have been abolished and 2,050 jobs have been cut. Funding for schools, social services and the arts have been slashed. The new Republican governor rejected a $31.5 million federal grant for a new health-insurance exchange because he opposes President Obama's health-care law. And that's just the small stuff.

23 Dec 2011

HHS rule keeps information about physician misconduct secret

Buried deep in a federal database is Practitioner No. 222117, perhaps the most frequently disciplined doctor in America. … But who is this doctor? … The Department of Health and Human Services imposed new rules this fall restricting how researchers and reporters can use anonymous information the government keeps in the database where No. 222117 resides - along with more than 196,000 other doctors with malpractice or discipline issues.

22 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: HHS punts on essential benefits; A doctor's view of Medicare

The health care reform law passed last year requires insurers to offer, at a minimum, a set of "essential" benefits to individuals and small groups. ... On Friday, however, the Department of Health and Human Services put out a bulletin proposing to let each state come up with its own definition.

22 Dec 2011

FDA approves Merck's Isentress to treat HIV-1 infection in children, adolescents

Isentress (raltegravir) was approved today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use with other antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of HIV-1 infection for children and adolescents ages 2-18.

22 Dec 2011

HHS denies Michigan's health law waiver request

The Department of Health and Human Services on Monday denied a request from Michigan to waive the health law's limits on insurer profits and administrative costs. Michigan becomes the second state to have its request denied following a denial of Florida's waiver request earlier this month.

21 Dec 2011

Streamline Health announces two major developments for AccessAnyWare EHR module

Streamline Health Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise document management and revenue cycle solutions for healthcare organizations, today announced two major developments for its AccessAnyWare document management solution. The company made generally available its newly architected version, AccessAnyWare v5.1.

20 Dec 2011

Congress passes FY12 spending bill, including funding for global health

"The Senate on Saturday passed the final spending bills for 2012, eliminating the risk of a government shutdown until next fall," National Journal reports. The House passed the measure on Friday, National Journal notes.

20 Dec 2011

Obama administration avoids political backlash by allowing states flexibility on essential benefits

By allowing states the flexibility to make key decisions, the administration avoided a "political hot potato" regarding essential benefits - the medical benefits insurers must cover under the U.S. health care.

20 Dec 2011

Blocking EETs may represent novel strategy for cancer therapy

Recent findings in mice suggest that blocking the production of small molecules produced in the body, known as epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), may represent a novel strategy for treating cancer by eliminating the blood vessels that feed cancer tumors.

20 Dec 2011

Health and Human Services News and Research

Single shared REMS for TIRF products receives FDA approval

National Mentor Holdings fourth quarter revenue increases 5.0% to $271.5 million

LRI praises U.S. Congress for legislation that addresses early lupus detection and treatment

President Obama to provide federal funding for Alzheimer's programs

Viewpoints: Picking the 'right fights'; Sebelius's 'special place' in history

Texas Democrats oppose state's MLR waiver request

Harkin blasts South Carolina over exchange grant

Potential new strategy against bacteria with multi-drug resistant organisms

New working definition of recovery from mental disorders and substance use disorders

Viewpoints: Republicans' 'gift' to Obama; Essential benefits rule a 'lump of coal'

Surprising finding about implants used in hip replacement surgery

Roundup: Texas members oppose state's MLR waiver; Calif.'s disability case takes unusual turn

HHS rule keeps information about physician misconduct secret

Viewpoints: HHS punts on essential benefits; A doctor's view of Medicare

FDA approves Merck's Isentress to treat HIV-1 infection in children, adolescents

HHS denies Michigan's health law waiver request

Streamline Health announces two major developments for AccessAnyWare EHR module

Congress passes FY12 spending bill, including funding for global health

Obama administration avoids political backlash by allowing states flexibility on essential benefits

Blocking EETs may represent novel strategy for cancer therapy

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