Health and Human Services News and Research

RSS

Planned Parenthood funding a major stumbling block in budget negotiations

On the brink of a painful government shutdown, the Obama administration readied furlough notices for hundreds of thousands of workers Friday as Republican and Democratic leaders accused each other of refusing to give ground on a deal to keep operations running. ... Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid accused the Republicans of blocking a compromise because they were determined to make it harder 'for women to get cancer screenings' -- a Planned Parenthood funding reference.

11 Apr 2011

NIDA, ASAM launch new screening resources for primary care providers

A free, nationwide service was launched today to help primary care providers seeking to identify and advise substance-abusing patients.

11 Apr 2011

Scientists identify new treatment to combat PFAPA syndrome in children

A preliminary study conducted by a team at the National Institutes of Health has identified a promising new treatment in children for the most common form of a rare disorder.

11 Apr 2011

New dengue test receives FDA marketing clearance

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today allowed marketing of the first test to help diagnose people with signs and symptoms of dengue fever or dengue hemorrhagic fever, a leading cause of illness and death in the tropics and subtropics.

11 Apr 2011

SpectraShield surgical respirator receives FDA clearance to reduce MRSA infections

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the SpectraShield 9500 N95 surgical respirator, a device that kills 99.99 percent of three different kinds of bacteria when exposed to its outer surface.

11 Apr 2011

Cepheid receives FDA clearance for new assay to detect C. difficile infection

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today cleared a test called the Cepheid Xpert C. difficile/Epi assay that is designed to rapidly detect the toxin B gene associated with Clostridium difficile infection, a cause of diarrhea that can lead to colitis, other serious intestinal conditions and death in severe cases.

11 Apr 2011

Giffords' case leads to push for brain-injury care to be 'essential benefit'

A letter from the office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., urges HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to include such care in the health law's essential benefits package, despite budget pressures looming in Congress.

8 Apr 2011

Research Roundup: The cost of medical errors; 'Unreasonable rate increases'

Health Affairs: The $17.1 Billion Problem: The Annual Cost Of Measurable Medical Errors - "The estimated total cost of measurable medical errors in the United States was $17.1 billion in 2008, which was 0.72 percent of the $2.391 trillion spent on health care," write the authors of this study that used an "an actuarial approach to measure the frequency and costs of measurable U.S. medical errors, identified through medical claims data."

8 Apr 2011

State News: N.Y. billing for disabled patients questioned

While the nation's attention has been focused on state worker battles in union strongholds such as Ohio and Wisconsin, quiet but consequential labor battles are breaking out in Kansas, Texas and other states where collective bargaining rights for public workers were weak or non-existent to begin with. The outcome of these confrontations will have a big impact.

8 Apr 2011

First Edition: April 8, 2011

Today's headlines include stories tracking the partisan negotiations surrounding a current-year spending bill. Currently at an impasse, the differences between the GOP and Democrats as well as the White House surrounds more than just the total dollar figure attached to spending cuts. It also involves controversial "policy riders." Meanwhile, without resolution, a government shutdown is just hours away.

8 Apr 2011

MedAZ' EHR Plus achieves ONC-ATCB certification

EHR Plus, the electronic medical record component of MedAZ Complete, has received ONC-ATCB certification for its ambulatory and inpatient versions. Certification means that the product qualifies for Meaningful Use implementation, enabling the eligible hospital or medical professional to receive incentives provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

8 Apr 2011

GlaxoSmithKline, XenoPort receive FDA approval for Horizant to treat RLS

On April 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Horizant Extended Release Tablets, a once-daily treatment for moderate-to-severe restless legs syndrome.

8 Apr 2011

Though Congressional leaders cite progress, current-year spending deal still in play

If lawmakers fail to reach agreement on the 2011 budget, the government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Federal agencies have contingency plans in place in the event this happens. Media outlets report that Medicare and Medicaid would operate normally in the short run. Meanwhile, considerable discussion continues regarding what the political fallout will be and whether the public will hold Democrats or Republicans accountable.

8 Apr 2011

IDSA develops plans to combat deadly antibiotic-resistant 'super bugs'

To head off a health care disaster, the Infectious Diseases Society of America has developed a plan to combat deadly antibiotic-resistant "super bugs" and is rolling out the multi-pronged plan today, on World Health Day 2011.

8 Apr 2011

Study: AI/AN youths in the U.S. have high lifetime smoking rate

Youths identified as American Indian or Alaska Native have the greatest lifetime smoking rate of all racial groups, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

7 Apr 2011

New Pipeline Embolization Device receives FDA approval for treatment of brain aneurysms

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a new device that provides neurointerventional surgeons with another tool to treat brain aneurysms without performing open surgery.

7 Apr 2011

Progesterone benefits women with short cervix, finds NIH study

A National Institutes of Health study has found that progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone, reduced the rate of preterm birth before the 33rd week of pregnancy by 45 percent among one category of at risk women.

7 Apr 2011

AstraZeneca receives FDA approval for vandetanib to treat medullary thyroid cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved vandetanib to treat adult patients with late-stage (metastatic) medullary thyroid cancer who are ineligible for surgery and who have disease that is growing or causing symptoms.

7 Apr 2011

First-of-its-kind map of recombination hotspots in a multi-celled organism

Researchers have zoomed in on mouse chromosomes to map hotspots of genetic recombination - sites where DNA breaks and reforms to shuffle genes. The findings of the scientists at the National Institutes of Health and Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USU) have the potential to improve the detection of genes linked to disease and to help understand the root causes of genetic abnormalities.

6 Apr 2011

Scientists identify biological pathways that mediate IgA nephropathy

For the first time, researchers have found five regions in the human genome that increase susceptibility to immunoglobulin A nephropathy, a major cause of kidney failure worldwide - systematically identifying those that point to a tendency for IgA nephropathy, or a protection against it.

6 Apr 2011