Health and Human Services News and Research

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First Edition: May 4, 2010

Today's headlines include stories about parts of the new health reform law dealing with long-term care, high risk insurance pools and early retiree health insurance.

4 May 2010

Role of pharmacists on primary care health teams to be discussed during Health Affairs press briefing

Smith will discuss the role of pharmacists on primary care health teams during a Health Affairs press briefing on Tuesday, May 4 at 11:30 a.m. ET. She will be joined by an interprofessional team of colleagues that includes Christine Cassell of the American Board of Internal Medicine, Joanne Pohl of the University of Michigan School of Nursing and Bill Leinweber from the American Academy of Physician Assistants.

4 May 2010

$10M NIH grant to reduce cardiovascular disease risk among Latinos in East Los Angeles

The UCLA School of Public Health today announced a $10 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to fund a Center for Population Health and Health Disparities in partnership with the University of Southern California, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and several community collaborators.

4 May 2010

Percentage of obese girls in the U.S. increases: HRSA study

The percentage of obese girls in the United States increased more than twice as much as the percentage of obese boys from 2003 to 2007, according to a study by researchers at the Health Resources and Services Administration.

4 May 2010

IFT supports FDA's salt reduction initiative

The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) today offered its support to help the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) meet the challenges of reducing the amount of sodium in foods.

4 May 2010

Hologic commences enrollment in European trial of Gestiva for prevention of recurrent preterm birth

K-V Pharmaceutical Company announced today it has been informed by Hologic, Inc. that site initiation and patient enrollment has begun at international clinical trial sites in Europe in the ongoing trial of Gestiva™ (hydroxyprogesterone caproate injection, 250 mg/1 mL), commonly referred to as "17P," for the prevention of preterm birth in women pregnant with a single baby with a history of singleton spontaneous preterm birth.

From Hologic, Inc. 4 May 2010

Fate of the unused swine flu vaccines

The United States Government in an announcement on Monday revealed that the U.S. still has 71 million doses of unused H1N1 swine flu vaccine but there is still time left before it is wasted. They have urged the providers to keep the vaccines and continue to supply them to people until pharmaceutical manufacturers start distributing seasonal vaccine for the coming influenza season in the autumn.

4 May 2010

States decide on risk pools as first major health law decision

Politico reports that establishing high-risk insurance pools, the first major decision after the enactment of health care reform, "has come and gone with the decisions so far made mostly along party lines." Many Democratic governors "decided to help the Department of Health and Human Services by creating the pools themselves with federal funding.

3 May 2010

Some Republican states opting out of high risk health insurance pools

News outlets covered state responses to the federal government's deadline on high risk insurance pools.

3 May 2010

Schwarzenegger expresses support for health law while Reid uses reform as campaign issue

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Thursday announced his support of the health reform law, even as other Republicans around the United States look for ways to roll back the measure's reach.

3 May 2010

Latinos have higher rates of developing visual impairment than non-Hispanic whites: Researchers

Latinos have higher rates of developing visual impairment, blindness, diabetic eye disease, and cataracts than non-Hispanic whites, researchers found. These are the first estimates of visual impairment and eye disease development in Latinos, the largest and fastest growing minority population in the United States.

3 May 2010

Officials face challenges in writing new health law regulations

Obama administration officials face a "monumental task" in writing new regulations to the health care law while keeping one eye on public perception ahead of November's midterm elections.

30 Apr 2010

New health law will penalize hospitals for poor quality

The new health law puts the nation's hospitals on strict notice. Either they improve the safety and quality of care for patients or the government will hit them where it hurts the most -- their revenue.

30 Apr 2010

HHS Secretary to host web chat to discuss impact of newly passed health insurance reform law

HHS Secretary Sebelius, Jay Angoff, director of the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, and Keysha Brooks Coley, the director of Federal Relations with the American Cancer Society, will host a web chat Friday, April 30 to discuss important insurance reforms in the new legislation and recent developments that have led to the ending of controversial practices like rescissions.

30 Apr 2010

Federal, state and local governments will need to invest more than $5 billion in health IT: INPUT

The recently passed health care reform legislation will require significant investment in IT solutions and system upgrades throughout its implementation. A new report, IT Implications of Health Care Reform, released by INPUT, predicts federal, state and local governments will need to invest more than $5 billion in health IT and traditional IT solutions in order to implement requirements of the new law.

30 Apr 2010

Whole-genome analysis may play future role in clinical medicine: Study

Scientists at Stanford and Harvard Universities collaborated to assess the clinical usefulness of analyzing a patient's full genome for disease risks and unusual drug responses. The work brings closer to reality the concept that whole-genome sequencing might one day play a clinical role.

30 Apr 2010

Accurate reporting of errors can reduce preventable hospital deaths: SIOP

People go to hospitals to be treated for an illness or for corrective surgery with the expectation they will return home in much better health than when they entered the medical facility.

30 Apr 2010

Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries agree to pay over $81M to resolve Topamax illegal promotion allegations

American pharmaceutical manufacturers Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical LLC and Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., both subsidiaries of Johnson & Johnson, have agreed to pay more than $81 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of the epilepsy drug Topamax, the Justice Department announced today.

30 Apr 2010

Human Genome Sciences reports net loss of $47.9M for first-quarter 2010

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. today announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, and provided highlights of recent key developments.

29 Apr 2010

Panel finds insufficient evidence to support preventive measures for cognitive decline, Alzheimer's disease

Many preventive measures for cognitive decline and for preventing Alzheimer's disease-mental stimulation, exercise, and a variety of dietary supplements-have been studied over the years. However, an independent panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health determined that the value of these strategies for delaying the onset and/or reducing the severity of decline or disease hasn't been demonstrated in rigorous studies.

29 Apr 2010

Health and Human Services News and Research

First Edition: May 4, 2010

Role of pharmacists on primary care health teams to be discussed during Health Affairs press briefing

$10M NIH grant to reduce cardiovascular disease risk among Latinos in East Los Angeles

Percentage of obese girls in the U.S. increases: HRSA study

IFT supports FDA's salt reduction initiative

Hologic commences enrollment in European trial of Gestiva for prevention of recurrent preterm birth

Fate of the unused swine flu vaccines

States decide on risk pools as first major health law decision

Some Republican states opting out of high risk health insurance pools

Schwarzenegger expresses support for health law while Reid uses reform as campaign issue

Latinos have higher rates of developing visual impairment than non-Hispanic whites: Researchers

Officials face challenges in writing new health law regulations

New health law will penalize hospitals for poor quality

HHS Secretary to host web chat to discuss impact of newly passed health insurance reform law

Federal, state and local governments will need to invest more than $5 billion in health IT: INPUT

Whole-genome analysis may play future role in clinical medicine: Study

Accurate reporting of errors can reduce preventable hospital deaths: SIOP

Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries agree to pay over $81M to resolve Topamax illegal promotion allegations

Human Genome Sciences reports net loss of $47.9M for first-quarter 2010

Panel finds insufficient evidence to support preventive measures for cognitive decline, Alzheimer's disease

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