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Growing support for tobacco tax increase to fund SCHIP by lawmakers

Congressional support "appears to be growing" for an increase in the federal tobacco tax as a way to fund the reauthorization and expansion of SCHIP, the Wall Street Journal reports.

11 Jul 2007

CMS issues final rule for Medicaid prescription drug reimbursements

CMS on Friday released a final rule that will change the Medicaid prescription drug reimbursement formula for pharmacies from being based on the average wholesale price to being based on the average manufacturer price, CongressDaily reports (Edney, CongressDaily, 7/10).

11 Jul 2007

Preliminary estimates of cost-effectiveness for marital therapy

A recent study done by two Alliant faculty members suggests government funding for relationship counseling will ultimately save taxpayers money through reduced divorce rates.

10 Jul 2007

Scottish Cardinal calls on British Prime Minister Brown to review U.K.'s abortion laws

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, leader of Scotland's Roman Catholics, in an open letter published in the Scotsman called on British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to review the efficacy of the United Kingdom's abortion law, the Scotsman reports.

10 Jul 2007

MarketWatch examines costs of high-deductible health plans for women

Although "little research" has been conducted on the effects of high-deductible health plans on women, "several studies point to potentially higher costs, ... especially where maternity care is concerned," MarketWatch reports.

10 Jul 2007

Democrats work to reauthorize, expand SCHIP while Bush administration tries to limit program growth

Congressional efforts to reauthorize SCHIP, which expires on Sept. 30, are "intensifying," but the Bush administration "has taken several steps to slow momentum for expansion of the program," the New York Times reports (Pear, New York Times, 7/9).

10 Jul 2007

Health care 'staking claim to center stage' on national agenda

Health care "is rising on the national agenda, but at least four things need to happen for this debate not to end in failure in the new Congress in 2009, as the last debate did in 1994," Drew Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation, writes in a Boston Globe opinion piece.

10 Jul 2007

Tiny turtle responsible for baby's death

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States has linked the death of a four-week-old baby in Florida earlier this year to a pet turtle.

9 Jul 2007

Thoroughly modern mental healthcare

UNISON is applauding the new mental health bill, agreed by the Commons yesterday after a rocky passage through parliament.

9 Jul 2007

World agenda for 100% smoke-free public places and workplaces

The 146 Parties to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) decided unanimously to begin negotiating a protocol on illicit trade of tobacco products and adopt guidelines that stipulate 100% smoke-free public places and workplaces.

9 Jul 2007

Paracetamol overdoses drop without package size legislation

The acetaminophen (paracetamol) overdose rate in Calgary, Canada dropped by over 40% in the decade to 2004, without a change to the smaller pack sizes that were credited with overdose reductions in the UK.

9 Jul 2007

Should hookah smoking be part of England's smoking ban?

Campaigners are trying to get hookah smoking exempted from England's smoking ban for cultural reasons.

9 Jul 2007

Bioethics training helps fight African brain drain

When African professionals migrate to the United States or Europe, it's often called brain drain.

4 Jul 2007

Mother donates eggs to infertile daughter

A Canadian mother has taken the unique step of donating her eggs to her daughter to ensure she can have a child.

4 Jul 2007

TB jetsetter not as dangerous as first thought

It seems the jet setting air traveller with tuberculosis (TB) is not quite as dangerous as first thought. According to a federal health official, American lawyer Andrew Speaker has a less severe form of TB than previously diagnosed.

4 Jul 2007

Big Apple gets serious about trans fats

Although July 1st was officially the day New York City's trans fat ban came into effect, 85% of restaurants had already changed to alternative cooking oils which meet the new trans fat guidelines of less than half a gram of trans fat per serving for either frying or in spreads.

2 Jul 2007

Dangerous rural roads in the U.S.

Just in time for the most dangerous days of the year to drive July 3 and 4 the national Center for Excellence in Rural Safety (CERS) at the University of Minnesota today released a list of the states where Americans are more likely to die in a traffic crash on a rural road.

29 Jun 2007

Dangers of permitting smoking in the workplace

Offering alarming new evidence on the dangers of permitting smoking in the workplace, scientists have found that nonsmoking restaurant and bar employees absorb a potent carcinogennot considered safe at any levelwhile working in places where they had to breathe tobacco smoke from customers and co-workers.

29 Jun 2007

Call for change in regulations surrounding xenotransplantation

A new article in The Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics calls for a change in the regulations surrounding xenotransplantation, the transplanting of animal cells, tissues or organs into humans.

29 Jun 2007

Summer's here so look out for Legionnaires disease

Summer's here and the living isn't always so easy especially if youre in the hospital. Patients who are vulnerable to infection run a greater risk of contracting Legionnaires disease, a severe form of pneumonia, during warm, humid weather, according to a study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

28 Jun 2007