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Today's Opinions: Cucinelli argues for quickly moving Va. case to the Supreme Court; Unraveling Medicaid leaves a big gap; Taking away a cancer treatment

It's hard not to laugh at the cries over the "injustice" of forcing people to buy coverage. Working Americans are already forced to buy health coverage - but for others. They can't choose not to pay the Medicare payroll tax. They can't even make a deal with the government, promising, "I will forgo all future Medicare benefits if I can be freed from the Medicare payroll tax" (Froma Harrop, 12/16).

17 Dec 2010

First Edition: December 17, 2010

Today's headlines highlight major health policy developments, including action in a Florida courtroom regarding the 20-state challenge to the health law and the Food and Drug Administration's curb on Avastin for the treatment of breast cancer.

17 Dec 2010

Home health, hospice patients need to have face-to-face encounter with physician: New Medicare rule

A new federal regulation issued by Medicare in November will create a crisis for approximately 4.5 million home health and hospice service patients. Starting on January 1, homebound elderly and disabled patients as well as hospice patients will now need to have a "face-to-face encounter" with a physician or nurse practitioner if they want to receive care under Medicare.

17 Dec 2010

Health inequalities still exist between England's richest and poorest

Significant health inequalities still exist between the country's richest and poorest according to the latest findings from the biggest annual survey of health in England, The Health Survey for England. The survey, conducted by the National Centre for Social Research and UCL and funded by The NHS Information Centre, shows that people in the lowest income households continue to experience much worse outcomes across key health measures than people in the highest income households.

17 Dec 2010

President signs one-year 'pay-fix'; Medicare tests competitive bidding for common medical equipment

The Kansas City Star reports on a new Medicare program that will apply competitive bidding to common medical equipment and supplies. Meanwhile, President Obama signed into law yesterday a one-year delay in Medicare payment cuts for physicians.

17 Dec 2010

Study: Biomarkers may aid in early diagnosis of breast cancer

Using a new, powerful method for rapidly screening molecules associated with disease, proteomics expert Joshua LaBaer and colleagues from the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have identified a broad panel of 28 early predictors, or biomarkers, that may one day aid in the early diagnosis of breast cancer.

17 Dec 2010

Guardian 24/7 selects Glowpoint's video managed services for remote diagnosis and patient collaboration

Glowpoint, Inc., a provider of cloud-based managed services for telepresence, video conferencing and collaboration, today announced that Guardian 24/7, a health care provider for high-profile executives, has selected Glowpoint's video managed services for providing remote diagnosis and patient collaboration using high-quality video conferencing.

16 Dec 2010

Opinions: Kangaroo care; NTDs, Women's health

New York Times contributing writer Tina Rosen, on the newspaper's "Opinionator" blog, examines the success of a system known as kangaroo care, which has helped to improve the survival rates of premature infants by using skin-to-skin contact with mothers in place of incubators in low-resource settings. The post notes the potential value of such a strategy in poor countries "where pregnant women are unlikely to get the food and care they need," and "low birth weight babies are very common."

16 Dec 2010

SBUMC to rename and dedicate ALS clinic as Christopher Pendergast ALS Center of Excellence

For Chris Pendergast, every Christmas he has been alive to celebrate with his family for the past 17 years has been a gift unto itself. Indeed, in 1993 the then 44-year-old elementary school teacher from Miller Place on Long Island was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - ALS - the always fatal degenerative neuromuscular disease commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. He was told that he had, at best, three to five years to live.

15 Dec 2010

Illegal online drug sellers prey upon 36 million Americans

Illegal online drug sellers have provided tens of millions of Americans prescription medication via the Internet without a valid prescription, recent research has found. These rogue sellers have preyed upon thirty-six million people, or 1 in 6 Americans, exposing them to the potential of taking counterfeit and unapproved medications.

15 Dec 2010

Reuters looks at cost-effectiveness of pursuing malaria vaccine, eradication

Reuters examines the effort to create an effective malaria vaccine and asks: "[I]s the vaccine - and the global health community's aim of completely eradicating a disease that kills a child every 45 seconds - really worth the money?"

15 Dec 2010

Lung protective strategy can increase the number of lungs available for transplant

Simple changes to how ventilators are used could almost double the number of lungs available for transplants, according to new international research involving a doctor at St. Michael's Hospital.

15 Dec 2010

Report examines ways to improve care for Medicare's dual eligibles

News outlets explore different issues related to Medicare, including the impact the physician payment system has on patients' access and the particular challenges posed by people who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid.

15 Dec 2010

Gray’s Anatomy: Grey area for medical students!

In a new study researchers have found that Australian medical students are struggling to name important body parts. They found that only nine of the 26 students could answer half of 20 questions correctly. Some (nearly a quarter) answers were “of concern” indicating a perfunctory knowledge of human anatomy.

13 Dec 2010

Quality of care for ADHD children poor under Medicaid, says new report

Whatever its final incarnation, the recently enacted landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will expand Medicaid eligibility and is expected by 2013 to provide coverage, including mental health care, to an estimated 4.1 million children currently uninsured.

13 Dec 2010

Strategies for securing life insurance policy for pre-existing medical conditions

If you've ever been told that you can't buy life insurance due to a pre-existing medical condition or that your application was rated up due to one or more medical conditions, Life Quotes, Inc. offers these tips for securing a life insurance policy at a rate you can live with.

13 Dec 2010

No safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke

The following is a statement by Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, President and CEO of Legacy on the U.S. Surgeon General's Report:

13 Dec 2010

Higher co-payments lead to early discontinuation of life-saving therapy for breast cancer

A higher prescription co-payment, especially among older women, is associated with both early discontinuation and incomplete use of adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy, a life-saving therapy for women with hormone sensitive early stage breast cancer.

13 Dec 2010

New York City surgeon performs first revision rhinoplasty cases with FDA approved PDS Plate

Today Dr. Steven Pearlman, prominent facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon based in New York City, will be performing one of the first revision rhinoplasty cases with the newly FDA approved PDS Plate. This revolutionary procedure will mark a giant leap in the world of cosmetic and reconstructive surgery.

13 Dec 2010

Research roundup: For-profit hospitals' readmission rate, containing self-referrals, children's dental health, revisiting McAllen

For-Profit Hospital Status And Rehospitalizations At Different Hospitals: An Analysis of Medicare Data - "Rehospitalization within the first 30 days of discharge affects 1 in 5 hospitalized Medicare fee-for-service patients and costs approximately $17.4 billion in payments annually ... the top 4 factors most related to the risk for rehospitalization at a different facility were initial admission to a for-profit index hospital … lower-volume index hospital (hospitals with <1000 annual discharges) … hospital with a major medical school affiliation … and being disabled."

10 Dec 2010

Doctor News and Research

Today's Opinions: Cucinelli argues for quickly moving Va. case to the Supreme Court; Unraveling Medicaid leaves a big gap; Taking away a cancer treatment

First Edition: December 17, 2010

Home health, hospice patients need to have face-to-face encounter with physician: New Medicare rule

Health inequalities still exist between England's richest and poorest

President signs one-year 'pay-fix'; Medicare tests competitive bidding for common medical equipment

Study: Biomarkers may aid in early diagnosis of breast cancer

Guardian 24/7 selects Glowpoint's video managed services for remote diagnosis and patient collaboration

Opinions: Kangaroo care; NTDs, Women's health

SBUMC to rename and dedicate ALS clinic as Christopher Pendergast ALS Center of Excellence

Illegal online drug sellers prey upon 36 million Americans

Reuters looks at cost-effectiveness of pursuing malaria vaccine, eradication

Lung protective strategy can increase the number of lungs available for transplant

Report examines ways to improve care for Medicare's dual eligibles

Gray’s Anatomy: Grey area for medical students!

Quality of care for ADHD children poor under Medicaid, says new report

Strategies for securing life insurance policy for pre-existing medical conditions

No safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke

Higher co-payments lead to early discontinuation of life-saving therapy for breast cancer

New York City surgeon performs first revision rhinoplasty cases with FDA approved PDS Plate

Research roundup: For-profit hospitals' readmission rate, containing self-referrals, children's dental health, revisiting McAllen

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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