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Offensive editorial leads to resignation of the president-elect of the American College of Surgeons

The president-elect of the American College of Surgeons had to resign from his position Sunday after weeks of controversy surrounding a Valentine’s Day editorial he wrote speaking of the mood-enhancing effects of semen on women during unprotected sex.

20 Apr 2011

African AIDS drug trial stopped prematurely

One of the studies in three African countries where women were given an AIDS drug to prevent HIV infection is being stopped because the project is not working, researchers said Monday. These women on the trial were taking a daily dose of the drug Truvada or a look-alike placebo pill and had an equal chance of becoming infected. The ones taking Truvada were expected to have had a much lower infection rate.

19 Apr 2011

Drospirenone doesn't carry any risk of gall bladder disease

Drospirenone, the top-selling oral contraceptive marketed as Yaz or Yasmin in the U.S. and Canada, doesn't carry any more risk of gall bladder disease than the older generation of birth control pills, despite claims by some consumers and lawyers in both countries, according to a new study by University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute researcher Mahyar Etminan.

19 Apr 2011

Congress approves current-year spending plan, votes on defunding health law as part of agreement

Separate measures to defund the health law and Planned Parenthood, which were voted on as part of the compromise that enabled the broader spending bill to move to a vote in both chambers, were approved in the House but defeated in the Senate.

16 Apr 2011

U.N. report highlights concerns about population-related activities funding

Financial support for population-related activities worldwide has not significantly increased since 2008, according to a report (.pdf) from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the U.N. Commission on Population and Development (CPD), Inter Press Service reports. The CPD is meeting this week.

15 Apr 2011

Obama's deficit plan earns raves, pans from editorial boards; more views on abortion and planned parenthood

I've proposed a balanced approach that looks at the entire budget for savings. The third step is to reduce the growth in health care spending in order to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid for future generations. We will get rid of wasteful subsidies and fraud that cost Medicare billions of dollars each year. We'll cut spending on prescription drugs by helping to get generic brands of medicine to market faster.

15 Apr 2011

Viewpoints: Dems vs. Ryan on entitlement cuts; defending planned parenthood

Every time Republicans have proposed serious entitlement reform, they've taken a beating. ... But it's far from clear the average voter appreciates what's at stake. Incredibly, 54 percent of those in a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll said they didn't believe Medicare cuts were essential to meaningfully trim the deficit. I'd say Republicans have a lot of work to do.

15 Apr 2011

Changes in hormonal status have no impact on women's voice parameters

In recent years several studies have suggested that women's voices change at different times over the menstrual cycle, with the tone rising as ovulation approaches. Now a study conducted by researchers at the West Texas A&M University in which women's voices were subjected to computerized acoustical analysis contradicts those findings.

12 Apr 2011

Roundup: Minn. insurers to return profits above 1% from state plans; Fla. Medicaid managed care costs questioned

In part of the continuing change to Minnesota's business with health insurance plans, the state announced Tuesday that four major health plans agreed to a 1 percent cap on their profits on state business. The one-cap means that the plans -- BlueCross BlueShield, HealthPartners, Medica, and UCare -- will return any profit above 1 percent to the state next April.

7 Apr 2011

First Editon: April 6, 2011

Today's headlines include stories and analysis of how the Ryan budget plan would change Medicare, Medicaid and the shape of the federal government.

6 Apr 2011

Viewpoints: Controlling long-term-care spending; march madness and health reform; hospital physicians

Prepare to hear a lot about Medicaid, the government health-insurance program for the poor. ... The U.S. government can't put itself on a sustainable fiscal course without doing something to slow health spending. It can't slow health spending costs without treating Medicaid. And it can't treat Medicaid without confronting the fact that it has become the long-term-care insurer of last resort for an aging society.

1 Apr 2011

New study examines teenage fatherhood's negative educational and economic outcomes

Public interest in the issue of teenage childbearing has recently increased, largely due to increases in both the teen pregnancy rate and the teen birth rate. A new study from Economic Inquiry examines the negative educational and economic outcomes of teenage fatherhood, a topic far less researched than teenage motherhood.

31 Mar 2011

Non-generic drugs increase Medicaid costs

A new study by the American Enterprise Institute found that using brand-name drugs instead of generics may have added as much as $329 million in extra spending in 2009.

30 Mar 2011

Study finds increased risk of VTE during first year of combination oral contraceptive usage

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced that interim results from a large, prospective, observational cohort safety study offer insights into the increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), or blood clots, which is a well-established risk in women who use combination oral contraceptives (COCs), also known as "the Pill".

25 Mar 2011

Medical experts: Nation needs to offer more confidential care for sexually active teens

After reviewing existing research regarding the common practices of health care providers who see adolescent patients across the country, Rebecca Allen, MD, MPH, a clinician and researcher at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, and her colleague, Michelle Forcier, MD, MPH, an adolescent medicine specialist at Hasbro Children's Hospital, asserted that the nation needs to offer more confidential care for teenagers who are sexually active.

25 Mar 2011

Oral contraceptive use before pregnancy does not pose respiratory problems in children

A new study by researchers at RTI International, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health refutes previous findings that oral contraceptive use before pregnancy is linked to respiratory problems in children.

24 Mar 2011

Viewpoints: Too many CT scans; single payer is 'best solution'; WSJ on Wash. state 'overregulation'

Studies indicate patients are receiving more CT scans than ever before in emergency rooms, hospitals and outpatient settings. This burgeoning application of CT scanning has important implications for patients, diagnostically and in terms of radiation exposure, as well as consequences for the country's overall medical budget.

19 Mar 2011

EMA CHMP adopts positive opinion for Teva's NOMAC-E2 contraceptive pill

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion for NOMAC-E2, an investigational contraceptive pill combining 1.5 mg of 17-beta-estradiol with 2.5 mg of nomegestrol acetate in a 24/4 monophasic regimen.

18 Mar 2011

Research highlights new parameters for HIV study

A research article co-authored by Brenna Anderson, MD, director of Reproductive Infectious Diseases Consultation in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, was included in the recently published special issue of the American Journal of Reproductive Immunology.

17 Mar 2011

Viewpoints: Are waivers weakening health law?; Ill. 'Dangerous Docs'; Arizona transplants

It is irresponsible for the feds to dole out hundreds of millions without the assurance of insurance, payment and system reform, as well as universal coverage. That's the problem with Republican proposals to use a "block grant" approach in giving Medicaid dollars to the states to do with as they will. The president should use his precious time to encourage the law's implementation as soon as possible in areas of the country that are already on this road -- like our own Upper Midwest -- not to coddle his political enemies.

9 Mar 2011

Contraceptive News and Research

Offensive editorial leads to resignation of the president-elect of the American College of Surgeons

African AIDS drug trial stopped prematurely

Drospirenone doesn't carry any risk of gall bladder disease

Congress approves current-year spending plan, votes on defunding health law as part of agreement

U.N. report highlights concerns about population-related activities funding

Obama's deficit plan earns raves, pans from editorial boards; more views on abortion and planned parenthood

Viewpoints: Dems vs. Ryan on entitlement cuts; defending planned parenthood

Changes in hormonal status have no impact on women's voice parameters

Roundup: Minn. insurers to return profits above 1% from state plans; Fla. Medicaid managed care costs questioned

First Editon: April 6, 2011

Viewpoints: Controlling long-term-care spending; march madness and health reform; hospital physicians

New study examines teenage fatherhood's negative educational and economic outcomes

Non-generic drugs increase Medicaid costs

Study finds increased risk of VTE during first year of combination oral contraceptive usage

Medical experts: Nation needs to offer more confidential care for sexually active teens

Oral contraceptive use before pregnancy does not pose respiratory problems in children

Viewpoints: Too many CT scans; single payer is 'best solution'; WSJ on Wash. state 'overregulation'

EMA CHMP adopts positive opinion for Teva's NOMAC-E2 contraceptive pill

Research highlights new parameters for HIV study

Viewpoints: Are waivers weakening health law?; Ill. 'Dangerous Docs'; Arizona transplants

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