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First Edition: November 27, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about how increasing the Medicare eligibility age and making other entitlement program changes are a part of the ongoing "fiscal cliff" discourse.

27 Nov 2012

Unjustified repeat tests common among Medicare patients

Dartmouth researchers found that up to half of older adults who had a heart, lung, stomach or bladder test had the same procedure repeated within three years despite guidelines against routine testing, leading to unnecessary costs.

21 Nov 2012

Certain occupations do increase risk of breast cancer

Is there a link between the risk of breast cancer and the working environment? A study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health provides further evidence on this previously neglected research topic, confirming that certain occupations do pose a higher risk of breast cancer than others, particularly those that expose the worker to potential carcinogens and endocrine disrupters.

19 Nov 2012

Employer health costs rise 4.1% -- slowest growth in 15 years

Employer health costs rose just 4.1 percent nationally in 2012 -- the slowest rate of growth in 15 years -- as employers offer more high-deductible plans and increase employee cost-sharing, a new report from consulting firm Mercer has found.

16 Nov 2012

ACOEM provides tools and resources to help employers manage diabetes

In recognition of November as National Diabetes Month, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) is providing tools and resources to help employers identify and respond to the impact of diabetes on worker health and productivity.

16 Nov 2012

Viewpoints: Obama must tell allies that entitlements can't be excluded from fiscal deal; Medical device tax will thwart innovation

As bipartisan negotiations over avoiding the "fiscal cliff" draw nearer, many of President Obama's core Democratic supporters are urging him to fix the debt through defense cuts and tax increases rather than by tackling Social Security, Medicare and other federal entitlement programs. It's a reprise of progressive resistance to the entitlement trims Mr. Obama contemplated during the abortive debt-reduction negotiations with House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) last year.

15 Nov 2012

MRSA outbreak tracked and contained using DNA sequencing

Scientists have used DNA sequencing for the first time to effectively track the spread of, and ultimately contain, an outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), according to new research published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

14 Nov 2012

DNA sequencing helps detect MRSA outbreaks in hospitals

This study used DNA sequencing to examine an outbreak of MRSA in a hospital, to uncover new cases and, as the study developed, to intervene in the outbreak to end it more quickly. Sequencing illuminated each person infected and described the transmission of MRSA between people coming to the hospital and within the hospital.

14 Nov 2012

Tell the whole truth about implantable cardioverter-defibrillators

Consent discussions regarding the use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in elderly individuals rarely include the device's implications at the end of life, indicate US study results.

13 Nov 2012

Economic impact of acute coronary syndrome goes beyond hospitals to homes and workplaces

The economic impact of a heart attack and other forms of acute coronary syndrome goes beyond the hospital to the home and workplace, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012.

7 Nov 2012

Health law implementation issues expected to loom large post-election

News outlets reported on insurance exchanges, Medicaid expansion and how the law's employer mandate may already be affecting workers' hours.

6 Nov 2012

MU project to reduce avoidable re-hospitalizations among nursing home residents

The University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing today announced a nearly $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Led by Curators' Professor of Nursing Marilyn Rantz, MU researchers will use the funds, distributed over four years, to implement a project aimed at reducing avoidable re-hospitalizations among nursing home residents.

6 Nov 2012

Longer looks: Searching for a dementia gene; The trouble with medical device patents; Blue dog Matheson's re-election quest

When it comes to preparing for a natural disaster like superstorm Sandy, hospitals drill for such evacuations and activate emergency command centers to manage any increase in patients. Still, events like superstorm Sandy are hard to prepare for. "It's been an unprecedented situation that has required an unprecedented response from the whole tri-state health care system," says Jim Mandler, assistant vice president for public affairs for Continnum Health Partners hospitals.

2 Nov 2012

Study compares 'cardio-toxicity' of Toronto-area neighborhoods

Your chances of having a sudden cardiac arrest can depend on where you live, warned Dr. Paul Dorian today at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2012 in Toronto, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.

30 Oct 2012

Simple video game can help children with serious anger problems

Children with serious anger problems can be helped by a simple video game that hones their ability to regulate their emotions, finds a pilot study at Boston Children's Hospital. Results were published online October 24 in the journal Adolescent Psychiatry.

25 Oct 2012

Roundup: States raise employee insurance contributions to save money; Minn. seeking $80M more for exchange; Selling insurance in malls

Financially strapped state and local governments are saving billions of dollars on health insurance by cutting back on free coverage for employees and raising worker contributions, a USA Today analysis finds. Government workers still enjoy more generous health benefits than privately employed workers but the advantage has narrowed from $1,523 in 2007 to $891 in 2012, adjusted for inflation, federal data show.

25 Oct 2012

Examining ethics surrounding Taliban's ban on polio vaccination in Pakistan

Writing in the Global Bioethics Blog, Stuart Rennie, a bioethics researcher and professor, notes another polio worker was killed in Pakistan last week and describes Taliban opposition to U.S.-supported polio vaccination efforts in Pakistan.

23 Oct 2012

Exercise is the first step to protect against negative impacts of stress

Any time life hands us a stressful situation, we have a decision to make: will we handle it with grace, or let it pile up on everything else? For women, stress sometimes feels like a never-ending occurrence, and University of Alabama at Birmingham experts say that, left unmanaged, stress can lead to health problems. But it can easily be curtailed.

20 Oct 2012

Concordia-France research collaboration appeals to emotions to heal the world

Einstein said that we can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking used when we created them. Wise words, except few people heed them when it comes to sustainable solutions for our ailing planet.

20 Oct 2012

Viewpoints: Medicare not exempt from sequestration's impact; Obama's plan to have board cut Medicare 'has little chance of success'

Fact: Congress must pass and the president must sign legislation by the end of this year that reduces federal spending by $109 billion -- or the first year of automatic across-the-board cuts in both domestic and defense programs will go into effect.

20 Oct 2012