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Obama administration issues rules for young adults on parents' insurance plans

The Obama administration Monday issued rules to allow children as old as age 26 to remain on their parents' health insurance plans, but such changes will likely increase the cost of insurance for families next year.

12 May 2010

Scancell signs worldwide licensing agreement with NIH for TRP-2 and gp100 melanoma antigens

Scancell Holdings Plc,, the developer of therapeutic cancer vaccines, is pleased to announce it has signed a worldwide non-exclusive licensing agreement with the National Institutes of Health ('NIH'), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, for use of the melanoma antigens TRP-2 and gp100, key components of Scancell's lead ImmunoBody® vaccine for melanoma, SCIB1.

11 May 2010

New combination therapy may help treat anti-estrogen resistant ER+ breast cancer

A study by researchers from the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) identifies a potential new combination therapy to "rescue" treatment sensitivity to fulvestrant in estrogen receptor positive breast cancers.

11 May 2010

UM School of Public Health to provide prevention research expertise on health disparities and workforce shortage

More than a dozen academic institutions and other partners, including the University of Maryland, are banding together to meet Maryland's growing need for health professionals in medically under-served urban and rural communities, and provide a working model for other states committed to expanding and diversifying their health workforce.

11 May 2010

Rhetoric heats up between insurers and lawmakers

Politico: "Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) is scolding the nations' health insurance companies for 'gaming' the new health care law and is pushing the administration and states to impose stringent controls under the law on industry expenditures for non-medical purposes. Saying the industry had turned its focus from opposing the law to influencing its implementation, Rockefeller said he was 'extremely concerned that the health insurance industry is mounting an all-out effort to weaken' the law.

11 May 2010

CVS calls on FDA to suspend use of contaminated rotavirus vaccines

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) convened a panel of experts to review recent findings that rotavirus vaccines given to infants in the U.S., Rotateq, produced by Merck Pharmaceuticals and Rotarix produced by GlaxoSmithKline, are contaminated with DNA from pig viruses PCV1 and PCV2. On March 22nd the FDA Commissioner asked doctors to suspend use of the Rotarix vaccine due to the contamination. Upon additional testing, Rotateq was also found to be contaminated.

10 May 2010

FDA grants EUA for IQuum's Liat Influenza A/2009 H1N1 Assay

IQuum, Inc. today announced it has been granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Liat™ Influenza A/2009 H1N1 Assay. The assay detects and differentiates 2009 H1N1 influenza viral RNA starting from collected nasopharyngeal swab samples in less than 30 minutes.

10 May 2010

President says health reform already delivering 'real benefits'

The Associated Press: "The new health care law already is helping millions of people through tax breaks for small businesses and assistance for families with young adults, President Barack Obama said Saturday" (Babington, 5/8).

10 May 2010

Mother’s depression and smoking habits can influence smoking among adolescents

A new study reveals that adolescents aged 12 to 17 living with mothers who are current smokers or who have had a major depressive episode in the past year are far more likely to smoke than adolescents not living under these circumstances.

10 May 2010

PCMA releases statement on PBM Audit Reform and Transparency Act of 2010

Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have pioneered tools - including incentivizing the use of generic medications, e-prescribing, and mail-service pharmacies - that improve savings, access, and safety for consumers and payers. Since the key to access is affordability, payers and policymakers alike should explore broader use of PBMs' cost-savings tools and reject approaches that make prescription drugs more expensive.

7 May 2010

SAMHSA highlights importance of promoting children's mental health from birth

To highlight the importance of promoting children's mental health from birth, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and more than 80 public and private collaborating organizations and federal programs and agencies - including new supporters, such as the Office of Head Start at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Legion Auxiliary - today joined in a nationwide celebration of National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day (May 6).

7 May 2010

Gene patenting policies affect patient access to testing for disease-causing genes: Study

Policies allowing genes to be patented can make it more difficult for patients to access testing for important disease-causing gene mutations, according to a series of papers in a special online supplement published by Genetics in Medicine, the official peer-reviewed journal of The American College of Medical Genetics.

7 May 2010

WellPoint rate hikes face further scrutiny, says it will review rates more closely

WellPoint Inc., responding to criticism and close scrutiny from lawmakers and officials, will add "new layers of oversight to pricing practices," The Wall Street Journal reports. WellPoint CEO Angela Braly sent a memo to 40,000 employees saying that the company will "implement third-party reviews of its 2010 rate filings and investigate why its actuaries did not find miscalculations uncovered last week by the California Department of Insurance.

7 May 2010

Mouse study may lead to new therapies for Parkinson's disease

Endometrial stem cells injected into the brains of mice with a laboratory-induced form of Parkinson's disease appeared to take over the functioning of brain cells eradicated by the disease.

7 May 2010

Gentiva Health Services first-quarter total net revenues up 7.5% to $297.1 million

Gentiva Health Services, Inc., a leading provider of home health and hospice services, today reported first quarter 2010 results.

6 May 2010

Experts unveil roadmap to improve health and health delivery in the U.S.

A Commission of national health care experts convened by the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress has unveiled a roadmap and integrated approach that will put "health" back into our nation's health care system as well as address key opportunities following passage of health care reform legislation.

6 May 2010

Early Retiree Reinsurance Program in Affordable Care Act to be discussed in a webchat

.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will host a webchat tomorrow, WEDNESDAY May 5, to discuss regulations issued yesterday establishing the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program in the Affordable Care Act.

6 May 2010

Round-up: Minnesota budget news; Coverage expansions in S.D. and Oregon; and states' opposition to federal health reform

The Minnesota House passed a bill on health care Tuesday that readies the state for implementing the federal health care overhaul and makes $170 million in cuts to mental health and other social programs, The (St. Paul, Minn.) Pioneer Press reports. Gov. Tim Pawlenty has promised to veto the bill over what he sees as a tax increase.

6 May 2010

Three more people plead guilty in Onward durable medical equipment Medicare fraud scheme

Houston-area residents Basil Kalu and Ju-Ying Qian, and Louisiana resident Darnell Willis pleaded guilty today in connection with their roles in a durable medical equipment Medicare fraud scheme, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS) announced.

6 May 2010

Sebelius: Hotline coming soon

In this Kaiser Health News short take, staff writer Mary Agnes Carey reports: "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday that "within a couple months we will have a very robust call center operation" to answer consumers' questions about the new health overhaul law" (Kaiser Health News).

6 May 2010

Health and Human Services News and Research

Obama administration issues rules for young adults on parents' insurance plans

Scancell signs worldwide licensing agreement with NIH for TRP-2 and gp100 melanoma antigens

New combination therapy may help treat anti-estrogen resistant ER+ breast cancer

UM School of Public Health to provide prevention research expertise on health disparities and workforce shortage

Rhetoric heats up between insurers and lawmakers

CVS calls on FDA to suspend use of contaminated rotavirus vaccines

FDA grants EUA for IQuum's Liat Influenza A/2009 H1N1 Assay

President says health reform already delivering 'real benefits'

Mother’s depression and smoking habits can influence smoking among adolescents

PCMA releases statement on PBM Audit Reform and Transparency Act of 2010

SAMHSA highlights importance of promoting children's mental health from birth

Gene patenting policies affect patient access to testing for disease-causing genes: Study

WellPoint rate hikes face further scrutiny, says it will review rates more closely

Mouse study may lead to new therapies for Parkinson's disease

Gentiva Health Services first-quarter total net revenues up 7.5% to $297.1 million

Experts unveil roadmap to improve health and health delivery in the U.S.

Early Retiree Reinsurance Program in Affordable Care Act to be discussed in a webchat

Round-up: Minnesota budget news; Coverage expansions in S.D. and Oregon; and states' opposition to federal health reform

Three more people plead guilty in Onward durable medical equipment Medicare fraud scheme

Sebelius: Hotline coming soon

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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