Health and Human Services News and Research

RSS

New health law will penalize hospitals for poor quality

The new health law puts the nation's hospitals on strict notice. Either they improve the safety and quality of care for patients or the government will hit them where it hurts the most -- their revenue.

30 Apr 2010

HHS Secretary to host web chat to discuss impact of newly passed health insurance reform law

HHS Secretary Sebelius, Jay Angoff, director of the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, and Keysha Brooks Coley, the director of Federal Relations with the American Cancer Society, will host a web chat Friday, April 30 to discuss important insurance reforms in the new legislation and recent developments that have led to the ending of controversial practices like rescissions.

30 Apr 2010

Federal, state and local governments will need to invest more than $5 billion in health IT: INPUT

The recently passed health care reform legislation will require significant investment in IT solutions and system upgrades throughout its implementation. A new report, IT Implications of Health Care Reform, released by INPUT, predicts federal, state and local governments will need to invest more than $5 billion in health IT and traditional IT solutions in order to implement requirements of the new law.

30 Apr 2010

Whole-genome analysis may play future role in clinical medicine: Study

Scientists at Stanford and Harvard Universities collaborated to assess the clinical usefulness of analyzing a patient's full genome for disease risks and unusual drug responses. The work brings closer to reality the concept that whole-genome sequencing might one day play a clinical role.

30 Apr 2010

Accurate reporting of errors can reduce preventable hospital deaths: SIOP

People go to hospitals to be treated for an illness or for corrective surgery with the expectation they will return home in much better health than when they entered the medical facility.

30 Apr 2010

Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries agree to pay over $81M to resolve Topamax illegal promotion allegations

American pharmaceutical manufacturers Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical LLC and Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., both subsidiaries of Johnson & Johnson, have agreed to pay more than $81 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of the epilepsy drug Topamax, the Justice Department announced today.

30 Apr 2010

Human Genome Sciences reports net loss of $47.9M for first-quarter 2010

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. today announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, and provided highlights of recent key developments.

29 Apr 2010

Panel finds insufficient evidence to support preventive measures for cognitive decline, Alzheimer's disease

Many preventive measures for cognitive decline and for preventing Alzheimer's disease-mental stimulation, exercise, and a variety of dietary supplements-have been studied over the years. However, an independent panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health determined that the value of these strategies for delaying the onset and/or reducing the severity of decline or disease hasn't been demonstrated in rigorous studies.

29 Apr 2010

Astrazeneca settles drug marketing lawsuit, plea deal rejected for possibly defective heart device maker

The New York Times: AstraZeneca has settled a case and agreed to pay $520 million after federal investigations into its marketing practices for a schizophrenia drug, Seroquel. The announcement came Tuesday from Attorney General Eric Holder. Government officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, said the company paid illegal kickbacks to doctors to promote drugs for unapproved uses by children, the elderly, veterans and prisoners, which is illegal under federal law.

29 Apr 2010

State regulators say insurance industry should easily meet medical-loss requirement

Insurers can meet the requirements in the new health overhaul law for minimum spending on patient care by deducting taxes and relabeling expenses related to improving "health care quality" as medical costs, rather than administrative ones, according to an April 24 memo from an expert at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports.

29 Apr 2010

Experts discuss recent advancements in personalized medicine for treating childhood disorders

Many of the world's leading experts in pediatric pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine are gathering today at a first-of-its-kind conference in Kansas City to change the way childhood diseases and illnesses are treated.

29 Apr 2010

HHS Secretary's statement on WellPoint's announcement to end practice of rescissions

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released the following statement today on WellPoint's announcement that it intends to end the practice of rescinding patients' coverage in advance of the Affordable Care Act's requirement that insurers stop this practice starting this fall. WellPoint's announcement comes after Secretary Sebelius sent a letter on April 22 urging the company to immediately stop the practice of rescinding coverage for patients who become ill.

29 Apr 2010

ECRI Institute's recommendations for controlling CT radiation dose

The benefits of computed tomography (CT) have increased greatly over the past decade. Now twice as powerful, it offers dynamic images of anatomy, including the beating heart. Future advancements promise to deliver even more clinical benefits. However, CT has always had a downside: it can deliver high radiation doses to patients, putting them at increased risk of developing cancer.

29 Apr 2010

Investigators study Pioglitazone and Vitamin E for treatment of NASH

A daily dose of a specific form of vitamin E significantly improved the liver disease, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. Results were published April 28 online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

29 Apr 2010

Coronary artery calcium score helpful for determining intermediate risk of heart disease

Including a coronary artery calcium score in a risk assessment for future heart disease events, such as heart attacks, provides a better estimate in some populations than a standard coronary risk factors assessment, according to research supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health.

28 Apr 2010

DARA Therapeutics collaborates to advance clinical study of KRN5500 for CIPN in cancer patients

DARA BioSciences, Inc. announced today that on April 26, 2010, DARA Therapeutics, a subsidiary of DARA BioSciences, and the Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), entered into a Clinical Trials Agreement to advance the clinical study of KRN5500 for the treatment of Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN) in patients with cancer. Under the terms of the collaboration, NCI will fund the studies and DARA will supply KRN5500 and placebo.

28 Apr 2010

Gangs increasingly involved in Medicare fraud

ABC News: "Gangs across the country are arming themselves with powerful weapons to bilk taxpayers out of billions of dollars through Medicare fraud. What used to be a mostly non-violent, white collar crime has turned potentially deadly, and Federal agents who once combed through paperwork are now firing rounds at the shooting range to prepare for extreme dangers.

28 Apr 2010

Ranibizumab eye injections plus laser therapy result in dramatic visual improvement

Researchers have shown that ranibizumab (Lucentis) eye injections, often in combination with laser treatment, result in better vision than laser treatment alone for diabetes-associated swelling of the retina.

28 Apr 2010

As health reform's specifics continue to emerge, so do questions and answers from stakeholders

Determining how the law will be applied will be the next big battle in health reform and lobbyists are gearing up to influence implementation. "Congress gave sweeping power to federal agencies, especially (HHS), to fill in gaps lawmakers left in the 906-page legislation — an effort that will take years. The law refers more than 1,000 times to Cabinet secretaries who will make decisions on how to carry out the law. For example, the law requires insurance companies to spend 80% of premiums on medical claims, as opposed to administrative costs, by 2011. But it directs the health department to decide whether gray-area expenses, such as health-and-wellness programs offered by insurers, count as care or overhead."

28 Apr 2010

Costs, effects on business questioned as health overhaul analysis continues

The Associated Press: The biggest unanswered question in the health overhaul debate remains what the new law will mean for ordinary Americans. "Many experts believe the law falls short on taming costs, and that will force Congress to revisit health care in a few years.

27 Apr 2010

Health and Human Services News and Research

New health law will penalize hospitals for poor quality

HHS Secretary to host web chat to discuss impact of newly passed health insurance reform law

Federal, state and local governments will need to invest more than $5 billion in health IT: INPUT

Whole-genome analysis may play future role in clinical medicine: Study

Accurate reporting of errors can reduce preventable hospital deaths: SIOP

Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries agree to pay over $81M to resolve Topamax illegal promotion allegations

Human Genome Sciences reports net loss of $47.9M for first-quarter 2010

Panel finds insufficient evidence to support preventive measures for cognitive decline, Alzheimer's disease

Astrazeneca settles drug marketing lawsuit, plea deal rejected for possibly defective heart device maker

State regulators say insurance industry should easily meet medical-loss requirement

Experts discuss recent advancements in personalized medicine for treating childhood disorders

HHS Secretary's statement on WellPoint's announcement to end practice of rescissions

ECRI Institute's recommendations for controlling CT radiation dose

Investigators study Pioglitazone and Vitamin E for treatment of NASH

Coronary artery calcium score helpful for determining intermediate risk of heart disease

DARA Therapeutics collaborates to advance clinical study of KRN5500 for CIPN in cancer patients

Gangs increasingly involved in Medicare fraud

Ranibizumab eye injections plus laser therapy result in dramatic visual improvement

As health reform's specifics continue to emerge, so do questions and answers from stakeholders

Costs, effects on business questioned as health overhaul analysis continues

Achieving and maintaining ISO 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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

Latest News