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Insurers agree to administration view on kids' coverage

Uncertainty over whether the health overhaul would deliver promised insurance protections to children came to a quick end Monday when insurers told the administration they would not seek to block regulations clarifying the matter, The Associated Press reports. At issue is whether insurers would be required to offer plans to children with preexisting conditions right away.

31 Mar 2010

Titan Pharmaceuticals commences Phase 3 study of Probuphine for opioid addiction

Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the initiation of a randomized, placebo and active controlled, multi-center Phase 3 clinical study of Probuphine in the treatment of opioid addiction. This confirmatory Phase 3 study will be conducted at approximately 23 sites in the United States and randomize approximately 250 patients into three arms: Probuphine (100 patients), Suboxone® (100 patients) and placebo (50 patients).

31 Mar 2010

National Donate Life Month: Facts surrounding dire need for organ donations

With Thursday, April 1, 2010, marking the start of "National Donate Life Month," Health Net, Inc. is working to increase awareness regarding the urgent need for organ donations - particularly among minority populations - and also to dispute some of the misperceptions surrounding organ donation.

30 Mar 2010

Few pregnant women meet physical activity guidelines set by health officials: Study

Fewer than 1 in 4 pregnant women meet physical activity guidelines set by doctors and health officials, according to a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study.

30 Mar 2010

Research challenges current thinking about TB bacterium

Two new tuberculosis studies by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers provide good news and bad news about the bacterium that infects nearly a third of the world's population and a disease that kills nearly 2 million people each year.

30 Mar 2010

Cangene extends botulism antitoxin contract with BARDA

Cangene Corporation today reports that it has signed a no-cost modification to extend its botulism antitoxin contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority ("BARDA"). BARDA is the department within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that manages the two biodefence-related, stockpiling contracts Cangene has with HHS.

30 Mar 2010

Unrestricted availability of food can trigger overconsumption and obesity

Some of the same brain mechanisms that fuel drug addiction in humans accompany the emergence of compulsive eating behaviors and the development of obesity in animals, according to research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health.

29 Mar 2010

As CMS nominee, Berwick would face changes and challenges

President Barack Obama will soon nominate Dr. Donald M. Berwick to "run Medicare and Medicaid, the programs that serve nearly one-third of all Americans, administration officials said Saturday," The New York Times reports.

29 Mar 2010

Upgrading to policy with no limits benefits insurance agent

It can be instructive to consider not just what long term care insurance professionals recommend, but what they do -- for their own personal protection. A good example is the case of Kim Galatolo, an agent with LTC Financial Partners LLC one of the nation's most experienced long term care insurance agencies. In California, where Galatolo lives and works, the firm is known as LTC Partners & Insurance Services, LLC.

29 Mar 2010

American obesity problem: Ongoing support to make lifestyle and behavior changes needed

An administration task force chaired by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Education and Health and Human Services is asking the public for recommendations to solve the American obesity problem, and a new poll by the American Psychological Association may have some answers.

29 Mar 2010

White House reportedly set to name Dr. Donald Berwick to head Medicare

The New York Times reports that President Barack Obama will soon nominate Dr. Donald M. Berwick to "run Medicare and Medicaid, the programs that serve nearly one-third of all Americans, administration officials said Saturday.

29 Mar 2010

SAMHSA survey: Underage drinking rates reach more than 27.6% in the past month

More than a quarter of youth aged 12-20 (27.6 percent) drank alcohol in the past month, according to a survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The study shows that the underage drinking rates were as high as 40 percent in some states such as North Dakota and Vermont.

27 Mar 2010

ACF, FNS join forces to help communities provide children with nutritious meals during summer

In an effort to address childhood hunger and its impact on child development, health and learning, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, are notifying states that Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act can be used to assist families through the Summer Food Service Program.

27 Mar 2010

Antiviral treatment may lead to drug-resistant H1N1 virus: NIAID

Two people with compromised immune systems who became ill with 2009 H1N1 influenza developed drug-resistant strains of virus after less than two weeks on therapy, report doctors from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

27 Mar 2010

Methuselah Foundation, Silverstone Solutions partner to create online NewOrgan Registry

Methuselah Foundation, a medical non-profit dedicated to extending healthy human life, today announced that it has made an investment in Silverstone Solutions, Inc., a San Francisco-based innovator in life science computing.

27 Mar 2010

Federal agencies' complicated task: Implementing health reform provisions

NPR: "The health care bill President Barack Obama signed this week is more than 2,400 pages long. Still, it doesn't contain many of the details about how it will work and how it will be enforced. The responsibility for explaining the bill falls to workers in the trenches at government agencies. Some of the nitty-gritty details that are missing include defining many of the terms used in the measure, and spelling out exactly how individuals would prove they have health insurance."

27 Mar 2010

IHCIA made permanent as part of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

The Indian Health Care Improvement Act, the cornerstone legal authority for the provision of health care to American Indians and Alaska Natives, was made permanent when President Obama signed the bill on March 23, as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

27 Mar 2010

Administration officials' key health reform roles

The Hill: "Passing major healthcare reform legislation into law was worth taking a political beating, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said Thursday… 'As [President Obama] said repeatedly, which is a sign, he was willing to spend, quote, unquote, 'the political capital' to get something done that was materially and politically, policy wise, important for the American people,' Emanuel told CNN in an interview, his first since the law passed, to air Thursday evening. 'And if you asked them, today, even -- or a week ago, pre- the bill, was it worth the political capital spent, he would say, yes'" (Fabian, 3/25).

27 Mar 2010

NCMHD announces $3.8M grant for research on minority recruitment in cancer clinical trials

The University of Minnesota Medical School today announced the details of a $3.8 million grant by the National Institutes of Health's National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities for research focused on minority recruitment and retention in cancer clinical trials.

26 Mar 2010

Substance abuse treatment services: Routine on-site infectious disease screening necessary

Fewer than half of all substance abuse treatment facilities surveyed nationwide reported that they conduct on-site infectious disease screening, according to a new study sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

26 Mar 2010