Health and Human Services News and Research

RSS

Reducing blockage fails to improve access to the bloodstream for kidney dialysis

Reducing early blockages in bloodstream access for kidney failure treatment does not increase the likelihood that the access will function adequately for long-term treatments, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Results were published May 14, 2008, in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

22 May 2008

HIV/AIDS advocacy groups protest ruling in case regarding HIV-positive man, saliva

Several HIV/AIDS advocacy groups are saying that a recent ruling in a Dallas County, Texas, case that an HIV-positive man who spit into the mouth and eye of a Dallas police officer was using saliva as a deadly weapon was excessive, the Dallas Morning News reports.

20 May 2008

Primate model for autism

A primate model for autism using the U.S. children's immunization schedule was unveiled at the International Meeting For Autism Research (IMFAR) this weekend.

20 May 2008

NIH launches undiagnosed diseases program

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced a new clinical research program that will aim to provide answers to patients with mysterious conditions that have long eluded diagnosis. Called the Undiagnosed Diseases Program, the trans-NIH initiative will focus on the most puzzling medical cases referred to the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., by physicians across the nation.

19 May 2008

Senate leaders agree on privacy protections amendment to health care information technology bill

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on Wednesday announced that sponsors of a bill (HR 1693) that would promote the use of health care information technology have agreed to include an amendment Leahy proposed to help protect patient privacy, CQ HealthBeat reports. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and ranking member Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) introduced the legislation last October.

19 May 2008

NYT examines limited options for disabled children who reach age 18

The New York Times on Wednesday examined how as "medical advances have allowed patients who might have died as children to survive into adulthood, the patients are falling into a void in a health care system that has yet to develop institutions for the young and 'medically fragile.'"

19 May 2008

House Committee holds hearing on concerns about nursing home ownership, inspections

The House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee on Thursday held a hearing to examine the effects that the "increasingly veiled nature" of nursing home ownership and problems with inspections have had on the quality of care for elderly and disabled residents, CQ HealthBeat reports (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 5/15).

19 May 2008

Treating safety research like other clinical studies slows progress

Progress in patient safety research could slow to a crawl unless regulators work out a host of ethical issues, Johns Hopkins researchers assert in an upcoming opinion piece.

13 May 2008

Molecular pathway in muscle helps explain effectiveness of diabetes interventions

Scientists at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), demonstrate for the first time in a mouse model that skeletal muscle cells cultured in a low-calorie environment refrain from differentiating, an energy-demanding process by which cells mature and specialize.

12 May 2008

Senate Finance Committee discusses offsets for estimated $15M to $18M cost of Medicare payment delay; Bush administration requests June 16 deadline

Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Wednesday said a Medicare package that would delay for 18 months a 10.6% cut to physician fees would cost between $15 billion and $18 billion over five years, prompting committee members to begin discussions on how to offset those costs, CQ Today reports (Wayne/Armstrong, CQ Today, 5/7).

8 May 2008

Outcomes of obese and nonobese patients undergoing revision total hip arthroplasty

Along with age and injuries, obesity is a leading risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA), a painful and disabling joint disease. While excessive weight can aggravate the toll on almost any joint, obesity has been associated with a higher prevalence of hip OA and an increase in total hip arthroplasty (THA).

8 May 2008

Senate Finance Committee holds first in series of Congressional hearings on U.S. health system overhaul

The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday hold the first of at least eight congressional hearings focusing on strategies to reform the U.S. health care system, featuring testimony by former HHS secretaries Tommy Thompson and Donna Shalala, CQ HealthBeat reports.

7 May 2008

Too much or too little weight gain poses risks to pregnant mothers, babies

Women who gain more or less than recommended amounts of weight during pregnancy are likely to increase the risk of problems for both themselves and their child, according to a new report by the RTI International-University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Evidence-based Practice Center.

7 May 2008

Newspapers examine issues related to health care proposals of Presidential candidates

Several newspapers recently published articles that examined the health care proposals of presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y), Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.).

6 May 2008

New York lawmakers, HIV/AIDS advocates working to address HIV/AIDS funds for counties

New York state lawmakers and HIV/AIDS advocates are working to address federal HIV/AIDS funding for Nassau and Suffolk counties following a recent ruling that HHS should restore more than $1 million in Ryan White Program funding, the New York Times reports (Saslow, New York Times, 5/4).

5 May 2008

The risks of indoor tanning to women

At age 17, all Meghan Rothschild and Brittany Lietz wanted was a dark tan. They thought it made them look beautiful. But both had no idea that in just three years they would be battling melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Now Meghan, 24, of Wilbraham, Mass., and Brittany, 23, of Annapolis, Md., are speaking out about their experiences.

5 May 2008

Small molecule nutlin-3a activates an important cancer suppressor gene

By activating a cancer suppressor gene, a small molecule called nutlin-3a can block cancer cell division, according to researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health.

1 May 2008

HHS Secretary Leavitt urges lawmakers, public to 'start now' to make changes to Medicare

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said Tuesday that it is "simply unreasonable" to think Medicare can maintain its solvency without changes to the program and that if "we start now, the change can be made over time and with genuine fairness," CQ HealthBeat reports.

30 Apr 2008

HHS Secretary Leavitt says Bush administration would accept short-term moratorium on two new Medicaid regulations, while five others would take effect

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Tuesday said that the Bush administration would accept a short-term moratorium on two of seven proposed Medicaid regulations to give lawmakers time to reach an agreement on the changes, CongressDaily reports (Johnson, CongressDaily, 4/29).

30 Apr 2008

FDA begins multi-year hiring initiative

Biologists, chemists, medical officers, mathematical statisticians and investigators are among the experts in demand as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration begins a multi-year hiring initiative.

30 Apr 2008

Health and Human Services News and Research

Reducing blockage fails to improve access to the bloodstream for kidney dialysis

HIV/AIDS advocacy groups protest ruling in case regarding HIV-positive man, saliva

Primate model for autism

NIH launches undiagnosed diseases program

Senate leaders agree on privacy protections amendment to health care information technology bill

NYT examines limited options for disabled children who reach age 18

House Committee holds hearing on concerns about nursing home ownership, inspections

Treating safety research like other clinical studies slows progress

Molecular pathway in muscle helps explain effectiveness of diabetes interventions

Senate Finance Committee discusses offsets for estimated $15M to $18M cost of Medicare payment delay; Bush administration requests June 16 deadline

Outcomes of obese and nonobese patients undergoing revision total hip arthroplasty

Senate Finance Committee holds first in series of Congressional hearings on U.S. health system overhaul

Too much or too little weight gain poses risks to pregnant mothers, babies

Newspapers examine issues related to health care proposals of Presidential candidates

New York lawmakers, HIV/AIDS advocates working to address HIV/AIDS funds for counties

The risks of indoor tanning to women

Small molecule nutlin-3a activates an important cancer suppressor gene

HHS Secretary Leavitt urges lawmakers, public to 'start now' to make changes to Medicare

HHS Secretary Leavitt says Bush administration would accept short-term moratorium on two new Medicaid regulations, while five others would take effect

FDA begins multi-year hiring initiative

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 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