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The latest on the payroll tax break extension and 'doc fix'

Top House Republicans hope to win rank-and-file GOP support for a measure renewing this year's Social Security payroll tax cut and extending benefits for the long-term unemployed. House GOP lawmakers were meeting privately Thursday to seek agreement on legislation that leaders want to bring to a vote next week. They would also include language heading off a 27 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctors.

9 Dec 2011

Paper calls for strong steps to control global crisis of antibiotic-resistant infections

Shahriar Mobashery, a University of Notre Dame researcher, is one of the coauthors of a new paper by a group of the world's leading scientists in academia and industry that calls for strong steps to be taken to control the global crisis of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. The group issued a priority list of steps that need to be taken on a global scale to resolve the crisis.

9 Dec 2011

Critical access: Hospitals that face budget traumas

Kaiser Health News examines the concept of "critical access hospitals." Meanwhile, a related story examines how the hospital district in Harris County, Texas, is key to the Houston area's safety net.

9 Dec 2011

QUMS researchers to gain better understanding of dynamics of mortality

A better understanding of worldwide mortality rates is on the cards thanks to a novel study by researchers from Queens University Management School.

9 Dec 2011

CSIS publishes reports on immunization and global health

The Center for Strategic & International Studies on Wednesday released two reports on immunizations and global health. "The Future of Global Immunization: Will the Promise Be Fulfilled?," by Stephen Cochi of the CDC, "outlines 10 important issues facing the global vaccine and immunization agenda."

9 Dec 2011

Study may help personalize pain medication management for sickle cell disease patients

A study that may help personalize pain medication management for sickle cell disease patients is underway at Georgia Health Sciences University.

9 Dec 2011

Goal of AIDS-free generation achievable through 'AIDS transition'

In this Foreign Affairs opinion piece, Mead Over, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, says the goal of an "AIDS-free generation" is attainable, "[b]ut not if treatment continues to take precedence over prevention."

9 Dec 2011

Tips to help ease caregiver's burden during holiday season

More five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia and over 70 percent of those individuals are cared for in their homes by a spouse or other family member. Stress, anxiety and burnout are never far from the doorsteps of these caregivers as they often juggle the responsibilities of providing daily care with the added demands of working, maintaining a household, or raising children. The holiday season can intensify these daily burdens, but too often caregivers don't know how to ask for help and friends and family members aren't sure of how to lend a hand.

9 Dec 2011

Supreme Court hears arguments related to patent dispute

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the question is whether patents can be applied to concepts drawn from nature and notes that the case could redefine ownership of technological or scientific innovations.

9 Dec 2011

Perry makes brief GOP health care caucus visit

In other campaign trail news, media outlets examine who is supporting and opposing GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich's run, and how health policies are playing into their decisions.

9 Dec 2011

Conn. wants insurers to pay more of children's mental health costs

Officials in Connecticut say insurers and families should pick up more bills for mental and developmental health services. In other news, California officials release details for new department of state hospitals and Colorado gets a new assessment of mental health services.

9 Dec 2011

MRI can predict breast cancer prognosis

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging measures were associated with prognostic tumor markers, demonstrating the potential of magnetic resonance imaging for prediction of disease prognosis and stratification of patients to appropriate therapies, according to preliminary data presented at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 6-10, 2011.

9 Dec 2011

HHS to widen access to Medicare data

The Wall Street Journal reports that, in a change of policy, the Department of Health and Human Services will make claims information available to help consumers make decisions about medical care.

9 Dec 2011

Ovary removal in younger women may lead to low-bone mineral density, arthritis

Having both ovaries removed before age 45 is strongly associated with low-bone mineral density and arthritis in later years, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins oncologists and epidemiologists. The analysis covered several thousand women who took part in a U.S. government-sponsored, multiyear national health study, and excluded women whose ovaries were removed due to cancer.

9 Dec 2011

Gilead Sciences to donate $8M in visceral leishmaniasis drug to WHO

Gilead Sciences, Inc. "will donate 445,000 vials of AmBisome over five years to help the World Health Organization (WHO) treat more than 50,000 patients with visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar," a Gilead press release states, adding, "If sold at Gilead's no-profit access price, today's donation would cost more than $8 million."

9 Dec 2011

Researchers discover potential target for cherubism

Cancer researchers studying genetic mutations that cause leukemia have discovered a connection to the rare disease cherubism, an inherited facial bone disorder in children.

9 Dec 2011

Spreading the word about the health law

The Washington Post offers a compelling example of the challenges the White House faces in its efforts to get its message out about the benefits of the health law. Meanwhile, the Boston Globe offers insights from former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Donald Berwick about what the administration needs to do in order to have more success with this message.

9 Dec 2011