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The conservative way forward on health care

The landslide Republican victory, in taking the House and electing some strong conservatives to the Senate, can be interpreted as a mandate to rein in government spending, and specifically to repeal ObamaCare, as these issues were clearly behind the large turnout. There is still a very real possibility the Supreme Court will find the “individual mandate” to buy private insurance unconstitutional. If this provision is thrown out, it’s hard to see how the law survives, since the mandate is needed to finance it.

22 Nov 2010

Novartis gender discrimination case settlement final hearing on November 19

The final hearing for approval of the class settlement in the long-running class action gender discrimination case brought by female sales representatives at Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation is set for Friday, November 19th at 10 a.m. in the courtroom of Judge Colleen McMahon of United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.

20 Nov 2010

CAP offers complimentary EHR support services for members

To help its physician members and their office administrators make informed decisions when implementing or upgrading an Electronic Health Record system, this month the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. began offering complimentary EHR support services exclusively to its more than 11,000 members.

20 Nov 2010

IMRIS common shares commence trading on NASDAQ Global Market

IMRIS Inc. announced today that its common shares have commenced trading on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol "IMRS". IMRIS' common shares are dual listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ Global Market.

20 Nov 2010

Health industry players offer insights, expectations about overhaul's impact

Republicans made major gains in the midterm election, running vowing to "repeal and replace" the health law passed with solely Democratic votes earlier this year.

20 Nov 2010

U.S. falling short of its goals to improve access to clean water, sanitation worldwide, report says

The U.S. is falling short on its goal of improving conditions for the 2.6 billion people worldwide without access to clean water and sanitation despite the fact the Water for the Poor Act became law in 2005, according to a report released Thursday by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), WaterAid, CARE and 11 other organization, Food Safety News reports.

19 Nov 2010

Mass. regulators and nursing homes fight inappropriate medicating; officials deal with Hawaii doctor shortage

State regulators and the Massachusetts nursing home industry are launching a campaign today to reduce the inappropriate use of antipsychotic medications for residents with dementia.

19 Nov 2010

Cholera case confirmed in Dominican Republic; Haitian protestors blame U.N. peacekeeping troops for cholera outbreak

Officials on Tuesday said they had confirmed the first case of cholera in Haiti's neighbor, the Dominican Republic, the Associated Press/Forbes reports

18 Nov 2010

Doctor groups urge Congress to grant temporary reprieve from Medicare payment cuts

Doctors' groups are stepping up their pressure on lawmakers to approve another temporary reprieve from Medicare payments cuts scheduled to go into effect next month.

18 Nov 2010

GST debates continue & heath reforms come under threat

The federal opposition demands more transparency from the Australian government on how much GST the states will have to hand over under a new health plan. Early this year all states apart from WA, agreed to hand over a third of their GST payments for the federal government to take responsibility for 60 per cent of the cost of running, staffing and building public hospitals. This is estimated to deliver $7.4 billion in funding for extra hospital beds, support for GPs, boosted aged care services and training for more doctors and nurses.

17 Nov 2010

University of Oslo opens new Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway

The University of Oslo recently opened its new Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway (NCMM). The centre is the second in Norway to form a partnership with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL).

17 Nov 2010

Dartmouth Atlas Project releases new report on cancer care

A new report released today from the Dartmouth Atlas Project showing that individuals in some areas of the country are far less likely to receive comfort care in accordance with their wishes has drawn the attention of the nation's hospice and palliative care community.

17 Nov 2010

Urgent need for bowel cancer screening funding

Bowel Cancer Foundation chairman, Graham Newstead feeling frustrated at the federal government’s indecision on bowel cancer screening funds has expressed his dismay. He suggested that the government should ensure the future funding for the screening test that has saved an estimated 11,000 lives since screening was introduced in 2006.

16 Nov 2010

Republicans increase challenges to health law, repeal rhetoric

With their eyes on the 2012 election, Republicans are preparing to maximize conflict with Democrats over healthcare in the new Congress and minimize potential compromises, according to GOP strategists, lawmakers and lobbyists. That strategy is setting the stage for a bitter stalemate on Capitol Hill over the next two years ... Republican leaders and strategists think a renewed battle over healthcare will help the party expand its electoral gains and drive President Obama from the White House.

16 Nov 2010

NPR reports on dengue vaccine progress

NPR's Shots blog examines progress in the search for a vaccine to protect against the dengue virus. WHO estimates that 2.5 billion people worldwide are at risk of getting dengue, and most of them are in Asia and Latin America, the blog writes.

16 Nov 2010

AcelRx files registration statement with SEC for public offering of common stock

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to a proposed initial public offering of shares of its common stock. All shares of the common stock to be sold in the offering will be offered by the Company.

14 Nov 2010

FDA unveils graphic anti-smoking warnings for cigarette packages

The Washington Post: "Federal health officials Wednesday unveiled plans to replace the warnings cigarette packs began carrying 25 years ago with new versions using images that could include emaciated cancer patients, diseased organs and corpses. Public health authorities and anti-smoking advocates hailed the move as a milestone in the battle against tobacco in the United States that began in 1964 when the surgeon general first declared cigarettes a public health threat.

12 Nov 2010

Advocacy groups and politicians stake out health overhaul strategies in the changed political landscape

Kaiser Health News reports that advocates of the health law, which is under renewed attack by Republicans after the mid-term election, are "huddling … in an effort to thwart GOP efforts" to overturn the law. "Groups that back the law aren't likely to coalesce around a single message to increase public support. Some patient groups, for example, are likely to try to steer clear of partisan politics and focus instead on promoting the law and pressing for its full implementation.

12 Nov 2010

Complete Genomics prices initial public offering of common stock

Complete Genomics, Inc. announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 6,000,000 shares of its common stock at $9.00 per share.

12 Nov 2010

Women and cancer today

Experts have warned that women who have their breasts removed out of fear of a high hereditary risk of breast cancer may be doing so needlessly. Genetic tests like for the BRCA mutations have predicted a high risk of getting breast cancer in women with many breast cancer sufferers among their first degree relatives. Earlier studies suggest the risk of the mutation to predict the cancer 87% of the time. Now experts want that this is an overestimate.

11 Nov 2010