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Blog posts respond to Melinda Gates' TEDxChange presentation

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog published several posts in response to the TEDxChange: "The Big Picture" presentation delivered by Melinda Gates, co-chair of the foundation, in Berlin on Thursday.

9 Apr 2012

Protests against NHS reforms results in a disciplinary meeting for a senior medical professional

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23 Feb 2012

Health policies in the fray of GOP presidential primary debate

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was challenged on the 2006 Massachusetts health law as his rivals pressed its similarities to the 2010 federal law.

30 Jan 2012

First Edition: January 27, 2012

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Christian Torres reports on a speech given at the Care Innovation Summit in Washington, D.C., by Marilyn Tavenner, the president's nominee to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, about the health law's accomplishments: "Tavenner will likely make some of the same arguments for the law and CMS initiatives when – or if – she encounters a grilling at her yet-to-be scheduled Senate confirmation hearing.

27 Jan 2012

Viewpoints: Massachusetts' health care success; Employers are key to curbing health costs

It's too bad former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney doesn't want to talk about his state's health care reform legislation on the campaign trail. If he did, he'd have a pretty good story to tell. The reform plan, which President Obama used as a model for the national reform, lifted the number of insured residents in the Bay State from 86.6 percent in 2006 to 94.2 percent in 2010, according to a new study published today by Health Affairs.

27 Jan 2012

Opinion pieces address Global Fund's future after cancellation of Round 11 grants

The Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria decided to cancel Round 11 grant approval during a two-day meeting in Accra, Ghana, that concluded on November 22, according to a Global Fund press release (11/23).

2 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: Waiting for the super committee; TV coverage of Supreme Court's health law session

Congress's bipartisan super committee is heading toward its November 23 deadline with no deal in sight to cut $1.2 trillion from the deficit over 10 years. So it's time to think seriously about the consequences of the default alternative, which would be a $1.2 trillion "sequester," or automatic spending cut, starting in 2013. It's hardly the nightmare of Washington dread.

19 Nov 2011

New top-down method can quickly separate, identify thousands of protein molecules

A team led by Northwestern University chemical biologist Neil Kelleher has developed a new "top-down" method that can separate and identify thousands of protein molecules quickly. Many have been skeptical that such an approach, where each protein is analyzed intact instead of in smaller parts, could be done on such a large scale.

31 Oct 2011

Scientists determine structure of GAG proteoglycan

If genes provide the blueprint for life and proteins are the machines that do much of the work for cells, then carbohydrates that are linked to proteins are among the tools that enable cells to communicate with the outside world and each other. But until now, scientists have been unable to determine the structure of a biologically important so-called GAG proteoglycan-or even to agree whether these remarkably complex molecules have well-defined structures.

19 Oct 2011

Debt panel sets to work amidst challenging economic picture

As the CBO director spoke at the panel's opening act and provided a bleak impression of the economic forces the 12 members will confront, Republicans and Democrats on the 'super committee' appear to be toeing the usual party lines, with GOP members focusing on entitlement programs and government health care spending, and Democrats pressing for higher tax revenue.

15 Sep 2011

Bruker releases new amaZon speed ion trap mass spectrometers

At the HUPO 10th Annual World Congress in Geneva, Switzerland, and at the JAIMA Conference in Tokyo, Japan, Bruker this week announces the release of its new high-performance amaZon speed and amaZon speed ETD ion trap mass spectrometers (ITMS) to meet the increasing demands of the proteomics, research and applied markets.

6 Sep 2011

PCMA President releases statement on new Medicare Part D study

Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) President and CEO Mark Merritt released the following statement today on a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found "implementation of Medicare Part D was followed by a significant reductions in nondrug medical spending, particularly on acute and post acute care, for elderly Medicare beneficiaries with limited prior drug coverage".

28 Jul 2011

Surgeons' behavior in operating room affects patient outcomes, healthcare costs

A surgeon's behavior in the operating room affects patient outcomes, healthcare costs, medical errors and patient- and staff-satisfaction, says a commentary in the July issue of Archives of Surgery.

19 Jul 2011

Greater autonomy for hospitals may not enhance productivity and performance

Giving hospitals greater autonomy may not lead to enhanced productivity and performance, according to new research from the University of York.

8 Jul 2011

Viewpoints: Compromises on fixing Medicare?; 'progress' on AIDS; working families falling behind

Fixing Medicare should not compromise patient care. The president's health care bill created the controversial Independent Payment Advisory Board. This panel of unelected bureaucrats, whose sole purpose is to decide whether to offer Medicare benefits based on a budget, could lead to government rationing of care.

21 Jun 2011

Climate change can harm indigenous peoples' health

The Canadian Arctic. The Amazonian jungle. The fringes of an African rainforest. These lands are home to some of the most isolated and vulnerable people in the world - the indigenous populations of Canada, Peru and Uganda. Because of their dependence on the land for food and water, indigenous peoples' health is particularly affected by climatic changes. Indeed, they are already seeing dramatic effects due to changing temperatures.

3 Jun 2011

Bruker to showcase record performance achievements of maXis 4G system at ASMS 2011

Bruker, the pioneer of ultrahigh-resolution quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry, today announced a major extension of the successful maXis UHR Qq-TOF technology range, which Bruker will showcase at the ASMS 2011 conference in Denver, Colorado, starting this Sunday, June 5.

3 Jun 2011

New method can precisely measure quality of life in older age

Maintaining social relationships and mobility in old age are so important for general well-being that some elderly people will go to extreme lengths to keep active, according to research funded by the United Kingdom's Economic and Social Research Council.

30 May 2011

Pawlenty's health-care claims during debate get mixed ratings

During the first Republican presidential debate of the 2012 campaign, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty reminded viewers that President Barack Obama was against a requirement that everyone buy health insurance before he was for it. Just a few years ago, Obama "promised the nation he would do health care reform focused on cost containment, he opposed the individual mandate," Pawlenty said on May 5, 2011.

9 May 2011

Virginia Tech receives NIH grant to develop new systems biology approaches for cell study

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Virginia Tech researchers a $2.13 million grant to develop new systems biology approaches to study cells, one of the most basic units of life.

5 May 2011