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Sports medicine experts raise concern about female athlete triad syndrome

When an adolescent female patient comes to Nationwide Children's Hospital's Sports Medicine clinic, not only are these young women treated for their sports-related injury, but their sports medicine physician will also ask if they've missed any periods, because of a growing concern among female athletes.

18 Feb 2014

Sanford Health opens new clinic in Dickinson, ND

The new Sanford Health Dickinson Clinic, which is replacing the existing Sanford Health Dickinson Clinic, is now open. The new clinic, located at 2615 Fairway St., is more than six times the size of the current clinic at 938 Second Ave. W. and can house more than 20 physicians, providing better patient access than ever before.

18 Feb 2014

Democrats' campaign plan: Confront health law issues, challenge GOP's stance

Democratic Party strategists urge candidates to talk about their ideas on how to fix the law and to assert that the Republicans' plans would make problems worse.

18 Feb 2014

DaVita signs major tender to treat dialysis patients in Saudi Arabia

DaVita, a division of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. and a leading provider of kidney care services, today announced it has signed a major tender from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health to treat half of the approximately 10,000 dialysis patients currently under the Ministry's care.

17 Feb 2014

More doctors move to salaried jobs

American physicians, worried about changes in the health care market, are streaming into salaried jobs with hospitals. Though the shift from private practice has been most pronounced in primary care, specialists are following.

17 Feb 2014

'Copper' plans? Health law backers push for new, lower premium coverage

Some health law proponents are urging officials to create "copper" plans that offer lower deductibles, but higher out-of-pocket costs than the health law's gold, silver and bronze plans.

17 Feb 2014

The obese, people with AIDS encounter coverage gaps

Many plans sold through the health law's marketplaces don't cover weight loss surgery, and none in Louisiana are accepting payments from a federal program intended to help people with HIV/AIDS. The New York Times explores who benefits from the latest employer mandate extension, and Kaiser Health News answers a question about the health law's impact on a person covered by COBRA.

17 Feb 2014

Highlights: N.D. hospital and abortion docs; Calif. sugary beverage bill; aging home care workers in Texas

A Democratic candidate who has explicitly defended Obamacare holds a slight lead in a special congressional election in Florida that both parties are eyeing as a test of the political impact of the healthcare law. A poll released Thursday by the Tampa Bay Times shows Democrat Alex Sink leading her Republican opponent, David Jolly, 42% to 35% among people considered likely to vote in the March 11 special election.

17 Feb 2014

Johns Hopkins experts identify major sources of high cancer costs

In a review article published Feb. 14 in The Lancet Oncology, Johns Hopkins experts identify three major sources of high cancer costs and argue that cancer doctors can likely reduce them without harm to patients. The cost-cutting proposals call for changes in routine clinical practice involved in end-of-life care, medical imaging and drug pricing.

17 Feb 2014

Viewpoints: Parsing Obamacare numbers; experts on long-term care insurance; French cancer care

The monthly announcement of Obamacare's enrollment figures has become an exercise in confirmation bias, starting with the administration itself. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius noted the "encouraging trends" in yesterday's release, while House Speaker John Boehner opted to highlight its "embarrassing failures." ... The only debate worth having is how to improve enrollment. ... enrollment numbers for Obamacare aren't some referendum on the president's popularity or lack thereof. They're the best way to tell whether the law is working as planned -- and how to adjust if it isn't (2/13).

17 Feb 2014

Study: Societal pressures about vaccination has direct effect on spread of pediatric infectious diseases

Our response to societal pressures about vaccination has a direct effect on the spread of pediatric infectious diseases in areas where inoculation is not mandatory, says new research published this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

17 Feb 2014

N.Y., federal officials reach tentative accord on more Medicaid funding

The agreement would add $8 billion to help the state reconfigure the state's health insurance program for low-income residents and aid some struggling hospitals.

17 Feb 2014

Some having new luck with healthcare.gov, but others remain stuck

Quiet fixes to healthcare.gov are helping some shoppers on the troubled website, but some still remain without insurance coverage. In the meantime, insurers are skeptical the latest marketplace enrollment numbers are cause for health law optimism.

17 Feb 2014

Study examines long-term effects of bullying on child's overall health

The longer the period of time a child is bullied, the more severe and lasting the impact on a child's health, according to a new study from Boston Children's Hospital published online Feb. 17 in Pediatrics. The study is the first to examine the compounding effects of bullying from elementary school to high school.

17 Feb 2014

Doctors miss opportunities to diagnose COPD at an earlier stage in primary and secondary care

A retrospective study of almost 39,000 patients shows that opportunities to diagnose chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at an earlier stage are frequently being missed in both primary and secondary care in the UK. The findings, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, reveal missed opportunities to diagnose COPD occurred in up to 85% of people.

17 Feb 2014

Economy of bodily management responsible for widespread use of illegal steroids among MLB players

The widespread use of illegal steroids among Major League Baseball players has been fueled by an "economy of bodily management," the free agent market and exploding television revenues, a UT Arlington assistant professor argues in a newly published research paper.

16 Feb 2014

Some states beating others to health law enrollment punch

News outlets take closer looks at the Obama administration's health law enrollment figures and find that some states are far outpacing others. Marketplace problems that persist in some states are also examined.

16 Feb 2014

Study finds shorter life expectancy for LGB individuals living in communities

In the first study to look at the consequences of anti-gay prejudice for mortality, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals who lived in communities with high levels of anti-gay prejudice have a shorter life expectancy of 12 years on average compared with their peers in the least prejudiced communities. "The results of this study suggest a broadening of the consequences of prejudice to include premature death," noted the study's lead author, Mark Hatzenbuehler, PhD, assistant professor of Sociomedical Sciences.

16 Feb 2014

GOP lawmakers seek probes of state health insurance exchanges

In separate requests, Republican congressmen have sought federal investigations into Maryland and Oregon's problem-riddled online insurance marketplaces.

16 Feb 2014

House GOP attacks Obama on Medicare Advantage cuts

The letter from the Republican leadership team is a sign the GOP will seize on the cuts and blame the administration, betting the issue will help the party in the midterm elections.

16 Feb 2014