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Roundup: Texas will keep Planned Parenthood Women's Health Program for now; Kids' autism covered in Wash. Medicaid; UnitedHealth selling S.C. Medicaid biz

Planned Parenthood will continue to receive funds from a joint Texas and federal program providing health care to low-income women, despite the state's promise to exclude its clinics by Nov. 1 because they are affiliated with abortion providers.

2 Nov 2012

Viewpoints: George Will: Dems' 'reservoir of condenscension' focused on women; One disabled voter questions assisted suicide referendum

Much of the Democratic Party's vast reservoir of condescension is currently focused on women, who are urged not to trouble their pretty little heads about actual problems but instead to worry that, 52 years after birth control pills went on the market and 47 years after access to contraception became a constitutional right, reproductive freedom is at risk. This insult may explain the shift of women toward Romney.

1 Nov 2012

Clinical hypnosis can effectively reduce hot flashes among postmenopausal women

Clinical hypnosis can effectively reduce hot flashes and associated symptoms among postmenopausal women, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Baylor University's Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory.

1 Nov 2012

First Edition: November 1, 2012

Today's headlines include highlights from the campaign trail, from the top of the ticket to some of the attention-grabbing Senate races across the country, as well as a report that the Obama administration will not oppose efforts to reopen the religious challenge to the health law.

1 Nov 2012

NSF program details strategies to improve gender equity for female faculty

Researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology were awarded $3.2 million from the National Science Foundation for the project, "CONNECT: Increasing the Representation and Advancement of Women Faculty at RIT."

1 Nov 2012

Report examines partnerships in global health

The Humanitarian Centre's latest Cambridge International Development report, titled "Partnerships for global health: pathways to progress," "provides insights from global health leaders on why partnerships provide a good structure for reciprocal 'teaching and learning'" and "highlights examples of innovative partnerships -- particularly those where the traditional 'recipient' of development aid has taken the leading role in providing ideas and ingenuity for global health," the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog reports.

1 Nov 2012

Mass. Eye and Ear opens new outpatient surgical center in Longwood/Mission Hill area of Boston

Massachusetts Eye and Ear, along with the Beal Companies, LLP, today celebrated the grand opening of its new outpatient surgical center at 800 Huntington Avenue in the Longwood/Mission Hill area of Boston. The location will provide access to Mass. Eye and Ear's world-class physicians and surgeons, and outpatient services.

1 Nov 2012

U.N. agencies publish 'Atlas' linking climate, health

"Two U.N. agencies on Monday presented a new tool to map health risks linked to climate change and extreme weather conditions, enabling authorities to give advance warnings and act to prevent 'climate-sensitive' diseases from spreading," Agence France-Presse reports.

1 Nov 2012

Blog recaps U.S. Global Food Security team's activities

"As the Acting Special Representative for Global Food Security, I lead U.S. diplomacy on food security and nutrition, and last week was a particularly busy one for the food security team," Jonathan Shrier, acting special representative for Global Food Security, writes in the State Department's "DipNote" blog.

1 Nov 2012

KFF poll: Obama lead on health issues lessens

The latest Kaiser Family Foundation health care tracking poll -- the last one that will be released before the election -- found that President Barack Obama's advantage on several health issues has diminished.

1 Nov 2012

Drug-resistant malaria spreading in Asia, experts warn

"Drug-resistant malaria is spreading in Asia, experts warned as a high-level conference opened Wednesday with the aim of hammering out an action plan to strengthen the region's response," Agence France-Presse reports.

1 Nov 2012

Assessing Global Health Initiative's progress and next phase

Writing in GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog, Nicola Pardy, an editorial intern at GlobalPost, reflects on the closure of the Global Health Initiative (GHI) office announced in July, noting that the government announced the establishment of a new Office of Global Health Diplomacy.

1 Nov 2012

NYU hospital loses power and evacuates 215 patients during storm

Industry officials described the failure of the backup generator at the Manhattan medical center as an unusual incident, not a warning of systemic flaws in hospital preparedness plans.

1 Nov 2012

Study compares mortality rates at magnet and non-magnet hospitals

Magnet hospitals had 14% lower odds of mortality in surgery patients compared with non-Magnet hospitals in a 4-state area during a 2-year period, according to a study published online October 7 in Medical Care.

1 Nov 2012

Calif. insurers competing to be part of state health insurance exchange

More than 30 plans are expected to seek to be part of the exchange, or new marketplace. Meanwhile, a small business health coverage exchange in Massachusetts -- a model for those called for by the health law in other states -- struggles.

1 Nov 2012

Polio eradication efforts helping to improve other health indicators

"The world is on the verge of a great success story: the eradication of polio," John Hewko, CEO and general secretary of Rotary International, and Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and special adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, write in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

1 Nov 2012

Few U.S. medical schools provide effective training on how to address weight issues in obese patients

It's no secret that obesity is a major problem in America. More than one-third of adults and one-sixth of children are obese and it is one of the leading causes of preventable death. The costs associated with obesity are estimated at $99 million annually, comparable to the economic toll of cigarette smoking.

1 Nov 2012

Political will, funding needed for successful polio eradication initiative

While there is "much to be proud of" in the progress in the fight against polio, "there's still more work to be done," former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin writes in a GlobalPost opinion piece. Martin, a polio survivor, notes that in 1988, when the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched, 350,000 cases in more than 125 countries were recorded annually, but "so far this year, we've seen just 171 cases, and only Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria have never stopped transmission."

1 Nov 2012

Calif. health system ends pursuit of Ore. hospital amid community concerns

A California health system formerly tied to the Roman Catholic Church has ended its bid to acquire a community hospital in Oregon amid concerns over access to abortion and assisted suicide services. Meanwhile, two of Michigan's largest hospital groups are expected to announce plans Wednesday to pursue a merger.

1 Nov 2012

Low literacy strongly predicts childbearing among US teens

New research released today at the American Public Health Association's 140th Annual Meeting in San Francisco builds on previous knowledge about the link between teen pregnancy and social inequities internationally and suggests that, independent of other factors, low literacy in pre-teen girls strongly predicts childbearing among US teens.

1 Nov 2012