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Viewpoints: Protecting us from counterfeit medicines; Governors making excuses on insurance exchanges?; Simpson-Bowles and the health law

HHS has made it clear that after federally operated exchanges are up and running, states may eventually take over operations. This seems like wasted effort. States have the information they need to move on insurance exchanges. Governors who care about fiscal responsibility, strong state government and the basic welfare of their residents would do well to get with the program.

21 Nov 2012

Tips on how to help children understand concepts of thankfulness during holidays

Most people are looking forward to the food, family gatherings and gift giving that comes along with the holiday season. Dr. William Hansen, a psychologist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, reminds parents that this is also the time of year when they should pause to say thanks and also reinforce this idea in their children.

21 Nov 2012

Health care executives accused of insider-trading scheme

Secrets passed at recreational basketball games, code words and calls on a pay phone outside a Virginia K-Mart marked what prosecutors say was a five-year insider-trading scheme fueled by corporate secrets leaked by health care executives. Federal prosecutors in New Jersey have accused six men -- including former executives at pharmaceutical company Celgene Corp. and medical-technology firm Stryker Corp. and some of their high-school friends -- of passing corporate secrets about their companies and using that information to make profitable trades.

21 Nov 2012

Pregnant women with mental health disorders face too many barriers to stop smoking

Pregnant women with mental health disorders are facing too many barriers to help them quit smoking during pregnancy despite their willingness to accept support, finds a new study published today (21 November) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

21 Nov 2012

FOCUS Clinics Director performs KAMRA Vision surgery on two distinguished ophthalmologists

Dr. David Allamby, Director of FOCUS Clinics, an eye surgery clinic in London, announced that he has performed KAMRA Vision surgery, the proven solution to reading glasses, on two distinguished ophthalmologists.

21 Nov 2012

Unjustified repeat tests common among Medicare patients

Dartmouth researchers found that up to half of older adults who had a heart, lung, stomach or bladder test had the same procedure repeated within three years despite guidelines against routine testing, leading to unnecessary costs.

21 Nov 2012

Forty percent of vets have little understanding of benefits due them

More than half of America's veterans say they have little or no understanding of the benefits due them, despite efforts over recent years to match returning soldiers with the help and services they need. An analysis of Department of Veterans Affairs survey data found that younger veterans – those who served in the post-9/11 war period – are better versed in their benefits.

21 Nov 2012

Global health programs need to address community needs

A "key problem" in reaching the goal of polio elimination "may well be that organizers of the global anti-polio initiative, and of other global health programs, are not listening to the people they want to help -- or to each other," Thomas Abraham, an associate professor in the Journalism and Media Studies Center at the University of Hong Kong, writes in a New York Times opinion piece.

21 Nov 2012

Questions continue over state, FDA oversight of specialty pharmacies

Several news outlets analyze the hearings last week into the meningitis outbreak resulting from a New England compounding pharmacy.

21 Nov 2012

Panel backs routine HIV screenings for teens, adults

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force advises that nearly everyone ages 15 to 64 should be screened for the HIV virus, a recommendation which, if adopted, would require Medicare and most private health insurers to pay for the tests.

21 Nov 2012

Sudan launches yellow fever vaccination campaign to immunize 2.4M

"Sudan has launched a massive vaccination campaign to immunize 2.4 million people against an outbreak of yellow fever in the restive region of Darfur, the U.N. said Monday," according to the Associated Press.

21 Nov 2012

Aidspan publishes new issue of 'Global Fund Observer'

Aidspan, an independent watchdog of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, on Monday published Issue 202 of its "Global Fund Observer."

21 Nov 2012

Democrats face intra-party divide on changes to Medicare, other safety net programs

A split is evident on proposals to raise Medicare's eligibility age and increase premium costs for wealthier beneficiaries as part of a 'grand bargain' on the deficit, according to media reports.

21 Nov 2012

UNAIDS report shows progress due to 'unprecedented acceleration' in global AIDS response

UNAIDS' new World AIDS Day report: Results, released on Tuesday, "shows that unprecedented acceleration in the AIDS response is producing results for people," according to a UNAIDS press release.

21 Nov 2012

Federal judge grants temporary injunction in Bible publisher's contraception rule challenge

In separate action, another judge ruled against Hobby Lobby's effort to be exempted from the contraception mandate.

21 Nov 2012

HHS releases proposed rules on essential health benefits, other key parts of health law

The Obama Administration Tuesday released some much anticipated rules that will govern the types of benefits insurers must offer in policies sold after 2014 and rules on how they can design wellness programs.

21 Nov 2012

The IRS gears up for health law tasks; Messages for coverage expansion campaigns are fine-tuned

News outlets report on the moving parts involved in the next phase of the health law's implementation. Meanwhile, legislators consider what the sweeping measure might mean for their states.

21 Nov 2012

Viewpoints: Papa John's complaint; Renewed criticism of Justice Roberts; Calif. voters rout food police

If ObamaCare negatively impacts your business, you better not complain about it. That's what Papa John's CEO John Schnatter found out when he announced the health-care law would increase the price of a pizza by up to 14 cents. ... But Papa John's isn't the only restaurant chain to complain that the Affordable Care Act is bad for business.

21 Nov 2012

Health professionals may soon have new method to diagnose Parkinson's

Health professionals may soon have a new method of diagnosing Parkinson's disease, one that is noninvasive and inexpensive, and, in early testing, has proved to be effective more than 90 percent of the time.

21 Nov 2012

Academic rigor, better data needed for WASH programs

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and community-led total sanitation (CLTS) programs are coming under increased academic scrutiny, Darren Saywell, the WASH/CLTS technical director at Plan International USA and vice-chair to the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) initiative, writes in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, adding, "I personally see this trend as positive.

21 Nov 2012

Healthcare News

Viewpoints: Protecting us from counterfeit medicines; Governors making excuses on insurance exchanges?; Simpson-Bowles and the health law

Tips on how to help children understand concepts of thankfulness during holidays

Health care executives accused of insider-trading scheme

Pregnant women with mental health disorders face too many barriers to stop smoking

FOCUS Clinics Director performs KAMRA Vision surgery on two distinguished ophthalmologists

Unjustified repeat tests common among Medicare patients

Forty percent of vets have little understanding of benefits due them

Global health programs need to address community needs

Questions continue over state, FDA oversight of specialty pharmacies

Panel backs routine HIV screenings for teens, adults

Sudan launches yellow fever vaccination campaign to immunize 2.4M

Aidspan publishes new issue of 'Global Fund Observer'

Democrats face intra-party divide on changes to Medicare, other safety net programs

UNAIDS report shows progress due to 'unprecedented acceleration' in global AIDS response

Federal judge grants temporary injunction in Bible publisher's contraception rule challenge

HHS releases proposed rules on essential health benefits, other key parts of health law

The IRS gears up for health law tasks; Messages for coverage expansion campaigns are fine-tuned

Viewpoints: Papa John's complaint; Renewed criticism of Justice Roberts; Calif. voters rout food police

Health professionals may soon have new method to diagnose Parkinson's

Academic rigor, better data needed for WASH programs

Building quality into drug development for safer, faster medicines

How Pulp Fixin Is Turning Paper into High-Performance Sustainable Labware

A new method to measure intracellular water in biological systems

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