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First Edition: August 23, 2012

Today's headlines offer more coverage of how Medicare and abortion issues are emerging both in the presidential campaign and congressional races.

23 Aug 2012

CMS announces participation of PCPs in Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative

The American College of Physicians (ACP) today praised the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for its announcement of primary care practices to participate in a historic public-private partnership to strengthen primary care, the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative (CPCI).

23 Aug 2012

Hospitals tackle variety of health law issues

News outlets report on a variety of issues including the slow acceptance of ACOs and a legal set-back for doctor-owned facilities.

23 Aug 2012

Australian doctors in training spend significantly less time consulting with children

Australian doctors-in-training spend significantly less time consulting with pediatric patients than they do with adults, according to a new study published in the journal Australian Family Physician.

23 Aug 2012

Guardian examines road safety in Bangladesh

The Guardian examines road safety in Bangladesh, writing, "Road crashes disproportionately affect poor families, and cost Bangladesh almost as much as it receives in foreign aid."

23 Aug 2012

Blog examines Nicaragua's national deworming program

This post in the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End the Neglect" blog, part of a six-part series of blog posts covering interesting elements of the Nicaragua experience highlighted in the case study entitled "Worms and WASH(ED)," examines how the country's "history in ensuring a national deworming program has shed light on the potential for success."

23 Aug 2012

'ESASO Course Series’ for ophthalmologists

In the new book series 'ESASO Course Series', the essentials of the courses of the European School for Advanced Studies in Ophthalmology (ESASO) are made available to interested ophthalmologists, optometrists, technicians and residents all over the world.

23 Aug 2012

VOA examines new tests to rapidly identify counterfeit medications

"Counterfeit medications are a serious and sometimes deadly problem in developing countries," but "two teams of U.S.-based scientists have developed quick tests can identify counterfeit drugs before they can cause harm," VOA News reports.

23 Aug 2012

State roundup: Restraining order issued in Mo. health exchange fight

A judge issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday against Missouri's secretary of state, Robin Carnahan, to prevent her from finalizing the language of a ballot question on health insurance exchanges. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican, sought the restraining order while a state court considers whether the language of the ballot question is biased, a claim leveled by Kinder and the state's top Republicans.

23 Aug 2012

Paper highlights major trends that affect primary care practitioners

Today's healthcare landscape in the U.S. is fraught with challenges—both to consumers and to practitioners. It's no secret that many parts of the American healthcare system are struggling, primary care perhaps more than most. As the newly published paper explains, this is not a new situation—it has roots in major, deep trends that have been under way for many years, decades even.

23 Aug 2012

Antiabortion language in the GOP draft platform draws attention to Akin flap

The Republican panel charged with drafting the party's platform included language that would essentially ban abortion. Mitt Romney's campaign says he supports "exceptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother."

23 Aug 2012

New book sparks debate over whether vaccines cause autism

The bitter debate over whether vaccines cause autism is masking real problems with the modern inoculation schedule and encouraging a growing number of parents to refuse recommended vaccines for their children, argues a Michigan State University scholar.

23 Aug 2012

Poll: Majority of voters say Medicare needs only minor changes or none at all

A new round of polls finds that although voters have a slightly favorable view of GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's pick for vice president, running mate Paul Ryan's Medicare plans are viewed with a greater degree of skepticism.

23 Aug 2012

Viewpoints: Medicare as a 401(K) plan; Health doublespeak

Older adults are understandably anxious about the political sniping over the future financing of Medicare. That is precisely the intention of the presidential campaigns. Yet the cross-fire over who will cut Medicare by how much sidesteps a critical issue about the future of our medical care: If we must ration our care to hold down costs in the future, how can we do it in a fair, efficient and transparent way?

23 Aug 2012

U.S. Marshals seize products at San Francisco Herb & Natural Food Company’s warehouse

U.S. Marshals have seized food products stored in a Fremont, Calif., company's warehouse after inspectors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found widespread and active rodent infestation.

23 Aug 2012

GOP to revisit health law taxes, others cite federal budget cuts as risk to states

Some Republicans hope to reopen the fight over taxes in the Democrats' health law when Congress returns to work in November after the election, but Moody's says federal budget cuts are riskier to states' financial well-being than another costly part of the health law -- its Medicaid expansion.

23 Aug 2012

Blog examines strategies for obtaining epidemiological data during an emergency

In this post in the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog, Ruby Siddiqui, an epidemiologist with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) based in London, highlights a recent news story in which the organization reports "mortality rates in a refugee camp in South Sudan are nearly double the threshold for an emergency" and examines how such data are obtained in an emergency situation.

23 Aug 2012

University of Tübingen microbiologist wins 2012 Sofja Kovalevskaja Award

Samuel Wagner examines how bacteria start infections - aiming to stop the mechanism and maybe use it in treatment. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation has announced that one of this year's Sofja Kovalevskaja Awards goes this year to microbiologist Prof. Dr. Samuel Wagner, a junior professor at the University of Tübingen.

23 Aug 2012

Federal judge rules Texas can end Planned Parenthood funding before final ruling is made

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Texas can cut off funding to Planned Parenthood before a ruling is made on the legality of the Texas legislature's law banning funding to the provider of women's health services over its abortion services.

23 Aug 2012

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases announces HIV vaccine initiative awards

"Researchers at 14 institutions will explore new approaches to designing a vaccine against HIV with awards that are part of an anticipated four-year, $34.8 million initiative, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases [NIAID] announced Tuesday," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

23 Aug 2012