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University of Central Florida professor receives NIH’s New Innovator award

The National Institutes of Health today awarded University of Central Florida Professor Ming Su its coveted New Innovator award, which comes with a $2 million grant.

14 Sep 2012

Roundup: Portland to add flouride to city water; Fla. officials probe federal report of disabled children forced to nursing homes; Regulators find Minn. hospital violated federal patient protection laws

Over jeers and cheers from the audience, commissioners on the Portland, Ore., City Council voted Wednesday to add fluoride to the city's drinking water starting in 2014. Portland is the largest American city that doesn't add fluoride to its drinking water. But some groups have raised questions about the possible risks from fluoridation and oppose its use.

14 Sep 2012

Multiple interventions improve medication adherence for patients with chronic conditions

Although patients with chronic conditions who do not take medications as prescribed tend to have poorer health outcomes and higher health care costs than those who adhere to medication regimens, a new report sheds light on the potential for multiple interventions to improve medication adherence.

13 Sep 2012

First Edition: Sept. 13, 2012

Today's headlines include news from the Census Bureau that, although record numbers of poor people persist, the number of uninsured Americans dropped by 1.3 million.

13 Sep 2012

University of Maryland study findings advance navel nephrectomy as standard of care

In the largest study of its kind, living donors who had a kidney removed through a single port in the navel report higher satisfaction in several key categories, compared to donors who underwent traditional multiple-port laparoscopic removal.

13 Sep 2012

Care New England joins five other pioneering organizations to support Conversation Project

Care New England Health System has joined with five other pioneering organizations to support a new effort by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) to better prepare health care providers to receive and respect patients' wishes about end-of-life care.

13 Sep 2012

Job-based insurance costs rose 4% in 2012

If you get health insurance on the job, chances are it cost more again this year. Annual family health insurance premiums rose about 4 percent to $15,745 in 2012, according to the latest survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust. Now that's a fairly modest increase by historical standards, and well down from last year's 9 percent. Still, it's more than double the 1.7 percent increase in average wages and way above the 2.3 percent rate of general inflation this year.

13 Sep 2012

Kessler Foundation’s two-day conference on brain injury to be held from Sep. 27-28

A two-day conference, "Brain Injury: From Research to Rebuilding Lives", will be held on September 27th and 28th at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange, NJ.

13 Sep 2012

Sebelius likely to stay put in Obama second term

If President Barack Obama wins reelection, there are two very good reasons to bet on Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to stay for a second term. The health care law's biggest changes don't kick in until 2014, so it makes no sense for her to leave now. And, it could be a lot easier for Obama to keep her on than to get someone else confirmed. Sebelius indicated last week that she wants to be around for the law's big 2014 programs: the insurance exchanges, the tax subsidies and the individual mandate.

13 Sep 2012

Local Talent Global Impact event at Queen's University to be held on Sep. 13

Members of the public are being invited to Queen's University at lunchtime on Thursday (13 September) to meet and hear from the people behind some of the biggest scientific, medical and technological breakthroughs of recent times.

13 Sep 2012

Examining effects of reduced AIDS funding for Ethiopia

Amanda Glassman, director of global health policy and a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), and Kate McQueston, a program coordinator at CGD, write in the center's "Global Health Policy" blog that a reduction in AIDS funding to Ethiopia from PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria "might be warranted due to epidemiological trends and improved efficiency, or might cripple progress as health programs dependent on external donors are cut back."

13 Sep 2012

SAMHSA announces $2.3M in funding to help 11 new statewide consumer networks

Up to $2.3 million in funding will help up to 11 new statewide consumer networks strengthen coalitions among consumers, peers, policymakers, and service providers, Pamela S. Hyde, the administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), announced today.

13 Sep 2012

HHS details consumer savings from lower premiums, rebates

A Health and Human Services Department analysis estimated that consumers have saved an estimated $2.1 billion from the health law's consumer protections, resulting in lower premiums and rebates.

13 Sep 2012

Nature examines efforts to combat antibiotic resistance in India

Nature examines efforts to combat antibiotic resistance in India, writing, "Antibiotic resistance is a problem worldwide, but is particularly worrying in India, where hospital standards are inconsistent and antibiotics are readily available over the counter at pharmacies."

13 Sep 2012

ACO 'predecessor' saved Medicare money, according to JAMA study

The study, found that the Medicare Physician Group Practice Demonstration resulted in health care savings.

13 Sep 2012

Exploring the presidential campaign's health policy buzzwords, proposals

The NewsHour compares the policies advanced by the Obama administration and the Romney campaign. Meanwhile, Bloomberg News offers an analysis on how GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney proposes to change Medicaid.

13 Sep 2012

With rock star Fanfare, Clinton talks health care on the campaign trail

Speaking to what the New York Times described as a sellout crowd in Florida, former President Bill Clinton reprised many of his convention speech themes regarding how the health law is strengthening Medicare and providing benefits to millions of Americans. The Obama campaign is expected to continue to rely on Clinton as a surrogate in battleground states.

13 Sep 2012

WHO says Nigeria not on track to turn back polio despite having tools, capacity

"The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said Nigeria was not on track in the effort to eradicate wild polio virus before the end of December this year," Leadership/AllAfrica.com reports.

13 Sep 2012

Seniors: An increasingly politically motivated demographic

It's hard to come by numbers to describe how many retirees are going into politics. But organizations on the left and the right say that this year's election may be an especially active one for people of retirement age. It is the first presidential contest since the advent of the Tea Party movement, which has been driven largely by voters age 65 and older.

13 Sep 2012

Federal judges end challenge to Idaho's 'fetal pain' law that bans some abortion

The appeals panel says the woman bringing the suit didn't have standing to stop the law since she wasn't charged with a crime. In the meantime, however, the judges also found that the law places an "undue burden" on women seeking abortions.

13 Sep 2012