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Clinicians need to discuss disorders of consciousness with ethical sensitivity

New tools have confirmed high rates of misdiagnosis of patients with chronic disorders of consciousness, such as the vegetative state. An increasing number of patients' families wish to use these novel techniques for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment.

3 Aug 2012

Nigerian nursing, midwifery college seeks to train local health care workers

BBC News reports on a $15 million college in northern Nigeria's Jigawa state that is working to train nurses and midwives.

3 Aug 2012

Goals of curtailing sales of tobacco to underage youth continue to be met

A new report on the Synar Amendment program - a federal and state partnership aimed at ending illegal tobacco sales to minors—shows that all the states and the District of Columbia have continued to meet their goals of curtailing sales of tobacco to underage youth (those under 18). The report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which sponsors the Synar program, shows that the average national retailer violation rate of tobacco sales is down to 8.5 percent, the lowest level in the history of the program.

3 Aug 2012

Investment in health systems 'a critical prerequisite' in beginning to end AIDS

The XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) that took place last week in Washington, D.C., "ignited momentum to shift from 'fighting AIDS' to 'ending AIDS,'" Mohga Kamal-Yanni, senior health adviser at Oxfam International, and Urvarshi Rajcoomer, policy and advocacy adviser at Oxfam in South Africa, write in a Mail & Guardian opinion piece.

3 Aug 2012

U.S. appeals court blocks Arizona's 20-week abortion ban

A federal appeals court on Wednesday blocked an Arizona law banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy as it considers the case. The law was upheld by a trial judge Monday and was set to take effect Thursday.

3 Aug 2012

Super-bug technology draws high-tech attention

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has said 2012 will be the year that hospitals should start paying to treat infections contracted on their premises. Many investors have the issue pegged as a janitorial concern, and not necessarily the purview of high-tech gadgets.

3 Aug 2012

Advice to stay active promotes recovery in patients with low back pain

For workers on medical leave because of low back pain, giving advice to stay active increases the chances of returning to work, reports a study in the August 1 issue of Spine.

3 Aug 2012

Examining the role of economists in global health

In this post in the Center for Global Development's (CGD) "Global Health Policy" blog, Amanda Glassman, director of global health policy and a research fellow at the center, reports on the contribution of economists to the global health field, writing, "Economists are not global health's most popular human resource.

3 Aug 2012

Survey results of adoption and implementation of therapeutic hypothermia in hospitals

National guidelines recommend the use of therapeutic hypothermia to improve outcomes in patients who suffer a heart attack outside of a hospital. The results of a survey of all 73 acute care hospitals in New Jersey evaluating the adoption and implementation of this life-saving treatment from 2004-2011 is published in Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

3 Aug 2012

Birth control coverage mandate impacts doctors, women, religious groups

Physicians say they -- rather than insurers -- will feel the burden of the rule. Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress stay relatively quiet on the requirement, but tensions continue among Catholics and evangelical Protestants.

3 Aug 2012

First Edition: August 3, 2012

Today's headlines include reports on a Capitol Hill hearing during which House GOP lawmakers grilled the director of the Internal Revenue Service on his agency's health care subsidy ruling.

3 Aug 2012

Health care systems explain why they did not participate in CMMS ACO program

Many health care systems across the US have declined to participate in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMMS) Accountable Care Organization (ACO) program, developed under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), to improve efficiency and quality of health care delivery.

3 Aug 2012

Researchers, politicians gather in London for Global Health Policy Summit

Medical researchers, politicians, and policymakers gathered at a Global Health Policy Summit in London Wednesday "to champion innovative solutions to the world's major health problems," Imperial College London reports in an article, which notes the summit, "the first event of its kind, is the result of a partnership between Imperial College London and the Qatar Foundation for education, science and community development" and "will tackle maternal health, primary care, non-infectious diseases and aging societies".

3 Aug 2012

Viewpoints: Orszag on CAP cost-control proposals; High-tech and health costs

The Center for American Progress proposals thus wisely recognize that there is no single strategy to continue the recent progress in slowing the growth in health-care costs. In contrast, the Republican budget plan put forward by Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin seems based on a belief that all that's needed is to shift risks: from Medicare to beneficiaries through a premium-support program, and from the federal government to state governments by turning Medicaid into block grants.

3 Aug 2012

Financial Times publishes special report focusing on global health policy issues

The Financial Times on Wednesday published a special report on global health policy to coincide with the Global Health Policy Summit in London.

3 Aug 2012

Medicare officials seek more time to estimate cost of fixing card security issues

A Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services official, testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee, said it would take six more months to figure out this cost and that he could not yet provide a timetable for removing Social Security numbers from Medicare cards.

3 Aug 2012

Study finds evidence that smoking cessation is more difficult for women than men

A recent study challenged an enduring belief that women were less successful than men in quitting smoking. The study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, found convincing evidence that across all of the age groups, "there is relatively little difference in cessation between the sexes."

3 Aug 2012

Blog examines preliminary report on PEPFAR's pilot Expenditure Analysis Initiative

In this post on the Center for Global Development's (CGD) "Global Health Policy" blog, CGD's Victoria Fan, Rachel Silverman, and Amanda Glassman examine "the preliminary report on the pilot of PEPFAR's Expenditure Analysis Initiative, an important and exciting move by PEPFAR towards evidence-based decision making and greater transparency."

3 Aug 2012

CBO sets price tag for delaying scheduled Medicare physician payment cuts: $271 billion

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released updated figures on the cost of repealing -- or continuing to override -- the cuts doctors are scheduled to receive under Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) reimbursement formula.

3 Aug 2012

Most states expect higher costs after Medicaid expansion, even with feds picking up tab

A new report from the Government Accountability Office found that most state budget directors expect an increase in their costs if they expand Medicaid, even when the federal government picks up 100 percent of the expanded enrollment tab.

3 Aug 2012