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FDA, USP co-sponsors OTC drug products workshop

Updated public standards incorporating new tests for impurities as well as more modern technologies to help ensure the quality of over-the-counter (OTC) ingredients and products will be key areas of focus for a September 8-9, 2011, workshop co-sponsored by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention.

17 Aug 2011

New York Laser & Skin Care now offers Pelleve System to combat wrinkles

Leading dermatologist Dr. Arielle Kauvar announces that her practice, New York Laser & Skin Care, now offers the newest generation of the Pelleve Wrinkle Reduction System with the new GlideSafe Handpieces.

17 Aug 2011

The Washington Post explores comparative effectiveness research

American medical care is rife with such treatments, whose usefulness is uncertain not just to the doctors who deliver them but also to the patients who receive them. These days, however, many people are pinning their hopes on "comparative effectiveness research" as way to solve the dilemma of how best to treat this and hundreds of other common problems in day-to-day medicine.

17 Aug 2011

Debate emerges regarding benefit of CT scans for lung cancer

Some hospitals are offering discounted CT scans to worried smokers, leading experts to question whether it's a marketing strategy or offers some health benefit.

17 Aug 2011

Vanderbilt's Handle with Care initiative aims to reduce violence in emergency department

With violence toward health care workers from patients and visitors on the rise inside emergency departments, personnel with Vanderbilt's Adult Emergency Department are learning a new set of skills to keep them - and those they care for - safe. A training program called Handle with Care is the latest initiative in Vanderbilt's ongoing effort to reduce violence in the emergency department and protect staff, patients and guests.

17 Aug 2011

Obama expresses confidence that SCOTUS will uphold health law

Days after a federal appeals court overturned the measure's individual mandate, President Barack Obama said the Supreme Court will uphold the law if it follows legal precedents when considering it.

17 Aug 2011

Nursing home, hospice pay trigger questions, concern, action

News outlets report on a range of issues related to Medicare payments, including losses that are expected to result from a new payment rule for nursing homes and the lobbying effort being undertaken by hospice facilities.

17 Aug 2011

Registration now open for California Healthcare Institute's 2011 Annual Meeting

CHI-California Healthcare Institute announced today that registration is now open for CHI's 2011 Annual Meeting. CHI's Annual Meeting focuses on the relationship between biomedical innovation and public policy. This year's theme is Shifting Sands: Forces Reshaping the Biomedical Innovation Business Model.

17 Aug 2011

Examining the use of the 'ABC safe sex' campaign in Botswana

In this World Policy Blog post, Julie Mellin, editorial assistant at the World Policy Journal, reflects on her experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in Botswana to examine the "ABC (Abstain, Be Faithful and Condomize) ... safe sex" campaign, "one of the campaigns most highly funded by the international community."

17 Aug 2011

'Super committee' outlook: What's to become of Medicare, Medicaid?

Although President Barack Obama continues to make clear that, in his view, reforming these entitlement programs is necessary to find budget savings, one policy expert says such cuts might have very little impact on deficit spending. Meanwhile, news outlets report on how lobbyists are taking position in an effort to best advance their clients interests to the deficit panel.

17 Aug 2011

Worries in Neb. about exchange deadlines; federal grant for Conn.

Nebraska officials raised concerns Monday about the state's ability to meet upcoming federal health care reform deadlines. At a briefing for state lawmakers, the officials said they face challenges with the amount of work to be done and the lack of answers on key matters.

17 Aug 2011

Georgia creating consumer-focused electronic health records system

A groundbreaking project in northwest Georgia soon will encourage consumers to play a bigger role in their health care by creating electronic personal health records, uploading medical information and images into one easy-to-access location a button click away.

17 Aug 2011

India and international aid priorities

In this Center for Global Development Global Health Policy blog post, Amanda Glassman, director of Global Health Policy and research fellow at CGD, and Denizhan Duran, a CGD research assistant, examine the question of whether European and other aid agencies should continue to give aid to India, a country that "now plans to give $11.3 billion in the next five to seven years" through its own aid agency.

17 Aug 2011

Study of Chicago neighborhoods tracks prevalence of five key public health issues

The south and southwest sides of Chicago suffer the most in terms of residents' health and access to basic health resources, according to a new study of 77 Chicago neighborhoods.

17 Aug 2011

Multistate plans should face 'level playing field,' insurance regulators urge

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners expressed concern about a provision of the health law that could allow multistate insurance plans an advantage over smaller plans operating in health insurance exchanges.

17 Aug 2011

When it comes to drug prices, Medicare shelling out more than Medicaid

Medicaid gets much deeper discounts on many prescription drugs than Medicare, in part because Medicaid discounts are set by law whereas Medicare prices are negotiated by private insurers and drug companies, federal investigators said Monday in a new report.

17 Aug 2011

U.S. 'can be proud' of past, future investments to improve food security

"Outside of immediate crisis relief," such as the administration of measles vaccinations or oral rehydration therapy for children affected by diarrheal diseases, the U.S. government's "past investments clearly are paying off" in the fight against drought and famine the Horn of Africa, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

17 Aug 2011

Dutch government to release $143M in frozen Qaddafi funds to buy medicine for Libya

In response "to an urgent appeal from the WHO," Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal said on Monday that the country's government is releasing $143 million "in frozen funds from Moammar Qaddafi's regime and sending the money to the World Health Organization to buy medicine for the Libyan population," according to Associated Press/Forbes.

17 Aug 2011

WFP investigating fraud allegations in Somalia; U.N., Oxfam call for increased assistance

The World Food Programme (WFP) does not plan "to reduce aid to Somalia following allegations that international food shipments there are being diverted," the Associated Press reports.

17 Aug 2011

UCSD Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center receives ACCF/AHA's GWTG Gold award

UC San Diego Health System is one of only 167 hospitals nationwide to receive the American College of Cardiology Foundation's (ACCF) NCDR ACTION Registry-GWTG (Get with the Guidelines) Gold Performance Achievement Award for 2011.

17 Aug 2011