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Contraception coverage flap becoming key issue in Senate races

Congress can't seem to stop its debate on birth control -- and one reason is that it's bringing in lots of votes and money. ... Republicans are also using the issue to raise money among conservatives and broaden GOP support among Catholics, who are strongly opposed to Obama's contraceptive mandate. But, in general, the flap over birth control is helping Democrats solidify their base and gives them an opening to appeal to independent women, said Jennifer Duffy of the Cook Political Report.

3 Mar 2012

New York's Beth Israel hospital admits to inflating Medicare fees

The hospital will pay $13 million for "fraudulently" inflating Medicare inpatient fees between 1998 and 2003 - a practice known as "turbocharging."

3 Mar 2012

Obstetricians heavily influenced by family preferences during periviable counseling

When making decisions and counseling about risk and management options for deliveries between 22 and 26 weeks (periviable deliveries), obstetricians are heavily influenced by family preferences, particularly by the impression that parents consistently prefer to have everything possible done to prolong a pregnancy or "save the baby" through interventions such as cesarean section.

3 Mar 2012

Funding gaps could hinder future of health care in Africa, report says

The "improvement and extension of health care in Africa is ... being constrained by gaps in financing," according to a new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) based on research commissioned by Janssen Pharmaceutica, a Belgian subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, the Financial Times' "beyondbrics" blog reports.

3 Mar 2012

Gingrey: Outlook dim for long-term fix for Medicare's SGR

Here's a dose of bad news for physicians eager for a long-term fix for Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate - and it's being delivered by one of their own. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), a physician, predicts Congress will settle for "another Band-Aid in regards to the SGR problem." That would come after the latest short-term patch expires in late December.

3 Mar 2012

Poll reveals public opinions on contraception coverage, Medicare plans

The close divide in a Senate vote Thursday over whether employers can refuse insurance coverage for contraception mirrors a sharp partisan divide among the public, according to a national poll and interviews with women around the country.

3 Mar 2012

Senate rejects Blunt amendment

In a mainly party-line vote, the Senate rejected this amendment, offered by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., to an unrelated transportation bill. It would have broadened religious exemptions to the Obama administration's birth control rule.

3 Mar 2012

Consensus across studies promises to enhance NIH-supported asthma clinical research

A consortium of federal agencies and nongovernmental organizations has published a report proposing a set of common measures and data-collection methods for use in asthma clinical research.

3 Mar 2012

Sebelius hints at contraception 'accomodation' during House testimony

Lawmakers questioned Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about a range of issues, including the president's proposed 2013 budget.

3 Mar 2012

New outcome measures may reduce disparities in children with asthma

Newly proposed asthma outcome measures will help standardize and improve results from the hundreds of millions of dollars the National Institutes of Health (NIH) spends annually to study asthma, according to the Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc. (MCAN), the nation's only organization focused solely on childhood asthma.

3 Mar 2012

USAID unveils new policy to promote gender equality, women's empowerment

USAID on Thursday unveiled a new policy that aims to ensure gender equality and empower the world's women and girls, Deseret News reports. "While USAID has addressed gender issues in the past, results have been mixed, according to a report released Thursday in conjunction with the policy launch," the news service writes.

3 Mar 2012

Hospital funding cuts could worsen doc shortage

A plan to reduce federal funding for teaching hospitals in President Barack Obama's fiscal 2013 budget proposal will curb training for primary care doctors, undermining a top priority of the 2010 health-care law he fought to enact, a Bloomberg Government study shows.

3 Mar 2012

States consider their own legislation limiting contraception coverage, abortion

Lawmakers in Mississippi, Arizona, Georgia, Texas and Florida are considering bills to limit contraception coverage or abortion.

3 Mar 2012

Chinese government pledges greater support for organizations fighting HIV/AIDS

"Organizations involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS will get greater government support," Yu Jingjin, director of the disease prevention and control bureau under China's Ministry of Health, said, China Daily reports.

3 Mar 2012

New pharma code expands guidelines for interactions with health care providers

A new practice code for pharmaceutical companies now covers all interactions with health care professionals and bans them from giving payments to doctors to attend conferences.

3 Mar 2012

New Brown center for evidence-based medicine and science

The difference between abundant information and useful knowledge is a problem in many fields including health care, where life and death can depend on the decision to prescribe a drug or perform a surgery. A new center at Brown University, led by a team of five experts in evidence-based medicine, will advance the study of turning heaps of data in research papers into a powerful understanding that doctors and scientists can apply.

3 Mar 2012

Study examines relationship between conflict, rise in NTDs in Middle East, North Africa

A study published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Disease on Tuesday examines the relationship between political conflict in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and "the spread or re-emergence of a variety of tropical diseases -- some previously eliminated or controlled -- affecting an estimated 65 million people" in the region, VOA News reports.

3 Mar 2012

VOA examines constitutional debate in Nigeria over government's right to require polio vaccination

"A constitutional debate is under way in Nigeria over whether the government can prosecute parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated against polio, or if it has the power to force parents to have their children vaccinated against any communicable disease," VOA News reports.

3 Mar 2012

Zimbabwe's Mugabe urges lawmakers to be tested for HIV, publicly reveal status as part of new initiative

In an announcement launching the Zimbabwe Parliamentarians Against HIV (ZIPAH) in Harare on Thursday, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said since he came to office in 1980 "quite a number of" his cabinet ministers have died of AIDS-related causes, and he challenged government officials to get tested for HIV and publicly reveal their status, the Zimbabwean reports.

3 Mar 2012