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Surge of generics will trigger drop in drug prices

In the next 14 months, seven of the world's 20 best-selling drugs are scheduled to go "off patent." As they do, the brand-name drugs will lose out to generic versions, cutting costs for patients and companies that provide health benefits.

27 Jul 2011

World Food Program plans to begin airlifts to Somalia this week

The World Food Program (WFP) has said it plans to begin food airlifts by Thursday "to parts of drought-ravaged Somalia that militants banned it from more than two years ago," the Associated Press reports.

27 Jul 2011

Medicare and deal-making on the debt — voters fear result

According to a National Journal poll, voters worry that an agreement will result in cuts to Medicare and Social Security that are too deep. Meanwhile, McClatchy reports on how Medicare and the federal deficit are playing a role in this year's PAC donations. Also, iWatch News fact checks a left-leaning ad on House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's Medicare proposal.

27 Jul 2011

New HIV prevention findings delay release of WHO guidelines for discordant couples

"Upbeat new HIV prevention findings presented last week at an international AIDS conference held in Rome have complicated attempts by the World Health Organization (WHO) to draft much-anticipated guidelines for heterosexual couples in which one partner is infected," ScienceInsider reports.

27 Jul 2011

Calif. Governor vetoes adult day care bill

The legislation would provide new funding to help about half the seniors and disabled residents who had been covered under an older program that the state is discontinuing.

27 Jul 2011

AACN launches mobile-friendly access to the websites of AJCC, CCN

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) launches mobile-friendly access to the websites of its award-winning bimonthly journals, American Journal of Critical Care and Critical Care Nurse.

27 Jul 2011

As partisan debt-ceiling disputes continue, entitlement reform haunts discussion

President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner each delivered prime time addresses Monday night, capping an extraordinary day of partisan debt-ceiling dueling. As the clock continues to tick toward the Aug. 2 deadline, specifics from the two very different plans emerged — one offered by House Republicans and the other by Senate Democrats.

27 Jul 2011

World leaders should either scale up commitment to polio eradication significantly or abandon goal

"There are few ideas as powerful as the eradication of a human disease. But the euphoria around the world's single success to date - that of smallpox - has led to ever more costly efforts to do the same for polio. World leaders need either to radically step up their commitment or have the courage to abandon the goal explicitly," a Financial Times editorial states

27 Jul 2011

South Africa could reduce HIV-associated costs, extend lives with earlier treatment, study says

If South Africa followed WHO recommendations for earlier therapy for people living with HIV, thousands of lives could be extended and the country would start saving money after 16 years, according to a study recently published online in PLoS One, United Press International reports.

27 Jul 2011

Report: Seniors still struggle with drug costs

Five years after the launch of Medicare prescription drug coverage, many beneficiaries are still struggling to sign up, according to a new report from the Medicare Rights Center.

27 Jul 2011

Cedars-Sinai's COACH for Kids and Their Families to increase oral health services for students

Dental problems are the most commonly cited unmet need among children. Cedars-Sinai's COACH for Kids and Their Families, a mobile medical program, has been selected as one of 20 school-based programs nationwide to receive a grant from the National Assembly on School-based Health Care (NASBHC) to increase oral health services to students in underserved communities.

27 Jul 2011

Whistle-blower lawsuit alleges dialysis provider wasted drugs to boost profits

One of the nation's largest providers of kidney dialysis deliberately wasted medicine in order to reap hundreds of millions of dollars in extra payments from Medicare, a former clinic nurse and a doctor are charging in a whistle-blower lawsuit.

27 Jul 2011

N.H. hospitals sue over Medicaid payments; Louisiana announces firms that will handle Medicaid managed care

As states seek to keep spending down for the health care program for low-income and disabled residents, they look to trim reimbursement rates and move more enrollees to private plans that control costs.

27 Jul 2011

Extreme heat and rain lead to higher mold count in the Midwest

A record 7 inches of rain combined with the spate of 100-plus-degree days has spawned the highest mold count recorded for the year, just short of an air pollution warning.

27 Jul 2011

Early initiation of HIV therapy would save money, lives of South Africans

If the South African government followed a recent recommendation by the World Health Organization to start antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV-infected residents earlier in the progress of the disease, the policy shift would start saving the country money after 16 years and would extend thousands of lives for dozens of years, according to a new study.

27 Jul 2011

Innovative MD leadership program for medical students

The first medical students enrolled in SELECT, an innovative program designed to educate the physician leaders of the future, will arrive on the USF Health campus this week.

27 Jul 2011

NFIB: Some small businesses drop coverage

Supporters of the health care reform law say there are major flaws in a new survey of small businesses. They say the study, released Monday by the National Federation of Independent Business, mischaracterized key policies in the health care law.

27 Jul 2011

Four-year study to test effectiveness of WHO Safe Childbirth program

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has been awarded a $14.1 million, four-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to test the effectiveness of an innovative checklist-based childbirth safety program in reducing deaths and improving outcomes of mothers and infants in 120 hospitals in India.

27 Jul 2011

WMS, Elsevier to recognize outstanding members of wilderness medicine community

Elsevier, the leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, will present awards to outstanding members of the wilderness medicine community at this year's upcoming Wilderness Medical Society 28th Wilderness Medicine Scientific Conference & Annual Meeting, taking place in Snowmass, CO, July 29th - August 3rd.

27 Jul 2011

Roundup: Md. to release cancer control plan; funding cut at Texas mental health centers

Maryland health officials plan to release today their newest plan to control cancer, a set of diseases responsible for one in four deaths in the state. The officials say the plan to be used by health care providers, policy makers, communities and individuals is ambitious, aiming to save some 1,200 more people a year. Now, about 10,000 Marylander die a year from all kinds of cancer.

27 Jul 2011