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Capitol Hill briefing examines PEPFAR work

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog describes a Capitol Hill briefing that was held Wednesday "to discuss the various evidence-based approaches to prevent HIV infection that the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program is implementing on the ground in the countries hardest hit by the AIDS pandemic."

3 Feb 2012

Home-based dialysis treatments appear to decline in developed countries

Home-based dialysis treatments are on the rise in both the developing and developed worlds, but developed countries appear to be turning to them less often, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

3 Feb 2012

Cedars-Sinai experts to present research updates at International Stroke Conference

Stroke experts from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center will present research updates at the International Stroke Conference of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Feb. 1 through Feb. 3 in New Orleans.

3 Feb 2012

State roundup: Iowa Senate provides $5M for mental health; UMass health to cut 6% of workforce; Judge considers making Wash. pharmacies sell Plan B

The bill also allocates $5 million more from what is known as the Mental Health Risk Pool. The pool was created about a decade ago to keep counties with financial shortfalls from denying care to people with mental disorders or retardation. Linn County, for example, will receive $1.2 million of the extra money.

3 Feb 2012

Insurance news: Sen. Feinstein supports state review of rate increases; Anthem plans in Colo. and Conn. to pay extra for coordinated care

Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced she is supporting a ballot measure to give California regulators the power to approve health insurance rates. In other news, Blue Shield in California says it will cover an autism behavioral therapy and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Colorado and Connecticut announce plans to pay doctors for coordinating care.

3 Feb 2012

CSIS report examines protection of health care in armed, civil conflict

This report from the Center for Strategic & International Studies' Global Health Policy Center, titled "Protection of Health Care in Armed and Civil Conflict," examines how "action [last year] at the U.N. Security Council, the World Health Organization, and the U.S. Department of State, combined with a new campaign by the International Committee of the Red Cross and civil society mobilization, led to potential breakthroughs in three key dimensions of protection -- documentation, prevention, and accountability."

3 Feb 2012

Aging America creates demand for health professionals, strategies to meet it emerge

News outlets report on efforts to meet the nation's demand for health professionals -- whether in rural areas or in primary care specialties.

3 Feb 2012

Websites advertising statins for sale contain poor levels of safety information

A new study published in the journal Pharmacoepidemiology & Drug Safety reveals that internet sites selling prescription statins directly to consumers are widespread, and that most websites advertising statins for sale to the general public contain very poor levels of information relevant to safe use of the medicine and side effects.

3 Feb 2012

HHS essential benefits 'bulletin' draws tide of comments

As the official window of time allowed for groups to react to the Department of Health and Human Services essential benefits proposal closed, a variety of objections, concerns and common themes became clear.

3 Feb 2012

Medicare Advantage enrollment climbs, premiums fall

Medicare Advantage enrollments have risen a bigger-than-expected 10 percent since this time last year as average premiums have fallen 7 percent, the Department of Health and Human Services disclosed Wednesday.

3 Feb 2012

Hinchingbrooke Hospital privatization – a first in UK healthcare

Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Cambridgeshire becomes the first NHS hospital to be run entirely by a private company called Circle. This new company is co-owned by its employees. The new administration has taken on the previous debt and it intends to make the hospital into one of the top ten in the country.

2 Feb 2012

Mass. bill would mandate docs to check database before prescribing pain meds

The legislation is expected to come up for a vote in the Massachusetts Senate Thursday. In Florida, the legislature killed a bill to take away prescription rights from doctors awaiting trial on pill-trafficking charges.

2 Feb 2012

Pilot program in Tanzania to improve TB detection shows promise, IRIN reports

"A pilot community program to improve [tuberculosis (TB)] detection in northern Tanzania has shown good results and could be replicated nationwide as the country seeks to improve its TB treatment and prevention systems," IRIN reports.

2 Feb 2012

Islamist rebel group bans ICRC from southern areas of Somalia under its control

The Islamist rebel group al-Shabab has banned the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from distributing food in southern areas of Somalia under its control, accusing the organization of delivering out-of-date food, the Guardian reports.

2 Feb 2012

Medical device industry, FDA reach agreement in principle on user fee program

The FDA and representatives from the medical device industry have reached an agreement in principle on proposed recommendations for the third reauthorization of a medical device user fee program.

2 Feb 2012

Patients' financial health put at risk by costs of some medical treatments

A New Jersey newspaper explores how medical costs put patients at financial risk. Also, the NewsHour explores the future of health care, offering alternative scenarios about how policy decisions, political outcomes and technology might play into an individual's health.

2 Feb 2012

ACIP recommends changes in 2012 Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices now recommends routine HPV vaccination for males aged 11 to 12 years and catch-up vaccination for males aged 13 to 21. These are just two of the changes to the 2012 Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule being published February 1 in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians.

2 Feb 2012

Komen Breast Cancer Foundation cuts grants, ties to Planned Parenthood

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, a leading breast-cancer charity, will no longer give money to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer exams or education, it announced Tuesday. The rift comes from the political fight surrounding Planned Parenthood's abortion services.

2 Feb 2012

Tertiary-care hospital implements CPOE system to reduce inappropriate use of medical imaging

In an effort to reduce the inappropriate use of medical imaging and improve quality of care, a large, tertiary-care hospital has successfully implemented a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system with clinical decision support for radiology, according to a study in the February issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

2 Feb 2012

Religious protests continue in response to Obama administration birth control rule

The White House continues to defend its new insurance coverage rule, which requires religiously affiliated nonprofit groups to provide free birth control coverage to women. Also in the news, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is considered to be on the GOP short list for vice president, introduced legislation Tuesday that would vastly expand the opt-out ability of religious or faith-based employers.

2 Feb 2012