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Obama defends limit on morning-after pill

The New York Times, Washington Post and others analyze the president's support of his health secretary's decision to limit access to the Plan B pill.

9 Dec 2011

FAO Food Price Index remains virtually stable; Some improvements seen in Somalia

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released its latest Food Price Index on Thursday, saying the Index "in November was virtually unchanged from its October level," an FAO press release reports.

9 Dec 2011

Republicans and Democrats hone in on health law to rally supporters

Rick Perry releases a new TV spot bashing frontrunner Newt Gingrich and rival Mitt Romney for supporting health care policies similar to those of President Obama, while Newark Mayor Cory Booker focuses on the health law's benefits for young people as he campaigns for the president in New Hampshire.

9 Dec 2011

CSIS seminar examines global health outreach of BRICS

This post on the Center for Strategic & International Studies' (CSIS) SmartGlobalHealth.org blog provides resources, including video and publications, related to a December 6 half-day seminar, sponsored by the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, that "focused on the activities, practices, and strategies that characterize the global health outreach of Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa, or the BRICS."

9 Dec 2011

Holder rebuffs GOP efforts to probe Kagan's role

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. clashed with congressional Republicans on Thursday, defending the Justice Department in the face of criticism of its "Fast and Furious" gun-trafficking sting and its refusal to turn over documents on the health-care law adopted last year.

9 Dec 2011

Panel recommends close monitoring and delay of treatment for localized, low-risk prostate cancer

An independent panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health has concluded that many men with localized, low-risk prostate cancer should be closely monitored, permitting treatment to be delayed until warranted by disease progression.

9 Dec 2011

Examining visceral leishmaniasis/HIV co-infection in East Africa

In this post in the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' (NTDs) "End the Neglect" blog, Julien Potet, NTD policy adviser at Medecins Sans Frontieres' Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines, examines the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis among people living with HIV in East Africa.

9 Dec 2011

Addressing gender-based violence through PEPFAR programs

Daniela Ligiero of the State Department, Sasha Mital of the CDC, and Diana Prieto of USAID, who are co-chairs of the PEPFAR Gender Technical Working Group, write about the "intersection between gender-based violence (GBV) and its impact on HIV risk and access to HIV prevention and treatment for most-at-risk populations (MARPs)" in this post on the State Department's "DipNote" blog.

9 Dec 2011

Medicaid news: Fla. Gov. Scott's budget tackles hospital reimbursements

Florida Gov. Rick Scott recommended cutting the state's Medicaid budget by $2.1 billion. Most of that savings, part of a $66.4 billion budget proposal, would come from changing the way hospitals are paid for treating Medicaid patients.

9 Dec 2011

Microsoft, GE form new company to create health care software

Microsoft Corp. and General Electric Co. are joining forces to create a health care technology platform, the companies announced on Wednesday.

9 Dec 2011

Republican leaders to pitch 'doc fix' as part of payroll tax cut extension package

House Speaker John Boehner is readying fellow Republicans on a plan to extend a payroll tax cut by sweetening the pot with cuts to the health law, among other measures. The plan, if it passes the House, would almost certainly be opposed by Senate Democrats.

9 Dec 2011

House Republicans want insight into MLR rules; Texas seeks waiver

House Republicans want to know if HHS consulted state insurance commissioners when writing MLR rules, while Texas seeks a waiver.

9 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: Obama's lessons from LBJ; Plan B positions; Choosing Gingrich

In 2005, for example, the United States devoted only 29 percent of gross domestic product to health and social services combined, while countries like Sweden, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark dedicated 33 percent to 38 percent of their G.D.P. to the combination.

9 Dec 2011

Shorter, effective treatment for latent TB infection

Research, led by Timothy Sterling, M.D., professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has led to an important change in CDC recommendations in the regimen for prevention of the centuries-old scourge, tuberculosis (TB).

9 Dec 2011

Berwick blasts Republicans in IHI speech

The former CMS administrator, at a speech in Orlando Wednesday, singled out those who generated "groundless fear" over "death panels."

9 Dec 2011

Investing in women to reduce effects of climate change

Women "bea[r] the brunt" of weather-related disasters, but they also are "the key to stopping global warming, and to helping communities around the world adapt to the damage that has already been done," Mary Pittman, president and CEO of the Public Health Institute (PHI), and Kavita Ramdas, executive director of Stanford University's Program on Social Entrepreneurship, write in this post on "RH Reality Check."

9 Dec 2011

Prevention practices for catheter-associated urinary tract infections lacking in most hospitals

Hospitals are working harder than ever to prevent hospital-acquired infections, but a nationwide survey shows few are aggressively combating the most common one - catheter-associated urinary tract infections.

9 Dec 2011

The challenges of controlling health care's wasteful spending

The National Health Care Antifraud Association says outright abuse represents 3 percent of all health care spending.

9 Dec 2011

Research roundup: Depression and Medicaid spending; Saving on chronic care costs?: Mental health coverage

The researchers looked at treatment of depression in Medicaid enrollees in Florida from 1996-2006. They found a 29 percent increase in spending "despite decreases in inpatient costs." They attributed much of the increase to the growing use of antipsychotic drugs. They concluded that "spending for Medicaid enrollees with depression increased substantially, with minimal improvements in quality of care".

9 Dec 2011

New international consortium aims to prepare researchers for next pandemic

"A group of health organizations [on Wednesday] launched a new international consortium to better prepare the clinical research community to respond to the next pandemic or other emerging health threat," CIDRAP News reports (Schnirring, 12/7).

9 Dec 2011