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The Lipitor story: Drug companies brace for losses as patents expire on this and other popular medications

News outlets analyze the impact that generic Lipitor could have on costs and the "era of 'blockbuster drugs'" as well as the strategies from Lipitor's maker to block its generic competitors. Meanwhile, some of these generics are already reaching the marketplace.

2 Dec 2011

Health disparity tends to increase among young U.S. adults

Levels of health disparity have increased substantially for people born in the United States after 1980, according to new research.

2 Dec 2011

HIV physicians launch CALIBER of Care initiative

Today, on World AIDS Day, an expert panel of physicians from HIV clinics across the country announced the launch of the CALIBER (Clinic Activation to Lead and Implement Best practices for Enhancing Response to HIV) of Care© initiative, a partnership with Merck that is designed to help improve HIV patient care through physician-patient communication resources.

2 Dec 2011

State roundup: Florida's growing Medicaid costs; Missouri insurance rates; Maryland's unspent disabilities money

Florida Governor Rick Scott said he has whittled down a corporate tax-relief plan compared with what he sought last year because of a ballooning deficit driven by health-care spending. "Medicaid is growing way faster than we thought," the former hospital executive said yesterday. ... Florida, which closed a $3.8 billion budget gap for fiscal 2012, is facing another of as much as $2.3 billion next year.

2 Dec 2011

Republicans advance plan to charge wealthy beneficiaries more for Medicare to offset cost of payroll tax extension

The proposal would require people who earn more than $1 million to pay the full cost of Medicare. Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., is floating a "trigger bargain" that would delay for one year the automatic spending cuts scheduled to begin in 2013 and also could include a payroll tax extension and a fix for physician's Medicare payment rate.

1 Dec 2011

Autism Speaks releases 'Visual Supports' tool kit for parents, providers

Autism Speaks, North America's largest autism science and advocacy organization today released the Visual Supports and Autism Spectrum Disorder tool kit providing valuable guidance to parents, families and providers about how to utilize pictures, photographs and other visual supports to improve communication for children, adolescents and adults who struggle with understanding or using language.

1 Dec 2011

Government inspectors to lawmakers: More must be done to stop prescription of powerful psych drugs to nursing home patients

Government inspectors told lawmakers Wednesday that Medicare officials need to do more to stop doctors from prescribing powerful psychiatric drugs to nursing home patients with dementia, an unapproved practice that has flourished despite repeated government warnings.

1 Dec 2011

Enhanced services and higher quality benefits lead to improved health

Community health plans are partnering with physician practices to initiate a range of care management programs for people living with chronic diseases; these programs have resulted in decreased emergency room (ER) use, improved health and lower costs. The findings, released today by the Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP), are part of a report that is a comprehensive look at the way community health plans partner with providers to improve care.

1 Dec 2011

First Edition: December 1, 2011

In today's headlines, Republicans in Congress advance plan to charge wealthy beneficiaries more for Medicare in order to cover the costs of the proposaed payroll tax extension.

1 Dec 2011

Publicly posting enforcement and testing data on meat processing facilities could be beneficial

Publicly posting enforcement and testing data corresponding to specific meat, poultry, and egg products' processing plants on the Internet could have "substantial benefits," including the potential to favorably impact public health, says a new report from the National Research Council.

1 Dec 2011

House Committee expected to vote Wednesday to repeal CLASS Act

The Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to approve, along party lines, a measure to repeal the long-term care insurance program. Meanwhile, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is being pressed to lift his hold on legislation to fund children's hospitals. He has been blocking the measure's progress because he still hopes to add an amendment that would expand it to children's psychiatric hospitals.

1 Dec 2011

Majority of Californians requiring mental health treatment receive inadequate services

Nearly 2 million adults in California, about 8 percent of the population, need mental health treatment, but the majority receive no services or inadequate services, despite a state law mandating that health insurance providers include mental health treatment in their coverage options, a new report by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research shows.

1 Dec 2011

Doc fix, health program extenders still on Congressional agenda

News outlets report on the health issues and programs that remain on the Capitol Hill to-do list, as well as how some GOP lawmakers might look to the health law's insurance subsidies as a way to pay for a planned payroll tax cut extension.

1 Dec 2011

New poll finds public support for health law returns to usual split

The latest Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll found that, after reaching an all-time low, support for the 2010 health law bounced back a bit to the levels shown in previous polls.

1 Dec 2011

Peer-mediated interventions may provide greater social benefits for children with ASD

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who attend regular education classes may be more likely to improve their social skills if their typically developing peers are taught how to interact with them than if only the children with ASD are taught such skills. According to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, a shift away from more commonly used interventions that focus on training children with ASD directly may provide greater social benefits for children with ASD.

1 Dec 2011

New issue of Index on Censorship magazine calls for debate into science and transparency

As thousands more emails from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU) are leaked on the internet, the latest issue of Index on Censorship magazine, 'Dark Matter', calls for a debate into science and transparency.

1 Dec 2011

Conference to explore acute ischemic stroke treatment

Designed to serve a multidisciplinary audience of physicians, clinicians, and scientists interested in cerebrovascular disease, this 2.5-day conference will explore the state-of-the-art and future directions of research and clinical practice leading to enhanced medical care in the acute treatment of ischemic stroke.

1 Dec 2011

Supreme Court hears arguments regarding privacy laws and HIV

The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday in a case testing whether the federal government is liable for damages when it violates the Privacy Act by disclosing that an individual is HIV-positive.

1 Dec 2011

Ariz. hospitals file suit to stop cuts in Medicaid reimbursements

Arizona hospitals on Tuesday filed suit to block a 5 percent reduction in the rates they're paid to care for Medicaid patients. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, argues that the rate cut will reduce patient access to health-care providers, in violation of federal law.

1 Dec 2011

South Africa 'witnessing first steps of AIDS-free generation'

In this Business Day opinion piece, Donald Gips, the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, examines progress made in the country's fight against HIV/AIDS, writing that, through the coordination of governments, civil society, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), educational institutions, and researchers from around the world, "we now have the tools that allow us for the first time to set the goal of achieving an AIDS-free generation -- when virtually no children are born with the virus; we have effective and comprehensive education and prevention strategies that help to reduce risk; and those who are infected with HIV have access to treatment that helps prevent them from developing AIDS and transmitting the virus."

1 Dec 2011

Healthcare News

The Lipitor story: Drug companies brace for losses as patents expire on this and other popular medications

Health disparity tends to increase among young U.S. adults

HIV physicians launch CALIBER of Care initiative

State roundup: Florida's growing Medicaid costs; Missouri insurance rates; Maryland's unspent disabilities money

Republicans advance plan to charge wealthy beneficiaries more for Medicare to offset cost of payroll tax extension

Autism Speaks releases 'Visual Supports' tool kit for parents, providers

Government inspectors to lawmakers: More must be done to stop prescription of powerful psych drugs to nursing home patients

Enhanced services and higher quality benefits lead to improved health

First Edition: December 1, 2011

Publicly posting enforcement and testing data on meat processing facilities could be beneficial

House Committee expected to vote Wednesday to repeal CLASS Act

Majority of Californians requiring mental health treatment receive inadequate services

Doc fix, health program extenders still on Congressional agenda

New poll finds public support for health law returns to usual split

Peer-mediated interventions may provide greater social benefits for children with ASD

New issue of Index on Censorship magazine calls for debate into science and transparency

Conference to explore acute ischemic stroke treatment

Supreme Court hears arguments regarding privacy laws and HIV

Ariz. hospitals file suit to stop cuts in Medicaid reimbursements

South Africa 'witnessing first steps of AIDS-free generation'

A new method to measure intracellular water in biological systems

Obesity, GLP-1s, and metabolic care

Automation in cell-based workflows

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