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Women with low risk pregnancies should be able to choose where they give birth

Women with low risk pregnancies should be able to choose where they give birth, concludes a study published on bmj.com today. Although it shows that first-time mums who opt for a home birth are at a higher risk of adverse outcomes, the overall risk is low in all birth settings.

24 Nov 2011

Einstein, Montefiore experts available to discuss effects of radiation dose and exposure

Experts from Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University are available for interviews on topics ranging from effects of radiation dose and exposure to MRI imaging to detect brain damage in soccer players due to "heading" and cancer post-treatment imaging during the annual Radiological Society of North America Scientific Assembly.

24 Nov 2011

Lack of consumer motivation, attention affects impact of nutrition labels on food choices

Despite good understanding and prevalence of nutrition information on food labels in Europe, a lack of motivation and attention of consumers prevents labels from impacting positively on food choices.

24 Nov 2011

Apparent gap between levels of pediatric care in urban and rural areas

When it comes to providing healthcare for children across Canada, a team of researchers say there's an apparent gap between the levels of care received by children in urban and rural areas.

24 Nov 2011

Study finds use of retail clinics rising

Researchers from the RAND Corporation found a dramatic increase in adults seeking care at clinics in drugs stores and other outlets.

24 Nov 2011

Study finds patient satisfaction with outpatient medical treatment in the U.S.

Patients overall in the United States are very satisfied with their physicians and with treatment they receive in outpatient settings, according to new information which challenges common public perceptions about outpatient medical treatment.

24 Nov 2011

IPS reports on child poverty in Lesotho

"The triple threat of HIV, poverty and food insecurity is increasingly exposing children to abuse, exploitation and other human rights violations" in Lesotho, Inter Press Service reports in an article examining child poverty in the small southern African country.

24 Nov 2011

Interview with AIDS economist Mead Over

ONE member Erin Hohlfelder presents excerpts of an interview she conducted with AIDS economist Mead Over in this ONE blog post. Over discusses his new book, titled "Achieving an AIDS Transition: Preventing Infections to Sustain Treatment," AIDS program financing, government roles, and creating incentives for HIV prevention program success.

24 Nov 2011

Merck agrees to pay $950 million in Vioxx settlement

The pharmaceutical giant will pay a $321 million criminal fine and a $628 million civil settlement.

24 Nov 2011

House panel seeks records about Kagan and health law

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) on Tuesday asked the Obama administration to provide documents and internal correspondence on Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan's role in defense of the health reform law. Republicans argue that Kagan, while she was solicitor general in the Obama administration, participated in the early defense of the law and should recuse herself as the law goes before the Supreme Court.

24 Nov 2011

Democrats ask Obama not to dilute contraceptive benefits

Democratic lawmakers, fearful that President Obama is on the verge of significantly diluting a proposed regulation that would give millions of women access to birth control without out-of-pocket insurance charges, are furiously lobbying the White House to hold the line.

24 Nov 2011

Congress facing deadline on Medicare payments to doctors

Preventing the cut in Medicare payments to doctors is estimated to cost more than $20 billion next year. It is considered a near certainty that Congress will address it because of the clout that Medicare and doctors have with lawmakers. Within minutes of Monday's announcement that the supercommittee had failed, the American Medical Association was warning that the 27 percent cut would "force many physicians to limit the number of Medicare and TRICARE patients they can care for in their practices."

24 Nov 2011

Study raises concerns about Bisphenol A in canned foods

A recent study published in JAMA raises concerns about Bisphenol A (BPA) in canned foods.

24 Nov 2011

Community-based program battles gender-based violence

Hillary Anderson, a communications intern for Management Sciences for Health (MSH), writes in this post on MSH's "Global Health Impact" blog about the organization's Community-based Family Planning and HIV & AIDS Services (CFPHS) project, which "worked to address gender-based violence (GBV) in Malawi through behavior change communication (BCC) activities."

24 Nov 2011

No variation in mortality by timing of operation

The timing of surgical procedures—afternoon versus morning or Friday versus Monday—doesn't affect the risk of death after surgery, concludes a study in the December issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society.

24 Nov 2011

Why foreign aid should matter to GOP presidential candidates

"I suggest that GOP presidential candidates apply similar personal finance principles to evaluate why foreign aid is worth the investment," Samuel Worthington, president of InterAction, writes in a CNN opinion piece.

24 Nov 2011

Novel genetic sequencing methods identify various bacteria on public restrooms

Everyone wonders what bugs might be lurking in public bathrooms. Now researchers are using novel genetic sequencing methods to answer this question, revealing a plethora of bacteria all around, from the doors and the floors to the faucet handles and toilet seats, with potential public health implications, as reported Nov. 23 in the online journal PLoS ONE.

24 Nov 2011

Obama should announce scale-up of AIDS treatment programs

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent speech calling for an "AIDS-free generation" through the use of multiple prevention strategies, including more widespread antiretroviral therapy, "was a dramatic reversal of U.S. policy, which has historically viewed treatment more as a costly expense rather than our most powerful prevention investment," physician Loretta Ciraldo and Katrina Ciraldo, a student at Boston University School of Medicine, write in this Miami Herald opinion piece.

24 Nov 2011

First systematic and in-depth analysis of cardiac arrest in hospital

Only a few decades ago, sudden cardiac arrest was a death sentence. Today, a victim of sudden cardiac arrest is saved roughly once every six hours in Sweden, reveals a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, reviewing all cases of sudden cardiac arrest over a 30-year period.

24 Nov 2011

Insurance commissioners back brokers on health law standard

After more than a year of debate, state regulators ... approved a resolution calling for changes to the healthcare reform law's medical loss ratio provision. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) passed the measure 26-20, over strenuous objections from commissioners who said the process and the resolution itself would undermine the NAIC's reputation.

24 Nov 2011