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MedPAC offers possible offsets for Medicare physician pay fix

Still, Obama's deficit-reduction plan, released yesterday, includes no funding for the doc fix. Some are eyeing a Medicaid adjustment that will garner $13 billion in savings as a possible cash cow - but competition is stiff for these funds.

21 Sep 2011

St. Jude Medical pledges $100,000 to support SIR Foundation's Discovery Campaign

The Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation's Discovery Campaign, which seeks to further the growth of minimally invasive medicine into new areas of discovery, announced a major corporate pledge to that initiative. St. Jude Medical Foundation, the philanthropic arm of St. Jude Medical, has pledged $100,000 and is a "Pioneer" level supporter.

21 Sep 2011

GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry's record on women's health scrutinized

As the GOP presidential primary campaign continues to heat up, news outlets focus on Texas Gov. Rick Perry's state policy record: An NPR report today examines his funding for women's health. Meanwhile, Michele Bachmann offers her take on employer-sponsored health insurance.

21 Sep 2011

U.S., WHO sign MOU to help nations support International Health Regulations

The U.S. and the WHO on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) "to help developing nations strengthen their capabilities to support the International Health Regulations (IHR)," which is "an international agreement that requires WHO Member States to prevent and respond to acute public health risks that have the potential to cross borders and threaten people worldwide," according to a State Department press release.

21 Sep 2011

Three reports evaluate global progress to meet MDGs 4 and 5

Three recent reports -- a one-year assessment released by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health of the WHO on Tuesday, an analysis by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington published on Tuesday in the Lancet, and a Save the Children report released on Monday entitled "No Child out of Reach" -- examine the progress of the global campaign to save mothers and children under five in developing nations and evaluate whether Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, reducing child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015 and maternal deaths by three-quarters over the same period, can be met.

21 Sep 2011

World leaders should commit to closing health care worker gap

Recent U.N. statistics showing a drop in child mortality are both good and bad, because the number of child deaths continues to drop, but "progress isn't reaching all families around the world, and it isn't reaching newborn babies as often as older children," Joy Lawn, director of Global Evidence and Policy for Save the Children's Saving Newborn Lives program, writes in a GlobalPost opinion piece.

21 Sep 2011

New organ donation rules under consideration

Surgeons retrieving organs for transplant just after a donor's heart stops beating would no longer have to wait at least two minutes to be sure the heart doesn't spontaneously start beating again under new rules being considered by the group that coordinates organ allocation in the United States.

21 Sep 2011

Pakistan officials move to contain dengue epidemic that has infected thousands

"On top of a raging insurgency and devastating seasonal floods, Pakistan is reeling from a particularly acute outbreak of dengue fever that has left local authorities scrambling to contain the epidemic" and has put a strain on the health care system, the Washington Post reports, adding that the disease "has already infected thousands across the country and killed as many as two dozen people."

21 Sep 2011

UAB surgeons perform second toe-to-thumb transplant

Cary Ramey has the word Carpe tattooed on the underside of his right wrist and Diem tattooed on the left. He loves extreme sports, especially mountain biking and "rock climbing without the ropes."

21 Sep 2011

World leaders unanimously approve NCD political declaration

World leaders attending the first-ever U.N. High-level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) kicked off the summit on Monday by "unanimously approving a 'political declaration' meant to stem a rising tide of NCDs, now the world's leading killer," CNN reports.

21 Sep 2011

AIDS 2012 CCC selects Turning The Tide Together as theme for XIX international conference

The AIDS 2012 Conference Coordinating Committee (CCC) have selected Turning The Tide Together as the theme for the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012), which will be held in Washington, D.C. from 22 - 27 July 2012.

21 Sep 2011

Berson UV used to treat hospital wastewater prior to discharge

Berson’s medium pressure UV systems are being used in a trial in the Netherlands to treat hospital wastewater prior to discharge. In the trial, UV is applied in combination with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to generate OH- radicals in a so-called “Advanced Oxidation Process” (AOP). The very reactive OH- radicals attack the pharmaceutical residues in the wastewater, breaking them down into H2O, CO2 and harmless metabolites.

21 Sep 2011

Global health experts discuss curbing rise of NCDs at Washington Post live event

The Washington Post reports on an event hosted last week by Washington Post Live, the division of the newspaper that organizes forums and debates, which brought together a number of attendees of the U.N. summit on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) wrapping up today in New York, as well as other key thinkers on global health, to discuss curbing the rise of NCDs.

21 Sep 2011

Aetna supports mHealth diabetes initiative in India

Aetna, a leading global diversified health care benefits company, announced that it is participating in a diabetes prevention program in India led by non-profit Arogya World that strives to reach one million consumers via mobile text messages.

21 Sep 2011

Polio in Pakistan prompts India to implement border crossing vaccination campaign

Officials in Pakistan on Monday "announced targeted, three-day anti-polio campaigns in affected areas, which include Karachi and districts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas," the Wall Street Journal's "India Real Time" blog reports.

21 Sep 2011

Tips for recognizing stroke symptoms

Drs. Savita Khanna and Cameron Rink, both assistant professors of surgery in the College of Medicine at The Ohio State University Medical Center are part of a research team that has been working for more than a decade to identify ways to reduce brain injury during stroke.

21 Sep 2011

Obama budget plan includes $320 billion in Medicare, Medicaid cuts over 10 years

The squeeze will be felt by future Medicare recipients, in reduced payments to drug companies and hospitals, and with higher costs to states. And, though many parts of the health sector are grumbling about the proposal, some advocates say the president's vision is less painful than some of the ideas that have recently been on the table.

21 Sep 2011

Poor neighborhoods linked to higher risk of out-of-hospital cardiac deaths

People living in poor neighborhoods are at higher risk of dying of heart disease outside a hospital than are people who live in wealthier neighborhoods, research suggests.

21 Sep 2011

Major health insurers agree to supply health claims data to new academic institute

This agreement, which The New York Times described as "unusual," will create a database for research on health care costs and utilization, according to The Wall Street Journal.

21 Sep 2011

UIC wins HRSA-MCHB grant to expand disabilities training program

A successful University of Illinois at Chicago-based interdisciplinary effort to train leaders in programs that help children with developmental disabilities and autism has won a $3.3 million five-year grant from the Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration-Maternal and Child Health Bureau.

21 Sep 2011