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States join forces to fend off Medicaid cuts

With billions of dollars in Medicaid spending at risk in Congress, states are forming a loose confederacy to oppose any federal cuts that could damage state budgets already awash in red ink.

30 Sep 2011

Food aid reaches almost half of Somalis in need but threat of disease looms, U.N. agency says

"The U.N. on Wednesday said food assistance has reached nearly half the Somalis in need, and it warned cases of diarrhea and cholera could spike with the seasonal rains expected in October," the Associated Press reports.

30 Sep 2011

Cedars-Sinai to co-sponsor World Stem Cell Summit

Six leaders in stem cell research from the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute will be key presenters at the world's largest interdisciplinary stem cell meeting Oct. 3-5 in Pasadena, Calif.

30 Sep 2011

IOM offers additional ideas to revamp system of geographic adjustments to Medicare payments

The Institute of Medicine supplemented its earlier list of ideas for overhauling the system of geographic adjustments to Medicare payments with four more suggestions today.

30 Sep 2011

New book on worst kids' foods in America

Today, authors David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding revealed the list of the "20 Worst Kids' Foods in America" as featured in the new EAT THIS, NOT THAT! NEW! UPDATED 2012 EDITION, the annual update of their original New York Times bestselling title.

30 Sep 2011

Good quality sleep is essential for overall health

Sleep plays a critical role in immune function, metabolism, memory, learning, growth, stress reduction and other vital functions. So getting the right amount of good quality sleep is as essential for overall health as good nutrition and regular exercise.

30 Sep 2011

Global Fund board supports recommendations of Independent Review Panel, will implement 'wide-reaching reforms'

"The Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria approved an action plan Monday in response to recommendations made recently by the High-Level Independent Review Panel on Fiduciary Controls and Oversight Mechanism (HLP)," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports, adding, "The board stated that it accepts the underlying analysis made by the panel and that it 'presents a compelling case for a rapid and urgent transformation of the Global Fund.'"

30 Sep 2011

Poor hospital supplies could spell danger for vulnerable patients

It was found that most hospitals operate with less than a month's supply of many essential medicines, leaving patients vulnerable if local distributors are unable to import them through fragile international supply chains.

29 Sep 2011

CVS Caremark, Dovetail Health partner to prevent avoidable hospital readmissions

Industry research finds that one in five seniors are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge, representing a prevalent and costly issue for health plan sponsors. Moreover, it is estimated that nearly 70 percent of adverse health events that take place after hospital discharge are related to medication management issues.

29 Sep 2011

First Edition: September 29, 2011

In today's headlines, reports that a Supreme Court ruling on the 2010 health law is now likely before the 2012 presidential election.

29 Sep 2011

Photo essay of USAID's work with women suffering from fistula in Guinea

This post in USAID's "IMPACTblog" examines the agency's work with women suffering from obstetric fistula in Guinea, where "[t]he average ... woman will have six children during her lifetime" and "due to the lack of obstetric care," many develop the "painful injury that is especially traumatic due to the stigma associated with it."

29 Sep 2011

Tobacco companies deliberately kept findings of cancer-causing radioactive particles from the public

Tobacco companies knew that cigarette smoke contained radioactive alpha particles for more than four decades and developed "deep and intimate" knowledge of these particles' cancer-causing potential, but they deliberately kept their findings from the public, according to a new study by UCLA researchers.

29 Sep 2011

Philippines health officials warn of disease risk following Typhoon Nesat

"Philippines authorities are warning of possible water-borne disease outbreaks following Typhoon Nesat," which ripped through the country on Tuesday causing widespread damage including power outages, flooding and landslides, IRIN reports (9/28). According to Reuters, at least 21 people have been killed by the storm and its consequences (Mogato, 9/28).

29 Sep 2011

IRIN examines rise in new leprosy cases in remote region of Madagascar

IRIN examines an increase in new leprosy cases in Antalaha, a once-prosperous vanilla-exporting town in a remote region of Madagascar, where a 2009 military-supported coup brought the suspension of some foreign aid and trade benefits.

29 Sep 2011

Bill Gates arrives in Nigeria to discuss polio eradication efforts

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, arrived in Nigeria on Tuesday, where he held talks with government officials and traditional leaders to discuss polio eradication efforts in the country's worst-hit northwestern region, Agence France-Presse reports (9/27).

29 Sep 2011

Aborigines have higher STD rates than general Australian population

Aborigines in Australia have higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia than the country's general population, according to research by the University of New South Wales' Kirby Institute and reported on Tuesday at a sexual health conference, the Associated Press/Seattle Times reports.

29 Sep 2011

Appalachia pediatricians less likely to encourage HPV vaccination than other area doctors

Pediatricians in Appalachia are less likely than doctors in other areas to encourage parents to have their children receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, according to a new study.

29 Sep 2011

Clinithink, Acusis to improve clinical documentation in ambulatory and acute care settings

Acusis, LLC and Clinithink Ltd. have agreed to collaborate with the initial goal of enhancing the clinical documentation process in ambulatory and acute care settings through the integration of Clinithink's new and transformative technology into the market-leading Acusis solution: AcuSuite.

29 Sep 2011

MU's program provides solutions for states with physician shortage

An innovative program at the University of Missouri School of Medicine could help states deal with a dilemma in Washington, D.C. If deficit-reduction measures cut billions of dollars for training physicians who are already in short supply, who will care for the more than 30 million newly insured patients entering the health care system?

29 Sep 2011

OUP announces new publishing partnership with EACTS

Oxford University Press (OUP) is pleased to announce its new publishing partnership with the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS): OUP will be publishing the Association's three journal titles from January 2012.

29 Sep 2011