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USAgainstAlzheimer's applauds House passage of National Alzheimer's Project Act

USAgainstAlzheimer's today applauded the passage by the House of Representatives of the National Alzheimer's Project Act and released statements from its Chairman and Founder George Vradenburg, its Scientific Advisory Board Chair and Nobel Laureate Stanley Prusiner and its ally in the Alzheimer's Movement, First Lady of California Maria Shriver.

16 Dec 2010

Opinions: Kangaroo care; NTDs, Women's health

New York Times contributing writer Tina Rosen, on the newspaper's "Opinionator" blog, examines the success of a system known as kangaroo care, which has helped to improve the survival rates of premature infants by using skin-to-skin contact with mothers in place of incubators in low-resource settings. The post notes the potential value of such a strategy in poor countries "where pregnant women are unlikely to get the food and care they need," and "low birth weight babies are very common."

16 Dec 2010

NIH grants $7.5 million for researchers to develop novel compounds in treating nicotine addiction

The Scripps Research Institute and the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine have been awarded approximately $7.5 million over five years to develop novel compounds that could eventually become drug candidates for the treatment of nicotine dependence, and possibly other drug addictions.

16 Dec 2010

CAMY reports 71% increase in youth exposure to alcohol ads

Youth exposure to alcohol advertising on U.S. television increased 71 percent between 2001 and 2009, according to a report released today by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

16 Dec 2010

Houston Endowment awards UH $5 million to increase number of doctoral student graduates

Houston Endowment Inc. has awarded $5 million to the University of Houston, which it will use to help increase the number of doctoral students it graduates annually, a key element in UH's mission to become a Tier One institution.

16 Dec 2010

Three-day African food security forum opens in Accra

The 26th Annual Meeting of the Food Crisis Prevention Network, "which serves as the platform for deliberation on food production and food security in Africa," opened on Tuesday in Accra, Ghana, the Ghana News Agency reports. The three-day forum will examine "the agricultural and food situation for the 2010/2011 cropping season and come out with measures on tackling food crises," according to the news service.

16 Dec 2010

Nation's leading health care systems collaborate to improve quality while reducing costs

Six of the nation's leading health care systems today announced a first-of-its-kind collaboration to improve health care quality while reducing costs.

16 Dec 2010

Tort reform legislation has not reduced physician concerns about malpractice lawsuits: Study

Physicians' fears of being sued for malpractice are out of proportion to their actual risk of being sued, according to a recent study by a University of Iowa researcher and colleagues.

16 Dec 2010

CRS report details regs issued since passage of health overhaul

The Congressional Research Service issued a new report examining the processes followed in the development of the new rules put in place since the passage of the health overhaul. Meanwhile, the omnibus spending bill now moving through Congress includes funds for Medicare and Medicaid fraud prevention.

16 Dec 2010

Tampa Hospital associates receive Transplant Excellence Award for lung transplant program

New Lung Associates PA and the Lung Transplant Program at Tampa General Hospital have received HealthGrades 2011 Organ Transplant Excellence Award. The award places Tampa General Hospital among the top three lung transplant programs in the nation.

16 Dec 2010

Sun-Times: Medicare wants pharmacists out of Plan D decision-making process

Walgreens pharmacists are no longer giving customers advice on which Medicare Part D plans best work with the customers' prescriptions by the Dec. 31 deadline, and a Medicare spokesman says that's a good thing.

16 Dec 2010

Personalities, politics emerge from decision's aftermath

Personalities and politics swirl around news about Monday's ruling in the Virginia health law challenge, with news outlets detailing how judges in different cases reached their conclusions and examining Judge Henry Hudson's ties to a GOP consulting firm. More reports also surround the related political dust-ups and posturing.

16 Dec 2010

The Baltimore Sun: Stent sellers were allowed inside lab despite hospital ban

News outlets examine how the marketing of medical devices and treatments impacts health care costs and physicians' decisions.

16 Dec 2010

Researchers discover newborn's brain respond strongly to mother's voice

A mother's voice will preferentially activate the parts of the brain responsible for language learning, say researchers from the University of Montreal and the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Centre.

16 Dec 2010

Today's Opinions: Reviewing judge's ruling on health law's individual mandate

The legal case against it almost certainly will make its way to the Supreme Court before the individual mandate is due to take effect in 2014. But considered in its proper context, it doesn't violate the Constitution (12/15).

15 Dec 2010

ICSA Labs can now test and certify electronics health record product solutions

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has designated ICSA Labs as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body for products and solutions for electronic health records.

15 Dec 2010

Experts study obesity in young population with physical, cognitive disabilities

While the nation's obesity epidemic is the target of many programs to combat it, few such programs embrace an often-overlooked subgroup adolescents and young adults with physical or cognitive disabilities.

15 Dec 2010

MCSA Tool for colonoscopy trainees to assess cognitive and motor skills

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, have developed a new skills assessment tool for colonoscopy trainees.

15 Dec 2010

First Edition: December 15, 2010

Today's major health policy news is full of second-day stories and analysis regarding Monday's health law decision by a federal court judge in Virginia.

15 Dec 2010

Customer satisfaction with health insurance falls 2.7%, says ACSI report

Steady or improving customer satisfaction with several types of financial services is not enough to overcome the customer satisfaction challenges of the health insurance industry, according to a report released today by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The report covers customer satisfaction with banks, credit unions, health insurance, life insurance and property & casualty insurance.

15 Dec 2010