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Negotiators set sights on 'grand debt deal'

At stake are trillions of dollars in government spending and taxes. One of the proposals in play is an increase in payments by upper-income seniors for Medicare. Sweeping reductions in domestic spending are also on the table. After a Thursday meeting, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders agreed to reconvene Sunday.

8 Jul 2011

Congress should take the lead in foreign aid reform

Citing PEPFAR, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the President's Malaria Initiative as pieces of the "remarkable success story" of U.S. foreign aid over the past decade, former Congress member and Ambassador to Tanzania Mark Green writes in a post on the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network's "ModernizeAid" blog.

8 Jul 2011

Greater autonomy for hospitals may not enhance productivity and performance

Giving hospitals greater autonomy may not lead to enhanced productivity and performance, according to new research from the University of York.

8 Jul 2011

Calif. hospital system pays $865,500 to settle celebrity allegations of privacy breaches

The complaints were generated between 2005 to 2009, a time during which hospital employees were, in various instances, caught and fired for sneaking looks at celebrity medical records.

8 Jul 2011

Democrats fear political pain from entitlement cuts

Though some Democrats view the Obama's strategy to reach a budget deal as a positive development, others are making pleas to take Medicare and Social Security cuts off of the bargaining table — fearing that changes to these programs would make them vulnerable in the upcoming election cycle.

8 Jul 2011

U.N. set to highlight challenges of growing global population

As the United Nations prepares to recognize World Population Day on July 11, with the global population is expected to reach seven billion by October, U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin told Inter Press Service that "seven billion represents a challenge, an opportunity and a call to action."

8 Jul 2011

Calif. and Colo. move forward on building exchanges

California Healthline looks at efforts in that state to meld an insurance exchange with an information exchange to help consumers, while Colorado officials set the first meeting of the new exchange board.

8 Jul 2011

U.S. leading fight against NTDs

Bernard Pecoul, executive director of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, and Peter Hotez, president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and editor-in-chief of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, write in this PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog post that the first-ever neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) meeting of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, which is taking place this weekend in Boston, "offers an opportunity for U.S. policy-makers...

8 Jul 2011

Advocacy group messages, concerns emerge as deficit talks continue

The drug industry and teaching hospitals are among the health industry sectors that are bracing for hits from the budget deal. Meanwhile, other health care providers are watching and waiting -- trying to figure out what might become of their interests as the negotiations go forward. And Democrats and liberal advocates, the staunchest supporters of the health law, fear President Barack Obama could give up too much in the ultimate agreement.

8 Jul 2011

First Edition: July 8, 2011

In today's headlines, reports that budget negotiators are setting their sights on a "grand debt deal" -- a concept that is causing some Democrats concern regarding how safety net programs will fare.

8 Jul 2011

Brigham and Women's Hospital receives NIH Program of Excellence in Glycosciences award

The laboratory of Robert Sackstein, MD, PhD, of the Dermatology Department at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), has been granted a prestigious Program of Excellence Award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to support investigations in glycobiology: the discipline which studies how sugars direct biologic processes.

8 Jul 2011

Federal appeals court rules government cannot force health groups to take anti-prostitution pledge

"A federal appeals court has ruled that the United States cannot force partners in its international fight against AIDS to denounce prostitution as a condition for receiving funding," the Associated Press reports. Three health organizations sued the government in 2005, saying some groups "advocate for a reduction in penalties for prostitution to prevent interference with outreach efforts," according to the news agency (7/6).

8 Jul 2011

Federal incentives not necessarily moving physicians to adopt health information technology

In Dr. Sandra Berglund's well-stocked waiting room, there's a box of children's toys and picture books and, on either side of a magazine rack, framed photographs of sacred places: the stadiums of the Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Indians.

8 Jul 2011

USAID's Nairobi-based DART to expedite additional U.S. humanitarian aid to the Horn of Africa

In the wake of the worst drought in the Horn of Africa since the 1950s, more than 10 million people—primarily in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia—are in need of emergency assistance. In response to this urgent need, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is standing up a Nairobi-based Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to help expedite additional U.S. Government humanitarian aid to the Horn.

8 Jul 2011

India will continue to produce generic HIV drugs, Commerce and Industry Minister says

"India will not compromise on drug licensing norms and [will] continue to produce generic drugs for free treatment to HIV-positive patients, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said" on Wednesday, the IANS/Times of India reports.

8 Jul 2011

EU countries should pool funding to create 'prize' for bringing new antibiotics to market, report says

"European policy makers were urged Wednesday to find viable financial incentives to get drug companies to discover new antibiotics, because the lack of fresh supplies poses acute dangers to health care and efforts against infectious diseases," according to a report by the Office of Health Economics and funded by GlaxoSmithKline, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal reports.

8 Jul 2011

UNHCR says African drought threatens 'Human tragedy of unimaginable proportions'

"High levels of malnutrition, combined with violence in the war-torn Horn of Africa nation, are threatening 'a human tragedy of unimaginable proportions,' the UNHCR warned" on Wednesday, the AFP/Daily Telegraph/Vancouver Sun reports.

8 Jul 2011

Scientists track public health trends through Twitter

Twitter allows millions of social media fans to comment in 140 characters or less on just about anything: an actor's outlandish behavior, an earthquake's tragic toll or the great taste of a grilled cheese sandwich.

8 Jul 2011

Next phase of HIV programming must focus on sustainable health systems response

"Now, we are in the Third-Generation of AIDS programming, in which the focus must be on a sustainable, health systems response, especially in the countries most affected by HIV & AIDS," Jonathan Quick, president and CEO of Management Sciences for Health, writes on the organization's "Global Health Impact" blog.

8 Jul 2011

Obama defends U.S. foreign aid spending during Twitter Town Hall meeting

"President Barack Obama on Wednesday held his first-ever 'Town Hall' meeting using the social media network Twitter, focusing on the U.S. economy and jobs," VOA News reports (Robinson, 6/7).

8 Jul 2011

Healthcare News

Negotiators set sights on 'grand debt deal'

Congress should take the lead in foreign aid reform

Greater autonomy for hospitals may not enhance productivity and performance

Calif. hospital system pays $865,500 to settle celebrity allegations of privacy breaches

Democrats fear political pain from entitlement cuts

U.N. set to highlight challenges of growing global population

Calif. and Colo. move forward on building exchanges

U.S. leading fight against NTDs

Advocacy group messages, concerns emerge as deficit talks continue

First Edition: July 8, 2011

Brigham and Women's Hospital receives NIH Program of Excellence in Glycosciences award

Federal appeals court rules government cannot force health groups to take anti-prostitution pledge

Federal incentives not necessarily moving physicians to adopt health information technology

USAID's Nairobi-based DART to expedite additional U.S. humanitarian aid to the Horn of Africa

India will continue to produce generic HIV drugs, Commerce and Industry Minister says

EU countries should pool funding to create 'prize' for bringing new antibiotics to market, report says

UNHCR says African drought threatens 'Human tragedy of unimaginable proportions'

Scientists track public health trends through Twitter

Next phase of HIV programming must focus on sustainable health systems response

Obama defends U.S. foreign aid spending during Twitter Town Hall meeting

Exploring the nanoscale: How AFM is transforming cosmetic science

Innovating Texture and Culture in Plant-Based Foods

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

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