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Obama's National Security Strategy released, includes global health, food security priorities

"The Obama administration on Thursday released a sweeping statement of its national security goals," the Los Angeles Times reports. The 52-page document "calls for the United States to strengthen international institutions, to heed treaties and norms, and to build stronger ties to allies, including to the emerging powers of India, Brazil and China.

29 May 2010

FDA may seek criminal penalties against J & J for faulty recall of children's Tylenol, other medicines

The Wall Street Journal: "The Food and Drug Administration said it is weighing whether to seek criminal penalties against the Johnson & Johnson unit that made children's Tylenol and other over-the-counter kids' medicines recalled last month. Joshua Sharfstein, the FDA's principal deputy commissioner, told lawmakers at a hearing Thursday that J&J's McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit had a 'pattern of noncompliance' with good manufacturing practices.

29 May 2010

MU awarded $6.8M to help patients benefit from use of health information technology

Considered one the great advances of modern medicine, electronic health records can provide a patient's entire medical history and a wealth of other information at the click of a button. They also have the potential to save countless lives and billions of dollars. Now, the University of Missouri has a two-year, $6.8 million cooperative agreement to help patients throughout the state benefit from increased use of this health information technology.

29 May 2010

Republicans criticize CMS brochure on Medicare improvements

As the secretary of health and human services explains it, the government has an obligation to spread the word about the new health-care law. To that end, the department spent millions of dollars printing a glossy brochure and mailing it this week to 40 million Medicare beneficiaries detailing what Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called 'the facts.'

29 May 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet Infectious Diseases Leading Edge article examines the history of the global efforts to control polio and the challenges associated with targets to globally eradicate the disease. "The eradication of polio seems imminent, but with so few cases, there is a temptation to think an acceptable level of infection has been achieved. Not so.

29 May 2010

Text of brochure mailed to Medicare beneficiaries

The federal government sent a brochure to more than 40 million Medicare beneficiaries, "Medicare and the New Health Care Law - What It Means for You," which is generating political controversy.

29 May 2010

Health law implementation deadlines missed, GOP offers repeal bill

Politico reports that the Obama administration has missed a health reform law deadline to set up a task force on breast cancer and another on health care in Alaska.

29 May 2010

Medicare 'doughnut hole' rebate checks are in mail, Obama adminstration announces

Senior citizens who hit the so-called doughnut hole in Medicare's drug benefit will begin getting $250 rebate checks in two weeks, the Obama administration announced Thursday — providing one of the first tangible benefits of the recently enacted healthcare law. The rebates, designed in part to bolster support for the controversial law, are the first steps in a decade-long phase-out of the unpopular gap in Medicare Part D drug coverage.

29 May 2010

Today's Opinions: Never-events, Medicare 'propaganda' and drug copays

According to the Labor Department, overall inflation has averaged about 2.5 percent annually, and prescription drug prices have gone up about 3.6 percent each year, over that time frame. Co-pays, though, have increased four times faster than inflation (Peter J. Pitts, 5/28).

29 May 2010

Sebelius urges employers to quickly cover young adults

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey reports on a press conference yesterday in which Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius detailed how federal officials are working to get "self-insured employers — who provide health coverage for millions of Americans — to keep young adults up to age 26 on their parents' plans before the new law requires them to do so" (Carey, 5/28).

29 May 2010

Health law having effect on managed-care firms, medical suppliers

Managed-care firms may be positioned for a rebound on the stock market, The Wall Street Journal reports. "Over the past two years, the Standard & Poor's 500 managed-care index has fallen about 19%, weighed down by the health overhaul bill, weak economy and specific industry issues.

29 May 2010

First Edition: May 28, 2010

Today's health policy headlines focus on efforts by federal officials to get more insurance plans to move early on coverage for young adults as well as congressional Democrats' struggle to pass legislation to extend the COBRA benefit subsidy and to prevent a scheduled cut in Medicare payments to physicians.

28 May 2010

Fire safety experts announce statewide program to prevent camp fire injuries, forest fires

Accompanied by Smokey the Bear, burn and fire safety experts today announced a statewide program to prevent camp fire injuries and forest fires. The median age of camp fire victims is two years old and many injuries happen long after the fire is thought to be extinguished. Experts say most of the incidents are predictable and preventable.

28 May 2010

Effective infant vaccination against pneumonia needed in sub-Saharan Africa

Researchers at the University of Warwick, and the Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kilifi, Kenya, have found that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) appears to be the predominant virus detected among infants and children hospitalized in Kenya with severe pneumonia, according to a study in the May 26 issue of JAMA. The contribution to this severe disease by an individual pathogen stresses the need for effective infant vaccination.

28 May 2010

DaVita provides hurricane hotline to help dialysis patients find clinics, schedule treatments during emergencies

DaVita Inc., a leading provider of kidney care services for those diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, announced today that the company will provide a hurricane hotline (1-800-400-8331) that is activated 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help dialysis patients find open clinics and schedule treatments during emergencies such as hurricanes and other natural disasters.

28 May 2010

LCA commends Senator Snowe, Congresswoman Pingree for support of Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act

Today, Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) commended Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) for joining Congressman Michael Michaud (D-ME) as cosponsors of the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act (LCMRA), a bi-partisan, bi-cameral bill that establishes the first ever multi-agency, comprehensive research program targeting all aspects of lung cancer.

28 May 2010

Senate to consider new bill to include technology-based learning materials for students with special needs

The state Senate will be considering a bill that would make it possible for nonpublic schools to include technology-based learning materials in the curriculum for students with special needs. The bill recently passed the state Assembly (76-0) with unanimous bipartisan support.

28 May 2010

New report showing nation's progress toward eliminating HAIs released

Today, we are releasing a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which shows our nation is making progress toward eliminating healthcare-associated infections that kill almost 100,000 Americans each year. The report today focuses on central line-associated bloodstream infections, serious infections that can cause death in hospitalized patients and an estimated $2.7 billion in added cost to the U.S. healthcare system.

28 May 2010

Independent pharmacists launch education campaign to explain impact of massive funding cuts

Independent pharmacists have launched a new effort to sharpen the focus on the impact the McGuinty government's massive funding cuts will have on local independent pharmacies. Independents are concerned that their fates are being overlooked, as the government claims to be battling with chain drug stores.

28 May 2010

Americans' confidence in their ability to access and pay for healthcare increased: Thomson Reuters index

Americans' confidence in their ability to access and pay for healthcare bounced back in April after dipping in February and March, according to a new consumer sentiment index from Thomson Reuters.

28 May 2010

Healthcare News

Obama's National Security Strategy released, includes global health, food security priorities

FDA may seek criminal penalties against J & J for faulty recall of children's Tylenol, other medicines

MU awarded $6.8M to help patients benefit from use of health information technology

Republicans criticize CMS brochure on Medicare improvements

Recent releases in Global Health

Text of brochure mailed to Medicare beneficiaries

Health law implementation deadlines missed, GOP offers repeal bill

Medicare 'doughnut hole' rebate checks are in mail, Obama adminstration announces

Today's Opinions: Never-events, Medicare 'propaganda' and drug copays

Sebelius urges employers to quickly cover young adults

Health law having effect on managed-care firms, medical suppliers

First Edition: May 28, 2010

Fire safety experts announce statewide program to prevent camp fire injuries, forest fires

Effective infant vaccination against pneumonia needed in sub-Saharan Africa

DaVita provides hurricane hotline to help dialysis patients find clinics, schedule treatments during emergencies

LCA commends Senator Snowe, Congresswoman Pingree for support of Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act

Senate to consider new bill to include technology-based learning materials for students with special needs

New report showing nation's progress toward eliminating HAIs released

Independent pharmacists launch education campaign to explain impact of massive funding cuts

Americans' confidence in their ability to access and pay for healthcare increased: Thomson Reuters index

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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