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Kavli Day 2010 at Norwegian University of Science and Technology

In celebration of Kavli Prize Week, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and the Kavli Foundation will hold a series of lectures and events on 9 September 2010 in Trondheim, Norway at the NTNU campus. The event features a number of 2010 Kavli Prize Laureates. The festivities continue after the official celebration, with two symposia sponsored by NTNU, one in neuroscience and one in nanoscience.

4 Sep 2010

New VA regulation helps to get recognition, treatment for three disorders in Agent Orange exposure

A new VA regulation adding three health conditions to the list of those presumed to have been caused by exposure to the toxic defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War was published this week. Pending a 60-day congressional review, the regulation will make some 200,000 veterans eligible for VA benefits over the next year and a half.

4 Sep 2010

Fundraising events in September in support of pulmonary fibrosis research

The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) today announced its September schedule of fundraising events as part of its ongoing campaign to support the efforts of patients and families to raise new funds for pulmonary fibrosis (PF) research.

4 Sep 2010

Aetna to help members access care in storm-impacted areas

Aetna is making it easier for members who may be impacted by Hurricane Earl to refill prescriptions and access employee assistance and behavioral health programs. The company is monitoring the situation carefully, and will re-evaluate its medical and dental policies for members as necessary to help them access care in the storm-impacted areas along the East coast.

4 Sep 2010

MIT develops safer, simpler way to attach phosphorus to organic compounds

Phosphorus, a mineral element found in rocks and bone, is a critical ingredient in fertilizers, pesticides, detergents and other industrial and household chemicals. Once phosphorus is mined from rocks, getting it into these products is hazardous and expensive, and chemists have been trying to streamline the process for decades.

4 Sep 2010

Colorado Society of Anesthesiologists disagree with NPATCH's support on anesthesia administration

"The Colorado Society of Anesthesiologists (CSA) strongly disagrees with NPATCH's support for allowing nurses to administer anesthesia without physician supervision.

4 Sep 2010

Almost half of all Americans use prescription drugs each month

Nearly half of all Americans used at least one prescription drug per month in 2008, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Bloomberg reports. That's a 10 percent increase over the preceding decade. Over that time, yearly spending by Americans on drugs doubled to $234 billion. "The two biggest-sellers last year were Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor for high cholesterol and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s clot-buster, Plavix.

4 Sep 2010

PELC to conduct annual survey on physicians in health care organizations

Physician Executive Leadership Center (PELC), the nation's only executive search firm focused solely on the recruitment and placement of physicians in executive leadership positions, is conducting their annual survey of physicians serving in leadership positions in health care organizations.

4 Sep 2010

Decline in ownership of life insurance

This week an insurance research firm reported that ownership in life insurance has reached a 50-year low, with nearly a third of U.S. households not having a form of this financial protection. As the benefits industry begins Life Insurance Awareness Month in September, Unum (NYSE: UNM) shares the concern that this decline exposes working Americans to financial uncertainty.

4 Sep 2010

IAS urges to review guidelines for implementing HIV prevention and care

Following the imprisonment of Maxim Popov in April 2010, sentenced to 7 years jail primarily for the promotion of HIV prevention efforts in Uzbekistan, the International AIDS Society (IAS) notes with alarm the detention of a medial practitioner working in HIV prevention in Ukraine.

4 Sep 2010

CMS to withdraw provisions of Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement formula under AMP rule: NACDS, NCPA

We are pleased that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed a rule that would withdraw provisions of what is known as the Medicaid average manufacturer price rule. The proposed rule calls for the withdrawal of existing provisions that define AMP, that determine the calculation of federal upper limits, and that define 'multiple source drug.'

4 Sep 2010

VOA News examines U.S. Global Health Initiative

VOA News examines President Barack Obama's $63 billion Global Health Initiative (GHI), noting the initiative's emphasis on cost-effective strategies to improve child- and maternal-health as well as programs to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. The article includes recent comments by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on the role the GHI will play in strengthening health systems and the administration's on-going commitment to global HIV/AIDS programs.

4 Sep 2010

RIFM publishes special issue on safety assessment of unsaturated alcohols

The Research Institute for Fragrance Materials, Inc. (RIFM) has now published on the RIFM web site, in the Publications section, a special issue of Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 48, Supplement 3, on the RIFM Human Health Group Summary, A Safety Assessment of Non-cyclic Alcohols with Unsaturated Branched Chain when used as Fragrance Ingredients.

4 Sep 2010

Up to 5 million kids uninsured but eligible for government programs

As many as 5 million uninsured kids are eligible for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program, according to a report published Friday in the journal Health Affairs, Reuters reports.

4 Sep 2010

Uninsured minority pedestrians hit by cars are at higher risk of death: Research

Uninsured minority pedestrians hit by cars are at a significantly higher risk of death than their insured white counterparts, even if the injuries sustained are similar, new research from Johns Hopkins suggests.

4 Sep 2010

Connecting Kids to Coverage Challenge to enroll five million uninsured children in Medicaid, CHIP

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan today highlighted the Connecting Kids to Coverage Challenge to enroll five million children in Medicaid and CHIP within five years. Since Sebelius announced the Challenge last February, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have built an unprecedented coalition of partners, ranging from state governors to national advocacy organizations, who have stepped up to the challenge to enroll kids and educate families.

4 Sep 2010

Colo. lawmaker pushes bill to permit stem cell research

Politico reports that as "Congress prepares to return for a limited pre-election agenda, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) said she has picked up wide support for her bill to permit embryonic stem-cell research and expects it will pass this month. Although it has been strongly opposed by anti-abortion activists, she voiced confidence that the measure will be a political boost for its backers as well as good policy.

4 Sep 2010

Myths, controversy surround health reform law

News outlets are following the politics and rhetoric surrounding the new health law.

4 Sep 2010

Supermarket tours for students to figure out healthy meal plans

For many students away from home for the first time, college marks the first time they begin shopping, cooking and eating for themselves. Figuring out how to prepare quick yet healthy meals on a budget can be a daunting task, and the allure of fast take-out food often leads to the dreaded "Freshman Fifteen."

4 Sep 2010

State News: Ohio, Florida take advantage of federal health funds; Mass. psychiatrists win court case

The Columbus Dispatch: "Gov. Ted Strickland's administration announced today that nearly $200 million in recently freed up state funds will go to Ohio hospitals, community mental health services, and a program which provides medication to low-income residents with HIV/AIDS. … The state money became available after Congress agreed to continue paying a higher share of the cost of state Medicaid programs that provide insurance coverage to the poor.

3 Sep 2010