Healthcare News

RSS

States move to require ultrasounds before abortions

Various states have passed or are considering bills to tighten abortion regulations.

30 Apr 2010

FDA critics say controversy about diabetes drug points to need for agency changes

Reuters: "The controversy surrounding a GlaxoSmithKline Plc diabetes drug points to a need for changes in the way the U.S. Food and Drug Administration handles safety issues, agency critics told lawmakers on Wednesday.

30 Apr 2010

DOJ investigating Partners HealthCare for alleged anticompetitive practices

Partners HealthCare, the largest hospital and physician network in the Northeast, is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for alleged anticompetitive behavior after some have questioned how the firm negotiates contracts with health insurers, The Boston Globe reports.

30 Apr 2010

Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries agree to pay over $81M to resolve Topamax illegal promotion allegations

American pharmaceutical manufacturers Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical LLC and Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., both subsidiaries of Johnson & Johnson, have agreed to pay more than $81 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of the epilepsy drug Topamax, the Justice Department announced today.

30 Apr 2010

Health reform politics still swirling; SEIU close to choosing new leader

CongressDaily: "When House Minority Leader Boehner ranks wholesale repeal of healthcare reform as Republicans' No. 1 priority, that thinking might be more wishful than pragmatic." If the GOP scores significant gains in the upcoming midterm and 2012 elections, they could draw Democrats back to the table to renegotiate certain parts of the law.

30 Apr 2010

2nd biannual fetal therapy reunion at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center

Over 200 infants and toddlers will converge at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center on Saturday, May 15 at a special event celebrating their lives and reuniting them and their parents with others who share similar experiences.

30 Apr 2010

Health law keeps 200,000 in state insurance plans instead of new high-risk pools

USA Today: About 200,000 people already enrolled in 35 state high-risk insurance pools "will not be allowed to enroll this summer in a new lower cost federal program for people like them because they already buy pricey state-run plans." In order to be eligible, "a person can't have had health coverage for six months.

30 Apr 2010

Call for an independent inquiry into Queensland Health payroll debacle

There has been a major payroll error leaving tens of thousands of healthcare staff short of cash or without pay in the past few weeks in Queensland after the introduction of a new computerized payroll system last month.

30 Apr 2010

IPS examines how Uganda's anti-counterfeit bill could impact access to generic drugs

Inter Press Service examines Uganda's "controversial Counterfeit Goods Bill," which some say will limit the public's access to "life-saving generic medicines."

30 Apr 2010

Seniors often don't choose best quality Medicare Advantage plans, study finds

The Associated Press: "Millions of seniors signed up for popular Medicare Advantage insurance plans don't get the best quality, an independent study found. How the private plans score on a quality rating system set up by the government is about to have a direct impact on insurers' finances — not to mention seniors' benefits and premiums.

30 Apr 2010

Health insurers adopt reform changes early; WellPoint reports rising profits

Following announcements by leading health insurers that their firms would end the practice of rescission, or stripping the sick from their roles, the broader insurance industry followed suit, according to a letter from America's Health Insurance Plans to congressional Democrats, Politico reports. "The decision to end rescission … was made during a Tuesday afternoon conference call of chief executives organized by their trade group, America's Health Insurance Plans, and represents the industry's latest attempt to build political good will after the bruising health care fight."

30 Apr 2010

SickKids receives $8.9M grant for autism research

A research team co-led by Dr. Stephen Scherer, Senior Scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) was awarded an $8.9 million grant today from the Global Leadership Round in Genomics & Life Sciences (GL(2)), which is part of the Ontario Research Fund (ORF) by the Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI).

30 Apr 2010

IRIC launches new RNA engineering laboratory in Canada

The Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer of the Universit- de Montr-al is proud to announce the launch of the very first ribonucleic acid engineering laboratory in Canada.

30 Apr 2010

States crack down on discount health plans

Kaiser Health News: "State regulators are cracking down on a health care product that targets the growing group of uninsured and underinsured Americans: the discount health plan.

30 Apr 2010

Consumer confusion triggers crackdown by states on discount health plans

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, Maggie Mertens writes: "State regulators are cracking down on a health care product that targets the growing group of uninsured and underinsured Americans: the discount health plan" (Mertens, 4/29).

30 Apr 2010

The closing of St. Vincent's Hospital creates many uncertainties in N.Y.

The Wall Street Journal reports on the closing of St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan. One story details how the staff of St. Vincent's has not yet received details about the hospital's closing on Friday. The hospital has been slowly winding down services since it announced its closure. "The emergency room stopped admitting patients and ambulances started going elsewhere, leaving the emergency room focused on walk-ins. Their needs have run the gamut. Tuesday night, for example, brought a patient with a possible ruptured aorta...

30 Apr 2010

Republicans call for investigation of health law's costs

Politico: "House Republicans on Wednesday demanded an investigation into whether the health care overhaul plan would increase national health spending, following a recent report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that showed cost increases, at least in the first decade." The Medicare actuary's report showed a one percent increase in health spending over 10 years, which Republicans said cut against Democrats' pledge that the health overhaul would "bend the cost curve down."

30 Apr 2010

Experts see 'lump sums' in health spending's future

Los Angeles Times/Dallas Morning News: Some elite California hospitals will begin "bundling" their fees for joint replacement surgeries into a single lump sum in an attempt to rethink the current pricing system that leaves "hospitals and doctors charging separately for their services," driving "up costs while leaving no one to coordinate decisions about patient care."

30 Apr 2010

Continuing education lectures on adult glioblastoma to be held at all U.S. healthcare centers

Adult glioblastoma continues to be a difficult disease to treat, so healthcare professionals must have the most up-to-date information regarding optimal methods for diagnostic imaging and treatment of these tumors. Awareness of novel agents in clinical trials is also critical to providing the best care.

30 Apr 2010

Partisan disagreement mounts as health programs are considered by debt commission

This week's focus on the federal deficit -- at a fiscal summit that drew many major policy makers and at the opening of President Barack Obama's bipartisan debt-reduction commission -- has renewed interest in the economic effects of the new health care law, especially given Obama's remarks that everything, even that law, would be under consideration by the commission as it looks to cut the national debt.

30 Apr 2010