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Four Pharma companies underpay Medicaid rebate obligations, pay $124M to resolve allegations

Mylan Pharmaceuticals, UDL Laboratories, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and Ortho McNeil Pharmaceutical have entered into settlement agreements for a total of $124 million to resolve claims that they violated the False Claims Act by failing to pay appropriate rebates to state Medicaid programs for drugs paid for by those programs, the Justice Department announced today.

20 Oct 2009

Senate postpones vote on Medicare 'doc fix'

Senate Democrats have postponed a scheduled cloture vote today on a bill that would make permanent changes to scheduled rate cuts to Medicare reimbursement for doctors and hospitals. Meanwhile, doctors worry about the cuts and lawmakers worry that the fix could break budget goals.

20 Oct 2009

The CBO's educated guesses make or break reform bills

The senior Congressional Budget Office analyst whose job is calculating the costs of overhaul the health system -- an overworked, "amiable father of three" named Phil Ellis -- "is the first to admit that his painstaking numbers are almost certainly wrong," the Washington Post reports. His estimates "essentially condemned two" bills by pricing them at over a trillion, while boosting another by estimating much lower costs, illustrating the huge political stakes generated by Ellis' guesswork.

20 Oct 2009

Winner of first annual Healthcare Administrator Award announced

Deborah Friberg, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of WakeMed Health and Hospitals, Raleigh, North Carolina, has been named the recipient of the first annual Healthcare Administrator Award, presented by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). The award recognizes a healthcare facility's executive team member who has demonstrated significant support for infection prevention and control throughout their facility.

20 Oct 2009

Medicare officials back away from hard line stance on insurers' warning letters

The New York Times reports: "The Obama administration on Friday backed away from an order that had prohibited insurance companies from warning Medicare recipients about the possible loss of benefits under pending legislation to overhaul the health care system." A political storm storm was triggered last month when they tried to stop such communications.

20 Oct 2009

Attorney General announces marijuana guidelines for medical purposes

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced formal guidelines for federal prosecutors in states that have enacted laws authorizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

20 Oct 2009

Lawmakers struggle to balance interests as sweeping health legislation negotiations proceed

Lawmakers continue to try to shape health bills as they move closer to floor votes.

20 Oct 2009

Current medical assessment not sufficient; clinimetric methods may improve final outcomes

In a paper published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Giovanni A. Fava (University of Bologna) and Nicoletta Sonino (University of Padova) summarize data which indicate that current medical assessment, by ignoring the psychosocial dimensions, is inadequate in most of medical encounters

19 Oct 2009

California's community hospitals launch public education and media campaign on H1N1

As preparations for the H1N1 flu season kick into high gear, California's community hospitals have launched a statewide public education and media campaign.

19 Oct 2009

West Virginia nears dental crisis over stagnant Medicaid payments

West Virginia's Medicaid patients are nearing a crisis when it comes to access to dental care, West Virginia Public Broadcasting reports. Medicaid's reimbursement rates for dentistry haven't increased since 1991, and West Virginia cut rates in 1994 by 30 percent, causing fewer and fewer dentists to accept payment from the public program for low-income patients.

19 Oct 2009

Baxa and SINOPHARM sign distribution agreement

Baxa Corporation, a US-based medical device company in Englewood, Colorado, has signed an exclusive four-year distribution agreement with SINOPHARM, a China National Pharmaceutical Foreign Trade Corporation, to promote sales of its products in China.

19 Oct 2009

Baucus: Public insurance option 'alive' in Senate negotiations

USA Today: During a conference call with reporters today, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said the public option is "alive." Baucus, "one of a handful of senators engaged in behind-the-scenes health care negotiations, said Democratic lawmakers are continuing to debate whether to include a government-run health insurance program -- also known as the public option -- and what shape that program might take."

19 Oct 2009

Even with budget concerns, lawmakers fight for rural hospitals

Kaiser Health News' staff writers Eric Pianin and Mary Agnes Carey report in a story produced in collaboration with Politico on rural hospitals' stake in the ongoing efforts to overhaul the nation's health system.

19 Oct 2009

Experts: Treat swine flu quickly, even without verification

The World Health Organization concluded a three-day meeting on H1N1 (swine flu) in Washington, D.C., on Friday, where health experts issued recommendations that patients with symptoms of H1N1 and pneumonia be treated quickly with antivirals, even before the results of H1N1 tests are complete, the San Francisco Chronicle blog, "ChronRX" reports (Allday, 10/16).

19 Oct 2009

Federal grant for ecstasy research

A so-called "club drug" - typically not used all that often by those who take it - can still have the potential to cause a lot of damage among some users, say University of Cincinnati researchers. Trials are underway to trace the effects of ecstasy and to see who's most at risk. The study is supported by $471,000 in federal stimulus funds awarded by the National Institutes of Health and spread out over two years.

19 Oct 2009

More details emerging on health reform's proposed changes to Medicare

The Dallas Morning News reports on some of health reform's proposed changes to Medicare and local consumer reactions. "The 10.4 million beneficiaries with private insurers' Medicare Advantage plans will still get coverage at least comparable to regular Medicare, but some will see fewer extra benefits or higher out-of-pocket costs. For most of Medicare's 45 million beneficiaries, an overhaul will improve coverage by beefing up drug benefits, preserving access to physicians, paying for more preventive care and putting Medicare on firmer financial footing."

19 Oct 2009

Innovative financing for global health issues discussed at Nairobi meeting

As more countries prepare to introduce a voluntary travel tax to help fight HIV/AIDS and other diseases worldwide, Philippe Douste-Blazy, chair of UNITAID and a U.N. special advisor on innovative development financing said at a recent event in Nairobi, Kenya, that "the airline levy gives participating developing nations an opportunity to contribute to treatment in their countries rather than depending on handouts from the developed world," the Standard reports.

19 Oct 2009

Also in Global Health News: Asia-Pacific reproductive health; developing country medical waste disposal; draft bill in Uganda; diarrhea deaths in China

"China has called on Asia-Pacific countries to attach greater importance to population and family planning and put more funds into the reproductive health and family planning programmes," the Daily Times reports (10/19).

19 Oct 2009

Campaign seeks to hold governments accountable to meeting MDG targets

Inter Press Service examines the Stand Up Take Action campaign, which took place October 16-18 to highlight the Millennium Development Goals' [MDG] 2015 deadline.

19 Oct 2009

A selection of today's opinions and editorials

"The American people deserve facts and a fair discussion of what's most important as Congress tackles healthcare reform. AARP and the American Medical Association are committed to preserving the best of our current system and to working to improve it with policies that expand coverage, improve quality and make insurance more affordable" (Jennie Chin Hansen and J. James Rohack, 10/19).

19 Oct 2009