Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Federal appeals court upholds health law

The majority decision, issued by a three-judge panel from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, included the support of a Republican appointee to the federal bench -- the first to affirm the individual mandate's constitutionality.

1 Jul 2011

NIH awards Allina $2.4M grant to examine impact of integrative therapies for pain management

The National Institutes of Health has awarded $2.4 million to Allina Hospitals & Clinics to study the impact of integrative and mind/body therapies on pain management for patients at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minn.

1 Jul 2011

Minnesota nears government shutdown

Minnesota would face a massive government shutdown under a court ruling released Wednesday, with all but critical services stopping by Friday.

1 Jul 2011

Viewpoints: Abortion law debates; Medicare cost examinations; state reform building blocks

The Susan B. Anthony List's Pro-Life Leadership Pledge has garnered praise from a number of Republican presidential candidates, including Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Tim Pawlenty, each of whom has signed the pledge. It has also faced some misinformed criticism, however, not only from the media but from other presidential candidates who refuse to sign on to the pledge's four basic principles.

30 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 30, 2011

Today's headlines include reports about yesterday's decision from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the health law.

30 Jun 2011

New medical contrast agent could play important role in diagnosing colon cancer

Colon cancer could become easier to detect, thanks to a newly developed medical contrast agent and advanced optics that illuminate dangerous, invisible polyps.

30 Jun 2011

Federal appeals court in Cincinnati upholds health law

"A federal appeals court in Cincinnati on Wednesday upheld the health-care law passed by Congress last year, saying the law's requirement for most Americans to carry insurance or pay a penalty is constitutional. The vote was 2-1 on the three-judge panel on the key question of whether the insurance requirement exceeded Congress's powers under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The majority concluded that it did not".

30 Jun 2011

New classification for assessing functional status and disability in patients with osteoporosis

A new study brings the experience of physical therapists to a developing "Core Set" of criteria to guide evaluation and treatment for patients with osteoporosis, reports the April/June issue of the Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy, official journal of the Section on Geriatrics of the American Physical Therapy Association.

30 Jun 2011

Obama health insurance plans upheld at the Appeals court

President Obama's healthcare make over plans sailed through its first hurdle at the federal appellate court, as the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati concluded that the law's insurance requirement is constitutional.

30 Jun 2011

Christie signs law to cut health benefits; Conn.'s Malloy also seeks trims

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has approved broad cuts to health benefits for the state's 750,000 government workers. The new law requires state and local employees and retirees to pay a much bigger share of their health insurance costs and eliminates their right to collective bargaining on health issues.

30 Jun 2011

Golden Meditech total turnover increases 15% to HK$328,066,000 for year ended 31 March, 2011

Golden Meditech Holdings Limited, a leading integrated healthcare enterprise in China, is pleased to announce the Group's annual results for the year ended 31 March, 2011.

30 Jun 2011

Obstetricians/gynecologists rank Pfizer as No. 1 pharmaceutical company: SDI

According to SDI's Pharmaceutical Company Image 2011 study, obstetricians/gynecologists ranked Pfizer No. 1 overall. Forty percent of the 325 participating OB/GYNs reported that Pfizer was one of the three companies they held in highest esteem. In the 2010 study, Pfizer placed second.

30 Jun 2011

N.C. Gov. Vetoes abortion bill; 2 Kansas doctors file suit against Kansas law; R.I. exchange bill caught in dispute

Gov. Bev Perdue vetoed a bill Monday that would require women seeking abortions to wait 24 hours after state-prescribed counseling, leaving the bill's House supporters looking for override votes. The bill would have made significant changes in state abortion policy, changes supporters said would give pregnant women important information about fetal development and abortion alternatives.

30 Jun 2011

New technology reduces stress of scheduling chemotherapy treatments

The stress of scheduling chemotherapy treatments has been substantially reduced by a new technology created and implemented by a team of researchers from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia and the BC Cancer Agency.

30 Jun 2011

Physicians urge FDA not to approve Truvada as an HIV prevention pill

Last week, a group of 55 U.S. physicians sent a letter to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), urging the agency not to approve the use of Gilead's HIV/AIDS treatment drug Truvada for use as an HIV prevention pill - also known as "pre-exposure prophylaxis" (PrEP).

30 Jun 2011

Dems reject plan to cut Medicare costs, raise eligibility age

As negotiations over raising the nation's debt ceiling continue, two senators — Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn. — advanced a new plan to produce the amount of savings from the Medicare program needed to meet the debt reduction target. The approach, though, which includes raising the eligibility age to 67, was swiftly rejected by top Democrats.

30 Jun 2011

Incidence of osteoarthritis more prevalent among military populations

New research shows significantly higher osteoarthritis (OA) incidence rates in military populations than among comparable age groups in the general population.

30 Jun 2011

Girl's Book Project delivers critical information about puberty and health

The onset of puberty is a critical moment for reaching girls with health messages and information, and the stakes are particularly high in countries where the HIV/AIDS epidemic rages and where threats to female reproductive health abound. Yet to date, the healthcare community in low-resource countries has tended to neglect this opportunity and instead concentrate efforts on young women who are older and of reproductive age.

30 Jun 2011

Prevalence rate of Parkinson's is higher than previously thought

Parkinson's Disease, brought to public awareness by figures such as Michael J. Fox, is not just difficult to diagnose. It's also difficult to accurately estimate how many people actually suffer from the disease. Current statistics come from small-scale studies, usually based on information from hospital clinics, and no registries or formal databases exist to track how many people have the disease.

30 Jun 2011

State roundup: Minn. officials looking at health cuts to avert shutdown

With just two days to negotiate an agreement with Republican lawmakers before a potential government shutdown, Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican leaders are trying to find additional cuts in health and human services spending, the fastest-growing part of state government.

30 Jun 2011