Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Bayer announces new data on novel anti-cancer compound

Bayer today announced results from Phase I and II trials of BAY 73-4506, a potent oral multi-kinase inhibitor currently being studied in multiple tumor types. These data were presented at the 45th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

1 Jun 2009

Data ranks health insurers according to speed of claim payment, share of denials

Aetna, Cigna and Humana ranked highest nationally on criteria including speed of health claim payments and fewest claims denied, according to the 2009 PayerView Rankings, the Boston Globe reports.

31 May 2009

Sen. Kennedy circulates draft of health reform legislation

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) is circulating an outline of health care overhaul legislation that includes a requirement that all individuals obtain coverage and requires contributions from employers, the Washington Post reports.

31 May 2009

Half million people in the UK have undiagnosed coeliac disease

Coeliac UK, the national charity for people with coeliac disease, is calling on the Government to ensure a new guideline launched this week by NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) is taken up by the medical profession to identify half million people in the UK who have undiagnosed coeliac disease.

31 May 2009

American Cancer Society unveils social web application for cancer patients

The American Cancer Society today unveiled its Circle Of Sharing social web application designed to help cancer patients, their families, and their friends better coordinate support and cancer information as they move through treatment and beyond.

28 May 2009

Worldwide increase in assisted reproduction

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is responsible for an estimated 219,000 to 246,000 babies born each year worldwide according to an international study. The study also finds that the number of ART procedures is growing steadily: in just two years (from 2000 to 2002) ART activity increased by more than 25%.

27 May 2009

Lawmakers prepare for health care reform action during Memorial Day recess; advocacy groups promote reform agendas

Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been given "talking points" on health care reform to discuss with constituents during the Memorial Day recess as House and Senate committees work to develop comprehensive reform bills by mid-June, Politico reports (Budoff Brown, Politico, 5/26).

26 May 2009

Discovery of entirely new mechanism that promotes blood clot formation

A Monash-led research team has discovered an entirely new mechanism that promotes blood clot formation - a major breakthrough that will impact on treatment and prevention of heart disease and stroke.

26 May 2009

New easier way to identify kids' high blood pressure

Pediatricians now have a new and simple way to diagnose a serious problem facing our nation's children - thanks to David Kaelber, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., MetroHealth System pediatrician, internist, and chief medical informatics officer and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researcher and faculty member. Nearly 75% of cases of hypertension and 90% of cases of prehypertension in children and adolescents go undiagnosed.

26 May 2009

Hospital refuses admission to young adults with thalassemia and sickle cell disease

Young adults with thalassemia and sickle cell diease have been trying for up to 10 years to gain admission to the only adult hospital program in central and southwestern Toronto specialized to treat their blood disorders. Since 1999, the Toronto General Hospital (TGH) has restricted the inherited blood disorders program to 99 patients requiring blood transfusions. As a result, about 150 young adults with complex disorders receive blood transfusions at the Hospital for Sick Children but no adult services.

25 May 2009

Inositol protects against the development of neural tube defects

Women of childbearing age can reduce the risk of having a child born with a neural tube defect such as spina bifida by eating enough folate or folic acid. However, folate prevents only about 70 percent of these defects.

25 May 2009

California’s AIDS funding cuts would be ‘catastrophic,’ says AHF

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has criticized California state officials for planning draconian budget cuts that will jeopardize the public health by eliminating all funding for AIDS care and treatment from the state’s General Fund.

24 May 2009

62nd World Health Assembly closes with resolutions on public health

The 62nd World Health Assembly, which brought together health ministers and senior health officials from WHO's Member States, closed today with the adoption of resolutions on a variety of global health issues including primary health care, the prevention and control of multidrug- resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, public health, innovation and intellectual property and pandemic influenza preparedness. The Health Assembly also passed the Programme Budget for 2010 -2011.

22 May 2009

Prevalence of vCJD agent in Britain remains uncertain

First results from a large tissue survey in Britain of the agent that causes variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) are unable so far to establish that the prevalence is lower than that given by previous estimates, concludes a study published on bmj.com.

22 May 2009

Health information technology lobby group rallies support for certification group; critics question group's ties

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society has asked HHS to give the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology authorization to determine which electronic health records systems can receive funding from the economic stimulus package, the Washington Post reports. In a letter dated April 27 to HHS officials, HIMSS officials wrote, "To ensure continuity, recognize CCHIT as the certifying body" of EHRs.

22 May 2009

Senate Finance Committee discusses funding for health reform in final 'walk through' meeting

The Senate Finance Committee met Wednesday to discuss potential funding mechanisms for health reform legislation but indicated that no concrete decisions had been reached, The Hill reports.

22 May 2009

African-American women breast cancer sufferers often refuse chemotherapy and radiation therapy

A new study finds that nearly one in four African American women with late stage breast cancer refused chemotherapy and radiation therapy, potentially life saving therapies.

22 May 2009

U.S. residents to pay greater share of employer-sponsored health insurance coverage in 2009

U.S. residents enrolled in employer-sponsored health plans will contribute an average of 41% of their health care costs in 2009, the largest share to date, according to a study released on Monday by the Seattle-based actuarial consulting firm Milliman, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

20 May 2009

Take control of your asthma, EPA advises

Asthma is a serious, sometimes life-threatening respiratory disease that affects the quality of life for millions of people; but it can be managed if people know what it is and understand how the environment can affect asthma patients.

20 May 2009

Los Angeles Times examines increase in Caesarean births, related rise in risk, cost

Caesarean sections -- which are performed in 31% of births, up from 4.5% in 1965 -- often are considered an unnecessary risk and "an example of how the intensive and expensive U.S. brand of medicine has failed to deliver better results and may, in fact, be doing more harm than good," the Los Angeles Times reports.

19 May 2009