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GOP candidates trade barbs over health care policies

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, speaking in Iowa, said the government should not be running the medical world. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney outlines his views on abortion while Michele Bachmann uses the Supreme Court's scheduling announcement to reiterate her position against the 2010 health law and question that of her opponents. Also, Romney's health policies are again in the spotlight.

21 Dec 2011

FDA, other organizations unveil program to monitor cataract surgery devices

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other government and professional organizations today unveiled a program to monitor medical devices used in cataract surgery in an effort to stem outbreaks of a rare, inflammatory condition associated with the procedure.

21 Dec 2011

Impasse on payroll tax cut extension leaves 'doc fix' in flux

A group of House Republicans is taking a hard line against the short-term measure passed by the Senate - creating anxiety across Capitol Hill and causing uncertainty about the future of the "doc fix."

21 Dec 2011

Study examines patterns of emergency care delivery in Indiana

The first study to examine patterns of emergency care for an entire state has found that 40 percent of emergency department visits in Indiana over a three-year period were by patients who visited more than one emergency department.

21 Dec 2011

IPS profiles maternal shelter in Kenya's North Eastern province

Inter Press Service profiles the Garissa Maternal Shelter in North Eastern Province, Kenya, "the only such facility in an area with the country's highest maternal mortality rate."

21 Dec 2011

Research into how flying fox spreads infectious diseases

The flying fox is an adorable doe-eyed bat with a dark side - it is the perfect vector for emerging infectious diseases from Asia. Susan Tsang, a PhD student in ecology and evolutionary biology at The City College of New York and the CUNY Graduate Center, turned to a revolutionary way to help fund her research into how this species spreads disease.

21 Dec 2011

Global Fund Board must 'sound alarm' to renew funding commitments

In an opinion piece on the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) website, MSF International President Unni Karunakara writes that with the cancellation of the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's Round 11 grants, "The Board of the Global Fund must raise the alarm. Instead of accepting rationing, and cancelling ambitions, we urge the Global Fund Board to organize an emergency donor conference to renew commitment and allow countries where the diseases are endemic to apply for funding in 2012."

21 Dec 2011

Antihypertensive drug therapy associated with longer life expectancy

More than 68 percent of Americans 65 and older - 80 percent age 75 and over - have hypertension (high blood pressure), according to a 2010 report by the Centers for Disease Control. Left untreated, this chronic condition can lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure or premature death. Researchers at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School have shown in a follow-up to the landmark clinical trial, Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program (SHEP), that the use of antihypertensive drug therapy is associated with longer life expectancy.

21 Dec 2011

What 2012 holds for state reform efforts, health law implementation

Vermont, Oregon and Georgia are considering what the new year will bring for their efforts to implement health reforms, including formation of insurance exchanges. In California, the state's pool of money for the pre-existing health condition plan is getting a new infusion of funds.

21 Dec 2011

Regional variations persist in cervical spine surgery

If you're having surgery for degenerative disc disease of the cervical (upper) spine, the technique your surgeon uses may depend on what part of the country you live in, suggests a study in the January issue of Spine.

21 Dec 2011

State roundup: Ariz. high court to hear Medicaid funding challenge

The Arizona Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider a challenge to state Medicaid cuts. The court put the matter on its Feb. 15 agenda and will decide then whether to take the case and hear oral arguments. Three public-interest law groups challenged an enrollment freeze for childless adults in the state's Medicaid program, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. A lower-court judge and an Arizona appeals-court panel upheld the cuts.

21 Dec 2011

Surgeon volume and in-hospital mortality for open AAA repair

Researchers from Southwestern Texas University's Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery and the Veterans Medical Center, both in Dallas, have reported that composite surgeon (overall) volume rather than operation-specific (annual) surgeon volume is a key determinant of in-hospital mortality for elective open abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery.

21 Dec 2011

'Money well spent today means less money spent tomorrow' on HIV/AIDS

This Lancet Infectious Diseases editorial responds to the Global HIV/AIDS Response 2011 progress report (.pdf) launched by WHO, UNICEF, and UNAIDS on November 30, writing that the report "contains much good news on treatment and prevention, but the gains made by past efforts are jeopardized by the ongoing global financial crisis and dwindling funds."

21 Dec 2011

Early intervention mitigates risk of substance abuse among pregnant women

A program for women at risk of substance abuse during pregnancy could save nearly $2 billion annually in health care costs if implemented nationwide, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published online in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' journal, Obstetrics & Gynecology.

21 Dec 2011

Coordinated efforts needed to eliminate blinding trachoma

Elizabeth Kurylo, communications manager with the International Trachoma Initiative, describes the International Coalition for Trachoma Control's plan "to eliminate blinding trachoma, one of the seven neglected tropical diseases targeted by END7, ... called 2020 INSight: The End in Sight," in this post on the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End the Neglect" blog.

21 Dec 2011

SMA honors JSUMC obstetrician with Robert D. and Alma W. Moreton Original Research Award

Jersey Shore University Medical Center is pleased to announce that Mark G. Martens, M.D. chairman of Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, was honored in November by the Southern Medical Association (SMA) with the Robert D. and Alma W. Moreton Original Research Award.

21 Dec 2011

Examining the impact of USAID-funded Sudan Health Transformation Project

In this post in Management Sciences for Health's (MSH) "Global Health Impact" blog, Erin Polich, a communications consultant with the USAID-funded Sudan Health Transformation Project (SHTP II) working in South Sudan, examines the impact of the project, which is led by MSH in partnership with the International Rescue Committee.

21 Dec 2011

Scientists identify why African naked mole-rat feels no pain when exposed to acid

British researchers of the Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch have found out why the African naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber), one of the world's most unusual mammals, feels no pain when exposed to acid.

21 Dec 2011

Cholera education campaign launched in Somali capital

Health ministry officials on Friday launched a cholera education campaign in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, "which aims to educate at least one person in every household on preventing the disease and what to do when symptoms occur," Agence France-Presse reports.

21 Dec 2011

Study on how Antarctic worms survive current levels of ocean warming

Researchers at the University of Delaware are examining tiny worms that inhabit the frigid sea off Antarctica to learn not only how these organisms adapt to the severe cold, but how they will survive as ocean temperatures increase.

21 Dec 2011