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Tanning beds raise risk of skin cancer – kids need to be barred

The issue regarding the banning of under-18s from tanning beds has come up again. Manitoba MP James Bezan is pushing for it. The Conservative MP introduced a private members’ bill Thursday that would bar anyone under the age of 18 from using a tanning bed, as well as require tanning salons to improve the warning signs and labels on and around their machines.

18 Dec 2011

Baxter receives FDA approval for ADVATE to prevent hemophilia A

Baxter International Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ADVATE [Antihemophilic Factor (Recombinant) Plasma/Albumin Free Method] for routine prophylaxis to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes in patients with hemophilia A.

From Baxter International Inc. 17 Dec 2011

Combination of bevacizumab and chemoradiation safe, effective for nasopharyngeal carcinoma

The trial conducted by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) shows the feasibility to deliver bevacizumab to the current chemoradiation standard without any apparent increased adverse side effects.

17 Dec 2011

Researchers identify gene that causes PKD/IC in infants

A large, international team of researchers led by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco has identified the gene that causes a rare childhood neurological disorder called PKD/IC, or "paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia with infantile convulsions," a cause of epilepsy in babies and movement disorders in older children.

17 Dec 2011

Enrollment complete in ThromboGenics, BioInvent TB-402 Phase IIb trial on VTE

ThromboGenics NV and co-development partner BioInvent International announce today that they have completed the enrolment of a 632-patient Phase IIb trial with their novel long-acting anticoagulant TB-402 for the prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after total hip surgery. The trial has recruited patients from 36 centers across Europe.

17 Dec 2011

A Texas-sized Medicaid deal

KUHF's Carrie Feibel, reporting as part of a partnership with Kaiser Health News, NPR and KUHF, writes: "The deal that federal regulators struck with Texas this week to expand managed care coverage for the poor allows both Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican presidential contender, and a Democratic White House to claim victory for their very different healthcare agendas."

17 Dec 2011

EHB Coalition releases statement on HHS' essential health benefits bulletin

Neil Trautwein, chairman of the Essential Health Benefits Coalition and vice president and employee benefits policy counsel at the National Retail Federation, released the following statement on the release of a bulletin today by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the essential health benefits package.

17 Dec 2011

SGR in the spotlight: Examining the 'doc fix' dilemma

News outlets report on how this formula, created to control Medicare spending on physician services, has evolved into a "budget-busting juggernaut."

17 Dec 2011

Problem behaviors may increase risk of suicide in children

Children who show early signs of problem behavior are more likely to have thought of killing or harming themselves, suggests new research in the latest issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.

17 Dec 2011

Women, girls affected by HIV in Indonesia face poverty

"The number of reported HIV cases has tripled in Indonesia in recent years, curtailing productivity and trapping affected girls and women, especially, in poverty, according to a recent U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) report," PlusNews reports.

17 Dec 2011

Experts argue about dementia detection in primary care practice at AFA-ADDF meeting

Many people with dementia don't realize they have the disease until it's at an advanced stage, when everyone can tell something is wrong. Other people might start forgetting dates or names and worry they have dementia, yet their memory problems are just a normal consequence of aging.

17 Dec 2011

Balancing optimism and realism in battle against HIV/AIDS

In his monthly column "Pulling It Together," Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman discusses a recent conversation between The Daily Show host Jon Stewart and U2 lead singer Bono that "captures the tension between the opportunity for new optimism and the continuing need for realism about the AIDS epidemic."

17 Dec 2011

USMCR, Humana Military partner for Toys for Tots program

Humana Inc. announced today that for the seventh consecutive year, its subsidiary, Humana Military Healthcare Services, has partnered with the United States Marine Corps Reserve in a toy drive in support of its annual Toys for Tots campaign.

17 Dec 2011

Gingrich's policies appear to advance gov't role in health care

Many of his public statements indicate he has advanced policies that would give the government a "bigger hand" in the delivery of health care. Meanwhile, a new poll shows support for President Barack Obama is low and that opinions about the health law continue to be mixed.

17 Dec 2011

President Obama honors mentoring program for minority girls in science and health

Teresa Woodruff, the Thomas J. Watkins Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, received the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring at the White House from President Barack Obama Monday, Dec. 12.

17 Dec 2011

Obama administration proposes labor rules for home care aides

President Obama circumvented Congress and moved Thursday to require that home-care aides be paid minimum wage and overtime, giving the fast-growing workforce long-sought assistance. Home-care workers, who now number close to 2 million people, have been exempted from federal labor law since 1974.

17 Dec 2011

Pfizer enters Prevenar 13 supply agreement to protect children from pneumococcal disease

Pfizer Inc. today announced it has entered into a second supply agreement which will broaden and extend the duration of the Company's commitment to help protect millions of infants and young children in the developing world from pneumococcal disease - the leading cause of vaccine-preventable death in young children.

17 Dec 2011

A call for continued investment in global health, development

In this Politico opinion piece, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), who chairs the non-profit Hope Through Healing Hands, writes, "Continued investment in the fight to end global AIDS is more than an investment in the lives of families and communities in developing nations -- it is an investment in security, diplomacy and our moral image worldwide."

17 Dec 2011

GE Healthcare's MIND campaign goes online for patients with neurodegenerative diseases

GE Healthcare's MIND campaign is going online to give those affected by neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia and parkinsonian syndromes a platform to share their stories.

17 Dec 2011

Research roundup: Insurance coverage in the Great Recession; PCIP vs. CHIP

The researchers how physicians examined claims of lower back back pain and note that part of the "rising economic cost of this epidemic is the burgeoning use of indiscriminate imaging," specifically MRIs. Researchers divided patients into two groups and "the treating physician in group 1 patients was blinded to the MRI results, while the physician for group 2 patients decided on treatment after reviewing the MRI findings."

17 Dec 2011