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Research Roundup: Medicaid co-payments, access to docs causes worse health

Disparities In Child Access To Emergency Care For Acute Oral Injury -- This study looked at the "impact of insurance status on dental practices' willingness to schedule an appointment for a child with a symptomatic fractured permanent front tooth." Six researchers posed as mothers of 10-year-old boys who all had the same injury but different coverage: Medicaid/Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or private Blue Cross dental insurance.

27 May 2011

Lilly disappointed with Court's decision to grant Amylin's request for temporary restraining order

Eli Lilly and Company today commented on a ruling issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California granting a request by Amylin Pharmaceuticals for a temporary restraining order (TRO) related to litigation involving the two companies' diabetes collaboration agreement.

27 May 2011

U.N., U.S. re-evaluate HIV/AIDS treatment targets

Ahead of the U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS, scheduled for June 8-10 in New York, "public-health leaders face a paradox: New evidence suggests the epidemic can finally be controlled, but that would demand increased spending at a time of severe global budget restraints," the Wall Street Journal reports.

27 May 2011

IBM expands Dallas Health Analytics Solution Center

IBM today announced the expansion of its Health Analytics Solution Center. Located in Dallas, the center is adding new technology and has doubled the number of healthcare solution architects and technology specialists working at the center.

27 May 2011

Current efforts not enough to halt HIV/AIDS in Philippines, UNAIDS country coordinator says

"The Philippines has not been making progress in meeting its sixth Millennium Development Goal, which is halting and reversing the spread of ... HIV/AIDS..., according to the country coordinator of the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)," the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports.

27 May 2011

Scientists add four proteins to skin cells to create functional neurons

The New York Stem Cell Foundation - a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing cures for major diseases through stem cell research - today applauded the announcement by Stanford University scientists, led by NYSCF - Robertson Investigator Dr. Marius Wernig, that they directly converted skin cells of humans into functional neurons.

27 May 2011

Viewpoints: Medicare controversy continues to raise outrage, prescriptions, vivid prose

The key to any reform is tackling the whole problem, not just one piece — like health care spending by the federal government, for example, or even the public sector as a whole. Unless spending on health care is curbed systemwide, federal reforms run the risk of just shifting skyrocketing costs to those least able to handle this added burden.

27 May 2011

Bacteria that infect cystic fibrosis patients could help combat MRSA

A bacteria which infects people with cystic fibrosis could help combat other antibiotic-resistant microbes, according to a team from Cardiff and Warwick Universities.

27 May 2011

In aftermath of Dem's upset special election, will budget balancers now set sights on Medicaid?

Not that there was much doubt left, but Tuesday's uphill victory by Democrat Kathy Hochul in a special election in a New York congressional district long dominated by the GOP has made it pretty clear that the budget blueprint approved by House Republicans last month, which would effectively privatize Medicare, isn't so popular with lots of actual voters.

27 May 2011

OPINION: U.S. must do more on global food security

"Washington cannot allow food insecurity to exacerbate instability in already volatile regions. We are not doing all that must be done," Catherine Bertini, a former executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, and Dan Glickman, a former agriculture secretary, write in Politico.

27 May 2011

Interim analysis of AIM-HIGH study affirms positive impact of Niaspan on HDL and triglyceride lipid values

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), disclosed results from an interim analysis of the AIM-HIGH clinical trial.

27 May 2011

AP examines debate over India's poverty line

The Associated Press examines the debate over the poverty line in India, noting that a commission that helps set the country's economic policy told the Supreme Court earlier this month that the poverty line in cities was 578 rupees ($12.75) per person per month, and about 450 rupees ($9.93) per person per month for rural areas.

27 May 2011

Stem cell pluripotency depends on E-cadherin molecule

Researchers of the Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch have discovered what enables embryonic stem cells to differentiate into diverse cell types and thus to be pluripotent. This pluripotency depends on a specific molecule - E-cadherin - hitherto primarily known for its role in mediating cell-cell adhesion as a kind of "intracellular glue".

27 May 2011

Recent releases in Global Health

As the G8 summit began in Deauville, France, on Thursday, David Olson, the council's director of policy communications, wrote on the Global Health Council's "Blog 4 Global Health" that "global health is nowhere visible on the agenda," which "is in striking contrast to the final communique of the G8 Muskoka, which devoted a significant amount of space to health" (5/26).

27 May 2011

Appointment of drug company to GAVI board draws criticism from NGOs

The appointment of Dutch pharmaceutical company Crucell, recently acquired by Johnson & Johnson, to the board of the GAVI Alliance is "sparking concerns over conflicts of interest and demands for tougher competition to reduce prices," the Financial Times reports.

27 May 2011

NIH awards $2.4 million, five-year grant for research on dementia and delirium

Adults with dementia and delirium may soon have a way to combat their delirium, thanks to a $2.4 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health.

27 May 2011

Obama, Medvedev reaffirm efforts to eradicate polio ahead of G8 summit

President Barack Obama met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Deauville, France, ahead of the G8 summit, ABC News' "Political Punch" blog reports. "The two issued a number of joint statements and agreements on counterterrorism, civil aviation security, visa issues, the Bering Strait region, a joint report assessing 21st Century Missile Challenges, innovation, the rule of law, smart grid partnership, eradicating polio, and medical research," according to the blog.

27 May 2011

OPINION: Aid for women farmers is a worthy investment

In a piece on The Hill's "Congress Blog," Eva Clayton, a former Democratic member of Congress from North Carolina and assistant director general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization between 2003 and 2006, calls on the World Bank to invest more in women farmers in the developing world, after the agency "largely ignored the role women and small entrepreneurs can play in the developing world to improve food security" at an April 2011 meeting.

27 May 2011

Brazilian Court denies claims for indemnification for damages attributed to smoking cigarettes

The judge of the 19th Civil Court of Sao Paulo denied the claims for indemnification brought by the Association for the Defence of the Health of Smokers (ADESF) in a class action suit filed against cigarette manufacturers Souza Cruz and Philip Morris Brasil that, according to the plaintiff, was evaluated at more than R$ 30 billion (US$ 18.4 billion).

27 May 2011

Gov. Shumlin signs law putting Vermont on path to single-payer system

Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a bill on Thursday that sets Vermont on a path to creating the nation's first publicly financed health care. The law calls for something close to a single-payer system, with doctors and hospitals billing one entity, the state government, for their services.

27 May 2011