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HHS Secretary announces 15 awards to support Preventive Medicine Residency Programs

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced 15 awards totaling $9 million to support Preventive Medicine Residency Programs at accredited schools of public health, schools of medicine, and hospitals. Of these funds, nearly $6.7 million is part of the $200 million appropriated to HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to address the nation's health care workforce shortages.

26 Jul 2010

prIME Oncology awarded Provisional Accreditation to provide medical education for physicians

prIME Oncology has been awarded Provisional Accreditation to provide continuing medical education for physicians by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education in the US. Provisional Accreditation is the standard status for initial, or first-time, applicants.

26 Jul 2010

Control of cell migration gene can reduce spread of oral cancer cells: Study

The spread of cancer cells in the tongue may be reduced if a gene that regulates cancer cell migration can be controlled, according to new research at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

26 Jul 2010

AIDS 2010: Obama, Clinton vow U.S. support to global fight against HIV/AIDS

During the closing ceremonies of the International AIDS Conference-AIDS 2010, President Barack Obama "on Friday pledged to redouble efforts to fight HIV and AIDS through his Global Health Initiative, despite dealing with economic hard times in the wake of a global recession," Reuters reports. According to the news service, "Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said their focus was on a broad, sustainable and effective approach to the global epidemic" (Kelland, 7/23).

26 Jul 2010

Einstein scientists awarded $4.1M to test microbicide Carraguard against HPV

The National Cancer Institute has awarded Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University $4.1 million to test the microbicide Carraguard- against the human papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer. The research will evaluate the efficacy of Carraguard- - a clear gel made from the seaweed derivative carrageenan - in preventing new HPV infections in women.

26 Jul 2010

Scientists discover repair mechanism of photolyase in sun damaged DNA

Researchers have long known that humans lack a key enzyme one possessed by most of the animal kingdom and even plants that reverses severe sun damage.For the first time, researchers have witnessed how this enzyme works at the atomic level to repair sun-damaged DNA.The discovery holds promise for future sunburn remedies and skin cancer prevention.

26 Jul 2010

CMS awards Jurisdiction 15 Medicare Parts A and B Administrative Contract to CGS

CIGNA Government Services, L.L.C. announced that it has been awarded the Jurisdiction 15 Medicare Parts A and B Administrative Contract by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

26 Jul 2010

Insurers scrambling to get expenses defined as patient care

The New York Times looks at current efforts by state insurance officials to set regulations requried under the new health overhaul about insurance company spending. "The legislative battle over the health care overhaul ended months ago, but it is hard to tell from the intense effort now under way by insurance companies to retool a critical provision.

26 Jul 2010

Role of spirituality, spiritual care in palliative care

Relationships hold the key to giving terminally ill patients the spiritual care they need. However, researchers have pinpointed a mismatch between patients' expectations and understanding when it comes to spirituality, and what medical and family caregivers offer. New recommendations to improve this situation appear today, in the journal Palliative Medicine, published by SAGE.

23 Jul 2010

Obama signs legislation to cut improper government spending, largely in Medicare and Medicaid

President Barack Obama signed legislation Thursday that aims "to take on fraudulent and improper government spending that he said diverts money from important priorities," the Los Angeles Times reports.

23 Jul 2010

Study shows largest health benefits from light or moderate activity

A new study by researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Cambridge University and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has found that even light or moderate intensity physical activity, such as walking or cycling, can substantially reduced the risk of early death.

23 Jul 2010

First patient enrolled in Phase 3 SyNAPSe study of BHR-100 for TBI

BHR Pharma, LLC announced today that the first patient has been enrolled in its SyNAPSe study, a global, Phase 3, pivotal trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of its intravenous progesterone infusion product (BHR-100) as a neuroprotective agent for treating severe (Glasgow Coma Scale scores of 4-8) traumatic brain injury patients.

23 Jul 2010

Health law gives consumers new rights to appeal insurer decisions

The Obama administration issued regulations yesterday addressing a top consumer gripe with health insurers: The rejected claim. "Rejection notices are often unclear, as are the procedures for challenging them." The new regulations are "designed to simplify the process and expand consumers' rights, as required by the recently enacted healthcare law." Current appeals rules differ by insurer. The regulations will standardize the process, allowing consumers to first take their complaints to the insurer, and then to an independent review panel (Levey, 7/22).

23 Jul 2010

Cancer institute offers new tumor monitoring system for radiation therapy patients

A new system that utilizes a precise a GPS-like system to track prostate cancer tumors is now being offered to patients undergoing radiation therapy at Cedars-Sinai's Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute. The monitoring system, called Calypso, allows radiation beams to more precisely target the cancer as it gives real-time positioning information that allows the radiation beams to focus directly on the cancer.

23 Jul 2010

LCA survey sheds more light on why support for lung cancer people remains low

A national survey announced today by Lung Cancer Alliance, sheds more light on why support for people affected by lung cancer remains low. The poll indicates Americans are more likely to view lung cancer as "hopeless" and "untreatable" when compared with a diagnosis of breast or colon cancer. In addition, 26% of Americans believe lung cancer is largely "self-inflicted."

23 Jul 2010

Insurers, advocates fight over upcoming spending rules

Insurance companies are banding together to weaken a key health law rule that requires them to spend as much as 85 percent of their revenues on medical care, according to the advocacy group Health Care for America Now. At issue is the definition of 'medical loss ratio,' a figure used on Wall Street to show an insurer's profitability.

23 Jul 2010

Babesiosis disease on the rise in Lower Hudson Valley: NYS DOH

Babesiosis, a rare and occasionally fatal tick-borne disease caused by microscopic parasites known as Babesia which infect red blood cells, is on the rise in the Lower Hudson Valley according to the NYS DOH, including the counties of Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Ulster, Sullivan and Rockland.

23 Jul 2010

Prevalence of HD substantially underestimated in the UK

The prevalence of Huntington's disease is substantially underestimated in the UK, with significant implications for those affected, the healthcare system, and research. New estimates of prevalence, and their implications, are discussed in a comment published in an upcoming Lancet, written by Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, who is the Chairman of the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, but writes in his capacity as an Honorary Professor of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.

23 Jul 2010

ACLU says some nursing homes use 'scare tactics' to keep psychiatric patients

The American Civil Liberties Union says in court papers that some for-profit nursing home operators are using "scare tactics" to persuade psychiatric patients to stay in their facilities. "The action follows a historic court settlement in which Illinois authorities pledged to offer supportive community-based housing and treatment to roughly 4,500 psychiatric patients who now live in two dozen large nursing homes designated as Institutions for Mental Diseases.

23 Jul 2010

Reducing calorie intake can restrict growth, spread of brain cancer: Researchers

Researchers at Boston College, MA, have found that reducing calorie intake can restrict the growth and spread of brain cancer. Writing in ASN NEURO, Laura Shelton and colleagues report success with mice suffering from glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive and invasive form of primary human brain cancer.

23 Jul 2010