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Gates Foundation praises U.S. global health investments, calls for 15-year goal of cutting child deaths worldwide by nearly half

As part of a "major push to convince the United States to maintain government spending on worldwide health initiatives, despite the financial crisis and a soaring U.S. budget deficit," the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is urging U.S. policymakers to commit to cutting "the number of child deaths each year, from 9 million to 5 million" by 2025, CNN reports (Evans, 10/28).

28 Oct 2009

NIH awards Excelimmune grant to develop treatment for Clostridium difficile infection

Excelimmune, Inc. (www.excelimmune.com) announced today that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded the company a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to support research aimed at developing new treatments for Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection, employing Excelimmune’s expertise in developing novel antibody therapies for human disease.

28 Oct 2009

AHIP, Chamber of Commerce ramp up opposition to health reform

Insurers and the Chamber of Commerce are stepping up lobbying against a health care overhaul with new television ads.

28 Oct 2009

End of COBRA subsidy rattles newly unemployed

Rick Schmitt reports for Kaiser Health News on how unemployed workers are faring with their COBRA subsidies. "In the past very few people could afford this option, but the government subsidies have changed that, and now enrollments appear to be growing sharply. Hewitt Associates, a Lincolnshire, Ill., consulting firm, recently estimated that the rate at which workers were opting for coverage under COBRA had doubled compared with pre-subsidy levels.

28 Oct 2009

House leaders seek to unify Dems on public option, unveil bill

House Democratic leaders are planning to unveil their version of the health care overhaul that will include a more tempered public insurance plan in which the federal government would negotiate prices with doctors and hospitals, Roll Call reports.

28 Oct 2009

Nevada case raises question of pharmacies' liability in drug abuse accidents

A Nevada case causes concern for pharmacies about possible liability for actions taken by customers who may abuse drugs. The Wall Street Journal reports on the case of Patricia Copening, who pleaded guilty to reckless driving after her car swerved off a highway and struck and killed a 21-year-old and injured a 33-year-old.

28 Oct 2009

Centrist Democrats are cool to Reid's plan for public option

With his announcement regarding support for the public option, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's plans to move health legislation to the Senate floor face big challenges.

28 Oct 2009

NeoChord commences patient enrollment in its TACT European clinical trial

NeoChord, Inc., a venture-backed, Minneapolis-based medical technology company, announced today that it has enrolled the first patient in its European clinical trial. The trial, known as TACT (transapical artificial chordae tendineae) is being conducted in Germany, Denmark, Czech Republic and Norway.

28 Oct 2009

Cuomo announces new database to guide insurers' prices, unveil doctors fees

A new database operated by a New York nonprofit will help insurers determine their rates for out-of-network care and give consumers a heads-up on what to expect their policy to pay when they seek such care, the New York Times reports. The program, which will be operated by the new nonprofit FAIR Health with support from Syracuse University and other states universities, was announced Tuesday by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, whose office investigated the insurance industry's existing out-of-network pricing system (Abelson, 10/27).

28 Oct 2009

CDC says U.S. H1N1 vaccine supplies on the rise; Senators question government's handling of H1N1 vaccination program

Supplies of the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine are steadily increasing in the U.S. and should soon be more widely accessible in the next two weeks, the CDC said on Tuesday, CQ HealthBeat reports. During a press briefing, CDC Director Thomas Frieden said that 22.4 million vaccine doses are now available for states to order (Norman, 10/27). "We're beginning to get to significant increases in the availability," Frieden said.

28 Oct 2009

Newspaper investigates dangerous mix of nursing homes and psychotropic drugs

Illinois nursing home patients often receive psychotropic drugs without cause, which poses various health dangers and even death, the Chicago Tribune reports as part of its Compromised Care series.

28 Oct 2009

WHO identifies five major causes of premature death

Targeting the five major causes of premature death could increase global life expectancy by almost five years, the WHO said Tuesday, Reuters reports. According to a WHO's Global Health Risks report, which looked at 24 major health risks, "[p]oor childhood nutrition, unsafe sex, alcohol, bad sanitation and hygiene, and high blood pressure are to blame for around a quarter of the 60 million premature deaths around the world each year," the news service writes.

28 Oct 2009

Rove, Dean trade one-liners on health reform, Senators offer their take

Former Democratic Party head Howard Dean joined former Bush adviser Karl Rove for a debate on health care reform in Pennsylvania Tuesday night while other Senators are offering their take on the public option's role in a health care overhaul.

28 Oct 2009

Also in Global Health News: Germany HIV/AIDS grant; Sumatra water situation; India's unlicensed doctors; land ownership, food security

The Organisation for the Coordination of the Struggle Against Epidemics in Central Africa (OCEAC) on Tuesday announced that the German government has granted $34 million to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in central Africa, Agence France-Presse reports.

28 Oct 2009

States face unpopular cuts in health spending

State governments, especially New York's, are facing budget gaps that officials hope to close with cuts to health spending. But, their constituents are resisting the proposed changes that could result in fewer services.

28 Oct 2009

CDC: H1N1 vaccine supplies on the rise

"More than 22 million doses of swine flu vaccine are available now, and most Americans should soon find it easier to get their dose, U.S. health officials said Tuesday, " according to The Associated Press/The Washington Post.

28 Oct 2009

Today's opinions and editorials

The tax I proposed — and the one most economists favor — would force employees to treat as income the value of health-care benefits they receive from their employer (Fred Hiatt, 10/27).

28 Oct 2009

Inventa Technologies secures capacity planning and visualization service contract

ANTs software inc., a leader in database migration solutions, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Inventa Technologies, Inc. has secured a contract with one of the nations leading health insurance providers to execute a capacity planning and visualization service project.

28 Oct 2009

Omnicare Clinical Research attains Rave Accredited Plus in Medidata’s ASPire to Win program for CRO's

Medidata Solutions, a leading global provider of hosted clinical development solutions, today announced that global contract research organization (CRO) Omnicare Clinical Research has attained Rave Accredited Plus, the most advanced level in Medidata’s ASPire to Win® program for CROs and other service providers.

28 Oct 2009

Philanthropist gifts $10-million to Sunnybrook Foundation

The people of Ontario will have more access than ever to the latest life-saving, minimally invasive cardiovascular treatments thanks to the visionary leadership of one of Canada's foremost philanthropists, Seymour Schulich.

28 Oct 2009

Medical News

Gates Foundation praises U.S. global health investments, calls for 15-year goal of cutting child deaths worldwide by nearly half

NIH awards Excelimmune grant to develop treatment for Clostridium difficile infection

AHIP, Chamber of Commerce ramp up opposition to health reform

End of COBRA subsidy rattles newly unemployed

House leaders seek to unify Dems on public option, unveil bill

Nevada case raises question of pharmacies' liability in drug abuse accidents

Centrist Democrats are cool to Reid's plan for public option

NeoChord commences patient enrollment in its TACT European clinical trial

Cuomo announces new database to guide insurers' prices, unveil doctors fees

CDC says U.S. H1N1 vaccine supplies on the rise; Senators question government's handling of H1N1 vaccination program

Newspaper investigates dangerous mix of nursing homes and psychotropic drugs

WHO identifies five major causes of premature death

Rove, Dean trade one-liners on health reform, Senators offer their take

Also in Global Health News: Germany HIV/AIDS grant; Sumatra water situation; India's unlicensed doctors; land ownership, food security

States face unpopular cuts in health spending

CDC: H1N1 vaccine supplies on the rise

Today's opinions and editorials

Inventa Technologies secures capacity planning and visualization service contract

Omnicare Clinical Research attains Rave Accredited Plus in Medidata’s ASPire to Win program for CRO's

Philanthropist gifts $10-million to Sunnybrook Foundation

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How the Arts Reshape Brain Function: Susan Magsamen on the Future of Neuroaesthetics

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