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Low Medicare reimbursement rates hurt hospitals in Iowa and California

Low Medicare reimbursement rates are not keeping up with costs at hospitals in Iowa and California while a grant helps boost Medicare enrollment in Missouri.

3 Jun 2009

FDA moves towards greater openness

The Associated Press reports that FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg "announced Tuesday she has created a task force to make recommendations on how the agency can release more information in such areas as drug evaluation and enforcement matters. She wants a report in six months."

3 Jun 2009

Sen. Baucus tells single-payer advocates he regrets there wasn't more discussion of single-payer plan

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., told single-payer advocates Wednesday that he regrets not allowing more discussion of the single-payer plan in his efforts to draft a health system overhaul proposal, according to participants at the meeting.

3 Jun 2009

Obama open to individual insurance requirement

In a letter released today by the White House today to Sen. Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, President Obama "suggests he may be open to a requirement that every American have health insurance, even though he opposed the so-called individual mandate in the presidential campaign," the Washington Post reports.

3 Jun 2009

U.S. doubles annual Malawi HIV/AIDS support to $45 million

The U.S. government recently announced a commitment to double its support for Malawi's efforts to fight HIV/AIDS to $45 million annually, Xinhua reports (Xinhua, 6/2).

3 Jun 2009

Indonesia to host AIDS congress; smoking ban in Ghana

Indonesia will host the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific region, August 3 – 13 in Bali, organizers of the event announced Wednesday, Xinhua reports.

3 Jun 2009

WHO closer to declaring H1N1 flu outbreak a pandemic

The WHO on Tuesday said it was "getting closer" to declaring the H1N1 (swine) flu outbreak to be a pandemic, as the virus continues to spread to people outside of North America, and in populations "as far apart as Britain, Spain, Japan, Chile and Australia," the AP/Washington Post reports (Jordans, AP/Washington Post, 6/2).

3 Jun 2009

Vietnam publishes report documenting Millennium Development Goal progress

Vietnam recently published a report tracking its progress towards the U.N. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets, which outlines the health ministry's work with other government and international agencies, Vietnam News reports.

3 Jun 2009

EU authorizes $11 million in humanitarian aid for Zimbabwe; Prime Minister to meet with members of Congress next week

The E.U. on Tuesday authorized $11 million in humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe, VOA News reports (VOA News, 6/2). The E.U.'s actions come one day after U.N. agencies expressed the need for $718 million in foreign donations to help meet the urgent needs of the people of Zimbabwe (Kaiser Daily Global Health Report, 6/2).

3 Jun 2009

To quit smoking after college, multiple strategies are often needed

Despite the efforts of college students to quit smoking, recent research conducted by Joyce M. Wolburg at Marquette University suggests that an extended trial and error period is necessary.

3 Jun 2009

Research looks at relationship between death rates from lung cancer and how much a person smoked

It's common knowledge that smoking raises risks of lung cancer. And yet researchers haven't known whether continued smoking by lung cancer patients would increase the risk of the cancer's spread.

3 Jun 2009

Research questions standard protocol for treating traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury - not heart disease, stroke or cancer - is the number one cause of death and disability in people under 45. Each year, some 1.5 million Americans, including soldiers, athletes, the elderly and children, sustain head injuries, and nearly half of them will be hospitalized and treated in an emergency room or intensive care unit.

3 Jun 2009

Diabetic medication 'glibenclamide' may prevent nicotine-induced SIDS

According to researchers at McMaster University, exposure of the fetus to nicotine results in the inability to respond to decreases in oxygen - known as hypoxia - which may result in a higher incidence of SIDS.

3 Jun 2009

Metformin may 'revolutionize' cancer-fighting treatments

Researchers at McGill University and the University of Pennsylvania have discovered that a widely used anti-diabetic drug can boost the immune system and increase the potency of vaccines and cancer treatments. Their findings will be published June 3 in the journal Nature.

3 Jun 2009

Diet low in fat and red meat and high in fruit and veg helps prevent prostate cancer

A new review published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics assessed whether certain modifications in diet have a beneficial effect on the prevention of prostate cancer.

3 Jun 2009

Hydrogen peroxide marshals immune system

When you were a kid your mom poured it on your scraped finger to stave off infection. When you got older you might have even used it to bleach your hair. Now there's another possible function for this over-the-counter colorless liquid: your body might be using hydrogen peroxide as an envoy that marshals troops of healing cells to wounded tissue.

3 Jun 2009

Small molecules mimic natural gene regulators

In the quest for new approaches to treating and preventing disease, one appealing route involves turning genes on or off at will, directly intervening in ailments such as cancer and diabetes, which result when genes fail to turn on and off as they should.

3 Jun 2009