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Prices on medications most commonly used by older people rose 4.3% in first half of 2006

Manufacturer prices for the brand-name drugs most commonly used by individuals ages 50 and older increased by an average of 6.3% during the 12-month period ending in June, according to an AARP survey released on Tuesday, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.

22 Sep 2006

Opinion piece examines CDC cash awards process

The Atlanta-Journal Constitution recently published an editorial and an opinion piece that addressed issues related to the CDC cash awards process.

22 Sep 2006

Lawmakers push AMA to support linking Medicare payments, quality measures

House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Chair Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) on Wednesday met with physician groups to discuss legislation that would stop a 5.1% reduction in Medicare physician reimbursements that is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2007, CQ Today reports.

22 Sep 2006

Hispanics in 'new growth communities' face greater barriers to health care

Hispanics in smaller, more rural communities have greater barriers in accessing care than do Hispanics in larger communities, according to a report released on Thursday by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, the Bradenton Herald reports.

22 Sep 2006

Inclusion of prescription drug reimportation provision in delaying action on homeland security appropriations

Provisions that would permit U.S. residents to purchase lower-cost prescription drugs from abroad have become a "major sticking point" to settling negotiations on the House and Senate fiscal year 2007 Homeland Security appropriations bills, CongressDaily reports (CongressDaily, 9/19).

22 Sep 2006

Black people with bladder cancer more likely to die of the disease than white

Black patients with bladder cancer are 35 percent more likely to die of the disease than white patients, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

21 Sep 2006

Researchers identify neurocircuit that controls the brain's response to fear

Results suggest that it may be possible to understand psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety or depression, from the underlying neurophysiology - workings of the brain.

21 Sep 2006

Race and mental health: There is more to race than racism

Psychiatry services in England and Wales have been accused of being institutionally racist, but are these accusations justified?

21 Sep 2006

Many emergency caesareans could be prevented

Many emergency caesareans could be prevented by the attendance of a more skilled obstetrician, say senior doctors in this week's British Medical Journal.

21 Sep 2006

Serious knife injuries are increasing

Serious knife injuries are increasing, say trauma experts at the Royal London Hospital in a letter to this week's British Medical Journal.

21 Sep 2006

Major breakthrough could lead to improved recovery of the heart after heart attack or cardiac surgery

For the first time ever, researchers at the University of Bristol have been able to directly measure energy levels inside living heart cells, in real time, using the chemical that causes fireflies to light up.

21 Sep 2006

Protein linked to heart disease found to be more prevalent in low-income people, minorities and women

Low-income adults are more likely to have very high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a risk factor for heart disease, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Southern California.

21 Sep 2006

SUMO1 gene implicated in cleft lip and palate defects

Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health report in the current issue of the journal Science that a much-studied gene called SUMO1, when under expressed, can cause cleft lip and palate, one of the world's most common birth defects.

21 Sep 2006

New understanding of how cells defend themselves

Biologists at the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne) have unveiled a new twist in a metabolic pathway that cells use to defend themselves against toxins made by disease-causing bacteria.

21 Sep 2006

Insulin receptor stops progression of Alzheimer's disease

Stimulation of a receptor in the brain that controls insulin responses has been shown to halt or diminish the neurodegeneration of Alzheimer's disease, providing evidence that the disease can be treated in its early stages, according to a study by researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown Medical School.

21 Sep 2006