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Correctional policies discourage released inmates from seeking methadone therapy, researchers say

Methadone treatment for opioid dependence remains widely unavailable behind bars in the United States, and many inmates are forced to discontinue this evidence-based therapy, which lessens painful withdrawal symptoms.

30 Mar 2013

Federal court weighs Calif. progress on mental health care for prisoners

California's bid to end court oversight of the care it gives about 33,000 mentally ill inmates was heard Wednesday by a federal judge who voiced concern that he had only days to weigh thousands of pages of contradictory claims and issue a decision (St. John, 3/27).

30 Mar 2013

Viral protein hijacks cellular machinery and grabs the wheel

Northwestern Medicine scientists have identified a component of the herpesvirus that "hijacks" machinery inside human cells, allowing the virus to rapidly and successfully invade the nervous system upon initial exposure.

30 Mar 2013

Capsules: Tight Medicaid eligibility leads to more adults delaying care; Audit finds shortcomings in Minn. verifications of income, other information

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Ankita Rao reports on research related to tight Medicaid eligibility and the incidence of delayed medical care: "The research letter in the March 28 issue of the journal found this number to vary significantly across the country and to be lower in places with less restrictive eligibility criteria for Medicaid, the federal-state insurance program for low-income citizens" (Rao, 3/27).

30 Mar 2013

Study examines dialysis survival among racial and ethnic subgroups

Among kidney failure patients on dialysis, Hispanics tend to live the longest and Whites the shortest, with Blacks' survival time in between these two, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN).

29 Mar 2013

Global community failing to address health inequalities

"The goal of the WHO -- amplified ... in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights -- is to ensure the attainment by the entire world's people of the highest possible level of health," Calum Macpherson, director and vice president of the Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation, writes in a Devex opinion piece.

29 Mar 2013

HeCN celebrates Doctor's Day on March 30

HEALTHeCAREERS Network (HeCN), the only single-source healthcare recruiting solution for providers and job seekers, is honored to celebrate Doctor Day on March 30. This week honors the 700,000 physicians across the U.S. and their role in healthcare.

29 Mar 2013

Foreign Prison Conditions Improvement Act introduced in Senate

Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and James Inhofe (R-Okla.) last week introduced the Foreign Prison Conditions Improvement Act, which "would set standards for humane conditions [in prisons globally], require the Secretary of State to report on prison conditions in at least 30 countries receiving U.S. assistance or under U.S. sanctions, engage governments in recognizing and remedying human rights abuses behind bars and open the door to foreign aid to assist in bringing improvements,"

29 Mar 2013

Diarrhea incidence higher in dry seasons, study shows

"Diarrhea, killer of 1.5 million children annually, is likely to become more prevalent in many developing countries as the climate changes, a report says,"

29 Mar 2013

Doctors renew lobbying to change Medicare payment formula

The American Medical Association is pushing hard to get Congress to make a permanent "doc fix," The Hill reports.

29 Mar 2013

Majority of consumers lack awareness on new health insurance options under the Affordable Care Act

In a series of nationwide focus groups conducted by Intuit TurboTax®, a majority of consumers who participated lacked awareness of their new health insurance options under the Affordable Care Act, sometimes referred to as "Obamacare". In addition, a most of them did not know if they would qualify for financial assistance to help cover the cost of health insurance.

29 Mar 2013

First Edition: March 29, 2013

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including coverage of renewed interest between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans to find ways to cut Medicare costs:

29 Mar 2013

GF foods lack vitamins and nutrients, can be high in fat and calories

In the ever-present search to identify and address bad nutrition habits, gluten-free eating has been receiving a lot of attention. But experts at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) say it is not to be confused with typical weight loss procedures.

29 Mar 2013

South Africa to host third global forum on TB vaccines

"This week more than 250 scientists, researchers, and tuberculosis (TB) advocates from all over the world will gather in Cape Town, South Africa, at the Third Global Forum on TB Vaccines to share findings and look to the future of TB vaccine research and development,"

29 Mar 2013

IASLC survey highlights need to scale up tobacco cessation assistance for cancer patients

Physicians who care for lung cancer patients recognize the importance of tobacco cessation, but often do not provide cessation assistance to their patients according to a recent study published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology (JTO).

29 Mar 2013

Researchers develop new test machine that mimics impact of elite tennis players on tennis courts

Working with the International Tennis Federation and colleagues at the University of Exeter, the team from the University of Sheffield's Faculty of Engineering developed a test machine which applies large forces to a surface to mimic the impact of elite tennis players on tennis courts.

29 Mar 2013

Racial disparties in autism treatment

The need for professional care of African-American children with autism can go unmet. Some of the disparity could stem from cultural differences in parental perceptions of behavior, says autism expert Margaret C. Souders, PhD, RN, assistant professor of human genetics at Penn Nursing.

29 Mar 2013

AACR recognizes scientists whose contributions to cancer field have extraordinary impact

Five University of California, San Diego scientists and professors are among the first class of the Fellows of the American Association for Cancer Research Academy, created to recognize researchers whose scientific contributions have propelled significant innovation and progress against cancer.

29 Mar 2013

Study suggests rats can be used as animal model to investigate human brain

A study led by Zachary Mainen, Director of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, and published today (March 28th) in the scientific journal, Neuron, reports that when rats were challenged with a series of perceptual decision problems.

29 Mar 2013

Teaching based on Shakespeare texts can help autistic children become better communicators, say researchers

Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center's Nisonger Center are trying to determine if teaching strategies based on Shakespeare texts can help children with autism become better communicators.

29 Mar 2013