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Vaccines serve as 'engine for economic growth'

Vaccines "save lives by protecting people against disease," but they "also are an engine for economic growth -- far beyond their health benefits," GAVI Alliance CEO Seth Berkley writes in a CNN opinion piece.

11 Dec 2012

Study calls for reform of Medicare reimbursement rates and hospice eligibility requirements

In the first national survey of enrollment policies at hospices, researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Yale University have found that the vast majority of hospices in the United States have at least one enrollment policy that could restrict access for terminally ill Medicare patients with high-cost medical needs.

5 Dec 2012

Roe, Gingrey to lead GOP doctors caucus

Meanwhile, The Hill reports that House Republicans are likely to embrace the same Medicare cuts that GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney had assailed President Barack Obama over, but which are likely to be included again in the House Republican budget. And Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., is getting encouragement to head the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

4 Dec 2012

Leaders, policymakers recognize World AIDS Day

On Saturday, December 1, "United Nations officials [marked] World AIDS Day with a call for building on recent successes and pressing ahead to get to zero -- zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths -- by 2015," the U.N. News Centre reports.

4 Dec 2012

Pilot program in India using traditional practitioners to fill health care worker gap

The New York Times' "India Ink" blog examines how "a growing number of 'affordable health care' entrepreneurs are focused on developing new solutions for the rural and remote parts of the country."

30 Nov 2012

Party lines on entitlement programs play role in 'fiscal cliff' negotiations

Congressional leaders signal they are making progress in "fiscal cliff" talks. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., urged his party to back an immediate extension of Bush-era tax cuts for households earning less than $250,000 and focus on tax breaks for higher-income people later. Meanwhile, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, said that Medicare and other federal health care programs should be part of long-term solutions, but not a short-term deal.

29 Nov 2012

AMITIZA for treatment of chronic constipation now available in Japan

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Abbott today announced the availability of AMITIZA (lubiprostone) in Japan, a prescription medicine for the treatment of chronic constipation not caused by organic diseases. AMITIZA was approved by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) in Japan in June.

26 Nov 2012

Fiscal cliff: Lame duck budget talks begin

News sources report on the beginnings of negotiations among White House and congressional staff.

22 Nov 2012

Questions continue over state, FDA oversight of specialty pharmacies

Several news outlets analyze the hearings last week into the meningitis outbreak resulting from a New England compounding pharmacy.

21 Nov 2012

Appropriators focus quietly on omnibus spending bill

Also in the news, the Senate approves legislation to reauthorize federal research and intervention activities to lower the rate of premature births.

20 Nov 2012

Roundup: Wyo. conservatives ponder election; Ill. Insurer to buy Montana Blues; Calif. nurses plan new strike

But since the election, a blanket of baffled worry has descended on conservatives here like early snow across the plains, deepening a sense that traditional, rural and overwhelmingly white states in the center of the country are losing touch with an increasingly diverse and urban American electorate.

19 Nov 2012

New nanoparticle halts relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis in mouse model

In a breakthrough for nanotechnology and multiple sclerosis, a biodegradable nanoparticle turns out to be the perfect vehicle to stealthily deliver an antigen that tricks the immune system into stopping its attack on myelin and halt a model of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) in mice, according to new Northwestern Medicine research.

19 Nov 2012

Senators pledge regulation of compounding pharmacies

At a Capitol Hill hearing, senators from both parties promised to take action following a meningitis outbreak that killed 32 people.

17 Nov 2012

Potential to reduce preterm births ‘shockingly small’

If developed countries were to successfully implement five preventive interventions, only a 5% relative reduction in the preterm birth rate could be achieved by 2015, shows a study published by The Lancet.

16 Nov 2012

Obama, congressional leaders stake out positions in 'fiscal cliff' face-off

President Barack Obama and GOP congressional leaders signal what they're looking for in a budget deal to avert the looming "fiscal cliff," offering their respective takes on tax increases, spending cuts and changes to entitlement programs.

15 Nov 2012

Despite modest improvement, premature birth rates cause concern

A new report from the March of Dimes gives the U.S. a 'C' in preterm birth rate reductions.

15 Nov 2012

UTA researchers to examine cognition, mortality, economic outcomes from high school and beyond

University of Texas at Austin sociologist Chandra Muller and economist Sandra Black have received a $3.2 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to study the effects of cognition on health, mortality, education and employment from high school and beyond.

14 Nov 2012

Home-birth-like experience in hospitals ultimately safer, more satisfying and cost effective for patients

Advocates of planned home birth have emphasized its benefits for patient safety, patient satisfaction, cost effectiveness, and respect for women's rights. A clinical opinion paper published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology critically evaluates each of these claims in its effort to identify professionally appropriate responses of obstetricians and other concerned physicians to planned home birth.

14 Nov 2012

States wrestle with decisions regarding how to move forward on exchanges

News outlets report on how various states are responding to the implementation of the health law now that President Barack Obama has been re-elected.

14 Nov 2012

Labor, business groups step up efforts to shape 'fiscal cliff' debate over Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security

Some news outlets examine the impact of looming tax increases and spending cuts if a budget deal is not struck by the end of the year. Others examine the positions being staked out by powerful groups over issues such as Medicare and other entitlement programs.

14 Nov 2012