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Parties fight over the impact of Ohio election results

Democrats point to the support given for allowing public sector workers to negotiate while Republicans highlight the disapproval from voters of a keystone of the fedearl health law.

11 Nov 2011

State roundup: Storms' huge impact on health care; Brooklyn's hospital quest; Calif. election results

Only a few private hospitals have survived in neighborhoods like Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville and Bushwick to serve poor patients like them. Now all are in such dire financial shape that a small group of veteran health care planners appointed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is debating last-ditch measures to save them.

10 Nov 2011

Miss. voters reject abortion measure; Ohio restores pubic employees' rights

Ohio voters passed a constitutional amendment to block implementation of the individual mandate, but that measure could easily become moot if the Supreme Court rules on the issue.

10 Nov 2011

First Edition: November 9, 2011

In today's headlines, reports on the latest developments related to the 'super committee's' deliberations, an appeals court issues a health law decision and results from yesterday's elections.

9 Nov 2011

State roundup: Kansas Medicaid announcement; pilot projects for nursing homes, C-sections; Calif. marijuana clinics

Gov. Sam Brownback, Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer and three Cabinet officials have scheduled a news conference for 10 a.m. Tuesday to describe details of their plan for making over the Kansas Medicaid program. ... The plan is expected to include a significant expansion of managed care.

9 Nov 2011

States trying to wrangle Medicaid costs; rural hospitals struggling; health hiring steady

In Michigan, the plan to replace state nursing assistants at the veterans home resulted in a lawsuit contending that some temporary workers employed by the contract company had already jeopardized patient care. ... A judge has granted a preliminary injunction that keeps the state employees at work while the lawsuit moves forward.

8 Nov 2011

Neogen's new Soleris test detects yeast and mold in 48 hours

Neogen Corporation has developed an even quicker method to rapidly and accurately detect yeast and mold in food products. Neogen's new Soleris® test detects yeast and mold in 48 hours or less — conventional methods take up to 5 days.

7 Nov 2011

ALFA hosts meeting for executives interested in advancing excellence in senior living

The Assisted Living Federation of America, today hosted a meeting of 140 executives interested in advancing excellence in senior living. The day-long event at National Harbor, Maryland offered executives briefings on topics shaping their businesses today and peer discussions groups to help find answers to some of the big shared questions on their minds.

5 Nov 2011

Nurses union calls for a financial transaction tax

Capping many months of campaigning across the U.S., nurses from National Nurses United (NNU) – the largest union of registered nurses in the country – brought their urgent message for a financial transaction tax (FTT) to Washington, D.C., today, rallying in front of the White House and Department of Treasury. It was the second time since June that NNU brought its demands to the nation's capital.

5 Nov 2011

Longer looks: A doctor's dilemma on C-sections; apology for a death sparked a hospital's change

I was the obstetrician on hospital duty that Sunday morning, so I introduced myself and learned that the patient, pregnant with her first child, wished to have as few interventions as possible. Respecting her desire, we decided to reevaluate her in a few hours to see how her labor had progressed. But would she get her wish? ... the odds were greater than 1 in 4 that this woman would end up not with the natural delivery she wanted, but with a surgical delivery in one of the two operating rooms down the hall.

4 Nov 2011

Study highlights profound impact of maternal separation on infants

A woman goes into labor, and gives birth. The newborn is swaddled and placed to sleep in a nearby bassinet, or taken to the hospital nursery so that the mother can rest. Despite this common practice, new research published in Biological Psychiatry provides new evidence that separating infants from their mothers is stressful to the baby.

3 Nov 2011

Alliances form among super committee members

Reuters reports that three Republicans and three Democrats are joining together in an effort to develop the framework of a deal themselves. Meanwhile, an outside organization -; the AFL-CIO -; is launching a campaign to defeat any Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security cuts the panel may ultimately propose. And, according to Politico, Social Security is in play as the panel's deliberations continue.

2 Nov 2011

Research roundup: Medicaid's long-term care bill; work-based coverage and the health law

This study examined Medicare data on beneficiaries diagnosed with colorectal cancer between 1995 and 2005 who ranged from 67 to 85 years old. The authors found, "Medicare beneficiaries with colon cancer had better outcomes if they had more primary care utilization before diagnosis. Even within this universally insured population, 28% of Medicare beneficiaries with colon cancer had no or only 1 contact with primary care physicians in the 3 to 27 months before the diagnosis.

29 Oct 2011

Viewpoints: The right amount of health care spending; protecting jobs in hospitals; Wal-Mart's signal about employer coverage

Unfortunately, few people really understand how much we spend on health care, how much we need to spend to provide quality care, and the difference between the two. Do we spend too much? Would cutting costs require rationing, or worse, death panels?

29 Oct 2011

Largest, most detailed protein interaction map of multicellular organism

Researchers have built a map that shows how thousands of proteins in a fruit fly cell communicate with each other. This is the largest and most detailed protein interaction map of a multicellular organism, demonstrating how approximately 5000, or one third, of the proteins cooperate to keep life going.

28 Oct 2011

White House urges community health centers to hire vets

The Obama administration on Tuesday called on community health centers to hire 8,000 military veterans in the next three years. The plan would draw on funds already included in the health law to boost primary care at these clinics.

27 Oct 2011

South Sudan, UNFPA program works to deploy more midwives throughout country

The Ministry of Health of South Sudan and UNFPA, working through the Capacity Placement of International United Nations Volunteer Midwives Project, has deployed 18 midwives throughout South Sudan since December 2010, when the program began, the Sudan Tribune reports.

27 Oct 2011

Political cartoon: 'Parts And Labor'

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh perspective on health policy developments with "Parts And Labor".

24 Oct 2011

DNA synbodies, a new class of affinity reagents, gets major NIH boost

An ongoing Arizona State University effort to develop a revolutionary class of reagents that holds great promise for the future of medicine has received a major boost with a three-year, $4 million award from the National Institutes of Health.