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First Edition: February 23, 2012

Today's headlines include coverage of the health policy flashpoints during last night's GOP presidential primary debate.

23 Feb 2012

Eating invasive plant pre-adapts bluetongue lizards against cane toad poisons

An invasive plant may have saved an iconic Australian lizard species from death at the hands of toxic cane toads, according to research published in the March issue of The American Naturalist. It's an interesting case of one invasive species preparing local predators for the arrival of another, says Richard Shine, a biologist at the University of Sydney who led the research.

23 Feb 2012

New phone number to University of Michigan memory loss and dementia services

Her diagnosis was scary: Alzheimer's Disease. So Myriam Torres was desperate for accurate information and help with coping with what the future might bring.

23 Feb 2012

Supreme Court sends California Medicaid case back to Court of Appeals

The Supreme Court sent back to a lower court a case on whether Medicaid recipients and medical providers can sue California for cutting reimbursement rates in the healthcare program for low-income Americans. ... The case involved a plan by California's lawmakers in 2008 to slash Medicaid payments to doctors, hospitals and other medical providers to help reduce the state's massive budget deficit.

23 Feb 2012

States wage internal battles to fund mental health systems, overhauls

States are grappling with funding mental health programs: Iowa lawmakers are fighting over how to pay for an overhaul of the system, Kansas' mental health workforce is dwindling and Illinois cuts endanger emergency care for the mentally ill.

23 Feb 2012

High-tech human patient simulation bolsters faculty teaching capacity and enhances clinical learning

To address the faculty shortage problem, schools of nursing are reexamining how they provide clinical education to undergraduate students to find ways to use faculty resources more efficiently so they can maintain student enrollment and meet the future need for nurses.

23 Feb 2012

INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics & Operations Research to take place in April

Analytics, the increasingly important specialty that has been cited by Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, Gartner, and Accenture for aiding better decisions at organizations, will be the focus of a conference hosted by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS-), the premier organization for advanced analytics professionals.

23 Feb 2012

Feds launch health insurance co-ops with $639 million in low-interest loans

Seven organizations received the funding, which is designed to advance the formation of health insurance co-operatives -- an alternative to the idea of a government-run public option and an entity to compete against private insurance plans.

23 Feb 2012

Real beauty and self-esteem begins from within, not from makeup

The Renfrew Center Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to advancing the education, prevention, research and treatment of eating disorders, today announced survey results which revealed that nearly half of all women have negative feelings about their image when not wearing makeup and associate a "bare face" with feeling unattractive and insecure.

23 Feb 2012

Underreporting of alcohol's role in crime and accidents decreases public support for liquor laws

Reading a newspaper article about the role alcohol played in an injury accident or violent crime makes people more supportive of enforcing alcohol laws, a new study suggests.

23 Feb 2012

Sustainable funding needed to reduce Burma's HIV, TB treatment gap

"While international attention focuses on Burma, [also known as Myanmar,] a health crisis in the country looms large," Joe Billiveau, operations manager of Medecins Sans Frontieres' (MSF) operational center in Amsterdam, writes in this opinion piece in Bangkok's Nation.

23 Feb 2012

Study examines views on money, coercion and undue influence in participation for research

Researchers almost always offer money as an incentive for healthy volunteers to enroll in research studies, but does payment amount to coercion or undue inducement to participate in research?

23 Feb 2012

Radiation risk from Japan's nuclear disaster debris not a worry, but other aspects might be

The first anniversary is approaching of the March, 2011, earthquake and tsunami that devastated Fukushima, Japan, and later this year debris from that event should begin to wash up on U.S. shores - and one question many have asked is whether that will pose a radiation risk.

23 Feb 2012

Scientific American examines Gates Foundation toilet-design initiative

"Advocates for universal access to and use of basic personal sanitation hope their efforts will get a big boost in August, when the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation present several hygienic innovations developed through its Reinventing the Toilet Challenge," Scientific American reports in a feature article.

23 Feb 2012

Surgery associated with brain atrophy in elderly patients with MCI

A study published in the March issue of Anesthesiology found that elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), as well as normal elderly undergoing surgery experienced increased levels of brain atrophy beyond what is expected from normal aging.

23 Feb 2012

FDA, pharmaceutical companies announce solution to cancer drug shortage

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and several pharmaceutical companies said Tuesday they have reached agreements to alleviate shortages for the drugs methotrexate and Doxil. Methotrexate is used to treat children with a form of leukemia and others with tumors of the breast and lungs. Doxil is used to treat ovarian cancer and multiple myeloma.

23 Feb 2012

USAID releases external evaluation of President's Malaria Initiative

USAID on Tuesday released the final report by an external evaluation team of the first five years (FY 2006-FY 2010) of the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), which is a major component of the Global Health Initiative (GHI), according to a USAID press release.

23 Feb 2012

AFA applauds nation's first National Alzheimer's Plan

The following is a statement by Eric J. Hall, president and CEO of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA), in response to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' release today of its "Draft National Plan To Address Alzheimer's Disease."

23 Feb 2012

For kids whole fruit is the best and fruit juice should be limited

To help keep at bay health risks such as childhood obesity and early tooth decay, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limiting fruit juice in children age 1-5 to one serving per day.

23 Feb 2012

QHN to provide health care providers with new registry services

Long a pioneer in regional health information exchange (HIE) development, Quality Health Network (QHN) is developing a "registry of registries," powered by The Advisory Board Company's Crimson Care Registry, for QHN's participants in 20 western Colorado counties.

23 Feb 2012