Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Vermont announces free or discounted nicotine patches and gum

Free or discounted nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) - nicotine patches and gum - will be provided for a limited time to all adult Vermonters who want to quit smoking cigarettes, thanks to a significant expansion of the Vermont Department of Health's NRT program announced.

31 May 2004

Autodesk engineering solution addresses healthcare design challenges

Autodesk, Inc., a leading design software and digital content company, has announced that engineering firms are increasingly using Autodesk(R) Building Systems to create, manage and share critical building design information for healthcare, biomedical research and biopharmaceutical projects.

31 May 2004

BMA calls for action to safeguard the health of air passengers

The British Medical Association is calling for national and international action to safeguard the health of air passengers, in a new report published on Monday (31st May). Despite numbering two billion a year, air travellers are not protected by regulated standards of healthcare or medical advice.

31 May 2004

Training in chronic care medicine is poor

In a national survey of practicing family physicians, pediatricians, internists and surgeons, the majority reported that their training in chronic care medicine was too thin overall to meet the demands of their practices.

27 May 2004

Radiation therapy after surgery for men with prostate cancer lessens the chance of the cancer returning

Radiation therapy after surgery for men with prostate cancer lessens the chance of the cancer coming back, regardless of whether the radiation was administered immediately after surgery or after the cancer recurred, according to a new study in the June 2004 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of ASTRO, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

27 May 2004

HEABC reaches agreement with Nurses

The Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC) has reached a Framework Agreement with the Nurses Bargaining Association (NBA) under which both parties will approach negotiations to renew a Collective Agreement and discuss health policy issues related to the nursing workforce.

27 May 2004

Brain cells containing the chemical histamine are critical for waking

A study by scientists with the Veterans Affairs' Neurobiology Research Laboratory and UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute shows that brain cells containing the chemical histamine are critical for waking.

27 May 2004

BUPA calls for better measurement of healthcare outcomes

Dr Andrew Vallance-Owen, BUPA’s medical director will call for improved measurement of the success of surgery across UK healthcare when he speaks at the Health Service Journal (HSJ) conference later today.

27 May 2004

Bipolar disorder, one of the illnesses that will be studied and treated at the new Mood Disorders Centre of Excellence

Imagine suffering frequent, extreme and disabling mood swings that won’t go away despite years of different treatments and diagnoses.

26 May 2004

$498 million to strengthen response to bioterror attacks, infectious diseases, and natural disasters

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced $498 million in awards to states, territories and four major metropolitan areas to strengthen the ability of hospitals and other health care facilities to respond to bioterror attacks, infectious diseases, and natural disasters that may cause mass casualties.

25 May 2004

Wyeth to seek rehearing of court ruling

Wyeth today said it would seek rehearing of a decision issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversing rulings by U.S. District Court Judge Harvey Bartle III of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania which excluded certain evidence in state court diet drug trials.

25 May 2004

Researchers dedicated to improving the health of all New Zealanders now have a new home

Research teams dedicated to improving the health of all New Zealanders now have a new home at The University of Auckland’s Population Health Complex.

25 May 2004

Among older people, diabetes substantially increases premature deaths

A new study involving tens of thousands of people 65 and older suggests that even among older people, diabetes substantially increases premature deaths, according to researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

24 May 2004

Revolutionary self healing bandage that uses the patient's own cells

A revolutionary type of 'self healing' bandage that uses the patient's own cells is being developed. The technique has already been tried successfully on patients with diabetic ulcers and in the long-term could offer a more effective, quicker and cost efficient way of treating many types of slow-healing wounds such as pressure ulcers.

24 May 2004

Medicare Drug Discount Card pricing is lower than internet and mail-order pharmacy prices

A new study by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) found that prices available from Medicare-Approved Drug Discount Cards are lower than current Internet and mail-order pharmacy prices.

24 May 2004

African-Americans more likely to die of colon cancer

African-Americans with colon cancer are more than 50 percent more likely to die of their cancer within five and ten years after surgery than Caucasians. According to a new study published May 24, 2004 in the online edition of CANCER.

24 May 2004

Australian neurology ward goes wireless

In a first for the Monash Medical Centre, Ward 54 is going wireless. Efficiencies are expected to increase when clinical staff use innovative hand-held devices and mobile equipment to deliver patient care.

24 May 2004

Canadian healthcare policy under the microscope

Healthcare policies and programs come and go. Yet the professionals who design the medical services we use are rarely mentioned in the general healthcare debates. That's about to change.

23 May 2004

Increases in co-payments may reduce the use of medications

Significant increases in co-payments may reduce the use of medications and raise concern about adverse health consequences, according to a study published in the May 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

22 May 2004

Improving the care delivered to children with special health care needs

Health care delivered close to home is vitally important, especially when the patient is a child. But how do community pediatric practices adapt to offer the best care when faced with a child who has complex and often, multiple health needs? Reporting in this month's issue of Pediatrics, Dartmouth researchers outline a process designed to help any practice become a state of the art "medical home" for such children.

20 May 2004