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Erection problems less in men who have intercourse more often

Having intercourse more often may help prevent the development of erectile dysfunction (ED). A study published in the July 2008 issue of The American Journal of Medicine reports that researchers have found that men who had intercourse more often were less likely to develop ED.

2 Jul 2008

Brazilian organization files opposition to Gilead's antiretroviral patent application in India

The Brazilian group Interdisciplinary AIDS Association, or ABIA, has joined Indian patient advocacy groups to oppose a patent application for Gilead Science's antiretroviral drug Tenofovir, saying that the patent would have a direct impact on Brazil's ability to produce and access affordable generic versions of the drug, India's Business Standard reports. Opponents of the patent say that the drug consists of a previously known compound and, therefore, cannot be patented under India's Patents Act.

2 Jul 2008

Counseling heterosexual couples about HIV in Zambia, Rwanda could prevent 60% of HIV cases

Counseling heterosexual couples living in Zambia and Rwanda about HIV transmission could prevent up to 60% of new cases, according to a study published Saturday in the journal Lancet, Reuters reports (Fox, Reuters, 6/26).

2 Jul 2008

U.N. Secretary-General Ban to call on G8 to increase aid for health programs, including HIV/AIDS initiatives

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday said he will call on the Group of Eight industrialized nations at its summit next month in Hokkaido, Japan, to increase aid for specific health programs -- including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria initiatives -- AFP/Google.com reports (AFP/Google.com, 6/26).

2 Jul 2008

CMS rule requires hospice providers to track, improve quality of care delivered

CMS has issued a new rule requiring hospice providers participating in Medicare to implement a quality assessment and improvement system, the Washington Post reports.

2 Jul 2008

Democratic lawmakers call Bush administration's efforts to temporarily hold Medicare physician payment rates at current levels 'misleading'

Democratic Sens. Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.) and Charles Schumer (N.Y.) in a letter to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt wrote that there "have been several misleading -- and possibly incorrect -- reports from the [Bush] administration regarding actions on physician claims filed beginning July 1," The Hill reports (Young, The Hill, 6/30).

2 Jul 2008

Legislation To Reauthorize PEPFAR Still Getting Blocked In Senate Despite Agreement Reached Last Week, Bush's Support

Efforts to pass a measure (S 2731) aimed at reauthorizing the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief failed on Friday after Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) rejected a request by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to vote on the bill, CQ Today reports.

2 Jul 2008

Costs pose challenge to Massachusetts health insurance law one year after deadline for residents to obtain coverage

One year after the deadline for Massachusetts residents to obtain health coverage under the state's health insurance law, the percentage of uninsured has declined but the law "still faces a huge challenge: costs," USA Today reports.

2 Jul 2008

President Bush signs war supplemental spending bill that blocks six new Medicaid rules

President Bush on Monday signed into law a supplemental war appropriations bill (HR 2642) with a provision that will delay for one year six new Medicaid regulations proposed by his administration, CongressDaily reports (Sanchez, CongressDaily, 6/30).

2 Jul 2008

Pharmaceutical companies say new approach by FDA has led to decrease approvals of new medications

An "intensifying focus on safety and a diminished tolerance for side effects" by FDA have "dramatically lowered" the chances that experimental medications will reach the market and have led to a recent decrease in approvals of new treatments, according to pharmaceutical companies, the Wall Street Journal reports.

2 Jul 2008

Minnesota researchers developing web site that aims to curb spread of HIV among MSM

The Minneapolis Star Tribune on Sunday profiled Sexpulse, a Web site in development at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health that is the latest strategy to curb a "second wave" of HIV/AIDS cases among young men who have sex with men.

2 Jul 2008

Report recommends that Washington, D.C., spend $90 million on health care services in underserved areas

Washington, D.C., should spend $90 million of the funds it received from the 1998 tobacco settlement to expand services provided by community health centers in the district's underserved areas, according to a RAND report released on Thursday, the Washington Post reports.

2 Jul 2008

Lawmakers to introduce bill that would overturn Supreme Court decision on medical device liability

Democratic lawmakers recently announced plans to introduce legislation in the House and Senate that would overturn a February Supreme Court decision that FDA approval of certain medical devices protects manufacturers from product liability lawsuits filed in state courts, CQ HealthBeat reports.

2 Jul 2008

Shortcuts in using bar coding technology at hospitals undermines systems' safeguards, study finds

Bar coding in hospitals has not yet been proven to reduce medical errors, and shortcuts staff have developed to work around problems with bar codes often undermine the systems' safeguards, according to a report published online Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

2 Jul 2008

FDA finds many possibly life-threatening medical equipment malfunctions result from software problems

The Baltimore Sun on Monday examined how FDA, with help from experts in the information technology and scientific fields, has found that medical equipment "might not malfunction because it was poorly designed or badly made ... but because the computer code running it includes a mistake."

2 Jul 2008

White House, GOP leadership must take 'lead' in convincing senators to drop PEPFAR Reauthorization objections, editorial says

The White House and Republican leadership must "take the lead" in convincing Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and other Republican senators to "change their minds" about holding up the proposed five-year extension of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a Washington Post editorial says.

2 Jul 2008

Bush Administration to temporarily keep Medicare physician payment rates at current levels after congress fails to pass legislation to delay scheduled cut

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Friday said that the agency will maintain the current Medicare payment rate for physicians because Congress was unable to pass legislation to avert a 10.6% cut scheduled to go into effect on Tuesday before lawmakers left for the Fourth of July recess, the Washington Post reports. According to the Post, congressional aides said the freeze to payment rates could last 10 days (Kane, Washington Post, 6/28).

2 Jul 2008

SureScripts, RxHub merge, create single e-prescription network

Officials from SureScripts and RxHub, two electronic prescription networks, on Tuesday will announce their merger in an effort to promote greater adoption of electronic prescribing by physicians, the Washington Post reports (Goldfarb, Washington Post, 7/1).

2 Jul 2008

Old order Amish, Mennonites reject health insurance, face high costs for care at not-for-profit hospitals

Old Order Amish and Mennonites in Lancaster County, Pa., "suffer from endemic proportions of certain deadly genetic diseases" because they do not marry outside their communities, and, as they "seek lifesaving treatments, the uninsured in these Pennsylvania communities are struggling with escalating costs of care" at not-for-profit hospitals, the Wall Street Journal reports.

2 Jul 2008

HIV/AIDS cases among adults ages 50, older in Georgia increasing

New HIV/AIDS diagnoses among adults ages 50 and older in Georgia has nearly doubled in the last 10 years, according to recent data from the state Department of Human Resources' Division of Public Health, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

2 Jul 2008

Medical News

Erection problems less in men who have intercourse more often

Brazilian organization files opposition to Gilead's antiretroviral patent application in India

Counseling heterosexual couples about HIV in Zambia, Rwanda could prevent 60% of HIV cases

U.N. Secretary-General Ban to call on G8 to increase aid for health programs, including HIV/AIDS initiatives

CMS rule requires hospice providers to track, improve quality of care delivered

Democratic lawmakers call Bush administration's efforts to temporarily hold Medicare physician payment rates at current levels 'misleading'

Legislation To Reauthorize PEPFAR Still Getting Blocked In Senate Despite Agreement Reached Last Week, Bush's Support

Costs pose challenge to Massachusetts health insurance law one year after deadline for residents to obtain coverage

President Bush signs war supplemental spending bill that blocks six new Medicaid rules

Pharmaceutical companies say new approach by FDA has led to decrease approvals of new medications

Minnesota researchers developing web site that aims to curb spread of HIV among MSM

Report recommends that Washington, D.C., spend $90 million on health care services in underserved areas

Lawmakers to introduce bill that would overturn Supreme Court decision on medical device liability

Shortcuts in using bar coding technology at hospitals undermines systems' safeguards, study finds

FDA finds many possibly life-threatening medical equipment malfunctions result from software problems

White House, GOP leadership must take 'lead' in convincing senators to drop PEPFAR Reauthorization objections, editorial says

Bush Administration to temporarily keep Medicare physician payment rates at current levels after congress fails to pass legislation to delay scheduled cut

SureScripts, RxHub merge, create single e-prescription network

Old order Amish, Mennonites reject health insurance, face high costs for care at not-for-profit hospitals

HIV/AIDS cases among adults ages 50, older in Georgia increasing

Exploring the role of confocal-based high-content imaging in advancing core facilities

Transforming Cardiovascular Care: Insights from Mina Makar at AstraZeneca

Clue's CEO Rhiannon White on the Future of Femtech and PCOS

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