Health Law
Health Law Prof Blog 
Health law resources, information, and news for the academic community.
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Health Care Reform Brings Price Increases From The Drug Industry At The Highest Rate In Years
Posted on November 16, 2009The drug industry stands to gain about 30 million new customers with drug insurance from the legislation pending in Congress so it isn?t surprising that the industry is promising to support Washington?s health care overhaul. This support comes in the...
Public Health Insurance Plan: Should Some Uninsured Americans Be Able To Enroll In A Newly Created, Publicly Administered Health Plan As The Nation Works To Expand Health Insurance Coverage?
Posted on November 15, 2009A new Policy Brief published by Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provides an excellent analysis of the proposed government-run public health insurance plan under the landmark health reform legislation passed by the House of Representatives...
Awareness of Racism Affects How Children Perform Socially and Academically
Posted on November 14, 2009A study of more than 120 ethnically and socioeconomically diverse US elementary school children shows that children develop an awareness about racial stereotypes early and that those biases can be damaging. Specifically, the study illustrates that when children become aware...
A Skipped Medication? Get a Text Message From Your Neglected Pill
Posted on November 03, 2009In an experimental new system, a microchip planted in your pills will send a text message to your computer or your phone reminding you to take your medication if you forget. According to WSJ Health Blog, Novartis is testing the...
New Guidelines from DOJ for Prosecution of Medical Marijuana Use
Posted on November 01, 2009In a change in US DOJ policy on medical marijuana use, a new set of formal federal guidelines were announced for U.S. Attorneys in the 14 states that authorize medical marijuana use. These states include Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine,...
Children?s Cereals Contain 86% More Suger, 60% More Salt And 65% Less Fiber Than Adult Cereals
Posted on October 27, 2009Cereal manufacturers market their least healthy products to children according to a study by Yale University?s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University. The FOODnavigator-USA.com reports on the study: Researchers found that cereals marketed directly to children have...
Rescue for Post-Surgical Complications Better For Whites Than Blacks At Teaching Hospitals
Posted on October 22, 2009Survival after surgery appears higher at teaching hospitals than at non-teaching hospitals, but this benefit is experienced by white patients and not black patients, according to a report published in February of 2009 called Silber et al., Hospital Teaching Intensity,...
Ratio of Medical School Applicants to Available Slots Stays Flat
Posted on October 22, 2009The WSJ Health Blog reports that the new figures on medical school applications from the Association of Medical Colleges came out on Tuesday. They show that the ratio of applications per available slot has stayed essentially the same for the...
High Post-Surgical Mortality Rates Related to Failure to Rescue
Posted on October 20, 2009The assumption is that high mortality hospitals have high complication rates. But a new report, Variation in Hospital Mortality Associated with Inpatient Surgery, 361 N.Eng. J. Med. 1368-75 (2009), shows complications are common after major surgery -- about one in...
Swine Flu Vaccine Shortfall, H1N1 Found in U.S. Swine and Mandatory Vaccination of Health Workers in NY Blocked
Posted on October 19, 2009Nature.com?s blog The Great Beyond has three Swine Flu stories of interest: Vaccine Shortfall: "[T]he US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now expects to have 28-30 million doses of swine flu vaccine by the end of October ?...
52 Percent Lower Chance of Dying At Top-Rated Hospitals According to New Study
Posted on October 18, 2009According to the HealthGrades Report on patient outcomes at 5000 hospitals, the quality gap continues. Patients who have access to high quality hospitals have a 52% lower chance of dying. As reported in ScienceDaily, the study also found the following:...
Study Shows Model Can Be Used To Rate Courtroom Psychiatric Experts' Performance
Posted on October 16, 2009What does it mean when expert psychiatric witnesses in a court case reach opposing conclusions on the same sets of evidence? Does it mean that one side or the other is necessarily being less than honest? According to a report...
Updated State Health Data from Kaiser Family Foundation
Posted on October 15, 2009Statehealthfacts.org, which is part of the the Kaiser Family Foundation website, has recently added new and updated data on Demographics and the Economy, Health Coverage & Uninsured, Medicaid & CHIP, Medicare,Providers & Service Use, and Minority Health...
UK Border Agencies Start Pilot Program Using DNA Testing to Prove the Origin of Asylum Seekers Claiming to Be From Somalia
Posted on October 13, 2009The UK Border Agency came under attack for its proposed plan to use genetics to determine nationality. According to a report in Nature, a pilot project was implemented to confirm the claims of 100 asylum seekers that they are from...
Unequal Access to Quality of Care: Hispanic Children with Brain Tumors
Posted on October 12, 2009Hispanic children with brain tumors have less access to specialists in neurosurgery than other children. This disparity in access could negatively impact both immediate prognosis and long-term survival according to research by a team from Johns Hopkins...
O'Neil Institute for National and Global Health Announces New Blog on Legal Issues in Health Reform
Posted on October 11, 2009A new blog called "Legal Issues in Health Reform" was announced by Timothy Westmoreland, the Co-Director of Legal Solutions in Health Reform, O?Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at the Georgetown University Law Center. Tim's announcement reads as...
Web Tool Offers Side-by-Side Comparison of Major Health Care Reform Proposals
Posted on October 10, 2009A new web tool that allows for a side-by-side comparison of the leading health care reform proposals is now available from the Kaiser Family Foundation: This interactive side-by-side compares the leading comprehensive reform proposals across a number of key characteristics...
A Challenge to the FDA?s Entire Regulatory Scheme for Health Care Products: Botox Manufacturer Files Lawsuit Asserting First Amendment Protection for Off Label Drug Claims
Posted on October 08, 2009In a move that could undermine the entire FDA premarket approval process for all health care products, the maker of Botox has filed a legal action against the government claiming first amendment protection for the distribution of ?truthful, relevant information?...
Is Now the Right Time: Should the United States Consider Adding Adjuvants to the H1N1 Vaccine?
Posted on October 08, 2009Is now the time to use an emergency exception to the FDA approval process for the addition of adjuvants to the H1N1 vaccine? Some argue that this measure should be taken in the U.S. order to protect people in other...
Health Care Bill Gets 'Cost Analysis Green Light' by Congressional Budget Office
Posted on October 08, 2009The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released its much-anticipated report on the Senate Finance Committee legislation to revise the Health Care System reports the New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, BBC and The Wall Street Journal...
Job Growth Continues in Health-Care
Posted on October 04, 2009The Wall Street Journal Health Blog reports here and here that job growth is continuing in health care: As usual, the month-to-month gain wasn?t huge ? about 19,000 new health-care jobs were added during September, bringing the total to 13.67...
Call for Papers: The Cleveland-Marshall Journal of Law and Health
Posted on October 01, 2009The Journal of Law and Health is actively seeking scholarly articles on health-related topics for Volume 23, to be published during the 2009-2010 academic year. We are interested in any and all health-related topics, and encourage both legal scholars and...
Has Statin Use by the Wealthy Created New Social Disparities In Cardiovascular Health?
Posted on September 29, 2009Since the 1980s, cholesterol levels of the wealthy have declined at twice the rate of those of the poor. Why? A new study suggests that statins, which are expensive drugs that are highly effective in reducing cholesterol and improving heart...
A Dangerous Shortage of Domestic Violence Services
Posted on September 27, 2009More than 10 percent of victims of domestic abuse report that they were unable to receive help they needed according to a study published by the Health Affairs Web site. The study, published on September 22, 2009, was performed by...
Costs Continue To Climb For Job-Based Insurance
Posted on September 23, 2009According to the yearly survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET), premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose to $13,375 annually for family coverage in 2009 - with employees on average paying $3,515 and...
Consumer Reports Announces ?Evidence-Based Ratings for Medical Treatments, Drugs and Natural Medicines?
Posted on September 20, 2009Consumer Reports announced this week the debut of its web service called ConsumerReportsHealth.org. The web site offers the following: ? Natural Medicine Ratings for over 20,000 herbs, vitamins and nutritional supplements; ? Treatment Ratings for over 200 common medical and...
Are Long-Term Risks Ignored in Calculating the Safety of Medical Treatments?
Posted on September 17, 2009Patients who take the powerful new multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri are getting mixed messages about their risk of contracting a life threatening condition called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML. PML is a brain infection associated with the use of Tysabri...
Lifestyle Choices and Health: Your Social Life Can Impact Your Health And Your Food Choices Can Trump Your Genetic Code To Influence Your Weight
Posted on September 15, 2009Two new studies came out this week that have interesting implications on the association between lifestyle choices and disease. The first is a study by Emily Sonestedt, a member of the Marju Orho-Melanders research group at Lund University Diabetes Centre...
African Policy - Criminalize the Spread of HIV?
Posted on September 14, 2009Two Zambia air force members claim they were discriminated against when they were discharged because they have HIV.This African case may influence how African courts respond to the HIV epidemic and shape policy. Reports the Washington Post: Across the continent,...
Dueling Food Safety Websites
Posted on September 14, 2009Two excellent food safety web sites were introduced this week: Food Safety News and FoodSafety.gov. Food Safety News is the brain child of Bill Marler, a nationally recognized food safety and food borne illness expert. The first articles posted on...
School Lunches - the New "Social Justice Issue of Our Time"?
Posted on September 07, 2009Replacing fatty, high sodium and inexpensive foods served in school cafeterias across the country should be more of a priority for Washington, advocates Ann Cooper. Cooper is currently the the interim director of nutrition services for the schools of Boulder...
Health Care Reform: Obama Will Talk Specifics
Posted on September 07, 2009WSJ reports that President Obama is ready to talk about his specific position on the health care reform debate. Be prepared to tune into Obama's speech on Wednesday. Until now, Obama has resisted taking firm positions on specific elements of...
Pfizer Settles for $2.3 Billion: Obama Administration Serious About Cracking Down on Health Care Fraud
Posted on September 03, 2009Washington Post reports that drug manufacturer, Pfizer, settled for a record $2.3 billion, pleading guilty to a felony charge of fraudulent marketing of drug, Bextra. This marks the first major Obama administration victory in cracking down on health care fraud,...
Fears of Flu Pandemic - More Harm Than Help?
Posted on September 03, 2009LA Times questions whether public health officials were too preemptive in declaring a health emergency this past April when swine flu first hit the U.S. Fear of catching H1N1 has even affected the financial market, a harm perhaps disproportionate to....
Big Tobacco Sues
Posted on September 01, 2009Has Congress gone too far? Filed in Bowling Green, Ky, Big Tobacco is suing the FDA over a newly enacted law, which restricts tobacco manufacturers' rights to advertise. WSJ reports: The companies object to such provisions as a requirement that...
Tort Reform and Medical Costs
Posted on August 31, 2009NYT's freelance writer, Anne Underwood, interviews Tom Baker, professor of law and health sciences at U. Penn School of Law, about tort reform and its potential impact on lowering health care costs. This issue has raised interest from scholars and...
NY's Campaign to Temper Obesity: "Are You Pouring on the Pounds?"
Posted on August 31, 2009NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene just launched a new public awareness campaign to address over-consumption of junk foods and sodas and resulting obesity. The city launched a similar campaign to address tobacco use and feels that this effort,...
Hospital Executives' Anxieties about Reform
Posted on August 30, 2009Washington Post examines the concerns of one hospital executive in light of health care reform. Anxiety is running high among hospital executives as they ponder the ever-changing proposals on Capitol Hill. Wary of changes to payment formulas and fiercely protective...
Medical Bills and the Middle Class
Posted on August 30, 2009Nicolas Kristof of the NYT highlights one woman's story of how cracks in the health care system tore apart her family when her husband was diagnosed with early onset dementia. Because her husband required long-term care, hospital workers suggested the...
How Choice Factors into Health Care Reform
Posted on August 26, 2009NYT columnist David Leonhardt analyzes whether personal choice can be a part of health care reform. Health insurers often act like monopolies ? like a cable company or the Department of Motor Vehicles ? because they resemble monopolies. Consumers, instead...
Managing Health Policies in South Africa
Posted on August 25, 2009Will the S. African government make addressing the AIDS epidemic a more critical focus of its administration? With leading scientists urging the government to take action, the answer may be yes. Leading South African scientists challenged the governing party on...
Moving Toward Increased Hospital Transparency
Posted on August 25, 2009Embracing a policy of transparency at hospitals benefits patient and hospital, one test study found. After adopting the model four years ago, findings indicate that at the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago, disclosing medical errors upfront has actually...
Presidential Panel Recommends Speeding up Access to Swine Flu Vaccine
Posted on August 24, 2009With universities and schools opening its doors, swine flu continues to spread. In Cincinnati, both Xavier University and University of Cincinnati have each reported cases of swine flu (See article here).On Monday, a presidential panel recommended increased access to the...
P&G May Sell Drug Business
Posted on August 24, 2009On the brink of selling its $3 billion prescription drug business to Warner Chilcott Ltd, P&G has raised interesting considerations about the state of the pharmaceutical market. WSJ believes that factors in P&G's decision to put the business on the...
FDA Requires Halt of Sale of Ibuprofen Creams
Posted on August 23, 2009Eight companies were warned by the FDA that they are no longer permitted to sell ibuprofen creams. Only problem is the Food and Drug Administration never said that was OK. So the agency warned eight companies they're out of line...
Taxing Junk Food To Curb Obesity
Posted on August 23, 2009LA Times examines whether taxing junk food, traditionally cheaper than healthier alternatives, will reduce obesity and encourage consumers to purchase more nutritious foods. To make a significant dent in escalating rates of obesity, taxes would have to be steep and...
Health Care: Debating an Effective Public Option
Posted on August 22, 2009Using San Fransisco as a model, NYT columnists debate a public health care option. TWO burning questions are at the center of America?s health care debate. First, should employers be required to pay for their employees? health insurance? And second,....
D.C. and VA Schools Requesting Sixth Grade Girls Receive HPV Vaccination
Posted on August 22, 2009Schools in both D.C. and Virginia are requesting sixth grade girls receive Gardasil, the vaccine that was approved by the FDA in 2006 that protects against genital warts and cervical cancer. The vaccine is most effective if it is administered...
Seniors - Driving and Staying informed of Potential Safety Risks?
Posted on August 20, 2009Many elderly drivers are unaware that prescription drugs may affect their ability to drive safely, reported the Wall Street Journal. In all, 69% of those surveyed took a medicine that could impair driving, because of possible side effects such as...
Moms in D.C. Apprehensive about Flu Vaccine
Posted on August 20, 2009Some mothers-to-be in D.C. are concerned that a new swine flu vaccine has not been tested enough to be administered to pregnant women. Debate stems from the recent recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and American College....
End of Life Care
Posted on August 18, 2009When only about one third of Americans leave living wills or specify end of life protocol, physicians and hospitals are left to consider the costs and benefits of end of life care themselves. Some issues that remain include: Should a...
Conflicts of Interest? Doctors and Pharmaceutical Ties
Posted on August 18, 2009Washington Post discuss a sensitive question many patients find themselves wondering but perhaps not directly asking their doctors - what companies their doctors have relationships with and how deep those ties run. One market research company estimated that pharmaceutical sales...
Good Sam in California
Posted on August 18, 2009California may be suffering from a terrible financial crisis but Governor Schwartzenner has found time to sign legislation that raises the standard for lawsuits against non-professional medical individuals who aid others in emergency situations. Law.com reports One piece of compromise...
Diane Rehm Health Care Townhall
Posted on August 17, 2009In case you are interested in a slightly more friendly town hall discussion of health care issues, you may want to tune into the Diane Rehm show today to hear some of your fellow citizens ask questions about some of...
Conference Announcements: LatCrit XIV and LatCrit/SALT New Faculty Workshop
Posted on August 17, 2009LatCrit XIV promises to be a rich and memorable conference. Over 145 panel and work-in-porogress proposals were submitted. We hope that many of you will be able to join us. Please note that September 14th is the deadline both for...
Public Plan: Cost Containment Rationale
Posted on July 07, 2009Urban Institute has an article by John Holahan and Linda Blumberg concerning the type of public plan that should be included in health reform legislation: This paper makes the argument that a public plan is important to health reform because...
Food Inc. and New Food Safety Rules
Posted on July 07, 2009This looks like a great movie, Food, Inc. It makes me think that now would be a good time to start a garden ... Here is the Movie's Director, Robert Kenner, on the Daily Show. In a related matter, the...
Final Stem Cell Guidelines
Posted on July 06, 2009The Scientific Activist reports on the final stem cell guidelines released by the NIH today and has some interesting commentary: Today, the NIH has released its final guidelines (pdf). Not much has changed, so there's not really much to say...
Timing of Health Reform: Delay?
Posted on July 06, 2009ThinkProgress and RollCall report on Senator Dodds recent discussion about the timing of a health reform bill. David Drucker of RollCall writes: Senate Democratic leaders? hopes of approving health care reform before adjourning for the August recess appear all but...
AIDS Success in Haiti
Posted on July 05, 2009Americablog's Chris reports on some good news out of Haiti and writes, What a great report out of Haiti. . . . In the early 1980s, when the strange and terrifying disease showed up in the U.S. among migrants who...
Happy Fourth of July
Posted on July 04, 2009The Declaration of Independence: When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and...
Medical Malpractice Reform as a part of Health Reform
Posted on July 03, 2009RollCall reports on the push to make medical malpractice reform part of the overall health reform legislation: The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee?s markup of health care legislation is just the latest skirmish in what has been a...
Insurance Concentration
Posted on July 03, 2009Steven Benen of the Washington Monthly reports on the concentration in the insurance industry: Zachary Roth has a very good piece today pointing to a HCAN report documenting the fact that most Americans don't enjoy "anything like a competitive marketplace...
Congressional Budget Office on the Cost of Health Reform - New Numbers
Posted on July 02, 2009Ezra Klein points out the new budget numbers on the Senate's HELP bill: The big news of the morning is a new version of the Senate HELP Committee's health-care reform bill that seems to have everyone confused. The short version...
FDA Panel Recommends Ban on 2 Painkillers
Posted on July 02, 2009The New York Times: A federal advisory panel voted narrowly on Tuesday to recommend a ban on Percocet and Vicodin, two of the most popular prescription painkillers in the world, because of their effects on the liver. The two drugs...
Drug Resistant Swine Flu
Posted on July 01, 2009The Associated Press reports, For the first time, a case of swine flu has proven resistant to Tamiflu ? the leading pharmaceutical weapon against the new virus, international health officials said Monday. The resistance was seen in a patient in...
Diane Rehm on Primary Care Doctors
Posted on July 01, 2009Diane Rehm discusses the need for more primary care doctors today: 10:00 Primary Care Doctors The role of primary care doctors in the U.S. health care system and efforts to address what some believe is a crisis in primary care....
Healthy Americans Against Health Reform: New AD
Posted on June 30, 2009I find these ads quite funny, hope others to do - click here (HARRM.ORG) for their latest. For more health reform humor, check out Tom Tomorrow's latest cartoon here.
The Public Plan: A Discussion
Posted on June 30, 2009Several scholars discuss and debate the pros and cons of a public plan option at The American Prospect. Here is a brief excerpt: In "The Perils of the Public Plan," Paul Starr warns that a public-insurance option could turn into...
Krugman on Health Reform
Posted on June 29, 2009Oxdown Gazette has an excellent post discussing Paul Krugman's response to George Will's (Washington Post) and Greg Mankiw's (New York Times) editorials on healthcare. The blogger writes, Fortunately, Paul Krugman had similar concerns, but expressed them more clearly, and after...
Working to Prevent Painkiller Damage
Posted on June 29, 2009The Associated Press reports on the FDA's renewed focus on painkillers and their damaging side effects. The article provides, Tylenol, Excedrin, NyQuil. These household brands and others have come to symbolize safe, convenient relief from the aches and pains of...
Coverage for Autism
Posted on June 28, 2009The National Law Journal reports on a settlement in Michigan involving payment for autism treatments by insurance companies. Tresa Baldas writes, In what plaintiffs lawyers are calling a landmark autism case, a Michigan insurance company has agreed to reimburse at...
Fun with Opposing Health Reform
Posted on June 26, 2009Just for fun - you should check out the new lobbying organization: HAARM - Healthy Americans Against Reforming Medicine. They have a video here. Enjoy! Thanks to Americablog for the link.
Steve Jobs and Organ Transplants
Posted on June 26, 2009Recently, it came to light that Steven Jobs, Apple's CEO, received a liver transplant. There exist some concerns for those who worry about corporate disclosure issues and health privacy for CEOs but the transplant also raised again the troubling issue...
Fourth Circuit Upholds Virginia's Partial Birth Abortion Ban
Posted on June 25, 2009The Washington Post reports on the Fourth Circuit Court's en banc decision to uphold Virginia's partial birth abortion ban. Josh White states, A sharply divided federal appeals court ruled constitutional yesterday a Virginia law banning "partial birth" abortion that was...
NPR Researching Health Lobbyists and Their Influence
Posted on June 25, 2009Today National Public Ratio began a new series discussing the lobbyists in the room during health reform debates. Earlier this month, lobbyists trooped in to watch as the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions began working on a...
RIP Dr. Jerri Neilsen FitzGerald
Posted on June 24, 2009The Associated Press reports on the death of Dr. Jerri Neilsen FitzGerald, Dr. Jerri Nielsen FitzGerald, who diagnosed and treated her own breast cancer before a dramatic rescue from the South Pole, has died. She was 57. Her husband, Thomas...
Expanding Medicaid: Some States Wary
Posted on June 24, 2009The Wall Street Journal reports on some concerns of state governors about expanding Medicaid. Jonathan Weisman writes: Some governors are pushing to scale back or kill proposals to expand Medicaid to provide health-care coverage to the uninsured, raising a new...
Lobbying Money and Health Reform
Posted on June 23, 2009Nate Silver at the FiveThirtyEight blog has crunched some numbers on the impact of health lobbying money on the public health option. He concludes that such monetary influence does have an impact on several senators and their votes on the...
Rationing Health Care British Style
Posted on June 23, 2009Ezra Klein discusses rationing of health care and why we don't have to be like the British. He writes, Michael Hiltzik has a smart column explaining the way rationing works in the British health-care system: The most extensive laboratory in...
Drug Companies
Posted on June 22, 2009The Associated Press reports on the new deal that the drug companies have negotiated with Medicare's drug provision. The story provides, President Barack Obama on Monday welcomed the pharmaceutical industry's agreement to help close a gap in Medicare's drug coverage,...
Health Reform in Chart Format
Posted on June 22, 2009ThinkProgress provides a helpful chart of the differing health reform plans. the Senate Finance Draft, the Tri House Bill, and HELP Bill current being considered in Congress. Here is a brief discussion of the Tri House Bill and you can...
The Swine Flu Remains Active
Posted on June 21, 2009The CDC Press Briefing from last week reminds Americans that the H1N1/Swine Flu continues to spread. The briefing transript provides, In terms of the numbers of infections that have been laboratory confirmed as H1N1, there are now more than 17,800...
Cloning Animals For Traits?
Posted on June 20, 2009The LATimes reports on a new twist in animal cloning, Even in the sometimes bizarre world of novelty animal cloning, this case is expected to generate debate and curiosity. The Northern California cloning firm BioArts International is holding a news....
Health Insurance CEOs - The Reason So Many People Support Health Reform?
Posted on June 19, 2009Kevin Drum writing at Mother Jones reports on the recent hearing on health insurance: Yesterday the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations decided to investigate the practice of recission. This is when you pay your premiums for years to a...
Health Stocks and Health Reform
Posted on June 19, 2009Kaiser Health News reports on recent market activity in the health sector - Setbacks for Democrats on health reforms earlier this week ? including delays in one Senate committee and a higher-than-expected cost estimate in another ? are good for...
Health Reform: On Life Support
Posted on June 18, 2009Talkingpointsmemo.com links to the New York Times report on the health reform effort and how things are not looking too good right now. What?s the latest assessment from those closely monitoring health care reform? Prognosis negative. ?Health reform is, I...
The Daily Show on Health Care Reform
Posted on June 18, 2009Jon Stewart had a fun look at President Obama's speech before the AMA and some of the talking points provided by politicians on the public option. Click here to view.
Atul Gawande on Fresh Air
Posted on June 17, 2009Dr. Gawande will discuss his New Yorker article, The Cost Conundrum, on NPR's Fresh Air today. In "The Cost Conundrum," his latest article for The New Yorker, staff writer Dr. Atul Gawande reports from McAllen, Texas, a border-town with the...
File under - if it sounds to good to be true ...
Posted on June 16, 2009The New York Times science section contains an article concerning the science behind those studies alleging showing that moderate drinking is good for you. Apparently, the science may be a little weak ... Study after study suggests that alcohol in...
Peer Review Journal-Pace Environmental Law Review
Posted on June 16, 2009For those of you who publish or wish to publish in environmental law - here is some exciting news: Pace Environmental Law Review Announces Shift to Peer-Review Established in 1982, PELR was one of the first scholarly environmental law journals....
President Obama Speaks to the AMA -The Public Option
Posted on June 15, 2009Earlier today, President Obama spoke to the AMA about health care reform. Sam Stein at the Huffingtonpost.com reports, President Obama walked into the lion's den on Monday, delivering a lengthy speech on his approach to health care reform in front...
Taxing Health Benefits ...
Posted on June 15, 2009Over the weekend, there was some discussion of whether taxing employer-provided health benefits should be considered but that idea does not seem to be terribly popular. The Associated Press reports, Lawmakers and administration officials on Sunday distanced themselves from the...
New Study: Ice Cream Favorites Divided by Male/Female
Posted on June 14, 2009Majikthise helpfully points out an interesting study that breaks down the types of ice cream favored by men and women. The study report states, Mintel has released new findings about the varying ice cream preferences of men and women. According...
What is socialized medicine?
Posted on June 13, 2009Ezra Klein on socialized medicine The words "socialized medicine" and"single-payer health care" get thrown around with such gleeful abandon that they've both become a bit unmoored from their actual meanings. In the American health-care debate, they tend to refer to...
E-mail, Facebook, Twitter and Medical Care
Posted on June 12, 2009The New York Times reports on new ways that doctors and patients interact. Dr. Pauline Chen writes, I blog, I tweet and I use Facebook. And as I recently told a medical colleague, social media has been an enormously useful...
Flu Pandemic
Posted on June 12, 2009Yesterday, the World Health Organization declared a swine flu pandemic. The New York Times reports, The disease has reached 74 countries, and probably met the technical definition of a pandemic ? or global spread ? weeks ago. Nearly 30,000 cases...
Senate Passes Tobacco Regulation Legislation
Posted on June 11, 2009The Wall Street Journal on-line reports that the Senate passed the tobacco regulation legislation and states, The Senate overwhelmingly passed historic legislation Thursday that puts the tobacco industry under the regulation of the Food and Drug Administration...
The AMA and a Public Health Care Option
Posted on June 11, 2009The New York Times reported today that the AMA does not support a public health care option. Robert Pear writes, As the health care debate heats up, the American Medical Association is letting Congress know that it will oppose creation...
Diane Rehm on Tobacco Regulation
Posted on June 10, 2009Diane Rehm's show today will discuss Congress' effort to regulate tobacco. 10:00 Regulating Tobacco Congress seems poised to give the F-D-A authority to regulate how cigarettes are labeled and marketed. We'll discuss possible implications of federal control over tobacco products...
Tale of Health Insurance Renewal
Posted on June 10, 2009DailyKos' Sarge in Seattle writes about the annual health insurance renewal process for his small business and states, Jennifer Xxxxx, RHU, and Rebecca Xxxxxx, SPHR opened the discussion, as always, with "good news and bad news". The bad news being,....
New Health Care Blog at Washington Post
Posted on June 09, 2009The Washington Post, already doing a wonderful job on the health care debate with Ezra Klein, has a new blog - the Health Care Rx - that provides a great overview of what certain players within the health care industry...
Some Draft Health Care Legislation
Posted on June 09, 2009Ezra Klein helpfully links to the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee's --- 600 page draft health care reform legislation. He writes, It's the preliminary first draft of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee's bill (there are still some...
Some Benefits of the a Public Health Plan Explained
Posted on June 08, 2009Ezra Klein provides an excellent overview of a public health plan. He writes, The private insurance market is a mess. It's supposed to cover the sick and instead competes to insure the well. It employs platoons of adjusters whose sole...
Draft of Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee -- American Health Choices Act
Posted on June 08, 2009ThinkProgress provides information on the draft health reform bill put forward by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the Senate. The legislation is entitled the "American Health Choices Act" and contains provisions concerning universal coverage and a public...
Ezra Klein on the Senate Finance Committee
Posted on May 27, 2009Ezra Klein, now writing at the Washington Post, has a brief post on the Senate Finance Committee and its importance to health care reform legislation. He writes, You hear a lot about the "how" of health care reform. You hear...
Health Care, Increased Costs and Decreased Quality
Posted on May 27, 2009This week's New Yorker contains yet another great article by Atul Gawande on the costs of health care. He writes, McAllen [Texas] as another distinction, too: it is one of the most expensive health-care markets in the country. Only Miami?which...
Judge Sonia Sotomayor Nominated
Posted on May 26, 2009The New York Times reports that President Obama has nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Unisted States Supreme Court. Peter Baker and Jeff Zeleny write, President Obama has decided to nominate the federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme...
Regulating Tobacco
Posted on May 26, 2009The Hill reports that tobacco and tobacco products will soon fall under some government agency's jurisdiction. J. Taylor Rushing writes, The congressional drive to bring tobacco under Food & Drug Administration control -- given new life in the Senate last...
Summer Pool Tip from CDC
Posted on May 25, 2009As if one needed to be reminded: Headline of the Day from CNN.com - Please don't pee in the pool. The rest of the story goes into more detail as to why: Although urine in the water probably will not...
Book Review: Bodies: Big Ideas/Small Books
Posted on May 24, 2009Susan G, writing at DailyKos, provides a great review of Bodies: Big Ideas/Small Books by Susie Orbach. Susan writes, For psychoanalyst Susie Orbach, the human body in the 21st century has become--. . . . --a burden. "Our bodies," she...
Schools and Obesity
Posted on May 23, 2009The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Association of State Boards of Education have released a new report to help schools combat obesity in children. It states, Schools have many powerful tools at their disposal to serve as one...
Lessons from State Health Reform Efforts
Posted on May 22, 2009HGM MA writing at the DailyKos website has some thoughts about what Massachusetts and its health care public option might teach America as the public option is debated. The author writes, I am surprised to see the abundance of support...
The Daily Dose
Posted on May 21, 2009Ezra Klein, who now blogs at the Washington Post, points to another helpful Washington Post health resource, The Daily Dose. Some recent stories include: Experts Offer CBO New Formula for Determining Cost of Reform By Lori Montgomery As key lawmakers...
Swine Flu Continues to Spread
Posted on May 21, 2009Although it no longer tops the news, swine flu has not gone away. MSNBC reports that it has now spread to Japan and that the US death rate is now in the double digits. The story provides, . . ....
Missing Link or Not - Pretty Exciting Find
Posted on May 20, 2009Scientists have been all abuzz about the find of a new fossil named Ida - a small female primate estimated to be around 47 million years old. How significant is the find - well, that is debatable but most agree...
Professor Gostin on Preemption and Drug Regulation
Posted on May 20, 2009This week's Journal of the American Medical Association has an interesting article by Professor Gostin on the regulation of pharmaceuticals which touches on the FDA, tort law, and the preemption doctrine. He writes, The responsibilities of the FDA are vast,...
Making Medical Decisions for Children
Posted on May 19, 2009The Associated Press reports on the on-going conflict between doctors and family members in a case involving a child with cancer who does not wish to continue with chemotherapy. Amy Forliti writes, A judge issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for...
Wyeth in trouble . . .
Posted on May 19, 2009The Associated Press reports on some potentially big trouble for Wyeth pharmaceuticals. The story states, The Justice Department on Monday accused Wyeth, one of the nation's biggest drugmakers, of cheating Medicaid programs out of hundreds of millions of dollars by...
Single Payer Discussion on Diane Rehm
Posted on May 18, 2009The Diane Rehm Show has an interesting and informative discussion on single payer health care plan. 10:00 Single Payer Health Care: Proponents of a single-payer plan argue it is the best solution for the nation?s health-care system. But chances of...
Dr. Margaret Hamburg Confirmed as FDA Commissioner
Posted on May 18, 2009The Associated Press reports that the Senate confirmed Dr. Margaret Hamburg to be the new Food and Drug Administration commissioner and states, . The Senate on Monday confirmed President Barack Obama's pick to oversee food and drug safety, two areas....
Menu Education and Labeling Act
Posted on May 17, 2009Ezra Klein now has a blog at the Washington Post and one of his first posts concerns the new focus on menu labeling among some in the public health field. He writes, Sen.Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro(D-Conn.) are...
Dr. Thomas Frieden: New Head of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Posted on May 16, 2009The Associated Press reports on President Obama's selection for head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Dr. Thomas Frieden, currently New York's Health Commissioner. The AP's story provides, For seven years, Dr. Thomas Frieden has been the...
Free Drugs - Is this for real?
Posted on May 15, 2009I am sure that most of you have heard that Pfizer has decided to offer free drugs to individuals who lose their jobs. Here is a great take with some further information on the Maintain program from Doc Gurley writing...
Are Cheerios drugs?
Posted on May 15, 2009The FDA has sent General Mills, the manufacturer of Cheerios, a warning letter. It seems that General Mills went a little far in its advertising claims about the health benefits of eating the cereal. The AP reports, Federal regulators are...
Video of Potential Supreme Court Picks
Posted on May 14, 2009Slate.com has a brief video collection of some of the individuals who have been named as the potential Supreme Court Justice to replace Justice Souter. It is a fun review with some interesting moments.
The Informed Consumer Choices in Health Care Act of 2009
Posted on May 14, 2009Time Magazine has a brief story on the many varieties of health insurance that individuals have and how difficult it is to figure out what will and will not be covered. Karen Tumulty writes, The fact is, it's hard to...
Professor Bard: Op-ed on the Swine Flu Preparation
Posted on May 13, 2009Now that we have had some time to react to the swine flu, Professor Bard has some thoughts on the way in which health officials have responded and are responding to this public health threat. She writes, There is a...
Same Sex Couples in the Hospital
Posted on May 13, 2009The New York Times provides some insight into the issues facing same sex couples in the hospital. Tara Parker-Pope writes, During a medical emergency, a patient?s husband, wife, parents or other family members often are close by, overseeing treatment, making...
Patenting Genes
Posted on May 12, 2009The New York Times reports on a recent law suit filed against Myriad Genetics for patenting a genes closely linked to breast and ovarian cancer. John Schwartz writes, When Genae Girard received a diagnosis of breast cancer in 2006, she...
Medicare Future Financial Problems
Posted on May 12, 2009Ezra Klein provides a brief overview of the annual trustees report released today and what it means for the future of the Medicare program. He writes, The Annual Trustees Report is out today, telling us something akin to what we...
Diane Rehm on Health Reform
Posted on May 11, 2009Today's Diane Rehm - 10:00Update on Health Care Reform Guest host: Steve Roberts Guest host Steve Roberts leads a discussion of the latest efforts to meet time lines set by Congress and the White House to overhaul the nation's health...
Dueling Opinion Pieces Health Reform
Posted on May 11, 2009Paul Krugman of the New York Times has an opinion piece on health care reform today and states, Is this the end for Harry and Louise? Harry and Louise were the fictional couple who appeared in advertisements run by the...
Cutting Health Care Growth
Posted on May 10, 2009The New York Times reports on the health industry and its willingness to slow health care spending. Robert Pear reports, Doctors, hospitals, drug makers and insurance companies will join President Obama on Monday in announcing their commitment to a sharp...
Professor Orentlicher on Health Reform
Posted on May 08, 2009This week's Journal of the American Medical Association contains an article by Professor David Orentlicher on health reform and how and what three components a successful reform should contain. He writes, For the first time since 1994, there appears to...
Massachusetts Health Reform Update
Posted on May 08, 2009The Columbia Journalism Review has another great update on the Massachusetts Health Reform and whether it appears to be working to provide access to health care. It may not be as successful as some in the press have reported. Trudy...
NewsHour on the Flu
Posted on May 05, 2009Tonight on the NewsHour - Health Concerns Create Economic Worries in Mexico Tonight on the NewsHour: Senior NewsHour correspondent Ray Suarez looks at Mexico City's attempt to balance the safety of its residents during the H1N1 outbreak with the economic...
Pace of Health Reform - Fast
Posted on May 05, 2009Doug Trapp at AMNews reports on the recent Senate Finance Committee meeting on health reform. He writes, The Senate Finance Committee, whose leaders appear to have taken the helm in the health system reform debate, started a round of public...
Reforms to Fraud and Abuse Laws
Posted on May 04, 2009BNA provides a helpful overview of legislation in Congress to reform the False Claims Act to strengthen the statute after several court decisions limited its impact. The story provides, Both houses of Congress April 28 acted on amendments intended to...
Human Rights and Disability website
Posted on May 04, 2009From InSITE, information about a helpful new website: Human Rights and Disability website - http://www.unhchr.ch/disability/intro.htm The United Nations? Human Rights and Disability website was founded on the premise that "persons with disabilities are entitled to the enjoyment of the full...
Medical Malpractice Claims Decline in Massachusetts
Posted on May 03, 2009The National Law Journal reports on the decline in medical malpractice claims in Massachusetts and provides some suggestions on why the decline may have occurred. Shari Qualters writes, Massachusetts medical malpractice lawsuit filings continued their downward trajectory last year, with...
New Medicare Secondary Payer Obligations
Posted on May 02, 2009The Legal Update from the law firm of Littler Mendelson reports on the new Medical Secondary Payer obligations of employers and insurance companies: Beginning July 1, 2009, many employers and insurance companies will be required to report claims for workers'...
Early Warning of Flu Missed . . . .
Posted on May 01, 2009McClatchy News reports that one biosurveillance firm noticed an uptick in respiratory illness in Mexico and tried to alert various health authorities but without results. Les Blumenthal writes, A Washington state biosurveillance firm raised the first warning about a possible...
Health Reform and Pandemics
Posted on May 01, 2009Matthew Yglesias points out the need for health reform that this swine flu outbreak has reinforced. He writes, The CDC?s ?Swine Flu and You? page offers the following under the heading of ?what should I do if I get sick?:...
Doctor v. Patient Decisions
Posted on May 01, 2009Ezra Klein points out an interesting difference between the left and right on the issue of who should be making the decisions on a variety of health care issues: If you look at the health care policies favored by liberals...
Tracking the Flu
Posted on April 30, 2009Here it is - if you like your data in charts, the Swine Flu Tracker will not disappoint.
First Swine Flu Death in US
Posted on April 29, 2009Reuters reports on the first swine flu death in the United States and states, A 23-month-old child has died in Texas from the new H1N1 swine flu, becoming the first death in the United States from the virus, a U.S....
Sebelius Confirmed, Sworn In, Busy at Work
Posted on April 29, 2009Mark Silva describes the whirlwind confirmation and more of the new HHS Secretary. He writes, After the Senate confirmed the last of President Barack Obama's Cabinet appointees today, the president immediately swore in Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius...
The Daily Show and Snoutbreak '09
Posted on April 28, 2009Just to keep things slightly on the lighter side, here is the Daily Show take on the cable news coverage of the swine flu. He does a great job demonstrating how they speak out of both sides of their mouth....
WHO Phase 4 Described
Posted on April 28, 2009DemFromCt has a helpful overview (including charts) of the WHO's recent decision to raise the pandemic alert to phase four. Here is a brief excerpt: . . . There's a confirmed human outbreak overseas (several, actually - US, Canada, Spain...
Sebelius Confirmation VoteToday
Posted on April 28, 2009Today, the Senate will consider Governor Kathleen Sebelius' nomination for Secretary of HHS. You would think with the swine flu issue still causing concern that this would be a time for quickly confirming the President's choice for this position. You...
Domestic Cow Genome
Posted on April 27, 2009The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports on the completion of the cow genome. The article provides, The cow is the first livestock mammal to have its genetic blueprint sequenced and analyzed. The research was unveiled Thursday in the journal Science. ?The...
Swine Flu Update
Posted on April 27, 2009The New York Times reports on the public health emergency declared by the US in response to the spread of the swine flu from Mexico to other countries, including the US. The article provides, Responding to what some health officials...
Digital Medical Records
Posted on April 26, 2009Business Week provides an overview of some of the discussions and debate taking place over digital medical records. Here is a brief excerpt: The high cost and questionable quality of products currently on the market are important reasons why barely...
Swine Flu
Posted on April 25, 2009The Washington Post reports on the recent outbreak of a new strain of swine flu. Rob Stein and David Brown write, An unusual strain of swine flu has been detected among victims of a large outbreak of a severe respiratory...
Further Delay/Potential Filibuster on Sebelius Nomination
Posted on April 24, 2009The Washington Post reports on the continued delay in the Senate on the approval of Governor Sebelius nomination to be the Secretary of HHS. Ceci Connolly writes, President Obama will have to wait a bit longer to round out his...
Upcoming Presentation on Health Law and Policy
Posted on April 24, 2009Beazley Institute for Health Law and Policy We invite you to attend an address by health law and policy faculty on: The Current State of Health Care Reform Friday, May 1, 2009 7:00 - 9:00 pm Ceremonial Courtroom at Loyola...
Plan B Available to 17 Year Olds w/o Prescription
Posted on April 23, 2009The Associated Press reports that the FDA has changed course and will be permitting young women to obtain Plan B without a doctor's prescription. The article provides, Food and Drug Administration, reversing field, will now let 17-year-olds get the 'morning-after'...
What good services do your tax dollars provide?
Posted on April 23, 2009Nuisance Industry, writing at DailyKos, has an article about water contamination and cancer in a community outside Chicago. The website provides, Corruption is in Cook County, Illinois, and it is endangering residents. This week, the Chicago Tribune reported on a...
Convincing the Already Insured about the Need for Health Reform
Posted on April 22, 2009The Seattle Times has an editorial by Froma Harrop discussing a difficult group to convince that health reform is necessary. The author writes about some potentially helpful arguments to convince these individuals, The hardest group to sell on national health...
Sebelius Wins Approval from Senate Committee
Posted on April 22, 2009Governor Kathleen Sebelius won Senate Finance Committee approval and a vote on her appointment as Secretary of Health and Human Services could be soon. It is about time as President Obama had his first Cabinet meeting yesterday. According to an...
Not Caving on a Public Health Care Plan
Posted on April 21, 2009Health Care reform advocates are a bit alarmed about the potential for "caving" on the health care reform agenda. According to Ceci Connolly writing in the Washington Post, As Congress returns to begin an intense debate over reshaping the nation's...
Some Statistics on Delayed Health Care
Posted on April 21, 2009Reuters reports on the findings of its new survey that shows one in five Americans have postponed medical care. The article provides, Twenty percent of Americans say they have delayed or postponed medical care, mostly doctor visits, and many said...
US News Rankings
Posted on April 20, 2009Concurring Opinions' Dave Hoffman provides a look at the 2009 US News Rankings that we really don't care too much about . . . . although we do.
Republican Health Care Plans??
Posted on April 20, 2009I haven't posted much about what the Republicans in Congress plan to propose as an alternative to some of the Preisident's health reform efforts and policies. This results from a certain lack of plans from the Republican party at this...
Stem Cell Breakthrough for Blindness
Posted on April 19, 2009Daily Kos' Darksyde links to an article in the Times Online reporting on a terrific advance in stem cell research. The website provides, Times Online is reporting that a British research team has developed a promising treatment for the most...
Some Stem Cell Restrictions Lifted
Posted on April 18, 2009The New York Times reports on President Obama's new approach to federal financing of human embryonic stem cell research. Gardiner Harris writes, The Obama administration announced Friday that it planned to lift some but not all federal financing restrictions on...
Strength of Placebo Response Based on Personality
Posted on April 17, 2009Some researchers at McGill University recently issued the results of a study completed on the level of response to a placebo that various personalities had. According to a story in the New Scientist Health, personality type does in fact impact...
The "have it your way" entitlement view of health care
Posted on April 17, 2009Andrew Sullivan at the Atlantic Monthly has been writing on the costs of health care and had this reader response about Americans view of health care and what the reader called "the Burger King" mentality of health care. From Mr....
Personalized Gene Research Slow
Posted on April 16, 2009The New York Times has an interesting article concerning two studies in the New England Journal of Medicine that discuss the issues scientists are facing as they attempt to make use of the decoded human genome. Nicholas Wade writes, The...
Fun Ad: Encouragement to Exercise and Eat Right
Posted on April 16, 2009Here is a funny adverstisement meant to encourage physical fitness. I hate to say it but I can think of people who might be tempted to behave the way that these individuals did when the escalator broke down. Click here....
Taxing Soda Pop: Increasing the War on Junk Food
Posted on April 15, 2009William Saleton, writing at Slate.com, is quite upset that there exists some movement for a tax on sugared soda pop. He states, The food police are closing in on their next target: a soda tax. New York City's health commissioner,...
National Journal's Health Reform Discussion
Posted on April 15, 2009The National Journal hosts a discussion/debate on health reform and how to pay for it at its website. Some of the contributors includes: Jason Rosenbaum, Deputy Director of Online Campaigns, Health Care for American Now; Uwe Reinhardt, James Madison Professor...
Repair Health Care - Receive $10 Million
Posted on April 14, 2009The New York Times brings our attention to a worthy and lucrative endeavor to reform our health care system. Although Catherine Rampell reports the story - she seems less than hopeful about a positive outcome. She writes, The X Prize...
Reproductive Health Discussion
Posted on April 14, 2009National Public Radio's Fresh Air program hosted an interesting interview with Michelle Goldberg on her new book - The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, And The Future of the World. A brief overview is here: In her new book The...
Health Law Scholars - Call for Papers
Posted on April 13, 2009The Center for Health Law Studies at Saint Louis University and The American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics (ASLME) are pleased to announce the 2009 Health Law Scholars Workshop The Health Law Scholars Workshop is a collegial forum in...
Elder Mediation
Posted on April 13, 2009National Public Radio's Morning Edition had an interesting discussion about the use of elder mediators to help families cope with elder care when disagreements arise among family members and between the elder parent and other caregiving relatives. The brief overview...
The Evolution of the Rabbit
Posted on April 12, 2009Hope everyone is enjoying a great day! Here is a lovely evoluationary tale about how we got the rabbits that we know and love today. Thanks to DarkSyde from DailyKos for the site and the interesting information: Even as a...
An Argument Against Cognitive-Enhancing Drugs
Posted on April 11, 2009Professor Justin Barnard writes on the Public Discourse: Ethics, Law and the Common Good website, and provides an excellent argument against the use of cognitive enhancing drugs. He argues, Recent calls for the widespread use of cognitive enhancements are based...
Prosecutorial Misconduct in Painkiller Distribution Case
Posted on April 10, 2009Ok, so it isn't the Senator Stevens trial misconduct, but perhaps the Department of Justice will be a bit more careful about ensuring that ethical rules and constitutional values are upheld when pursuing criminal charges against anyone, including doctors...
Solving the Food Safety Issue
Posted on April 10, 2009At Balkanization, Professor Ian Ayres writes about a potential way to solve the current food safety crisis. It might be worth a try - only I don't think I would want to see the commercials. He argues, By now, virtually...
Why is health care so expensive?
Posted on April 09, 2009Megan McArtle writes in the Atlantic Monthly about the expenses and the reason behind those expenses in the way that our health care is provided. She writes, To my mind, the real answer is threefold: 1) We pay more for...
Caution on Health Care Reform
Posted on April 09, 2009Former Congressman Richard Gephardt provides some thoughts about health care reform in a New York Times article by John Harwood who writes, Now Mr. Gephardt says universal or near-universal coverage cannot pass this year ? and he is urging the...
EMTALA Provides for Third-Party Claims Against Hospitals
Posted on April 08, 2009The Sixth Circuit has held that that hospitals may have a duty to third parties arising from EMTALA when treating mentally ill patients. The opinion in Moses v. Provident Hospital may be found here. An article in the ABAJournal reports...
Risky Medical Devices Need New Proof
Posted on April 08, 2009The FDA announced that makers of certain older and risky medical devices will have to prove that their products are safe and effective according to the New York Times. Gardiner Harris reports, Federal regulators said Wednesday that that they would...
Collection of Dead Person's Sperm . . . .
Posted on April 07, 2009Most thought-provoking and surprising article of the day from law.com which carries a brief article on a court's grant to a mother access to her dead son's sperm. The Associated Press reports, A judge has granted a mother's request to...
Doctors' Diaries on NOVA
Posted on April 07, 2009The PBS program, NOVA, has a new show tracing the lives of medical school students and later doctors as they begin to practice medicine. Here is the program note: In 1987, NOVA's cameras began rolling to chronicle the lives of...
Increased Use of Generic Drugs
Posted on April 06, 2009The Wall Street Journal Health Blog's Jacob Goldstein reports, For those keeping score at home: The total number of U.S. prescriptions for generic drugs grew by 12% a year between 2004 and 2008, while the number of prescriptions for branded...
More Bad News About Smoking
Posted on April 05, 2009MedPage Today reports on a new study that links pancreatitis with smoking. Michael Smith writes about the study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Smoking may account for nearly half of all cases of acute and chronic pancreatitis, researchers...
Man's Best Friend
Posted on April 04, 2009Technology Review provides an update on genetic research involving Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in dogs that provides hope for humans as well. Courtney Humphries writes about the new gene research and states, An international team of researchers has successfully treated dogs...
Natalie Cole, Organ Donors and Cash Payments
Posted on April 03, 2009Natalie Cole went on Larry King Live Wednesday night and discussed her need for a kidney. Many individuals watching the show have volunteered to provide her with a kidney. Cord Jefferson writing at the Daily Beast thinks that this rather...
The Cost of Health Insurance for Women
Posted on April 03, 2009NPR's Morning Edition yesterday had a brief story by Sarah Varney on her experience with health insurance after a job loss. She writes, During the last economic bust, I got laid off and couldn't afford the monthly COBRA payments for...
Health Care By the Numbers
Posted on April 02, 2009Christy Hardin Smith at Firedoglake makes the case for comprehensive health reform. She provides some updated numbers and writes, From the Frontline documentary "Sick Around America: According to a study by the National Academy of Sciences, around 20,000 Americans die...
Fresh Air and End of Life Care
Posted on April 02, 2009Today, NPR's Fresh Air has an interview with Dr. Robert Marensen, author of A Life Worth Living. He provides some interesting insights into the problems with our current health system and our focus on longevity over quality of life. Here...
Food Safety - Still Questionable
Posted on April 01, 2009The LA Times reports on the latest food recall - pistachios and has a brief article about the need for reform of our food safety laws. Mary MacVean writes, Consumers could be forgiven for feeling a little weary about this...
Tax Problems Again for HHS Nominee
Posted on April 01, 2009The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog reports that Kathleen Sebelius has a small tax problem that has been corrected. Sarah Rubenstein writes, Sebelius, who testified yesterday before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, amended three years of tax...
Interesting New Study - HOT Tea Drinkers Beware
Posted on March 31, 2009The LATimes reports on a new study in the British Medical Journal concerning the link between hot tea and cancer (who knew). According to the study,hot tea (and they mean hot) is not so great for you. Karen Kaplan writes,...
Cigarette Tax Increase
Posted on March 31, 2009The Associated Press provides details on the cigarette tax increase that takes place today. The AP reports, Tobacco companies and public health advocates, longtime foes in the nicotine battles, are trying to turn the situation to their advantage. The major...
Frontline: Sick Around America
Posted on March 31, 2009PBS's Frontline will be airing Sick Around America on March 31, 2009. I really enjoy most Frontline episodes and have used some excerpts from those relating to health issues in my health law classes The PBS website generally has useful...
Splitting the FDA
Posted on March 30, 2009Kaisernetwork.org provides information on the recent talk about splitting the FDA into two separate agencies with one focusing on food and another focusing on medical products. The site reports, Some drug industry executives think a split FDA might result in...
Caregivers and Alzheimer's Disease - Talk of the Nation
Posted on March 29, 2009National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation had an interesting and informative discussion with Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former Surgeon General David Satcher concerning new ways to address Alzheimer's...
Fun Website
Posted on March 28, 2009Here is a great website - http://academicearth.org/ Lots of lectures by great scholars Keep Learning!
Shortage of Primary Care Physicians
Posted on March 27, 2009On the Daily Beast's website, Dr. Abraham Verghese writes about the problem of a shortage of primary care physicians. President Obama?s proposal to solve the nation?s health-care woes includes a plan to commit billions of dollars to ?digitizing? medical records...
Cost-Shifting: New Report
Posted on March 27, 2009The Center for American Progress details the cost of the uninsured in a new report. The report details the $1100 cost-shifting from the uninsured to the insured under our current health care system. The report by Ben Furnas and Peter...
Suicide Gene?
Posted on March 26, 2009THe Daily Beast website has a brief story about the possibility of a suicide gene. Casey Schwartz writes, The news on Monday that Sylvia Plath?s son, Nicholas Hughes, had killed himself, reopened a macabre chapter of literary history. Obituaries revealed...
Waiving Your Right to Review
Posted on March 25, 2009Yesterday's Talk of the Nation has a panel discussion concerning reviews of doctor performance appearing on websites and some doctors who are asking patients to sign waivers that they will not post items on websites without approval. The brief write-up...
FDA Must Reconsider Plan B Rules For Young Women
Posted on March 25, 2009The Washington Post has a good story on the federal district court decision on the morning-after pill and the FDA's decision in 2006 to refuse to permit young women below the age of 18 access to it. Rob Stein writes,...
Swedish Medical Students and Criminals too
Posted on March 24, 2009The New York Times has an interesting article on some recent difficulties Swedish medical schools have had with criminals applying and being accepted at their schools. Dr. Lawrence Altman writes, In contrast with the United States, Swedish laws and customs...
Time for Health Reform
Posted on March 24, 2009Today's Diane Rehm Show discusses the Obama Administration health reform effort and whether this is the time to initiate such major changes. Here is the lineup: 10:00 The Politics of Health Care Reform Some argue health care is central to...
Drug Reps No Longer Quite So Popular
Posted on March 23, 2009AMNews.com reports on the changing relationship between doctors and representatives from pharmaceutical companies. Kevin O'Reilly writes, Pharmaceutical companies -- battered by a sluggish drug pipeline, the looming loss of blockbuster patented drugs, an economy in recession and scrutiny of their...
David Blumenthal and HIT (Health Information Technology)
Posted on March 23, 2009The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog provides some insight into David Blumenthal, President Obama s choice to be in charge of health information technology. Sarah Rubenstein writes, The Obama administration has tapped Harvard?s David Blumenthal to be its guru in...
Facebook and Kids
Posted on March 22, 2009I am sure that many of your students are on facebook - perhaps even during your class. Apparently students start on facebook at quite young ages and some doctors are considering whether there are some downsides. Kari Henley at Huffingtonpost...
Genetically Modified Foods
Posted on March 21, 2009CrooksandLiars has an interesting post about the new food safety law, the Food Safety Modernization Act, now pending in Congress and some of its implications for the future of genetically modified foods. The author notes, There?s been quite a bit...
Just for Fun: Sheep
Posted on March 20, 2009From the HuffingtonPost.com, "BaaaStuds," a group of men who seem to have been contracted by Samsung, "took to the hills of Wales armed to the teeth with sheep, LEDs and a camera, to create a huge amazing LED display." They...
What You Pay for Food and Your Weight
Posted on March 20, 2009An article in Science Daily discusses a recent study appearing in the Milbank Quarterly that concluded that prices of food can impact obesity and lends support to those public policy folks who wish to tax or raise the price of...
Media Consortium on Health Care Topics
Posted on March 19, 2009Lindsay Beyerstein provides a great review of the recent health topics making the news. She writes, Single-payer health insurance was a hot topic for independent media this week. The private health insurance industry has failed to contain costs and cover...
COBRA Revised
Posted on March 19, 2009D Wreck at DailyKos helpfully provides a brief overview of some of the recent changes in COBRA. It might come in handy when discussing such lovely revisions with your health law class. The author writes, There are nearly 48 million...
Medical Malpractice Reform
Posted on March 18, 2009The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog notes a potential stumbling block on the road to health reform - medical malpractice reform. Sarah Rubenstein writes, The issue of medical malpractice lawsuits is among the touchiest in the debate over rising health-care...
The House's Health Care Reform Team
Posted on March 18, 2009The New York Times' Robert Pear discusses the working group in the House of Representatives that is quietly working to build a consensus around a health reform proposal. He writes, Three powerful House committee chairmen have agreed to work together....
LATCRIT Annual Conference: Call for Papers and Panels
Posted on March 18, 2009CALL FOR PAPERS & PANELS OUTSIDERS INSIDE: CRITICAL OUTSIDER THEORY AND PRAXIS IN THE POLICYMAKING OF THE NEW AMERICAN REGIME American University-Washington College of Law Washington, D.C. October 1 - 4, 2009 Please join us at LatCrit XIV, the Fourteenth...
Fourteenth Annual LatCrit Conference: Call for Papers and Panels
Posted on March 17, 2009LATCRIT XIV: Fourteenth Annual LatCrit Conference - www.latcrit.org CALL FOR PAPERS & PANELS OUTSIDERS INSIDE: CRITICAL OUTSIDER THEORY AND PRAXIS IN THE POLICYMAKING OF THE NEW AMERICAN REGIME American University - Washington College of Law Washington, DC October 1-4, 2009...
AIDS in Washington DC
Posted on March 17, 2009The Washington Post reports on the AIDS epidemic in Washington, DC and notes that the spread of AIDS is most likely more widespread than current surveys show. Darryl Fears and Jose Antonio Vargas write, A report showing that 3 percent...
Regulating Medical Tourism
Posted on March 16, 2009BNA's Health Law Reports has an interesting article on the increasing popularity of Medical Tourism and the need to address the risks posed by such medicine. Thom Wilder writes, While medical tourism continues to become a tremendous growth industry as...
Physicians Respond to Wyeth Ruling
Posted on March 15, 2009AmNews has a brief story discussing physicians' responses to the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Wyeth state court warning label lawsuits against drug manufacturers are not preempted. Amy Sorrel writes, Some physicians say a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling preserves...
Million Women Study
Posted on March 14, 2009The Guardian UK has an article about concerning the million women study being conducted by scientists at Oxford University. Sarah Boseley writes, Oh, the lure of a glass of chilled white wine at the end of a hard day. Or...
Congratulations to Professor Burris
Posted on March 13, 2009The Temple University's Beasley School of Law website reports on the great news: Temple University 's Beasley School of Law has been selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to manage a new $19 million national program that will fund...
Sacrificing for Others
Posted on March 13, 2009The Boston Globe has a feel-good story about Paul Levy, the CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Kevin Cullen writes, Paul Levy, the guy who runs Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, was standing in Sherman Auditorium the other day,...
Wisconsin Health Reform
Posted on March 12, 2009Governor Jim Doyle, Governor of Wisconsin and co-host of an upcoming White House Forum on Health Reform, has an interesting post at the Huffingtonpost website discussing his state's health reform and how it may be a template for the one...
Health Care Crisis: One Reporter's Up-Close Story on the Underinsured
Posted on March 12, 2009Time Magazine runs a moving story by reporter Karen Tumulty about what she learned when her brother was diagnosed with severe kidney disease and suddenly learned that his health care coverage was not what he thought. She discusses her difficulties...
New FDA Commissioner: Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg
Posted on March 11, 2009According to various press reports, the new FDA Commissioner will be Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg. Mark Gardiner of the New York Times reports, President Obama intends to nominate Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, a former New York City health commissioner, to...
Europeans Debate Castration For Sex Offenders
Posted on March 11, 2009The New York Times reports on the European debate on sex offenders and castration and whether such a strong response actually reduces the incidence of repeat offenders. Dan Bilefsky writes, Pavel . . . invited a 12-year-old neighbor home. Then...
Living in the Genetic Age - March 20, 2009
Posted on March 10, 2009SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW's 21st Annual Health Law Symposium - Living in the Genetic Age will take place on Friday, March 20, 2009 -- 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. William H. Kniep Courtroom. Brief Overview: Advances in genetic...
Diane Rehm Show on Stem Cell Executive Order
Posted on March 10, 2009The Diane Rehm show today reviews the changes that the President's new Executive Order will bring and some of the controversy over the use of embryonic stem cells that remains. 10:00Federally Funded Stem Cell Research President Obama has overturned Bush...
Obama Will Issue New Executive Order on Stem Cells
Posted on March 06, 2009The Washington Post is reporting that President Obama plans to sign a new executive order governing federal funding for stem cell research on Monday. Rob Stein writes, President Obama is planning to sign an executive order on Monday rolling back...
Obama's Health Summit
Posted on March 06, 2009The Associated Press provides a quick summary of the health summit, stating, President Barack Obama summoned allies, skeptics and health care figures of all stripes to the White House on Thursday to debate ideas for overhauling the nation's costly system...
How Would Health Reform Help You?
Posted on February 26, 2009Ezra Klein points to a new Kaiser Family Foundation article by Drew Altman showing that people who currently have insurance believe that health reform would also help them as well as helping the uninsured. He writes,The salient fact about health...
President Obama's Health Care Budget - $634 Billion
Posted on February 26, 2009The Washington Post provides an overview of President Obama's health care budget and states, President Obama is proposing to begin a vast expansion of the U.S. health-care system by creating a $634 billion reserve fund over the next decade, launching...
President Obama's Health Care Reform 2009
Posted on February 25, 2009Last night, President Obama mentioned that health reform was a top priority and could not longer wait. He stated that he expects reform by next year. CNN.Com provides an overview of President Obama's health care ideas set forth last night...
Individual Mandates . . .
Posted on February 25, 2009Ezra Klein provides a window into what the White House currently contemplates about reforming our health care system. He writes, I've now been able to confirm with multiple senior administration sources that the health care proposal in Obama's budget will...
Health Care Cost - Tops List of Fiscal Woes
Posted on February 24, 2009The Washington Post reports on President Obama's fiscal responsibility summer and notes that he will make health care reform one of his top priorities. Lori Montgomery and Amy Goldstein write, President Obama will make reforming the U.S. health-care system his...
IT and Health Care
Posted on February 24, 2009Health Affairs Blog will be running stories on the importance of information technology for the health care industry in its upcoming March/April issue. Chris Fleming writes, There is widespread agreement that greater investment in information technology (IT) is critical to...
Fresh Air Asks Questions About Fertility Clinics
Posted on February 23, 2009Based on the recent birth of octoplets, Fresh Air will present a program today on fertility clinics. The discussion includes remarks by author Liza Mundy. The program overview provides, Washington Post staff writer Liza Mundy discusses how multiple births are...
Stimulus Bill Health Care Spending
Posted on February 23, 2009The LATimes has an interesting piece on who benefits and who does not benefit from the spending available in the new stimulus bill. Noam Levey writes, John Peeler, an unemployed computer technician in South Carolina, may soon get health insurance...
Oscar Night - Any Doctor Movies?
Posted on February 22, 2009The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog provides an interesting list of their favorite movie doctors. For example, Doctor Yuri Zhivago, Doctor Zhivago ZHIVAGO: You lay life on a table and cut out all the tumors of injustice. Marvelous. Hawkeye Pierce,....
The Office of Health Reform - Still Happening?
Posted on February 21, 2009Ezra Klein contemplates whether President Obama will still pursue the creation of the Office of Health Reform. He writes, To calm my e-mailers down: The fact that the White House might dump the Office of Health Reform does not mean...
Flu Trends
Posted on February 20, 2009Here is a link to the Google's Flu Trends website that allows you to track the flu in your state. Thanks to DemfromCt for the update on flu season.
Suing Medical Device Manufacturers . . . .
Posted on February 20, 2009Last year, in Riegel v. Medtronic, the United States Supreme Court barred patients from suing in tort makers of medical devices if the Food and Drug Administration had approved them. Now several lawmakers consider legislation to overturn that ruling. The...
Kansas Governor Top Pick For HHS
Posted on February 19, 2009The New York Times reports today that Governor Kathleen Seblius is President Obama's top pick for Secretary of HHS. Peter Baker and Robert Pear write, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, an early Obama ally with a record of working across...
Human Rights for Fertilized Eggs
Posted on February 19, 2009The Associated Press reports on the North Dakota House's new law providing human rights for fertilized eggs. The story states, A measure approved by the North Dakota House gives a fertilized human egg the legal rights of a human being,...
Howard Dean Speaks on Comparative Effectiveness Research
Posted on February 18, 2009The Huffingtonpost runs a brief editorial by Howard Dean (whose name has been mentioned as a potential HHS Secretary) concerning comparative effectiveness research and its opponents. He writes, Opponents of fixing our broken health care system are at it again,...
Number of Uninsured Rising By 14,000 per day . . .
Posted on February 18, 2009Thinkprogress reports on the increasing number of uninsured as more and more people lose their jobs - in fact, 14,000 each day. The story states, Since spring 2007, 3.5 million Americans have lost their health benefits and are now uninsured....
Medicare Privacy Ruling
Posted on February 17, 2009AmNews reports on the D.C. Circuit's ruling that HHS is not required to turn over Medicare claims data to a consumer group wishing to use the data to provide patients with selected physician information. The case is: Consumers' Checkbook/Center for...
Food Policy and Health Policy
Posted on February 17, 2009Ezra Klein has some interesting thoughts on our current food policies. He writes, To put some of the recent conversations over chronic disease and diet into economic perspective, consider the hackneyed statistic that we spend more on health care than...
Medical Marijuana and the California DMV
Posted on February 16, 2009The LA Times reports on a lawsuit filed by citizens of California prescribed marijuana for medical purposes against their state's Department of Motor Vehicles for targeting them. When Matt Vaughn was pulled over for speeding on Interstate 5 in Northern...
Comparing Medical Treatments
Posted on February 16, 2009The New York Times highlights a provision of the stimulus bill that will provide funding for comparing the effectiveness of different medical treatments for the same health problem. Under the legislation, researchers will receive $1.1 billion to compare drugs, medical...
Executive Order on Stem Cells Soon
Posted on February 15, 2009The Huffingtonpost reports on David Axelrod's recent announcement concerning an executive order on stem cell research. The article provides, Expect an executive order soon from President Barack Obama on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research...
Looking for a Date on Valentine's Day
Posted on February 14, 2009Well, here is a helpful new website for those searching for a good match and so appropriate since we just Darwin's Birthday and Valentine's Day are so close -- GenePartner. DailyBeast tells us about this new dating site and states,...
Designer Babies
Posted on February 13, 2009You would think that after the recent rather negative publicity over the birth of octuplets that fertility clinics would be revisiting some of their policies and reconsidering some of their practices. Perhaps they are but this brief article in the...
Cure for Common Cold
Posted on February 13, 2009The New York Times reports on a breakthrough in the search for the cure for the common cold - results from the genomes of the various cold viruses. The story states, Curing the common cold, one of medicine?s most elusive...
New Medicaid Patients
Posted on February 12, 2009Last nigiht the NewsHour had a sad story about the increasing number of people qualifying for Medicaid and another story on the high cost of COBRA. Both are worth of a listen as we learn about the increasing number of...
No Vaccine/Autism Link
Posted on February 12, 2009The New York Times reports on the recent federal rulings on the lack of a link between childhood vaccines and autism. Donald McNeil writes, In a blow to the movement arguing that vaccines trigger autism, three Federal judges ruled Thursday...
Anthem Blue Cross Settles Over Dropped Patients
Posted on February 11, 2009The LA Times reports on the recent settlement reached between Anthem Blue Cross and the California Department of Insurance. Lisa Girion writes, Anthem Blue Cross, the state's largest for-profit health insurer, has agreed to pay a $1-million fine and offer...
Food Safety Hearings on C-Span
Posted on February 11, 2009Well, it probably isn't the most exciting television but it could be extremely important. Today at 10am, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations has a hearing scheduled to discuss the "Salmonella Outbreak: The Continued...
The Passing of Ms. Englaro
Posted on February 10, 2009Ms. Englaro passed away today, three days after doctors at a private clinic reduced her nutrition intake. The New York Times reports, The woman at the center of a right-to-die battle gripping Italy died Monday in a private clinic, ending...
Meet the New Farma . . .
Posted on February 10, 2009The New York Times reports on the FDA's approval of a new drug made from a Opening the barn door to a new era in farming and pharmaceuticals, the Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first drug produced...
Italy's Divided Response to Eluana Englaro
Posted on February 09, 2009Reuters has the latest news on the Italy's divided response to the request of the father of Eluana Englaro to disconnect her feeding tube. Silvia Aloisi writes, Inspectors Monday visited an Italian clinic that has stopped feeding a comatose woman...
Health Care Still Budget Priority
Posted on February 09, 2009The Treatment, The New Rebulic's Health blog, reports that President Obama is still committed to health care. Johnathan Cohn writes, The Obama administration?s health care czar may be gone, but here is one hint that its commitment to pursuing major...
State-by-State Food Safety
Posted on February 08, 2009The Minneapolis Star Tribune points out an additional problem with our current food safety program - the various standards applied by the 50 different states. David Shaffer writes, Minnesota's success in tracing the nationwide salmonella outbreak to peanut butter is...
Have a cup of coffee - for your health
Posted on February 07, 2009From the New York Times: Drinking coffee may do more than just keep you awake. A new study suggests an intriguing potential link to mental health later in life, as well. A team of Swedish and Danish researchers tracked coffee...
FDA Review by Obama
Posted on February 06, 2009Yahoo News reports on President Obama's recent discussion about the FDA and a need to improve food safety. The article provides, President Barack Obama, speaking as the nation's chief executive and a father, promised a comprehensive review of the Food...
Kansas Governor for HHS?
Posted on February 06, 2009McClatchy News reports that Governor Kathleen Sibelius is a leading contender for Secretary of HHS. Steve Kraste writes,Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius emerged Wednesday as a leading candidate for the Cabinet post of secretary of Health and Human Services...
Judges Order Health Benefits for Same-Sex Spouses
Posted on February 05, 2009The ABA Law Journal provides a brief description of the judicial orders of payment of health insurance benefits to same-sex spouses of employees of the U.S. government. Debra Weiss states, Judge Stephen Reinhardt and Chief Judge Alex Kozinski issued the...
Public Health and the Stimulus
Posted on February 05, 2009Harold Pollack public health policy researcher and faculty member at the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration, writes in the New Republic's Treatment Blog about his displeasure over the removal of certain public health measures from the stimulus...
Who will be Secretary of HHS?
Posted on February 04, 2009The Wall Street Journal's Health blog provides a helpful list of those individuals who may be considered as contenders for Secretary of Health and Human Services. Sarah Rubenstein writes, It appears a number of governors are in the mix, since...
Economy Hits Health Care Workers/Hospitals
Posted on February 04, 2009The Minnesota Star Tribune reports on how the economy has had a dramatic impact on local hospitals and health care workers. Chen May Yee writes, For three decades, health care has been Minnesota's economic juggernaut, generating thousands of high-wage jobs,...
Daschle Withdraws Name from HHS Consideration
Posted on February 03, 2009ThinkProgress reports on Senator Daschle's decision to withdraw his name as HHS Secretary. The story provides his statement,Daschle?s full statement below: I have just informed the president that I am withdrawing my name from consideration for secretary of health and...
Stimulate the Economy with HIPAA Actions?
Posted on February 03, 2009The National Law Journal reports on one of the little-noticed provisions in the proposed stimulus bills - providing state attorneys general with new enforcement power for HIPAA violations, including civil damages and injunctions in federal courts. Marcia Coyle writes, Both...
New Single Payer Organization: What will they accept if single payer isn't on the table?
Posted on February 03, 2009Ezra Klein points out the new health reform coalition named, "The Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care." He describes the new group as follows: Another week, another health care coalition. But this one isn't like most of the others. It's....
Mail Order Drugs: Do they save money and are they safe?
Posted on February 02, 2009The Boston Globe has an article on the incredible cost-savings found in mail-order drug delivery but also some of the questions about the lack of regulations over their operations. The article reports, . . . . Mail-service pharmacies pitched themselves...
Payment for an "Episode of Care"
Posted on February 02, 2009The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog posts an interesting blurb on a new idea of how to pay for health care. Jacob Goldstein reports on the episodic care payment and writes, When you pay doctors for every procedure they do,...
SuperBowl - Try Some Red Wine to Celebrate
Posted on February 01, 2009More news that red wine is good for you. Newsweek reports on some new studies that red wine has powerful effects beyond just being an intoxicant. Tina Peng writes, It's common knowledge that a glass or two of red wine...
Unpaid Taxes Delay Daschle
Posted on January 31, 2009The New York Times' Robert Pear discusses some of Tom Daschle's tax issues that might disrupt plans for his confirmation as Secretary of Health and Human Services. He writes, President Obama?s pick for secretary of health and human services, Tom...
Fertility Treatments Under Scrutiny Again
Posted on January 30, 2009I am sure that most of you heard about the successful births of octuplets last week. The birth of so many children at one time does raise some, ok many, issues. The LA Times reports, Even as the birth of...
Senate Passes SCHIP
Posted on January 30, 2009The New York Times reports on the Senate's passage of SCHIP. Robert Pear writes, The Senate passed a bill on Thursday to provide health insurance to more than four million uninsured children, as a newly empowered Democratic majority brushed aside...
Food Safety - Peanuts and More . . .
Posted on January 29, 2009Tom Laskawy, writes about the lack of food safety here in the United States, and informs us of all the problems we are having right now. He states, It's been a bad week for food safety. First, it was the...
Eliminating Waiting Period for Medicare
Posted on January 29, 2009Harold Pollack writing at Ezra Klein's blog discusses another way to help stimulate the economy - elimination of the two-year waiting period for disabled people to receive Medicare. He explains, This waiting period goes back to 1972, when Congress expanded...
Learning from Banks?
Posted on January 28, 2009Slate.com's Zachary Meisel and Jesse Pines have a cautionary tale for health care workers and reformers from those who work in the banking industry. They write, The condition of the U.S. economy can be described generously as bleak. But while...
Medicare Reform in the Stimulus Bill
Posted on January 28, 2009The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog reports on some of the proposed changes in Medicaid currently being discussed as part of a stimulus bill. You might mistake the economic stimulus package slated for a House vote today for a health-reform...
Mercy Killing: No Further Jail Time
Posted on January 27, 2009The LA Times provides an update on an attempted mercy killing and the final determination of whether to prosecute the individual who made the attempt. Catherine Sailant reports, James Wheeler, the 85-year-old Carpinteria man who attempted to kill his dementia-stricken...
Kidney Transplant Recipients - Gender Gap
Posted on January 27, 2009The New York Times reports on a new Johns Hopkins showing that older women are less likely to end up on the kidney transplant waiting list. Roni C. Rabin writes, Women are less likely to receive kidney transplants than men,...
Vaccine Study Shows Safety
Posted on January 26, 2009Newsweek reports on a recent Italian study that demonstrates the safety of vaccines. Carla Johnson writes A new study from Italy adds to a mountain of evidence that a mercury-based preservative once used in many vaccines doesn't hurt children, offering...
Pfizer-Wyeth Pharmaceutical Merger
Posted on January 26, 2009The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog has many pieces today on the merger of Pfizer and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Sarah Rubenstein of the Health Blog writes, Pfizer has agreed to acquire Wyeth in a $68 billion deal that?s the largest merger...
Global Gag Rule Overturned
Posted on January 25, 2009President Obama overturned the rule banning federal funds to international family planning groups that either offer abortions or provide information about them. The Guardian U.K. reports, President Barack Obama today made the most contentious move of his young administration with...
Newshour Health Updates
Posted on January 24, 2009The on-line PBS Newshour provides interesting health updates. Paul Solman, their economics correspondent, has a new post concerning the future of Medicare and Medicaid. Here is an excerpt: Question/Comment: What is the future of Social Security and Medicare in the...
Clean Air Lead to Longer Life
Posted on January 23, 2009The Boston Globe reports on a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine showing that cleaner air in a number of our large cities has resulted in an average increase in life expectancy of five months. --- writes,...
FDA Approves Stem Cell Research
Posted on January 23, 2009The New York Times reports on the FDA's approval of a stem cell therapy in humans. Andrew Pollack writes, In a research milestone, the federal government will allow the world?s first test in people of a therapy derived from human...
Social Determinants of Health
Posted on January 22, 2009Gail Wilensky, former administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration, during the presidency of George H.W. Bush, and David Satcher, former surgeon general and assistant secretary of health during the presidency of Bill Clinton, have a piece in Health Affairs...
Rating Hospitals by Death Rates in California
Posted on January 22, 2009The LATimes reports the results of a rating system for California hospitals. Lisa Girion writes, Some hospitals are better than others. But for many years all patients had to go on was reputation, doctors' advice, word of mouth and advertising....
Health Care in the Inauguration Speech
Posted on January 21, 2009The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog helpfully provides the two references to health care in President Obama's inauguration speech. We, focused as ever, listened for any tidbits about health care and heard two. First, there was an acknowledgment of the...
Faith v. Medicine
Posted on January 21, 2009The New York Times has a story today on the tension between faith and medicine that exists for some families. Dirk Johnson reports, Kara Neumann, 11, had grown so weak that she could not walk or speak. Her parents, who...
Change Has Come
Posted on January 20, 2009Here is the newly updated whitehouse.gov website. Looks good.
Happy Martin Luther King Day
Posted on January 19, 2009Hope that you are enjoying a wonderful day of celebration.
Atul Gawande on Health Reform
Posted on January 19, 2009Atul Gwande has an interesting article in this week's New Yorker discussing health reform. He provides a history lesson on how other countries came to embrace universal health care and talks about the prospects for reform in the United States,...
Your Kids as Research Subjects
Posted on January 18, 2009Interesting and thought-provoking story in the New York Times today about researchers using their children in research. Pam Belluck reports, At a birthing class, Dr. Sinha, a neuroscience professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, stunned everyone, including his wife,...
Autism/Vaccine Controversy Continues
Posted on January 17, 2009Newsweek reports on the resignation of the executive vice president of Autism Speaks, Alison Singer. The story states, The warfare over vaccines and autism is heating up yet again. This week, Alison Singer, the executive vice president of communications and...
Quick Compare on Some Proposed Health Plans
Posted on January 16, 2009GoozNews brings us a quick comparison of the some the health care plans being considered and points helpfully to the new Commonwealth Fund's study of the various health reform proposals. The website provides, The Commonwealth Fund's latest study on health...
States File Lawsuits to Stop Federal Conscience Clause
Posted on January 16, 2009Several news outlets are reporting on the lawsuit filed by seven states and other organizations to prevent enforcement of the new federal provider conscience clause legislation. CNN.com reports, Seven states and two organizations have sued the Bush administration in an...
Wellpoint: No New Medicare Customers
Posted on January 15, 2009The LATimes contains a brief story concerning Wellpoint, the health insurance company, and its penalty for overcharging or denying prescription drugs to its older insured. The story provides, Health insurer WellPoint Inc. has been barred from adding customers to Medicare...
House Passes SCHIP - President Obama Will Sign
Posted on January 15, 2009The Washington Post reports on the House passage of SCHIP. The story provides, The House easily approved an expansion of government health coverage for low-income children yesterday, a top priority for President-elect Barack Obama and the first in a series...
Starting the New Semester with Change . . .
Posted on January 14, 2009How about making an Obamicon to help introduce yourself to your classes this semester Here is the website to help get you started, and here is what they look like - pretty nifty. Thanks to Ezra Klein for the link.
SCHIP Vote Coming Soon. . .
Posted on January 14, 2009The New York Times's Robert Pear reports on the continuing debate over SCHIP, coverage for legal immigrants under age 21 is the latest controversial issue, and the liklihood that it will pass next week. He writes, Congress is poised to...
Senator Ron Wyden on Health Care in the Stimulus Bill
Posted on January 13, 2009TalkingPointsMemo provides a brief piece concerning Senator Ron Wyden's thoughts on health care issues that might be addressed in the upcoming stimulus bill. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) knows how to build health care coalitions. From his seat on the Senate...
Electronic Medical Records: Within 5 Years??
Posted on January 13, 2009CNN.com reports on President-elect Obama's plan to "modernize health care by making all health records standardized and electronic." David Goldman states, Here's the audacious plan: Computerize all health records within five years. The quality of health care for all Americans...
Duty to Inform: Better Care Elsewhere
Posted on January 12, 2009Last week's New York Times Science section had an interesting story on whether doctor's should inform patients about hospitals and other physicians that have more experience and better outcomes in performing various procedures. Denise Grady writes about her own relative's...
Health Care Reform
Posted on January 12, 2009Ezra Klein points out some new data on health care trends since 1994. You can download the paper, complete with helpful charts and graphs here. Looks like health care reform should be at the top of the agenda in 2009...
FDA: Scientific Review Process Needs Reform
Posted on January 12, 2009Last week, the Associated Press reported on a letter from scientists to the Obama transition team alerting them and complaining about mismanagement in a division of the Food and Drug Administration. The AP quotes from the letter, "The purpose of...
COBRA: Too Costly
Posted on January 10, 2009The Washington Post has an article today on a new report by Families USA on a problem with COBRA - it costs a lot - as many newly unemployed are finding out. Ceci Connelly writes, The cost of buying health...
Daschle Confirmation Hearings
Posted on January 09, 2009Ezra Klein provides a review Tom Daschle's confirmation hearings to be Secretary of Health and Human Services here and here. On other appointment matters, it appears that the House of Representative's John Conyers is not a big fan of Dr....
Genetic Testing: Some Considerations
Posted on January 09, 2009Diane Rehm had Professor Doris Teichler Zallen ,Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Virginia Tech University and author of "To Test or Not to Test" on her show yesterday to discuss the advances in genetic testing and some of...
The Latest Twist on Your Body as Property
Posted on January 08, 2009From the Daily Beast (emphasis added): Dr Richard Batista, from Ronkonkoma, New York, who is being divorced by his wife Dawnell, has asked she include the kidney he donated to her for transplant in the divorce settlement. Batista puts the...
Myths About Health Care Reform
Posted on January 08, 2009The Wonk Room provides a handy list of the 10 myths about health care reform. Here is the list and also find a helpful discussion and de-bunking of these myths. As the 111th Congress considers health care reform, conservatives and...
Shortage of Primary Care Physicians
Posted on January 07, 2009As a part of their continuing series on the challenges of health care in the United States, the NewHour had an excellent story involving the shortage of primary care physicians in Massachusetts. It is worth a read or a viewing....
The Return of SCHIP
Posted on January 07, 2009As the country prepares for the new President and as the new Congress get to work, the Wall Street Journal's Health Blog reports good news on the return of SCHIP: The Democrats aren?t wasting time in their push to expand...
Sanjay Gupta: New Surgeon General?
Posted on January 06, 2009According to numerous news sources, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been offered the position of Surgeon General. Here is an exceprt from the bio for Dr. Gupta from his current employer CNN, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is chief medical correspondent for the...
Problems for Uninsured
Posted on January 06, 2009The NewsHour had a report on how an increasing number of individual's with health insurance cannot afford to pay co-pays and deductibles and are putting off necessary care. Here is a brief excerpt: BETTY ANN BOWSER: The Orozcos pay $800...
Improving Hospital Transparency
Posted on January 05, 2009Paul Levy, writing at the Health Care Blog, has a resolution for the new year involving hospital transparency. He writes, . . . What if all of the hospitals in the Boston metropolitan area -- academic medical centers and community...
Free Generic Antibiotics
Posted on January 05, 2009Giant Grocery has decided to offer free 14-day supply of generic antibiotics to customers until the near the end of March. Here is their brief statement of the program: As part of our health and wellness initiative we're offering you...
California's Good Samaritan Law
Posted on January 04, 2009The New York Times has a brief editorial lamenting the California's Supreme Court's interpretation of the state's Good Samaritan Law. The editorial provides, ?Good Samaritan? laws give legal protection to bystanders who courageously come to the aid of people in...
Third-Hand Smoke
Posted on January 03, 2009The New York Times reports on the new term - third-hand smoke. Apparently smoking is even worse than we thought in terms of lingering air pollution. The story states, Parents who smoke often open a window or turn on a...
Good-Bye to the Drug Company Freebies
Posted on January 02, 2009The New York Times reports on the voluntary moratorium on free pens, notepads etc. from drug companies. It states, Starting Jan. 1, the pharmaceutical industry has agreed to a voluntary moratorium on the kind of branded goodies ? Viagra pens,...
New Animals Helping the Disabled
Posted on January 02, 2009The New York Times reports on the new types of animals helping the disabled and the controversy surrounding accommodating individuals who use guide animals other than the canine variety. The article states, On Halloween night in a suburb of Albany,...
Drug Companies and Doctors
Posted on January 01, 2009Marcia Angell has a new article in the New York Times Review of Books. She reviews three recent books concerning the relationship between drug companies and doctors. The books are: Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling Antidepressant...
Genetic Testing: People Not Ready for Unclear Results
Posted on December 31, 2008National Public Radio's All Things Considered had a short story on a family who decided to have some genetic testing completed after a loved one died of cancer. The results were not quite what they expected. Here is an excerpt...
Calories v. Nutrition
Posted on December 31, 2008The Washington Post reports on the new direction food assistance programs may take under the Obama administration. The article states, The worsening economic crunch is causing the tab for food assistance programs to balloon, and with the rising costs has...
Health Care Rationing Editorial
Posted on December 30, 2008The Wall Street Journal has an article by Sally C. Pipes about the potential for rationing of health care under an Obama Administration. She writes, People are policy. And now that President-elect Barack Obama has fielded his team of Tom...
Pill-Cutting and Medical Care Saving Attempts
Posted on December 30, 2008Daily Kos has a story on people trying to save money by extending the life of their medications. Turns out not to be a good idea. Jed L links to a recent MSNBC story and writes, As far back as...
Biology in your Garage??
Posted on December 29, 2008The NewsHour had an interesting story about people taking biology into their own hands and making up synthetic organisms in their labs. The NewsHour covered this development as an overall good but I do have some concerns about people making...
Massachusetts Health - Model Reform??
Posted on December 29, 2008Charlie Baker at HealthCareBlog provides a critique of the Massachusetts health reform plan and whether it will serve as a model for the rest of the nation. He writes about whether Massachusetts can serve as a model when there are...
Cuts in Medicaid
Posted on December 28, 2008The Washington Post reports on the latest in rather horrific cuts in Medicaid - just as the economy seems to be falling even further into deep recession. The Post story provides, States from Rhode Island to California are being forced...
Naughty or Nice Over the Past Year?
Posted on December 27, 2008Just in time for the New Year . . . take the Test.
Hospital Harms: A Top 10 List
Posted on December 24, 2008The Wall Street Journal Health Blog has a handy list of potential harms that could occur should you find yourself visiting a hospital in the near future. The ECRI Institute, which researches patient safety issues, issued its second annual report...
Cute and Sleepy
Posted on December 24, 2008Here is a website for all of those who might have some problems sleeping tonight (or to those looking for something sweet and perhaps overly cute on this Christmas Eve).
FDA Reforms
Posted on December 23, 2008The Diane Rehm show had an interesting and informative hour yesterday on the Food and Drug Administration and suggestions for reform. The program overview provides, Food scares and drug scandals have raised serious concerns over the F.D.A.?s ability to regulate...
Ezekiel Emanuel: New Health Policy Advisor
Posted on December 23, 2008Maggie Mahar at Health Beat notes the appointment of Ezekiel Emanuel, a bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health and Rahm Emanuel's brother, as the senior counselor at the White House Office of Management and Budget for Health Policy. She...
Health CEO Helps Bring Down Blago
Posted on December 22, 2008The New Yorker has a short piece on Pamela Davis, the CEO of Edward Hospital, who helped the FBI gather evidence against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevitch. Nina Burleigh writes, Pamela Davis, blond suburban mother of three, was told that her...
Beware: Wii Injuries
Posted on December 22, 2008The holiday season spoiling folks at the British Telegraph bring us the news that doctors are concerned about injuries from excessive Wii play. The newspaper reports, The games, which encourage players to mimic the actions of sports, can cause painful...
Wearing a Hat . . . .Medical Myth?
Posted on December 21, 2008Since most of the country is experiencing some rather nasty cold weather, here is a report from the British Medical Journal to let you know that all those calls for you to wear a hat might have been less than...
Science Stories of the Year
Posted on December 20, 2008National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation did their annual biggest science stories and it was fun to review some of the break-through experiments and discoveries. Here is the overview and you can listen to the podcast: What were the...
Takings and Public Health
Posted on December 19, 2008Marcia Coyle writing at Law.com reports on takings and public health - a potential expense that most have not considered when thinking about public health measures. She writes, Behold the table egg. A popular staple of breakfast and baking, eggs...
The Brain and Crime and Punishment
Posted on December 19, 2008The National Law Journal reports on new studies that allegedly demonstrate how individuals sitting on juries make decisions about criminal culpability. The story states, Researchers from Vanderbilt University used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines to chart brain activity as subjects...
Conscience Rule Regulations
Posted on December 18, 2008The Washington Monthly discusses and critiques the new conscience rule regulations that will go into effect next month. Hilzoy reports, The rule (pdf) covers not just employees who refuse to perform a medical procedure they find objectionable, but to those...
Arthur Caplan on Fresh Air
Posted on December 18, 2008Earlier this week on Fresh Air, Professor Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, discussed a variety of health issues that President-elect Barack Obama may face during his administration. He also examined some of...
Face Transplant
Posted on December 17, 2008The New York Times reports on the face transplant that took place this week at the Cleveland Clinic. It is truly an amazing story raising lots of complicated ethical issues. Only the forehead, upper eyelids, lower lip, lower teeth and...
Party Tips from Evolutionary Psychologists
Posted on December 13, 2008Just in time for the holiday party season, an evolutionary psychologist provides helpful tips on how to meet a romantic partner at a party. The LA Times reports the tips and states, Wondering what to wear at the holiday party...
Extra Frozen Embryos
Posted on December 12, 2008William Saleton in Slate.com writes about the ethical issues surrounding extra frozen embryos and states, President Bush, God bless him, wants to find homes for them. He wants the parents who made them to let others gestate, deliver, and raise...
New Statement from Vatican on Reproductive Technologies
Posted on December 12, 2008The Washington Post reports today on the Vatican's new statement on various reproductive technologies. Michelle Boorstein and Rob Stein state in their article, The Vatican, in its first authoritative statement on reproductive science in more than 20 years, today condemned...
Amanda Peet Promotes Childhood Vaccines
Posted on December 12, 2008National Public Radio's Morning Edition discussed actress Amanda Peet's effort to promote the safety of childhood vaccines. The report provides, Amanda Peet, who starred in films including The X-Files: I Want To Believe and Syriana, is working with Paul Offit,...
Prescription Drugs and Side Effects/Risks
Posted on December 09, 2008The Wall Street Journal's Health blog has an interesting piece on how patients may be scared away from certain drugs after having read materials from the FDA about the risk those drugs pose. Sarah Rubenstein's writes, In an era defined...
Health Care Spending and the Economy
Posted on December 09, 2008In an op-ed in the New York Times published last Thursday, Jonathan Gruber, professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a board member of the Massachusetts Health Insurance Connector Authority, wrote about the prospects of health care...
British Health Care v. American Health Care
Posted on December 06, 2008Ezra Klein takes on Andrew Sullivan on health care and which system, the British or American, provides better results. It is quite a fun read. Here is Andrew Sullivan's view on why the British are more satisfied with their health...
Health Reform Moving Forward
Posted on December 05, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports today that health reform is still alive - even as we see the economy worsen. Laura Meckler writes, Former Sen. Tom Daschle, who is slated to oversee health-care policy in the Obama administration, is kicking...
New Report Finds No Link Between Abortion/Depression
Posted on December 05, 2008Thinkprogress has a short story summarizing the report from Johns Hopkins University that finds no scientific support for claims that abortions cause "psychological distress, or a 'post-abortion syndrome.'" Yahoo News reports further on the study, stating No high-quality study done...
Flu Advice From Cell Phone
Posted on December 04, 2008The Associated Press is reporting on a new cell phone feature - warnings about the flu virus. The AP states, A maker of over-the-counter cold and flu remedies released a program this week for the T-Mobile G1, also known as...
YouTube Medical Device Ads: Violation of FDA Rules?
Posted on December 04, 2008Yesterday's Wall Street Journal's Health Blog ran a short post on the use of YouTube videos to advertise medical devices and challenges to those ads by Prescription Project, an advocacy group backed in part by the Pew Charitable Trust. I...
Residency Bad for Patients
Posted on December 03, 2008Ezra Klein has a great post on the need to reform residency programs. He writes, Being a medical resident is bad job. 80-hour workweeks, . . . But being the patient of a medical resident is arguably worse. A tired...
NICE's Cost/Benefit Analysis
Posted on December 03, 2008The New York Times' Gardiner Harris reports on the balancing of costs and benefits of drugs in England and impact that has on other countries as all try to cope with the rising drug prices. He writes, When Bruce Hardy?s...
Wheelchair Freedom
Posted on December 02, 2008An editorial in today's Washington Post discusses the author's years in a wheelchair and the freedom it has provided him. Gary Presley writes, This month I began my 50th year of riding a wheelchair through life. In case you're wondering,...
Broad Conscience Clause Rule from Bush Administration
Posted on December 02, 2008The LA Times has a write-up today about the Bush administrations proposed conscience rule and its breadth. David Savage explains, The outgoing Bush administration is planning to announce a broad new "right of conscience" rule permitting medical facilities, doctors, nurses,...
Baucus Health Plan
Posted on December 01, 2008Ezra Klein does a terrific job providing two critiques of Senator Baucus's health plan. He writes, Bob Laszewski and Richard Eskow, two health policy thinkers who I respect very much, have come to opposite conclusions on the Baucus plan. Eskow...
Update on Children's Health Care
Posted on December 01, 2008DemFromCt, who writes for the Daily Kos blog, provides an update from FamiliesUSA on children's health care now that we are officially in a recession. DemFromCt highlights various news, mostly bad, from the FamiliesUSA study, The non-partisan FamiliesUSA sums it...
Sports in Your Genes
Posted on November 30, 2008The New York Times has a story about children being tested for which sport they will perform best in due to their genetic make-up. It is rather sad that parents decide to test their children - whatever happened to fun...
Karl Rove on Obama's Health Reform
Posted on November 29, 2008Thinkprogress provides an overview of Karl Rove's op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on President-elect Obama's new economic team and his plans for reforming health care. Fortunately ThinkProgress points out some problems with his analysis. Here is a brief excerpt:...
Bitter Lawyer
Posted on November 28, 2008Enjoying a day off work - perhaps you would like to experience the lovely law firm day even though you aren't there. Bitter Lawyer is a rather interesting look a law firm life (in some ways accurate) and quite funny....
Obama's Health Site
Posted on November 28, 2008The Huffingtonpost reports on President-elect Obama's interactive health website. It is quite fun but unfortunately the interactivity will not help you work off your Thanksgiving meal.
Organ Distribution Changes
Posted on November 27, 2008The Boston Globe reports on the Journal of American Medical Association's recent article concerning a change to the method of distributing organ donations - provide the donations to the sickest individuals. Turns out that this change in method helps eliminate...
Happy Thanksgiving
Posted on November 27, 2008Happy Thanksgiving - I hope it is happy and healthy for all of you! If you find that you have some extra food - now is the time that many people could use a little hand. Feeding America is a...
Step Away from the Computer and Call Me in the AM
Posted on November 26, 2008The New York Times reports on a new ailment plaguing many Americans, Cyberchondria. Here are the symptoms: On Monday, Microsoft researchers published the results of a study of health-related Web searches on popular search engines as well as a survey....
Cancer Deaths Decline
Posted on November 26, 2008The LA Times reports on a recent cancer study demonstrating a decline in deaths from different cancers. For the first time since the government began compiling records, the rate of cancer has begun to decline, marking a tipping point in...
Newshour on Health Care Reform
Posted on November 25, 2008The Newshour had an excellent discussion last week on the road to health care reform for President-elect Obama and some of the new obstacles that may exist because of the weak economy. Here is a link to the transcript. On...
Flu Vaccine for All
Posted on November 25, 2008Sydney Spiesel at Slate.com writes about the wonders of the flu vaccine and argues that a new study from Canada demonstrates that everyone should receive the wonderful shot each year. He writes, If we're going to give annual flu shots...
Medical Students and Abortion
Posted on November 24, 2008Yesterday, the Washington Post ran a lengthy article entitled, "A Hard Choice," discussing a pro-choice medical student and her struggle with decisions concerning her future medical practice and abortion particularly. The article provides a look into the decision of a...
Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers
Posted on November 24, 2008Well, with the holiday season approaching, many new books appear that might be worth a read. The Washington Post provides a quick review of Malcolm Gladwell's lastest work, Outliers. I have enjoyed his earlier works, Tipping Point and Blink because...
Five Health Law Myths Exposed
Posted on November 23, 2008The New America Foundation's Shannon Brownlee and Ezekiel Emanuel have a terrific article in the Washington Post concerning the myths surrounding our health care system and discussing the need for reform. They write, With Congress ready to spend $700 billion...
Rats and TB Detection
Posted on November 22, 2008The Boston Globe's Colin Dickerson reports on a new use for rats - its turns out that they can help solve some fairly major public health problems. I know most people probably think of rats as a public health problem...
Pardoning Turkeys - Thanksgiving Week Approaching
Posted on November 21, 2008Ok, it is Friday and when I saw this video of Governor Sarah Palin last night pardoning a turkey while other turkeys met a less pleasant fate immediately behind her - well, it seemed like something to share. Really, it...
Professor Jay Katz
Posted on November 21, 2008The LA Times provides a moving tribute to the life and work of Professor Jay Katz. It provides, Dr. Jay Katz, a psychoanalyst and Yale Law School professor whose analysis of the conflicting interests and motivations of doctors and patients...
Daschle to HHS
Posted on November 20, 2008News sources are reporting that former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle has been tapped as the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. ThinkProgress reports that this is a good sign for those interested in dramatic health reform. They state,...
Health Insurance Companies See Writing on Wall
Posted on November 20, 2008Robert Pear of The New York Times continues a story demonstrating health insurance companies apparerent new acceptance of future health care reform. He writes, The health insurance industry said Wednesday that it would support a health care overhaul requiring insurers...
Federal Court Upholds Drug Privacy Law
Posted on November 19, 2008The New York Times reports that a federal appeals court in Boston on Tuesday dealt a setback to the pharmaceutical industry and companies that collect prescription data for use in drug marketing. Stephanie Saul writes, Ruling in support of a...
Insurers Make Pitch for Health Coverage Mandate
Posted on November 19, 2008The Washington Post reports that the health insurance industry said Wednesday it will support a national health care overhaul that requires them to accept all customers, regardless of pre-existing medical conditions, but in return it wants lawmakers to mandate that...
Medicare Prescriptions and the Doughnut Hole
Posted on November 18, 2008The Washington Post provides facts about Medicare Part D: Facts about Medicare Part D prescription coverage: - Under Medicare Part D, elderly and disabled Medicare benficiaries can enroll in a private drug plan that is largely subsidized by the federal...
Political Temperature may be Just Right for Healthcare Overhaul
Posted on November 18, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that experts say the nation's hard times may paradoxically quicken a sweeping reform of the healthcare system. Noam N. Levey and Lisa Girion write, When Barack Obama steps into the Oval Office in January, healthcare...
Nebraska to Alter Safe-Haven Law
Posted on November 17, 2008The Washington Post reports that Nebraska intends to alter its safe-haven law to set an upper age limit of days or weeks for parents to deliver babies to the state without repercussions, an attempt to still care for abandoned children...
N.Y. Boy On Life Support in D.C. Dies
Posted on November 17, 2008The Washington Post reports that the battle over whether to keep a 12-year-old New York boy on life support has ended, as the boy passed away early Saturday. While doctors declared the boy legally dead after his brain activity ceased,...
Employers Offer Workers Fewer Health Care Plans
Posted on November 16, 2008The New York Times reports that many workers are finding fewer options being offered for health care as many companies only offer high-deductible plans to employees. Milt Freudenheim writes, It?s the annual ?open enrollment? season in corporate America, when employees...
Rare Treatment Is Reported to Cure AIDS Patient
Posted on November 16, 2008The Washington Post reports that doctors say an American man who suffered from AIDS appears to have been cured of the disease 20 months after receiving a targeted bone marrow transplant normally used to fight leukemia. However, researchers and doctors...
Confronting the Racial Barriers Between Doctors and Patients
Posted on November 15, 2008The New York Times reports that the election of the nation?s first African-American president raises questions about racial disparities in health care. Pauline W. Chen, M.D. provides an account of her experiences, Last Tuesday, like most of the country, I...
Rule Allows More Time Off For Families of Injured Troops
Posted on November 15, 2008The Washington Post reports that the Labor Department released a new regulation yesterday allowing workers to take up to 26 weeks off each year to care for family members seriously injured in the military. Michael A. Fletcher writes, The new...
FDA Blocks Chinese Milk Products
Posted on November 14, 2008The Washington Post reports on the largest effort to date to keep products tainted with the industrial chemical melamine from reaching U.S. consumers. Annys Shin writes, Federal food safety officials yesterday began holding up shipments of food from China that...
Obama Urged to Overhaul Healthcare, Stat
Posted on November 14, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that four leading adovcacy groups representing business, labor, and reitrees retirees are calling for comprehensive healthcare reform in the new administration's first 100 days. Noam N. Levey writes, Reporting from Washington -- Four leading advocacy...
Subsidized Insurance Backed
Posted on November 13, 2008The Washington Post reports that Maryland health advocates unveiled a $15.5 billion proposal yesterday for universal health care that would subsidize insurance coverage for low-income residents with a payroll tax and increases to cigarette and alcohol taxes...
More Countries Make Spreading HIV a Crime
Posted on November 13, 2008The Washington Post reports that an increasing number of countries worldwide are making spreading HIV a crime, according to a new report from the International Planned Parenthood Federation. Thirty-two states in the US have alerady criminalized HIV transmission...
Senators Hurry to Keep Health Care in Forefront
Posted on November 12, 2008The Washington Post reports on Senator Max Baucus and Senator Edward Kennedy's different plans of reforming American health care. Ceci Connolly writes, Two of the Senate's most influential leaders are working separately behind the scenes on legislation that would dramatically...
Senator Takes Initiative on Health Care
Posted on November 12, 2008The New York Times reports more on Senator Max Baucus' plan to guarantee health insurance for all Americans by facilitating sales of private insurance, expanding Medicais and Medicare, and requiring most employers to provide or pay for health benefits...
The Promise and Power of RNA
Posted on November 11, 2008The New York Times reports that RNA interference, discovered only about 10 years ago, is attracting huge interest for its seeming ability to knock out disease-causing genes. Andrew Pollack writes, People whose bodies make an unusually active form of a...
AMA Acts Against Trans Fats and Texting While Driving
Posted on November 11, 2008The Washington Post reports that the American Medical Association on Monday took a stand against two unhealthy habits: eating foods made with artificial trans fats and text-messaging while driving. The Washington Post writes, At its semiannual policy meeting, the nation's...
Obama Weighs Quick Undoing of Bush Policy
Posted on November 10, 2008The New York Times reports that President-elect Barack Obama is poised to move swiftly to reverse actions that President Bush took using executive authority, and his transition team is reviewing limits on stem cell research and the expansion of oil...
African Researchers Plan Malaria Vaccine Trial
Posted on November 10, 2008The Washington Post reports on a medical trial hoping to develop the first malaria vaccine. Donna Bryson writes, A medical trial involving 16,000 children across Africa will be a challenge to human, scientific and communications resources on the world's poorest...
Seven Things Obama's Win Could Mean for Women's Health
Posted on November 09, 2008US News reports on some of the policies put in place by Bush that women's health activists are hoping Obama will reverse. Deborah Kotz writes, Women's health activists are fist-bumping each other over Obama's slam-dunk win, and they're hoping that...
Vitamin Pills Don't Prevent Heart Disease, Study Says
Posted on November 09, 2008Contrary to what most would think, the Washington Post reports that a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and several vitamin makers suggests that Vitamins C and E do nothing to prevent heart disease in men, and instead...
New U.S. Rule Pares Outpatient Medicaid Services
Posted on November 08, 2008The New York Times reports that in the first of an expected avalanche of post-election regulations, the Bush administration on Friday narrowed the scope of services that can be provided to poor people under Medicaid's outpatient hospital benefit. Robert Pear...
Army General Defies Culture of Silence on Mental Health
Posted on November 08, 2008The Washington Post reports on an Army General who spoke out from the culture of silence on mental health by seeking treatment and advocating for others to do the same. Pauline Jelinek writes, It takes a brave soldier to do...
At the End of Life, a Delicate Calculus
Posted on November 07, 2008The New York Times reports on Tuesdays election, where Washington State joined Oregon as the second in the nation to allow physicians to prescribe lethal doses of medication to terminally ill men and women who want to hasten their own...
Hospitals See Drop in Paying Patients
Posted on November 07, 2008The New York Times reports that in another sign of the economy?s toll on the nation?s health care system, some hospitals say they are seeing fewer paying patients even as greater numbers of people are showing up at emergency rooms...
D.C. Hospital Sues to Remove 12 Year Old Boy From Life Support
Posted on November 06, 2008The Washington Post reports that the parents of a 12-year-old boy are trying to prevent a hospital from taking him off life support because they say their faith does not define death as cessation of brain function alone. Del Quentin...
First-Ever Mapping of Cancer Patient's Genome
Posted on November 06, 2008The Washington Post reports that researchers have decoded the complete DNA sequence of a person with leukemia and discovered earlier unknown mutations associated with the blood cell cancer. Ed Edelson writes, In a genetics first, researchers report that they have...
Obama Makes History: "Yes, We Can"
Posted on November 05, 2008The Washington Post reports on last night's election. The U.S. decisively elects its first African American President and the democrats expand control of Congress. Robert Barnes and Michael D. Shear write, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois was elected the nation's...
Obama's Victory Speech
Posted on November 05, 2008If you couldn't stay up late last night for Obama's victory speech or just want to hear or read it again, the New York Times has provided the clip and transcription. Watch Obama's Victory Speech
Biden Sees Vice President's Role as 'Adviser in Chief,' Aides Say
Posted on November 05, 2008The Washington Post reports on the new Vice President, Joseph Biden. Perry Bacon Jr. writes, Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. sees his role in Barack Obama's administration as "adviser in chief," using his decades of experience in the Senate....
The Value of Voting, Beyond Politics
Posted on November 04, 2008The New York Times discusses that although psychologists and neuroscientiests have tried to determine how people make voting decisions by taking brain scans and comparing how certain messages or images activate emotion centers, none of this has helped predict people's...
Court Blocks White House Push on Medicare Expenses
Posted on November 04, 2008The New York Times reports that a federal court has blocked the Bush administration?s effort to save money on Medicare by paying for only the least expensive treatments for particular conditions. Robert Pear writes, Congress sets Medicare payment rates and...
Lean Economy, Fatty Diet
Posted on November 03, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that when money's tight, many people switch to cheap, unhealthful processed foods. Karen Ravn writes, Prices are way down on the stock market and way up at the grocery store. Just thinking about it could...
12 Things You Should Know About Aspirin
Posted on November 03, 2008US News offers twelve benefits and limitations of taking aspirin. Sarah Baldauf writes, Aspirin, that old standard in everyone's medicine chest, can really pack a wallop. So much so that the American Heart Association has long recommended aspirin therapy for...
Some at FDA Oppose Rules Against Suing Drugmakers
Posted on October 31, 2008The Washington Post reports that congressional investigators said Wednesday that top scientists and career employees at the FDA opposed agency regulations that weaken consumers' ability to sue drugmakers. The Washington Post writes, At issue is language in a drug labeling...
Nobelist Sees US Accepting Universal Health Care
Posted on October 31, 2008The Washington Post reports that Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman believes universal health care may soon become an accepted feature of American life. The Washington Post writes, In an interview with the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, the Princeton...
Obama Jumps on McCain Adviser's Health Remarks
Posted on October 30, 2008The Washington Post reports that Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign claimed Tuesday that comments by a top adviser to John McCain reinforced Obama's contention that millions would be worse off if they lose employer-sponsored health coverage and end up buying...
FDA's Stance on Bisphenol A is Questioned
Posted on October 30, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that an independent panel of scientific advisors said the FDA's conclusion that bisphenol A is safe for use in food containers is badly flawed because the agency did not consider all the data. The Los...
How Obama would Change Health Care
Posted on October 29, 2008The Washington Post reports on Sen. Barack Obama's health care reform proposals. Amy Goldstein writes, On the ninth floor of an office building just off the Boston Common, a group called Health Care for All runs a help line that,...
How McCain would Change Health Care
Posted on October 29, 2008The Washington Post reports on Sen. John McCain's health care reform proposals. Amy Goldstein writes, When Diane Derichs's husband was retiring from his assembly-line job making fruit bars for ConAgra Foods, the couple invited over an insurance agent to help...
California High-Risk Pool for Medically Uninsurable Helps Fewer Residents
Posted on October 28, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that a $75,000 benefit cap, high deductible and costly premiums make the Major Risk Medical Insurance Program unavailable, ineffective or unaffordable for many. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently vetoed a bill to expand the pool...
Diabetes Drug Costs Soaring, Topping $12.5 Billion Last Year
Posted on October 28, 2008The Washington Post reports that Americans with diabetes nearly doubled their spending on drugs for the disease in just six years, with the bill last year climbing to an eye-popping $12.5 billion. Carla K. Johnson writes, Newer, more costly drugs...
Fresh Hopes and Concerns As Fetal DNA Tests Advance
Posted on October 27, 2008The Washington Post reports that doctors have started using powerful new DNA tests to screen fetuses for a wider range of genetic abnormalities, spotting more problem pregnancies early but stirring fears that the results will increase abortions as well as...
AIDS Treatment Should Start Sooner, Study Finds
Posted on October 27, 2008The Washington Post reports that a large new study could change the care of hundreds of thousands of Americans, suggesting that people who have the AIDS virus should start drug treatments sooner than current guidelines recommend. Marilynn Marchione writes, The...
A Plan to Improve Health Care and Limit Costs
Posted on October 26, 2008The New York Times provides an interview with Scott Serota, President and CEO of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, about the association's newly adopted four-point initiative aimed at containing health care costs and improving care. Elizabth Olson writes,...
Is Going Public with your DNA too Revealing?
Posted on October 26, 2008US News discusses an interesting initiative by Harvard professor, George Church, called the Personal Genome Project, which seeks 100,000 volunteers to publish their genomes online in an attempt to advance science. Although commendable, these volunteers, however, could potentially waive their...
Medicare Officials to Review Insurers' Commissions
Posted on October 25, 2008The Washington Post reports that federal health officials, on Friday, said that they will soon address growing concerns about the lucrative commissions that some Medicare insurers plan to pay their agents and brokers this year. Kevin Freking writes, In Medicare,...
Kennedy Focuses from Home on Health Care Overhaul
Posted on October 25, 2008The Washington Post reports that Sen. Edward Kennedy is trying to lay the groundwork for a breakthrough on health care reform next year, though many believe the enormous undertaking has been made even more difficult by the troubled economy. Kevin...
On Health Plans, the Numbers Fly
Posted on October 24, 2008The New York Times questions whether the statistics and forecasts cited by both presidential candidates in their proposals will carry any weight in the future. Kevin Sack writes, Economics, it is said, is the dismal science. Anyone paying close attention...
Prescription Drug Injuries and Deaths Reach Record Levels
Posted on October 24, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that a watchdog group reports that 4,825 deaths and nearly 21,000 injuries occurred in the first three months of 2008. The drugs heparin and varenicline are cited as the most dangerous. Thomas H. Maugh II...
Big Issue: Voters Look for Answers on Health Care
Posted on October 23, 2008The Washington Post reports on a survey that shows that 78% of voters say health care is a very important or extremely important issue. Both presidential candidates have proposed significant changes to the way Americans purchase health insurance. Julie Pace...
The Battle of the Medical Bills
Posted on October 23, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that doctors and insurers blame each other for an administrative headache that is driving up the nation's healthcare costs. Daniel J. Costello, Lisa Girion and Michael A. Hiltzik write, In late 2007, Centinela Hospital in...
FDA: Incontinence Surgery Linked to Complications
Posted on October 22, 2008The Washington Post reports that federal officials say a type of mesh used in surgeries to treat severe incontinence, cases of prolapsed uterus and other women's health problems has been linked to serious but infrequent complications. The Washington Post writes,...
Health Insurers Reinvent Themselves as Money Managers
Posted on October 22, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that many people rush to open banks as more Americans open health savings accounts, a tax-sheltered way to pay medical bills. Managing that money is more profitable than offering health insurance. Michael A Hiltzik writes,...
An Eroding Model for Health Insurance
Posted on October 21, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that working Americans once could rely on employer-based benefits. But more people are now being forced into the individual market, where coverage is costly, bare-bones and precarious. Lisa Girion and Michael A. Hiltzik write, Jennifer...
Many Holes in Disclosure of Nominees? Health
Posted on October 21, 2008The New York Times reports that fifteen days before the election, serious gaps remain in the public?s knowledge about the health of the presidential and vice-presidential nominees. The limited information provided by the candidates is a striking departure from recent...
Gaps Seen in Maryland Drug Treatment
Posted on October 20, 2008The Washington Post reports on a recent report commissioned by the Maryland General Assembly has concluded that state services for drug addicts and alcoholics falls far short of the need, a problem it says is most profound in Prince George's...
Parents Press States for Autism Insurance Laws
Posted on October 20, 2008The Washington Post reports that parents and an advocacy group, Autism speaks, are encouraging the passing of laws requiring health insurers to cover intensive and costly behavior therapy for autism. Carla K. Johnson writes, In Washington state, Reza and Arzu...
As Budgets Tighten, More People Decide Medical Care Can Wait
Posted on October 17, 2008The Washington Post reports that the global economic crunch is forcing a growing number of Americans to scale back on medical care as they push off seemingly less urgent services in the hope their financial health will improve. Ceci Connolly...
States Ask Baby Product Companies to Avoid BPA
Posted on October 17, 2008The Washington Post reports that attorneys general from Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware sent letters Friday to eleven companies that make baby bottles and baby formula containers, asking that they no longer use the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in their...
Infant Deaths Drop in U.S., but Rate Is Still High
Posted on October 16, 2008The New York Times reports that according to government researchers, infant deaths in the United States declined 2 percent in 2006, but the rate still remains well above that of most other industrialized countries and is one of many indicators...
Hospitals Protest New California Rules on Patient Billing
Posted on October 16, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that hospitals are protesting in court new rules that will bar hospitals and physicians from billing patients for the balance of emergency care not covered by insurers. Lisa Girion writes, Emergency room patients can no....
Researchers Decode the Genome of Two More Malaria Parasites
Posted on October 15, 2008The New York Times reports that scientists have now sequenced the genome of two more malaria parasites, Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium knowlesi. Donald G. McNeil Jr. writes, Six years after the genome of the most deadly malaria parasite was decoded,...
No Carrots for Federal Workers
Posted on October 15, 2008The Washington Post reports that while health insurance premiums are slated to rise 8 percent on average for federal employees next year, those enrolled in the most popular federal plan, Blue Cross Blue Shield Standard Option, face a 13 percent...
Appeals Court Considers Overturning Tobacco Case
Posted on October 14, 2008The Washington Post reports that a federal appeals court appeared skeptical Tuesday that a landmark tobacco judgment could be supported under racketeering laws, questioning whether cigarette makers had conspired to hide the dangers of smoking and would continue deceiving the...
Lack of Compensation Can Tempt Doctors to Tailor Their Care to a Patient's Coverage
Posted on October 14, 2008The Washington Post reports that it's not uncommon for patients with no insurance or poor insurance to receive different treatment. A study shows that in nearly one in four encounters, physicians reported adjusting their clinical management based on a patient's...
AIDS Vaccine Focus Shifts After Disappointments
Posted on October 13, 2008The Washington Post reports that a global AIDS vaccine conference this week will seek fresh strategies against the HIV virus, with experts weighing the value of basic laboratory research against large-scale human clinical trials after a string of disappointments...
Pediatricians Double Vitamin D Recommendations
Posted on October 13, 2008The Washington Post reports that the nation's leading pediatricians group says children (from newborns to teens) should get double the usually recommended amount of vitamin D because of evidence that it may help prevent serious diseases. Lindsey Tanner writes, To...
Financial Crisis May Hit AIDS Funding
Posted on October 12, 2008The Washington Post reports that the two French researchers who shared the Nobel Prize in medicine for discovering the AIDS virus are voicing fears that the world financial crisis will hurt funding to fight the disease. The Washington Post writes,...
Cost Estimates Vary on Mental Health Parity Law
Posted on October 12, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that agencies predict that health insurance costs could increase from 0.2% to 5%, depending on the type of plan. Tammy Worth writes, Will the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity...
Oklahoma Is Sued Over Required Ultrasounds for Abortions
Posted on October 11, 2008The New York Times reports that an advocacy group is suing over an Oklahoma law that prohibits a woman from having an abortion unless she first has an ultrasound and the doctor describes to her what the fetus looks like....
Cancer Vaccine Used by 25% of Girls 13 to 17
Posted on October 11, 2008The New York Times reports that one in four teenage girls have received the relatively new vaccine against cervical cancer, Gardasil, according to federal health officials. The New York Times writes, The figures represent the government?s first substantial study of...
Law Equalizes Coverage For Mental, Physical Care
Posted on October 10, 2008The Washington Post reports that an estimated 113 million Americans, including hundreds of thousands in the Washington region, will receive better insurance coverage for their mental health and substance abuse problems because of landmark legislation that for the first time...
John McCain and Barack Obama on Healthcare
Posted on October 10, 2008The Los Angeles Times discusses the presidential candidates' health reform plans. Susan Brink writes, John McCain and Barack Obama's health reform plans are different both in their approaches to solving problems and their potential effects on voters. But to choose...
F.D.A. Says Cancer Test Failed to Get Its Approval
Posted on October 09, 2008The New York Times reports that the FDA has told the Laboratory Corporation of America that it is illegally marketing OvaSure, a blood test to detect ovarian cancer. Andrew Pollack writes, The test, introduced in June, has raised hopes among...
Financial Crisis May Increase Mental Health Woes
Posted on October 09, 2008The Washington Post reports on the World Health Organization's warning that the global financial crisis is likely to cause increased mental health problems and even suicides as people struggle to cope with poverty and unemployment. Stephanie Nebehay writes, Hundreds of...
Congress Vows $100 Million to Red Cross After It Asks for Aid
Posted on October 08, 2008The Washington Post reports that Congress will give the American Red Cross $100 million in emergency funding to replenish its disaster relief reserves, which were depleted as the charity plunged into debt to provide shelter, food and other services during...
Small Type and Large Loopholes in New Labeling Laws
Posted on October 08, 2008The New York Times reports on the new labeling laws that will give retailers until March 30 to label the country of origin for different fruits and meats. Marian Burros writes, AFTER six years of political skirmishing, labeling laws that...
Food Stamp Participation Increases as Economy Lags
Posted on October 07, 2008The Washington Post reports that latest federal statistics indicate that participation in the low-income nutrition supplement program has risen sharply, highlighting economic troubles. Michael E. Ruane writes, Almost a million more people participated in the federal government's food stamp program...
Supreme Court Seeks Consultation on Food Labeling Law
Posted on October 07, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that the U.S. Supreme Court asked the Justice Department on Monday for advice on a bid by the nation's largest grocery chains to block customers from suing over violations of government food-labeling rules. The Los...
Bailout Provides More Mental Health Coverage
Posted on October 06, 2008The New York Times reports that more than one-third of all Americans will soon receive better insurance coverage for mental health treatments because of a new law that, for the first time, requires equal coverage of mental and physical illnesses....
Infertility Patients Caught in the Legal, Moral and Scientific Embryo Debate
Posted on October 06, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that an estimated 500,000 embryos are in cryopreservation in the US, showcasing the debate about what to do with unused embryos and the ambiguity of when life actually begins. Shari Roan writes, Six years of...
EPA Makes No Rule On Chemical in Water
Posted on October 05, 2008The Washington Post reports that the EPA has refused to set a drinking-water safety standard for perhclorate, finding that in 99% of public drinking water systems, perchlorate was not at levels of public health concern. Juliet Eilperin writes, The Environmental...
Largest study of US children to begin in January
Posted on October 05, 2008The Washington Post reports that the largest study of U.S. children ever performed, aiming to track 100,000 from conception to age 21, will start recruiting mothers-to-be in North Carolina and New York in January. The Washington Post reports, The ambitious...
Federal Court Upholds San Francisco Healthcare Program
Posted on October 04, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that a federal appeals panel upheld San Francisco's citywide healthcare program, concluding that the law does not violate federal regulations on employee benefit programs. Marc Lifsher writes, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ongoing effort to create a...
FDA Sets Safety Threshold for Contaminant Melamine
Posted on October 04, 2008The Washington Post reports that the FDA, concerned with the amount of melamine in food coming from china, has set 2.5 parts per million as the maximum "tolerable" amount of melamine that could be safely consumed in other foods. Marc...
FDA: No Quick Decision on Cold Medicines for Kids
Posted on October 03, 2008The Washington Post reports that FDA officials said they were uncomfortable with the lack of solid scientific data to support continued use of over-the-counter cough and cold medicines for young children. Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar writes, A top government health official Thursday...
California to Cover Cost of Screening for H.I.V.
Posted on October 03, 2008The New York Times reports that Gov. Schwarzenegger signed into law a bill requiring private health insurance providers to cover the cost of HIV testing regardless of a primary diagnosis, making California the closest state to instituting routine HIV screening...
New Law Will Require California Chain Restaurants to Display Calorie Counts
Posted on October 02, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that Gov. Schwarzenegger plans to sign a bill that will require food chains with 20 or more locations to post calorie information, making California the first state to enact such a regulation in the battle...
Medicare Won?t Pay for Medical Errors
Posted on October 02, 2008The New York Times reports that Medicare has compiled a list of ten "reasonably preventable" conditions and will not reimburse hospitals if a patient develops one of those conditions while in the care of the hospital. Kevin Sack writes, If...
Study Finds Association Between Hepatitis B and Pancreatic Cancer
Posted on October 01, 2008The New York Times reports on a study that shows people with pancreatic cancer are more likely than those without the disease to have been infected with the hepatitis B virus. Denise Grady writes, The finding suggests that hepatitis B...
Applying Science to Alternative Medicine
Posted on October 01, 2008The New York Times reports that the federal government is working hard to raise the standards of scientific evidence for alternative medicines to more accurately distinguish what is effective, useless, and harmful. William J. Broad writes, More than 80 million...
Violations Reported at 94% of Nursing Homes
Posted on September 30, 2008The New York Times reports that federal investigators said, in a report issued on September 29, that more than 90% of nursing homes were cited for violations of federal health and safety standards last year, and for-profit homes were more...
Tuskegee, a Cloud Over Clinical Research
Posted on September 30, 2008The Washington Post reports that today, minority patients are underrepresented in clinical trials. African American, Latino and Asian populations account for about one-third of all Americans, but less than one-tenth of U.S. clinical trial participants come from these groups...
Infant Formula: FDA Says What's Sold Legally in the U.S. is Safe
Posted on September 29, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports on the FDA's assurance that infant formula is safe as the tainted products that sickened Chinese babies aren't allowed in the US, where formula-making is tightly regulated. Jill Adams writes, Babies in China are obviously...
Scientists Report Advance in Stem Cell Alternative
Posted on September 29, 2008The Washington Post reports that scientists stated, on September 25, that they have overcome a major obstacle to using a promising alternative to embryonic stem cells, bolstering prospects for bypassing the political and ethical tempest that has embroiled hopes for...
Health Insurance Costs to Spike an Average 8 Percent
Posted on September 28, 2008The Washington Post reports that the Office of Personnel Management announces Thursday, September 25, that health insurance premiums for federal employees will jump almost 8 percent, on average, in 2009, a sharp increase over the 2.9 percent increase this year...
Water Chlorination and 12 Other Lifesaving Innovations That Rarely Get Credit
Posted on September 28, 2008In an interesting article from US News, a series of innovations is highlighted as revolutionizing health and sanitation for people all over the world. But although these innovations are largely attributed to successfully improving the quality of living for people,...
F.D.A. Reviewing Deaths in Anemia Drug Study
Posted on September 27, 2008The New York Times reports that federal health officials, on September 26, said that they were reviewing a higher rate of deaths among patients treated with a Johnson & Johnson anemia drug in a German study of stroke patients. The...
China?s Milk Scandal Now Seen as Risk in Europe
Posted on September 27, 2008The New York Times reports that European Union regulators, on September 25, ordered rigorous testing of imports containing at least 15 percent milk powder after concluding that food containing tainted milk powder from China may well be circulating in Europe...
Goal of CDC Vaccine Program Sets Record: 86% of Americans Told to Get Flu Shot
Posted on September 26, 2008The Washington Post reports that the CDC is targeting 86% of the population for flu vaccination, a record setting number of people, with a similar record breaking number of flu vaccines made available this fall. David Brown writes, A record-setting...
Aid Plan Aims to Help Poor Farmers Reach Markets
Posted on September 26, 2008The Washington Post reports that The Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation has created the Purchase for Progress Program that will transform rural agriculture in undernourished parts of Africa and Latin America by helping small farmers sell their surplus crops at...
Medicare Officials Advise Seniors to Shop Around
Posted on September 25, 2008The Washington Post reports that federal health officials encouraged Medicare participants on Thursday to shop around for their prescription drug coverage next year because it could include significant price increases or changes regarding which drugs the plans will cover...
Federal Health Official to Step Down
Posted on September 25, 2008The New York Times reports that Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health, who shook up the agency when he barred scientists from consulting for drugmakers, announced that he would leave at the end of October....
Congress Approves Mental Health Bill
Posted on September 24, 2008The Washington Post reports that Congress approved legislation yesterday that would require private insurers to provide the same level of benefits for mental illness as they do for physical maladies, a change lauded by advocates as a great shift in...
Studies Show Strain of Medical Bills
Posted on September 24, 2008The New York Times reports on a study that underscores the need for the government to address the growing unaffordability of health care as many people are leaving medical bills unpaid. Reed Abelson writes, Even as Washington and Wall Street...
FDA Cracks Down on Eye Wash and Skin Cream
Posted on September 23, 2008The Washington Post reports that federal officials on Tuesday launched a crackdown against several companies that market an eye wash and a widely used skin cream without government approval, saying these prescription medications could pose risks. The Washington Post writes,...
Study Finds Major Shift in Abortion Demographics
Posted on September 23, 2008The Washington Post reports on a study highlighting the shift in proportions of women getting abortions. The study found that the proportion of all abortions performed for white women has decreased, while the proportion for Hispanic and African American women...
EPA Unlikely to Limit Perchlorate in Tap Water
Posted on September 22, 2008The Washington Post reports that the Environmental Protection Agency, under pressure from the White House and the Pentagon, is set to rule as early as today that it will not set a drinking-water safety standard for perchlorate, a component of...
Consumer Ads for Medical Devices Subject of Senate Panel
Posted on September 22, 2008The New York Times reports that some lawmakers and medical groups are calling for restrictions on advertisements for medical devices like artificial knees and heart stents, claiming they mislead patients. Barry Meier writes, As makers of medical devices like artificial...
Institutionalized Medicaid Recipients Sue Florida
Posted on September 21, 2008The Washington Post reports on a class action lawsuit against Florida by institutionalized Floridians claiming the state is illegally forcing them to live in nursing homes when they should be able to choose where they live. They argue that nursing...
Study Finds Few Pain Doctors Face Criminal Prosecutions
Posted on September 21, 2008The New York Times reports on a new study that shows doctors are rarely criminally prosecuted or sanctioned in connection with prescribing narcotic painkillers. Barry Meier writes, The study, published this month in the journal Pain Medicine, found that 725...
Drug Label, Maimed Patient and Crucial Test for Justices
Posted on September 20, 2008The New York Times reports that the Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether plaintiffs have the right to sue when the products that hurt them had met federal standards. Adam Liptak writes, When Diana Levine starts talking about her...
Public Needs to Know Vaccines Are Safe, Docs Say
Posted on September 20, 2008The Washingtong Post reports that a new coalition of 22 major medical groups says public confidence in vaccine safety needs to be restored to avoid risks for deadly disease outbreaks. The Washington Post writes, Thursday's message comes from the Chicago-based...
FTC Warns Consumers About Bogus Cancer Cures
Posted on September 19, 2008The Washington Post reports that the FDA along with Canadian authorities are launching a consumer education campaign warning about bogus claims for cures after the FTC charged five companies with making false and misleading claims. Randolph E. Schmid writes, The...
Action Is Sought to Ensure Timely Financing for V.A.
Posted on September 19, 2008The New York Times reports that a new effort to approve money for veterans' medical care one year in advance is being spearheaded by the chairmen of the Veterans' Affairs Committees in the House and Senate. Lizette Alvarez writes, As...
FDA Proposes Approval Process for Genetically Engineered Animals
Posted on September 18, 2008The Washington Post reports that the FDA will release today long-awaited regulatory guidelines governing genetic engineering of animals for food, drugs or medical devices. David Brown writes, Although none of the provisions is likely to surprise the biotech industry, their...
HIV Epidemic in U.S. A Crisis, Health Officials Say
Posted on September 18, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that federal health officials are urging additional programs to protect African Americans, Latinos, and gay and bisexual men about the increased risks and prevention of HIV infections. Cynthia Dizikes writes, The HIV epidemic in the...
Exposure to Chemical in Plastics Poses Risks
Posted on September 17, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that in the first large-scale human study of the chemical, some found with bisphenol A in their urine had more than double the normal risk of heart disease and diabetes. Thomas H. Maugh II writes,...
FDA Bans Imports of 28 Indian-Made Drugs
Posted on September 17, 2008The Washington Post reports that the FDA is halting importation of 28 drugs made by the giant Indian generic drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories because of manufacturing deficiencies at two of the company's plants. David Brown writes, Douglas Throckmorton, a physician...
FDA Defends Plastic Linked With Health Risks
Posted on September 16, 2008The New York Times reports that although the FDA has defended their assessment that bisphenol A used in plastic baby bottles and water bottles is safe, studies are still being conducted that suggest adults exposed to higher amounts of bisphenol...
China Makes Arrests Over Tainted Infant Formula
Posted on September 16, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that two brothers are held in Hebei province, home to Sanlu Group, which sold the contaminated milk powder. Don Lee writes, Chinese police Monday announced the first arrests in the spreading scandal over tainted milk...
Risks Found for Youths in New Antipsychotics
Posted on September 15, 2008The New York Times reports on a new study that finds medicines most often prescribed for schizophrenia in youth are no more effective than older, cheaper drugs and are more likely to cause some harmful side effects. Benedict Carey writes,...
Ruling Inspires New Hope For Transgender People
Posted on September 15, 2008The Washington Post reports that with the decision by Maryland's highest court last week to block a referendum petition, Montgomery County's law banning discrimination against transgender people takes effect immediately. The measure, passed by the County Council last year, prohibits...
Legal Fight Over Drug Liability Law
Posted on September 14, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that a Supreme Court ruling may reinterpret a statute that now allows consumers to sue drug makers over serious side effects. Jill U. Adams writes, Prescription drugs sometimes cause serious side effects. A ruling by...
Controlled Drugs Dumped Uncontrolled Into Water
Posted on September 14, 2008The Washington Post reports that because of strict rules meant to keep controlled pharmaceuticals out of the wrong hands, it is nearly impossible to handle controlled drugs safely as waste and often end up being thrown down sinks and toilets...
FDA Expands Use of Cervical Cancer Vaccine
Posted on September 13, 2008The Washington Post reports that federal health officials have approved expanding the use of Gardasil to protect against other cancers. The Washington Post writes, The cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil also works to prevent cancers of the vagina and vulva, federal...
Youths' Drug of Choice: Prescription
Posted on September 13, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports on the federal government's National Survey, which finds that among teens and young adults 12 to 25, one-third of those who use illicit drugs say they recently have abused prescription drugs. After years of declining...
FDA: Infant Formula From China Tainted by Chemical
Posted on September 12, 2008The Washington Post reports that FDA officials are urging US consumers to avoid all infant formula from China, after several brands sold in that country came under suspicion of being contaminated with melamine, a chemical used in plastics. Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar...
Health Net to Reinstate 926 Dropped Policyholders in California
Posted on September 12, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that under an agreement with the state, Health Net Inc. will pay $3.6 million in penalties and as much as $14 million in medical reimbursements it had earlier denied. It does not admit wrongdoing. Lisa...
Analysis Confirms AIDS Epidemic Hits Men Hard
Posted on September 11, 2008The Washington Post reports that according to an analysis published on Thursday, AIDS remains largely a disease of gay and bisexual men in the United States, but also disproportionately infects black women. Maggie Fox writes, Last month, the U.S. Centers...
Few Hospitals Meet Colon Cancer Care Standard
Posted on September 11, 2008The Washington Post reports that according to a study advising patients to ask about quality of care before surgery, nearly two-thirds of hospitals fail to check colon cancer patients well enough for signs that their tumor is spreading. Lauren Neergaard...
McCain and Obama on Same Side in War on Cancer
Posted on September 10, 2008The Washington Post reports that both Obama and McCain agree to fight harder in the battle against cancer by increasing research funding to better detect and treat cancer as well as support cancer survivors. Deborah Charles writes, If there is...
Back and Forth on Stem-Cell Research Energizes Race
Posted on September 10, 2008The New York Times reports on the clashing views over stem-cell research in the presidential campaign. Larry Rohter writes, First abortion, now embryonic stem-cell research. An issue that energizes social conservatives has once again been thrust into the presidential campaign,...
Consumer Group Sues Miller Over New Drink
Posted on September 09, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports that a consumer-advocacy group sued MillerCoors over their new Sparks drink, claiming that Sparks contains unapproved ingredients and might pose health and safety risks for consumers. David Kesmodel writes, A consumer-advocacy group sued MillerCoors LLC...
DNA Testing Expands to Lesser Crimes
Posted on September 09, 2008The Washington Post reports on the expansion of DNA testing used in less violent crimes such as robberies, burglaries, and drug deals to lead to faster convictions. Defense lawyers worry that this will boost the odds of false matches. Dan...
Facing Veto, Democrats Drop Plan for Vote on Child Bill
Posted on September 08, 2008The New York Times reports that Congressional Democrats have scrapped plans for another vote on expansion of the Children?s Health Insurance Program, thus sparing Republicans from a politically difficult vote just weeks before elections this fall. Robert Pear writes, Before...
Poverty-Reduction Aid Lags, Study Finds
Posted on September 08, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that the United Nations says an ambitious goal embraced by wealthy countries to cut extreme global poverty by 2015 is in jeopardy. Richard Boudreaux writes, Development aid from the United States and other wealthy countries...
FDA to List Drugs Being Investigated
Posted on September 07, 2008The Washington Post reports that the FDA will begin posting every three months a list of drugs whose safety is under investigation because of complaints brought to the agency's attention by drug companies, physicians and patients. David Brown writes, The...
Vaccinations of Toddlers Set a Record
Posted on September 07, 2008The New York Times reports that federal health officials are urging parents to trust vaccine safety as last year's numbers of vaccinations set record levels. The New York Times writes, Toddlers received the recommended vaccinations against childhood diseases at record...
Judge to Unseal Documents on the Eli Lilly Drug Zyprexa
Posted on September 06, 2008The New York Times reports that a federal judge in Brooklyn decided on Friday to unseal confidential materials about Eli Lilly's top-selling antipsychotic drug Zyprexa, citing ?the health of hundreds of thousands of people? and ?fundamental questions? about the way...
The Science of Happiness
Posted on September 06, 2008The Los Angeles Times gives the phrase "pursuit of happiness" a run in the Times' reflection of happiness as a process rather than a goal. Marnell Jameson writes, If recent scientific research on happiness -- and there has been quite...
FDA Posts List of Potential Problem Drugs
Posted on September 05, 2008The Washington Post reports that the government on Friday began posting a list of prescription drugs under investigation for potential safety problems, in an effort to better inform doctors and patients. Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar writes, The first list is a bare-bones...
Chemical in Plastic Is Connected to Health Problems in Monkeys
Posted on September 05, 2008The Washington Post reports on a study that has found bisphenol A, a chemical found in everyday plastics, to create problems with brain function and mood disorders in monkeys. Lyndsey Layton writes, Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have...
F.D.A. Orders Stronger Warnings on Arthritis Drugs
Posted on September 04, 2008The New York Times reports that the FDA has ordered stronger warnings Thursday on four medications widely used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other serious illnesses, saying they can raise the risk of possibly fatal fungal infections. The New York...
Turf War: California Sues Artificial-Grass Makers Over Lead Content
Posted on September 04, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown and other law enforcement officials allege that three makers of artificial turf deliberately failed to disclose that their products contain lead. Lead, which is used to give a natural...
Irradiating Iceberg Lettuce, Spinach Effective But Not Fail-Safe; Critics Cite Consequences
Posted on September 03, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that the FDA's latest ruling that spinach and iceberg lettuce can be irradiated weighs food safety against concerns about vitamin loss and cleaner farming practices. Elena Conis writes, For many consumers, the prospect of eating...
Concerns Linger Over Safety of Chemical Used in Baby Bottles
Posted on September 03, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports that government experts on Wednesday released a final report on the safety of a chemical used in plastic baby bottles, saying they have "some concern" the chemical is linked to health and developmental problems. Jared....
Doubts Grow Over Flu Vaccine in Elderly
Posted on September 02, 2008The New York Times reports on a study that questions the statistical evidence of the flu vaccine's effectiveness and suggests the flu vaccine may not be as effective in warding off the virus in the elderly as once thought. Brenda...
DNA Databases Blocked from the Public
Posted on September 02, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that the National Institutes of Health removes patients' genetic profiles from its website after a study reveals that a new type of analysis could confirm identities. Jason Felch writes, The National Institutes of Health quietly...
Most Youths Tried as Adults Had Psychiatric Disorders
Posted on August 31, 2008US News reports on a Chicago study that finds that more than two-thirds of youths tried as adults needed help with at least one mental illness. From HealthDay News, US News writes, The majority of youths who are tried in...
How Crafty Health Insurers Are Denying Care
Posted on August 31, 2008US News reports on how people can fight back when their health plan says no. Bernadine Healy writes, Britain's government-run health system is under siege for restricting new therapies. The outcries became especially sharp this summer after patients and doctors...
U.S. Can Block Mad Cow Testing, Court Rules
Posted on August 30, 2008The Washington Post reports that the Bush administration can prohibit meat packers from testing their animals for mad cow disease, according to a federal appeals court ruling Friday. Matt Apuzzo writes, The dispute pits the Agriculture Department, which tests about...
Red Alert on Energy Drinks
Posted on August 30, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that turning to some energy drinks for a caffeine jolt might be a high-risk habit for teens. Rahul K. Parikh writes, Recently, one of my colleagues, a pediatric gastroenterologist, told me about a teenage boy...
U.S. Weighs Food Allergy Labels
Posted on August 29, 2008The Washington Post reports that health officials in the US and Canada are debating on setting standards for food labels to better warn consumers with allergies. The FDA will discuss this at a public hearing on Sept. 16. Lauren Neergaard...
New Oversight, Stiffer Penalties Approved for Snooping into Patient Records
Posted on August 29, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that the California Senate is moving to clamp hospital files shut following breaches of celebrities' confidential files. Patrick McGreevy writes, Alarmed by breaches in which UCLA Medical Center employees snooped in the confidential records of...
H.I.V. Is Spreading in New York City at Three Times the National Rate, a Study Finds
Posted on August 28, 2008The New York Times reports that HIV is spreading in New York City at three times the national rate. Sewell Chan writes, The virus that causes AIDS is spreading in New York City at three times the national rate ?...
Salmonella Outbreak Is Over, Federal Health Officials Say
Posted on August 28, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports that the CDC has stated the salmonella scare that started in May is now over. The Wall Street Journal writes, The Centers for Disease Control says the salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 1,440 people...
Diabetes Drug Tied to New Deaths
Posted on August 27, 2008The New York Times reports that four more deaths may be linked to the diabetes drug Byetta. The New York Times writes, The diabetes drug Byetta, marketed by Eli Lilly & Company and Amylin Pharmaceuticals, was linked to four more...
Ayurvedic Medicines Often Contaminated by Toxic Metals, Study Says
Posted on August 27, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that lead, mercury and arsenic were found in the traditionally Indian herbal mixtures at levels that would surpass California safety guidelines. Alan Zarembo writes, Ayurvedic medicines -- herbal mixtures dating back thousands of years in...
Cancer Test for Women Raises Hope, and Concern
Posted on August 26, 2008The New York Times reports that the FDA is concerned about a new blood test aimed at detecting ovarian cancer at its earliest stage, saying that the data appears insufficient to back the company's claims about the test. Andrew Pollack...
Number of Uninsured Declines, as Poverty Rate Holds Steady
Posted on August 26, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports that the Census Bureau has found that the number of people lacking health insurance dropped by more than one million in 2007, the first annual decline since the Bush administration took office. The Wall Street...
Uninsured to Spend $30 Billion, Study Says
Posted on August 25, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports on a study that is likely to spark campaign debate, which finds uninsured Americans will spend about $30 billion out of pocket on medical care this year, while the government will end up covering another...
Free AIDS Drugs Reduce Malawi Death Rates
Posted on August 25, 2008The Washington Post reports that a senior government official said today that greater access to free medicine has helped slash AIDS-related deaths in Malawi by 75 percent in the last four years. The Washington Post writes, HIV/AIDS has been blamed...
Drug to Help Blood Clot Is Approved
Posted on August 24, 2008The New York Times reports that the Food and Drug Administration approved Nplate for patients with a disorder that causes the body to attack its own platelets. The New York Times writes, On Friday, federal regulators approved a biotechnology drug...
Can a Troubled Economy Actually Improve Public Health?
Posted on August 24, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports on a study that suggests recession can lead to healthier populations when people decide to cut down on risky behavior. Susan Brink writes, As more people watch their home equity erode, put off retirement because...
Eight States Cut From System that Tracks Rate of H.I.V.
Posted on August 23, 2008The New York Times reports that officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that eight states and Puerto Rico will no longer receive federal money for an advanced HIV monitoring system that showed that the annual...
Protections Set for Antiabortion Health Workers
Posted on August 23, 2008The Washington Post reports that the Bush administration announced plans to implement a controversial regulation designed to protect doctors, nurses and other health-care workers who object to abortion from being forced to deliver services that violate their personal beliefs...
F.D.A. Allows Irradiation of Some Produce
Posted on August 21, 2008The New York Times reports that for the first time the FDA has allowed produce to be irradiated at levels needed to protect against illness causing one of the most significant food safety actions done for fresh produce in many...
Lower Drinking Age Is Criticized
Posted on August 21, 2008The Washington Post reports that several university officials across the nation are encouraging a lower drinking age in an effort to lower alcohol abuse. Susan Kinzie and James Hohmann writes, On the face of it, the notion seems counterintuitive, but...
Job-Seeker Files Gender Bias Suit Against the Library of Congress
Posted on August 20, 2008The Washington Post reports that the Library of Congress is being sued in a sex discrimination case after a former Army commander says an official at the Library of Congress rescinded a job offer upon learning she was making the...
Rising Medical Costs Pinch More Americans, Study Finds
Posted on August 20, 2008The Washington Post reports on a study finding that rising medical costs and lack of insurance are causing more Americans to either forego medical care or accumulate medical debt. Sopan Joshi writes, Americans are struggling to pay medical bills and....
California Fines 18 Hospitals for Shoddy Care that Endangered, Killed Some Patients
Posted on August 19, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that eighteen hospitals in California were fined for state health code violations in which patients received shoddy care that in some cases led to deaths. Shaya Tayefe Mohajer writes, Violations included an improperly inserted catheter,...
New Study Backs Angioplasty Through the Wrist
Posted on August 19, 2008The Washington Post reports that a new study shows performing an angioplasty via the wrist can significantly lower the risk of bleeding and discomfort for some patients. Lauren Neergaard writes, The best path to a clogged heart may be through...
FDA Working on New Warning Label for Amylin, Eli Lilly Drug Byetta After Deaths Reported
Posted on August 18, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that federal regulators are working on a stronger label for a widely used diabetes drug marketed by Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. after deaths were reported with the medication despite earlier government...
At Meeting on AIDS, Focus Shifts to Long Haul
Posted on August 18, 2008The New York Times reports that the focus during the International AIDS conference in Mexico this year was particularly on the longer haul, with stronger advocacy and financing to advance prevention and treatment. Lawrence K. Altman writes, Two years have...
Court Bolsters UnitedHealth Settlement
Posted on August 17, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports that the Minnesota Supreme Court on Thursday, August 14, 2008, said a federal judge has little leeway to review or reject a stock-options backdating settlement between UnitedHealth Group Inc. and former Chief Executive William McGuire,...
Chemical Used in Plastic Bottles Is Safe, F.D.A. Says
Posted on August 17, 2008The New York Times reports that the FDA has concluded that the trace amounts of bisphenol A found in food containers are not a threat to infants or adults. The New York Times writes, Despite safety concerns of parents, consumer...
Behind the FDA's "Black Box" Warnings
Posted on August 16, 2008The Los Angeles Times discusses why Cipro and similar antibiotics are given the FDA's strictest label, while epilepsy drugs Lyrica, Depakote and Topamax may have escaped. Karen Ravn writes, Two groups of drugs were under the Food and Drug Administration...
Los Angeles Stages a Fast Food Intervention
Posted on August 16, 2008The New York Times reports on the continued controversy over Los Angeles' decision to stop new fast food restaurants from opening in South Los Angeles. Kim Severson writes, A new weapon in the battle against obesity was rolled out last...
Airborne Coughs Up Millions to Settle Suit
Posted on August 15, 2008The Washington Post reports that Airborne Health will add $6.5 million to funds it has already agreed to pay to settle a related class-action lawsuit. That suit, which alleged that Airborne falsely claimed its products could cure or prevent colds,...
Amerigroup to Pay $225 Million to Settle Case
Posted on August 15, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports that state and federal prosecutors said Thursday, August 14, 2008, that Amerigroup Corp. has agreed to pay $225 million to settle claims that it defrauded the Illinois Medicaid program. Brent Kendall writes, The federal government...
After Donda West Death, California Senate Approves New Rule for Elective Surgery
Posted on August 14, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that as a result of rapper Kanye West's mother, who died of complications related to cosmetic surgery, a new measure has been passed in California that will require patients to be given physical exams before...
Teens Cite Ease of Access To Drugs
Posted on August 14, 2008The Washington Post reports that according to a survey published today, a growing number of teenagers say it's easier to illegally obtain prescription drugs than to buy beer. Holly Watt writes, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at....
Women Battling Infertility Find a Friend in the Court
Posted on August 13, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports that a federal appeals court in Chicago held that women who need time off work for infertility treatment may invoke the Pregnancy Discrimination Act as potential protection against adverse action. Sue Shellenbarger writes, For women...
Biotech Campaigns for Easier Access to Generic Drug Market
Posted on August 13, 2008The Washington Post reports on a Richmond firm that wants Congress to revamp the FDA approval process. Kendra Marr writes, Geoffrey Allan has been giving Congress a lesson in biotechnology. He's explained protein structures and how they work. He's reviewed...
States Fail to Report Health Provider Sanctions
Posted on August 12, 2008The Washington Post reports that many states fail to notify federal authorities once they have terminated health care providers out of their Medicaid programs, allowing these terminated providers to continue getting payments from federal health programs...
California Lawmakers Weigh Ban on Chemical Found in Baby Bottles
Posted on August 12, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that California lawmakers are considering enacting restrictions on plastic baby bottles and infanct formula cans, which would require that all products or food containers designed for children 3 years and younger contain only trace amounts...
Half of Overweight Adults May be Heart-Healthy
Posted on August 11, 2008The Washington Post reports on a new study finding that half of overweight adults have normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels, while an equal number of trim people suffer from some of the ills associated with obesity. Lindsey Tanner writes,...
New Focus on Children at AIDS Seminar
Posted on August 11, 2008The New York Times reports that an independent, international study group urged governments and donors to develop new approaches to alleviate the plight of children in areas hard hit by the AIDS epidemic at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico...
Health Care Costs Expected to Rise Ten Percent in 2009
Posted on August 11, 2008The Washington Post reports on the expected increase in next year's health care costs. Although health care costs are expected to rise more than ten percent, this increase is the lowest in six years. Tom Murphy writes, Health care costs...
Seeking Better Laws on H.I.V.
Posted on August 10, 2008The New York Times reports that the 17th International AIDS Conference ended on Friday in Mexico with a call for the reversal of laws that criminalize and stigmatize groups at risk for H.I.V. Lawrence K. Altman writes, ?Criminalization is a...
Gardasil Vaccine Doubts Grow
Posted on August 10, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that the safety and effectiveness of the HPV vaccine Gardasil as a preventive cervical cancer treatment for girls are questioned in a report. Linda Marsa writes, Sandra Levy wants to do everything she can to...
Whole Foods Announces Beef Recall
Posted on August 10, 2008The Washington Post reports that Whole Foods Market is recalling fresh ground beef sold from June 2 through Aug. 6 because the beef might be contaminated with E. coli bacteria. Annys Shin and Ylan Q. Mui write, Whole Foods Market...
Antibodies May Lead to Protection Against HIV
Posted on August 08, 2008The Washington Post reports that some long-term survivors of HIV infection produce rare and extremely potent antibodies that keep the disease from progressing to AIDS, and might point to a way to protect uninfected people from the virus, as researchers...
Two Widely Used Infertility Treatments Fail in Study
Posted on August 08, 2008The New York Times reports on a new study that calls into question the use of two common infertility treatments for couples who have unexplained problems having children. The Associated Press writes, Doctors in Scotland tested a drug that stimulates....
Johnson & Johnson Receives Subpoena on Bile Duct Stents
Posted on August 08, 2008The New York Times reports that Johnson & Johnson has been subpoenaed by the Justice Department in connection with its sales of bile duct stents, broadening an investigation that has touched its competitors Abbott Laboratories and Boston Scientific. The New...
Calorie Counts Could be Added to Menus at Some Chain Restaurants in L.A. County
Posted on August 07, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports on a new proposal that will force many chain restaurants in Los Angeles County to include a caloric breakdown for items listed on their menu. Rene Lynch writes, You're going on a diet whether you...
Millions With Chronic Disease Get Little to No Treatment
Posted on August 07, 2008The New York Times reports that many people with chronic diseases like diabetes or high blood pressure receive inadequate treatment as a result of being uninsured. A new study finds that one of every three working-age adults without insurance in...
Kids Meals Pack it On, Study Finds
Posted on August 07, 2008The Chicago Tribune reports on a study from the Center for Science that finds 93% of all kids meals offered by thirteen of the top fast food chains contain too many deep-fried calories. Monica Eng writes, It's 7 p.m. and...
Average ER Waiting Time Nears One Hour, CDC Says
Posted on August 06, 2008The Washington Post reports that the CDC has found the average wait time in hospital emergency rooms to be about one hour. This wait is largely due to the increase in emergency visits, the drop in the number of hospital...
Americans Drinking Less Alcohol
Posted on August 06, 2008The Washington Post reports on a study that finds Americans are drinking less alcohol, with middle-aged people consuming about one-third less than 50 years ago. Steven Reinberg writes, Overall, Americans are drinking less beer, but more wine, while consumption of...
Diabetes Drug, Byetta, Shows a Life-Extending Promise
Posted on August 06, 2008The New York Times reports that patients with diabetes who took Byetta, an injectable drug that lowers blood sugar, had a much lower chance of dying that those who took any other drug. Alex Berenson writes, Can Byetta, an injectable...
Stop Prostate Exams at Age 75, Federal Panel Recommends
Posted on August 05, 2008The New York Times reports that a federal panel says side effects of cancer treatments and stress from false positives outweigh any potential benefit of cancer screening in men 75 and older. However, there's a backlash to this recommendation among...
Medication Increasingly Replaces Psychotherapy, Study Finds
Posted on August 05, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that fewer patients are undergoing in-depth treatment as antidepressants and other drugs are more widely used. The shift is attributed partly to insurance reimbursement policies. Denise Gellen writes, Wider use of antidepressants and other prescription...
Clinton Urges More AIDS Efforts
Posted on August 05, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports that at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, Bill Clinton stressed "we must do more." Marilyn Chase writes, Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, fresh from a tour of his foundation's projects in Africa, took...
House Panel Seeks Vytorin Study Data
Posted on August 04, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports that the House Energy and Commerce Committee wants the FDA to turn over the results of an analysis that possibly links the cholesterol drug Vytorin to incidents of cancer. Alicia Mundy writes, The House Energy...
AIDS Prevention Having an Effect
Posted on August 04, 2008The Washington Post reports that the CDC has released an update on the AIDS epidemic saying that although the previous estimates of new cases of infections were wrong, new cases of infections have stabilized since 1998, demonstrating the effectiveness of...
Despite Additive Ban, Some Parents Voice Worry
Posted on August 03, 2008The Washington Post reports that as a result of its link to kidney and liver cancer and to reproductive disorders in fetuses, Congress recently approved a ban on a family of chemicals known as phthalates that are used in soft...
Immigrants Facing Deportation by U.S. Hospitals
Posted on August 03, 2008The New York Times reports that because Medicaid does not cover long-term care for illegal immigrants or for newly arrived legal immigrants, many American hospitals are taking it upon themselves to repatriate seriously injured or ill immigrants because they cannot...
Proposed Bill Would Finalize Sunscreen Labeling Rules
Posted on August 02, 2008The New York Times reports on the Sunscreen Labeling Protection Act of 2008 proposed Friday [August 1, 2008], which would compel the FDA to make final comprehensive rules on sunscreen. The new sunscreen rules would require manufacturers to test the...
L.A. Law May Keep Homeless in Hospitals
Posted on August 02, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports on a Los Angeles city ordinance that will cut down on the number of hospitals dropping homeless patients onto skid row by making it a misdemeanor for health facilities to transport patients to places other...
AIDS Infection Rate in U.S. Higher Than Previously Estimated
Posted on August 02, 2008The Washington Post reports that the CDC has concluded that there are about 56,300 new HIV infections a year, not the 40,000 figure that has been used for over a decade. These new numbers do not imply that the epidemic...
Mexican Farm Tied to Salmonella Outbreak
Posted on August 01, 2008The Washington Post reports that the salmonella outbreak initially link to raw tomatoes has been traced to a jalapeño and serrano pepper farm in Mexico. Lawmakers yesterday began the first of two hearings on what went wrong in the investigation....
Amgen Told to Reword Drug Label
Posted on August 01, 2008The New York Times reports that the FDA has ordered Amgen to change the labels for its anemia drugs, which could further restrict their use in treating patients with cancer. This is the first time the FDA has invoked authority...
Scientists Create First Personalized Stem Cells in ALS Patients
Posted on August 01, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that researchers for the first time are able to reprogram cells from sick patients. Though hurdles remain, such cells could be used to help screen drugs to treat the crippling disease. Karen Kaplan writes, Scientists...
House Votes to Regulate Tobacco as a Drug
Posted on July 31, 2008The New York Times reports that the House of Representatives has approved legislation giving the FDA power to regulate tobacco products. Stephanie Saul writes, Decades after the surgeon general first warned that cigarettes were a health hazard, the House of...
Judge's Ruling Throws Southern California Power Plant Plans into Disarray
Posted on July 31, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday [July 29, 2008] that thirteen proposed electricity-generating power plants cannot be built without the necessary environmental and health analyses. Margot Roosevelt writes, Does Southern California...
Grassley, Dingell Lead Calls for Overhauling FDA
Posted on July 31, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports that several of this year's crises like the salmonella outbreak have led some members of Congress to scrutinize the FDA and propose giving it broader powers. Alicia Mundy writes, Powerful members of Congress want to...
Efforts Against AIDS Among African Americans Criticized
Posted on July 30, 2008The Washington Post reports that the Black AIDS Institute criticized the federal government yesterday [July 29, 2008] of doing too little to fight AIDS among African Americans in the US. Bush is scheduled to sign a bill today that will...
New Arthritis Drug Gets Approval Recommendation
Posted on July 30, 2008The Washington Post reports on the recently approved drug Actemra, a new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar writes, A government advisory panel Tuesday recommended approval of the drug Actemra, promoted as a new type of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis,...
EPA Says Clean-Air Ruling Threatens Health
Posted on July 30, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports that on Tuesday [July, 29, 2008], the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down the Clean Air Interstate Rule, which sought to reduce smog-forming and soot-producing emissions that contribute to...
A Call for a Warning System on Artificial Joints
Posted on July 29, 2008The New York Times reports that because the US lacks a national database tracking artificial joints, the risk in the US that a patient will need a replacement procedure because of a flawed product or technique can be double the...
Doctor and Patient, Now at Odds
Posted on July 29, 2008The New York Times reports on an alarming study from Johns Hopkins finding that one out of four patients are skeptical of their physicians. This distrust seems to stem from a system based on impersonal care and declining reimbursements. Tara...
Rapid Rise Seen in Fatal Medication Errors at Home
Posted on July 29, 2008The Washington Post reports on a study that documents the rise in deaths from abuse of prescription drugs and inattentiveness to taking medications at home such as overdosing, mixing alcohol with medications, and sharing medications. However, this dramatic increase in...
Should Genetic Tests Be Regulated?
Posted on July 28, 2008Time magazine reports that although a federal advisory committee in April recommended increasing federal regulation of genetic testing and creating a mandatory online registry of all laboratory genetic tests performed, no action has been taken yet. Sarah Lynch questions whether...
What Can Genetic Tests Tell You?
Posted on July 28, 2008Time magazine interviews Linda Avey, co-founder of a genetic-testing company, about some of the misconceptions with the industry and how helpful genetic testing can be for a person. Time.com writes, If you'd like to know your lifetime risk of Type...
Fitter Alzheimer's Patients Had Less Brain Damage
Posted on July 28, 2008The Washington Post reports on a study that showed less shrinkage in the hippocampus region of Alzheimer's patients' brains with higher fitness scores. Exercise and physical fitness have been shown to slow age-related brain cell death in healthy older adults...
Weight Drives the Young to Adult Pills, Data Says
Posted on July 27, 2008The New York Times reports on the alarming increase of children experiencing problems such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and acid reflux that were unheard of in children two decades ago. Doctors continue to debate on...
CDC: ADHD Increasing in Older Kids
Posted on July 27, 2008Time magazine reports that a government study released July 23, 2008 concludes that the percentage of older children diagnosed with ADHD has been rising by 4% each year. However, these results may not indicate a growing problem with adult concentration,...
The Dangerous Art of the Tattoo
Posted on July 26, 2008US News reports that since tattoo inks are not approved by the FDA, no one knows exactly what is in all the many commercial and homemade brands. Chemists have turned up some unhealthy surprises like mercury, lead, and antifreeze. However,...
Sunscreen Safety Is Called Into Question
Posted on July 26, 2008The New York Times reports on a study from the Environmental Working Group that has found that four out of five sunscreens offer inadequate protection from the sun or contain ingredients that may pose a health risk. However, dermatologists are...
California Becomes First State to Ban Trans Fats
Posted on July 26, 2008The Washington Post reports that California will become the first state to sign into law a measure banning trans fats. The measure will phase out trans fats in restaurants beginning in 2010 and from baked goods by 2011. Jane Black...
Congress Sends Bush Expanded Global AIDS Program
Posted on July 25, 2008The Washington Post reports that Congress has approved an expansion of the global AIDS bill, which would approve $48 billion over the next five years for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria programs in Africa and other afflicted areas of the world....
Tomato Industry Seeks Compensation
Posted on July 25, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports that the tomato industry has introduced legislation that would give tomato growers and shippers $100 million to compensate for losses they incurred as a result of the salmonella outbreak. Jane Zhang and Lauren Etter write,...
In Surprise Move, EPA Bans Carbofuran Residue on Food
Posted on July 25, 2008The Washington Post reports that the EPA has announced that it will no longer allow residue of the toxic pesticide carbofuran on domestic or imported foods as a result of the safety risks posed to toddlers. Juliet Eilperin writes, The...
Billionaires Back Antismoking Effort
Posted on July 24, 2008The New York Times reports that Bill Gates and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg have agreed to spend $500 million in an anti-smoking campaign to stop people around the world from smoking. Donald G. McNeil Jr. writes, Bill Gates and Mayor...
Gene May Help ID Statin Side Effect Risk
Posted on July 24, 2008CNN reports that genetic variations may predict patients who will get muscle pain and weakness as a side effect from taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. CNN writes, Scientists may have found a way to test for and possibly avoid the most...
F.D.A. Urges Genetic Test Before Giving AIDS Drug
Posted on July 24, 2008The New York Times reports that the FDA is urging doctors to use a genetic test to screen patients before prescribing the drug abacavir, which is widely used for HIV infections and AIDS. Andrew Pollack writes, Seeking to prevent life-threatening...
Cancer Expert Warns Employees on Cell Phones
Posted on July 24, 2008CNN reports that although there are no published studies or definitive data, one cancer doctor is warning that cell phones are more than likely to cause cancer. CNN writes, The head of a prominent cancer research institute issued an unprecedented...
Medical Genetics Pioneer, Victor McKusick, Dies at 86
Posted on July 24, 2008The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times reports on the recent death of Victor McKusick, a doctor that linked specific diseases to specific genes, established one of the nation's first departments of medical genetics, and was one of...
A Government Threat to Birth Control
Posted on July 23, 2008US News reports that Sen. Hillary Clinton and other advocates of women's rights say a planned regulation could cut access to contraception. Deborah Katz writes, A new set of health laws that could be proposed by the government sometime in...
Veto Seems More Likely in Battle Over Tobacco Bill
Posted on July 23, 2008The New York Times reports on the tobacco legislation pending in Congress that will give the FDA regulatory authority over tobacco. Stephanie Saul writes, In its sharpest criticism yet of the tobacco legislation pending in Congress, the Bush administration has...
Health Plan From Obama Spurs Debate
Posted on July 23, 2008Writing for the New York Times, Kevin Sack questions whether Barack Obama's health plan can really lower health care costs enough to bring down premiums by $2,500 for the typical family. Sack writes, It is one of the most audacious...
Salmonella Outbreak Exposes Food-Safety Flaws
Posted on July 23, 2008The Wall Street Journal continues coverage on the salmonella outbreak and reports on problems in the US food-safety system. Jane Zhang and Janet Adamy write, The twisting road that led federal investigators to announce Monday that they found a single...
Viagra Helpful to Women on Antidepressants, Study Finds
Posted on July 23, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports on a study that finds viagra may be helpful to women whose sexual performance had flagged as a side effect of taking antidrepressants. Denise Gellene writes, The long search for the female equivalent of Viagra...
FDA Finds Salmonella Strain in Jalapeño Pepper
Posted on July 22, 2008The New York Times reports that the strain blamed for the salmonella outbreak shows up in a Mexican-grown pepper found in a Texas distribution plant. Officials warn against eating fresh jalapeños. Bina Venkataraman writes, Federal food officials have matched a...
Epilepsy Drug Topamax Linked to Birth Defects
Posted on July 22, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports on a study of 203 pregnant women that finds a connection to an anti-epilepsy drug, topiramate, that raises the risk of birth defects. Experts caution that the group is too small to draw definitive results....
Better Health for $10 a Person
Posted on July 22, 2008Writing for Time magazine, Lauran Neergaard suggests that investing $10 a year or leading a healthy lifestyle could cut health care costs by more than $16 billion annually. Neergaard writes, Investing just $10 per person ? roughly the price of...
The Empowered Patient: Don't become the victim of a surgical error
Posted on July 22, 2008CNN gives a few tips about what patients should do in the process of going through sugery to avoid error and mistake. Elizabeth Cohen writes, I thought my husband was crazy. When our 2-year-old daughter had hernia surgery, he insisted...
Trying to Save by Increasing Doctors? Fees
Posted on July 21, 2008The New York Times reports on a new experiment by federal and state government agencies as well as many insurers around the country that propose to cut health costs by paying doctors more. Milt Freudenheim writes, Cutting health costs by...
Means Testing, for Medicare
Posted on July 21, 2008Writing for the New York Times, Tyler Cowen suggests that cutting back payments to the relatively wealthy is a more efficient way to allocate government benefits. For health care costs, this could be done by expanding Medicaid and making it...
The Trouble with 'Healthy' Kid Foods
Posted on July 21, 2008Time magazine reports on a Canadian study finding that 90% of foods professed to be healthy for children did not meet established nutritional standards. Kathleen Kingsbury writes, Most parents already know that sugary sodas and greasy potato chips are not...
Tomato Safety Scare Hurt Consumers' Confidence; Many Support New Tracing System for Produce
Posted on July 21, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports on the toll the salmonella scare had on consumers and the agricultural industry with tomatoes: It cost the industry about $100 million and left people questioning the safety of foods. Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar writes, The tomato...
Ruling Gives South Dakota Doctors a Script to Read
Posted on July 20, 2008The Washington Post reports that doctors in South Dakota must now tell women seeking an abortion that they will terminate a "unique living human being." The Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit last week lifted a preliminary injunction that...
More Smokers Seek Help With Quitting Since Latest Cigarette Tax Took Effect
Posted on July 20, 2008The Chicago Tribune reports on how consumers will be affected regarding the recent cigarette tax increase in New York. Lisa Anderson writes, If you think it's expensive to visit New York City, it's become even pricier to light up here....
Music as Medicine for the Brain
Posted on July 20, 2008US News reports on how some neurologists are prescribing music for conditions from Parkinson's and Alzheimer's to stroke and depression. Matthew Shulman writes, Rande Davis Gedaliah's 2003 diagnosis of Parkinson's was followed by leg spasms, balance problems, difficulty walking, and...
U.S. Hits Weight Marker: 1 in 4 Officially Obese
Posted on July 19, 2008The Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post report on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's newest study regarding American obesity. Mississippi remains the most obese state. Deborah L. Shelton, Judith Graham and Robert Mitchum for the Chicago Tribune write,...
Your Shower Curtain Might Be Bad for You
Posted on July 19, 2008US News reports on a study indicating that PVC-containing shower curtains may be harmful to health. Adam Voiland writes, As part of an ongoing campaign against polyvinyl chloride, a Virginia-based environmental advocacy group today called on manufacturers and retailers to...
F.D.A. Lifts Tomato Warning
Posted on July 18, 2008The New York Times reports that the Food and Drug Administration has lifted the warning against eating raw tomatoes, one of the foods attributed to the salmonella outbreak that began in April. Bina Venkataraman writes, The Food and Drug Administration...
Clinton Foundation Sets Up Malaria-Drug Price Plan
Posted on July 18, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports on Bill Clinton's new plan that aims to stabalize malaria drug prices. Mark Schoofs writes, Former President Bill Clinton's foundation is set to unveil a pricing agreement Thursday that it hopes will make malaria drugs...
Merck to Start Vioxx Settlement Payouts in August
Posted on July 18, 2008US News reports on Merck & Co.'s recent $4.85 billion settlement with former users of its painkiller, Vioxx. Linda A. Johnson writes, Merck & Co. will start cutting checks for former users of its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx next month after...
Congressional Committee Will Probe Health Insurers that Cancel Sick Members' Coverage
Posted on July 18, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that a congressional committee will investigate health insurers' practice of canceling coverage when policyholders get sick. Lisa Girion writes, The problem first came to light in California, but witnesses testifying before the House Oversight and...
Inflation and Oil Prices Send Costs of Medical Supplies Soaring
Posted on July 18, 2008The Chicago Tribune reports on the increase in costs of medical supplies as a result of inflation and oil prices. Bruce Japsen writes, Inflation is racing through the economy at a pace not seen in years, touching even the medical...
Senate Agrees to $50 Billion AIDS Plan
Posted on July 17, 2008The Washington Post reports on a new bill passed by the Senate that will spend $50 billion over the next five years, mostly to fight AIDS in the developing world. Paul Kane writes, The Senate approved legislation yesterday that would...
Increased HIV Risk Found in Genetic Mutation
Posted on July 17, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports on a newly discovered genetic mutation that renders Africans and African Americans 40% more susceptibe to HIV infections. Researchers say the discovery offers a partial explanation for the disproportionate spread of the virus among Africans...
How Changes in Medicare Affect Patients
Posted on July 17, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports on how the new Medicare law will directly affect Medicare beneficiaries. Anna Wilde Mathews and Jane Zhang write, The major goal of the new Medicare law passed this week was to block a scheduled cut...
While the U.S. Spends Heavily on Health Care, a Study Faults the Quality
Posted on July 17, 2008The New York Times reports on a new study that describes a discrepancy between the amount of money Americans pay for health care and the quality of care they actually get in return. Reed Abelson writes, American medical care may...
Tracking Produce Proves Complex
Posted on July 17, 2008The Washington Post provides an update on the salmonella outbreak. The Food and Drug Administration pointed to raw tomatoes, jalapeño and serrano peppers as the cause of the outbreak, but has yet to find a single contaminated tomato or pepper....
Congress, Overriding Bush, Blocks Pay Cut for Doctors
Posted on July 16, 2008The New York Times reports that Congress has overrided Bush's veto of the Medicare Bill. Robert Pear writes, President Bush on Tuesday vetoed a bill protecting doctors from a Medicare pay cut, but both houses of Congress swiftly overrode the...
Vision Insurer to Ask Justices to Restore Its Tax Exemption
Posted on July 16, 2008The New York Times reports that the country's largest eye-care insurance program plans to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its tax exemption. Stephanie Strom writes, The country?s largest eye-care insurance program plans to ask the Supreme Court to decide...
Understanding Autism: Gene Clues Suggest Autism Strikes When Brain Can't Learn Properly from Early Life Experiences
Posted on July 16, 2008The Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and Time Magazine report that new gene discoveries may suggest that autism strikes in a brain that can't properly form new connections. AP Medical Writer, Lauran Neergaard, writes, Harvard researchers have discovered half...
Bush Vetoes Bill Protecting Doctors From Medicare Cuts
Posted on July 15, 2008CNN reports that Bush has vetoed last week's approval of the Medicare Bill, which would have prevented cuts in Medicare payments to doctors. Prospects of a veto override in the Senate are unclear. CNN writes, President Bush has vetoed a...
Amgen, Johnson & Johnson Come to Truce in Oncology Marketing Suit
Posted on July 15, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports on the $200 million settlement between Amgen and Johnson & Johnson after a two-and-a-half year battle over marketing of rival oncology products. Marilyn Chase writes, Amgen Inc. agreed to pay $200 million to settle an....
DNA Testing Industry Wrestles with California Law
Posted on July 15, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports that as a result of violating two types of California laws, the California State Department of Public Health ordered thirteen DNA testing companies operating in California to stop performing genetic testing. Consumer complaints about the...
Guide to Genetic Testing
Posted on July 15, 2008The Wall Street Journal provides a brief guide to understanding the costs, processes, and legal protections of genetic testing and what insurers typically cover in such testing. Jilian Mincer writes, In recent years, about 1,000 genetic tests have become available...
Is Genetic Testing Really Worth the Cost?
Posted on July 15, 2008As genetic testing becomes more widely understood and administered, Karen Ravn for the Los Angeles Times questions whether the costs (and hidden costs) of genetic testing are actually worth it. Ravn writes, Everyone agrees that the science of gene testing...
Medicare Auditors Recover $700 Million in Overpayments
Posted on July 14, 2008The Wall Street Journal reports that auditors have recovered nearly $700 million in Medicare overpayments to hospitals and other medical providers. Theo Francis writes, Auditors have recovered nearly $700 million in Medicare overpayments to hospitals and other medical providers in...
Long-Term Fix Is Elusive in Medicare Payments
Posted on July 14, 2008Criticism of the recent Medicare Bill approval continues as New York Times' writer, Robert Pear, reports that although cuts in Medicare payments to doctors have been blocked, nothing has been done to solve the problem that caused the cut in...
Obama Proposes Small Business Tax Credits for Health
Posted on July 14, 2008Barack Obama proposes to give tax credits to small businesses that provide health insurance plans. Small businesses would get a refundable credit of up to 50 percent on premiums paid on behalf of their employees, but will have to offer...
Pioneering Heart Doctor Michael DeBakey Dies at 99
Posted on July 14, 2008The Washington Post and the New York Times report on the recent death of the renowned cardiovascular surgeon, Michael DeBakey. John Porretto for the Washington Post writes, When Dr. Michael E. DeBakey pushed forward with his groundbreaking research and maverick...
Psychiatric Group Faces Scrutiny Over Drug Industry Ties
Posted on July 13, 2008The New York Times reports on the uneasiness felt by many regarding paid consulting arrangements between doctors and drug companies. Many people fear that these arrangements lead to bias within the industry and impede advancement. The American Psychiatric Association is...
As Outbreak Affects 1,000, Experts See Flaws in Law
Posted on July 13, 2008The New York Times reports on the nation's salmonella outbreak and the urge for better laws that will allow people to trace contamination. Bina Venkataraman writes, More than 1,000 people in 41 states and the District of Columbia have now...
White House Vows Veto of Medicare Bill
Posted on July 12, 2008Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Nicole Gaouette reports on the continued tension over the Senate's approval of the Medicare Bill, which would avert fee cuts to doctors who treat patients under the federal program. Gaouette writes, The White House....
Suit Alleges Inadequate Care of Hepatitis C Outbreak in California Prisons
Posted on July 12, 2008The Los Angeles Times reports on a federal class-action lawsuit alleging that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is wrongly excluding thousands of inmates from proper diagnostic testing and treatment. Up to 40% of the 171,000 inmates in state...
States Moving Toward Comprehensive Health Care Reform
Posted on July 11, 2008The Kaiser Family Foundation has been following state health care reform initiatives. The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured writes, With the problem of the uninsured continuing to grow, states have taken the lead in developing proposals to reform...
With Nudge by Kennedy, Medicare Bill Passes
Posted on July 11, 2008The Washington Post reports on the recent approval of the Medicare Bill due in part to Senator Kennedy's encouragement. Paul Kane writes, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) made a dramatic return to the Capitol yesterday to help the Senate pass...
Animal Rights in Spain
Posted on July 10, 2008William Saletan has a brief piece discussing recent legislation in Spain that makes it illegal to "kill or deprive of liberty" Great Apes. He is rather critical and writes, The resolution, approved last week by a parliamentary committee with broad...
AMA Apologizes for Discrimination
Posted on July 10, 2008The Washington Post reports on the American Medical Association's apology yesterday for its discrimination against African American physicians. The country's largest medical association issued a formal apology today for its historical antipathy toward African American doctors, expressing regret for a...
Goodbye to the Primacy Care Physician: A Health Care Crisis ...
Posted on July 09, 2008Salon.com reports on the "passing" of the primary care/family doctor. Robert Burton writes about the shortage of primary care physicians in the United States and what this means for our health care system as well as noting how the shortage...
Medicare Reform Discussion
Posted on July 09, 2008Today, the Diane Rehm show discusses the Medicare Reform bill currently stuck in Congress. The brief overview states, Senate Republicans are under pressure to pass legislation reversing scheduled pay cuts for doctors who care for Medicare patients. The White House...
FDA Responds to Antibiotic Risks
Posted on July 08, 2008The Washington Post reports on today's news that the FDA has issued an urgent warning concerning the cipro and other similar antibiotics. The risk is that a tendon rupture could occur requiring extensive surgery. Although some tendon injuries occurred without...
Ad Buys and Organizing for Health Care Reform
Posted on July 08, 2008Ezra Klein provides the latest ad promoting health care reofrm from the new organization Health Care for America Now. He reports that the supporters of health reform have learned many lessons from their failures during the Clinton administration. He writes,...
Medicare Vote This Week
Posted on July 07, 2008Robert Pear of the New York Times writes about the Medicare pay cuts and the impact the failure to enact a new Medicare funding bill has had on doctors. He reports, Congress returns to work this week with Medicare high...
The Problem of the Underinsured
Posted on July 07, 2008Ezra Klein posts a review of the Commonwealth Fund's latest study on the number of underinsured in the United States. The Commonwealth Fund finds that nearly 14% of the American public do not have sufficient health insurance. Ezra Klein discusses...
Large Nation
Posted on July 07, 2008Ian Welch at Firedoglake posts a brief overview of CalorieLab showing the latest results of their survey ranking states based on weight of residents. You can click on the CalorieLab link to review a map showing where various states rank....
Senator Kennedy and Universal Healthcare
Posted on July 03, 2008The Boston Globe reports on Senator Kennedy's new efforts to prepare for universal healthcare. Lisa Wangass writes, Senator Edward M. Kennedy's office has begun convening a series of meetings involving a wide array of healthcare specialists to begin laying the...
European Health Care: Germany
Posted on July 03, 2008National Public Radio has a brief overview of German health care. It is quite an interesting piece and shows the importance of access to health care and also how differently the government role in providing or financing or regulating health...
Parents and Health Care Issues
Posted on July 02, 2008The Boston Globe reports on a tragic case of an austic boy with leukemia whose mother apparently failed to follow a specific treatment regime and now faces jail time. The parents are divorced, their relationship is strained and it is...
Balancing Billing
Posted on July 02, 2008The LA Times reports on the California's recent move to prevent PrimeHealth from billing its privately insured patients for unpaid treatment received at PrimeHealth medical facilities. Daniel Costello writes, The Department of Managed Health Care, in a lawsuit filed Friday...
New Medicare Rules for Hospice
Posted on July 01, 2008The Washington Post reports on the new Medicare rules for hospice care. Alicia Ault writes, Twenty-five years after Medicare began paying for hospice care, the federal health program has issued a new rule calling hospice providers to closer account on...
Emergency Room Malfunction - Again
Posted on July 01, 2008Wasn't fairly recently that we read about person dying in the emergency room after she fell to the floor and displayed symptoms of severe distress. It seemed too terrible to repeat - but yet today we read about an emergency...
Women and Health Insurance
Posted on June 30, 2008Ezra Klein reports on the findings of Jon Cohn regarding the health insurance industry and women He writes, Jon Cohn peers into insurance price differentials and comes back with a depressing, but unsurprising, finding: Insurers charge women more than they...
FDA - More Bad Produce?
Posted on June 30, 2008The Washington Post reports that it may be more than just tomatoes that contain the salmonella that has sickened more than 810 across the United States. Annys Shin reports, Tomatoes carrying a rare form of salmonella that has sickened more...
CT Scans and New Health Technologies: A Cost/Benefit Analysis
Posted on June 29, 2008The New York Times has a long front page article today on the value of CT scans and other new technologies that doctors feel they need to use for patient health without much proof that they promote and health. There...
Informed Consent or Compelled Speech
Posted on June 28, 2008The Eighth Circuit has overturned an injunction granted to Planned Parenthood that prevented the South Dakota informed consent abortion statute from going into effect. The ASCBlog reports on the case and states, An en banc panel of the U.S. Court...
Medicare Delayed
Posted on June 27, 2008The New York Times reported yesterday on the delay in the Senate's consideration of the Medicare Bill which would have blocked the 10 percent automatic cut in Medicare payments to physicians scheduled to begin in July. Now, those cuts are...
Some Happiness for Your Day
Posted on June 27, 2008Please click here --- I want that guy's job - fun dancing, travel and opportunity to show how much we all have in common with each other. More information about Matt and his mission can be found here.
American Poor and Exotic Illnesses
Posted on June 26, 2008The LA Times reports on a number of exotic illnesses that strike the poor living in the United States. Perhaps if they had some health coverage this wouldn't be happening . . . Wendy Hansen writes, Despite plummeting mortality rates...
Privacy Standards for Online Health Records
Posted on June 26, 2008The Wall Street Journal Health Blog has a helpful overview of the new privacy framework agreed to by some internet folks for protecting privacy of online health records. Google, Microsoft and a bunch of other organizations said yesterday they have...
Checklists Adopted by WHO
Posted on June 25, 2008The New York Times reports on the adoption by the WHO of a series of checklists to help reduce injuries and deaths during surgery. Lawrence Altman writes, The World Health Organization issued its first guidelines on Tuesday aimed at reducing...
Practicing Medicine without a License
Posted on June 25, 2008From my local paper, A Hamilton County grand jury indicted a Fort Mitchell man today, accusing him of treating patients at a medical clinic even though he?s not a doctor. Jack Lee Readnour, 64, was indicted on one count of...
God Committees and Organ Shortages
Posted on June 23, 2008Slate.com's Sally Satel has a short piece on "God Committees," and the history of how these committees operated and how decisions were and are now being made about the appropriate distribution of human organs among many needy individuals. Ms. Satel...
Summer Reading
Posted on June 23, 2008Perhaps you have some extra time this summer and are looking for an informative book about the corruptin of medical research, your search is over -- Professors Thomas O. McGarity and Wendy Wagner have written a new book entitled Bending...
Genetic Testing Regulation and Inspection
Posted on June 20, 2008Earlier this week, California started inspecting genetic testing companies. The LATimes reported, California health regulators have dealt a blow to direct-to-consumer genetic testing start-ups by demanding that 13 companies halt sales in the state until they prove they have met...
Superhero Quiz
Posted on June 20, 2008Happy Friday and Longest Day of the Year. Just for fun - Take the Superhero Quiz to find out your inner superhero personality. Thanks to Shakespeare's Sister for the quiz.
AMA - Home Births Resolution
Posted on June 19, 2008The AMA passed a resolution to introduce legislation to regulate home births. Women's Health News provides some background on the resolution and states, The AMA did recommend for adoption an amended resolution (205) on home birth, as follows: ?That our...
Health Reform and the Senate Finance Committee
Posted on June 19, 2008Ezra Klein continues his praise for Prepare to Launch and Senator Max Baucus' efforts to raise awareness of health reform and what type of support such reform needs from the Senate Finance Committee. He writes, Whether anyone is actually more...
ADHD as a Beneficial Adaptive Trait?
Posted on June 18, 2008Slate.com's WIlliam Saletan has a brief article discussing ADHD and its evolutionary origins. He writes that an understand of its potential usefulness in the past may help our society to adopt to ADHD rather than forcing individuals with ADHD to...
Searching for a New Surgeon General
Posted on June 18, 2008McClatchy News reports that Dr. James W. Holsinger is unlikely to be the next Surgeon General. Halimah Abdullah writes, Sen. Jim Bunning, one of Dr. James W. Holsinger Jr.'s staunchest supporters in his bid to become U.S. surgeon general, suggested...
Medicare Fraud - Too Easy
Posted on June 17, 2008The Washington Post reported on last Friday some rather shocking facts about Medicare Fraud - and how easy it appears to be. Carrie Johnson writes, All it took to bilk the federal government out of $105 million was a laptop...
Harriet McBryde Johnson
Posted on June 17, 2008A little over a week ago, disability rights activist, Harriet McBryde Johnson passed away at age 50. The New York Times reports, Harriet McBryde Johnson, a feisty champion of the rights of the disabled who came to prominence after she...
Health Summit: Learning About Future Fiscal Problems
Posted on June 16, 2008Ezra Klein reports on how Congress is getting ready for health reform. He writes, . . . . Today, the Senate Finance Committee is hosting the "Prepare for Launch" health reform summit. Baucus, Grassley, and the rest of the committee...
Pro-Life Pharmacies . . .
Posted on June 16, 2008The Washington Post reports today on the opening in Virginia of a new pharmacy that will not carry contraceptive devices. Rob Stein writes, When DMC Pharmacy opens this summer on Route 50 in Chantilly, the shelves will be stocked with...
Spam, Fake Drugs and Health
Posted on June 12, 2008The LATimes reports on the amount of money that spammers who sell fake prescription drugs, including viagra (I am sure that you have seen some of the ads in your e-mail) and how such spam will only increase. There is...
U.S. Life Expectancy at 78 - We're #30!
Posted on June 12, 2008News organizations report on the rise in life expectancy in the United States - which now stands above 78 years. This is great news. The not-so-great news is that the United States placed 30th in overall life expectancy. The New...
LA Hospital Settles Patient Dumping Suit
Posted on June 10, 2008The L.A. Times reported recently that Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center has agreed to a settlement of civil and criminal charges arising from allegations concerning patient dumping. Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center on Friday settled allegations that it left a paraplegic man...
Firing the Patient
Posted on June 10, 2008The New York Times has a piece today by Dr. Rahul K. Parikh who writes about dealing with a difficult relative of a patient and deciding to end his relationship with the patient because of it. His decision-making process is...
Elizabeth Edwards to Advise Obama on Health Care Issues
Posted on June 09, 2008This is a bit of a surprise. Democratic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama announced today that Elizabeth Edwards will be advising him on health care issues. TPM Election Central reports, Obama's speech in Raleigh launching his economy tour is underway, and...
Prescribing Patterns
Posted on June 09, 2008Ezra Klein takes on the question of why doctors may be over-prescribing drugs. He writes, . . . . Doctors make money from prescribing treatments. If, as in England, they made money by not prescribing treatments (i.e, through capitation pay,...
The Next President and Public Health and Flu
Posted on June 04, 2008Well, now that both parties have nominees for President, we should start thinking about the challenges that the next President will face. DemFromCt at DailyKos does an excellent job summarizing some of the public health issues that need to be...
Disease Mongering
Posted on June 04, 2008PLoS Medicine published an interesting article on the popularity of "disease mongering" and the harms that it causes. Ray Moynihan , Evan Doran, and David Henry write, Disease mongering is the selling of sickness that widens the boundaries of illness...
Senate Finance Considers the Cost of Health Care
Posted on June 03, 2008Ezra Klein updates us on what is happening in the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the cost of health care. He writes, I'm on the Hill this morning for a Senate Finance Committee Hearing on "Rising Costs, Low Quality in...
Medical School and Conflicts of Interest
Posted on June 03, 2008Both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal's Health Blog note the recently completed survey showing the conflicts of interest policies at medical schools According to the American Medical Student Association, such policies could be improved. Jacob Goldstein...
Celebrex as Cancer Prevention Drug
Posted on June 02, 2008The Washington Post reports on a new study showing some extra positives from taking high doses of Celebrex, it may help prevent lung cancer in heavy smokers. Julie Steenhuysen writes, A high dose of the arthritis drug Celebrex showed early...
Organ-Recovery Ambulance
Posted on June 02, 2008Until I read this article in the New York Times, I was unaware of the difficulty in recovering organs from some organ donors who do not die at the hospital. The Times article discusses a new method to combat these...
Artificial Legs and Unfair Advantages . . . .
Posted on June 01, 2008William Saletan at Slate.com writes about the recent controversy surrounding Oscar Pistorius and his effort to compete in the 2008 Olympics. The catch - he has two artificial legs. Mr. Saletan writes about the recent -- court ruling permitting Mr....
Americans Want Health Reform
Posted on May 31, 2008The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn reports on a new poll in the International Herald Tribune showing that four out of five Americans would like to see our health care system completely overhauled. He writes, . . . . On behalf...
Obama's First 100 Days: Health Care
Posted on May 30, 2008Ezra Klein comments on Obama's speech discussing what he would do during his first 100 days in office. He would focus on health care - as well as some other items obviously. Ezra writes, Speaking at a fundraiser in Denver...
Global Warming as Public Health Threat
Posted on May 30, 2008The Washington Post writes about the EPA's report on the impact of global warming and the various health risks it poses to individuals. Andrew Revkin states, The Bush administration, bowing to a court order, has released a fresh summary of...
Obama's Health
Posted on May 29, 2008Obama's doctor revealed today that Obama is in excellent health. The New York Times reports, Senator Barack Obama was in ?excellent health? at the time of his last examination more than a year ago, according to a letter released today...
Vioxx Verdicts - Score Two for Merck
Posted on May 29, 2008The New York Times reports on the latest two Vioxx verdicts and they aren't good for plaintiffs. The Associated Press states, Appeals courts in New Jersey and Texas have scrapped verdicts against the drug maker Merck stemming from some of...
Political Donations from Health Care Enterprises
Posted on May 28, 2008The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog notes today that political contributions have started to flow toward the Democrats and away from the Republicans. While this may partially be the result of the current lack of popularity of the President, it...
Childhood Obesity - Some Positive News - It isn't getting worse
Posted on May 28, 2008The New York Times reports on some good news on childhood obesity - a plateau. Tara Parker-Pope writes, Childhood obesity, rising for more than two decades, appears to have hit a plateau, a potentially significant milestone in the battle against...
Overprescribing Antibiotics
Posted on May 27, 2008Slate.com's Zachary Meisel questions why doctors are still prescribing so many antibiotics. He writes, While working a busy night shift in the ER recently, I evaluated a 13-month-old girl. On her chart, the triage nurse had written: "Infant with fever...
Malpractice Problem?
Posted on May 27, 2008Ezra Klein has a few thoughts on what is causing the malpractice crisis - that would be malpractice . . . . He writes, The medical malpractice problem is not, as some would have you believe, solely in the courts....
McCain's Medical Records
Posted on May 23, 2008I am not sure that a candidate's medical records need to be made public but if we are going to consider them, perhaps a little more time for examination would be helpful. The Associated Press reports on McCain's health, Three-time...
Medicare Cuts . . .
Posted on May 23, 2008EmaxHealth reports on the Democrats new proposal for the Medicare budget. The story states, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Wednesday said he will move forward with a Medicare package developed by Democrats that likely will be opposed...
Best Wishes for Senator Kennedy
Posted on May 21, 2008While many tributes have been written today demonstrating the huge impact that Senator Kennedy has had on all our lives, the Wall Street Journal Health Blog notes his importance to a large number of health law initiatives. Jacob Goldstein writes,...
New Currency?
Posted on May 21, 2008The New York Times reports today on the change that may be occuring to our currency - no its not new faces but new sizes, colors and textures. David Stout writes, In a decision that could radically change the size,...
Protection for Human Rights . . . . Not a Priority for FDA
Posted on May 19, 2008Well, looks like there could be a change in our notions about bioethics and the protection of human subjects -- The FDA announced, rather quietly, that the United States will not be participating in the Declaration of Helsinki starting next...
VA and Women's Health Issues
Posted on May 19, 2008McClatchy Newspapers reports on a new problem facing the Veteran's Administration - women's health issues. Les Blumenthal writes, Two nightmares haunt Robin Milonas. While serving in Afghanistan in 2004 as an Army Reserve civil affairs officer, the former lieutenant colonel...
Medication Rates Among the Insured
Posted on May 19, 2008The Associated Press reports on the new numbers of insured taking prescription medications. Linda A. Johnson writes, For the first time, it appears that more than half of all insured Americans are taking prescription medicines regularly for chronic health problems,...
The Power of the Apology
Posted on May 18, 2008The New York Times reports today on the power of "I'm Sorry." Kevin Sack writes, In 40 years as a highly regarded cancer surgeon, Dr. Tapas K. Das Gupta had never made a mistake like this. As with any doctor,...
Olympic Dreams for Disabled Runner
Posted on May 17, 2008The New York Times reports the good news that a disabled Olympian runner will be permitted to compete. Joshua Robinson and Alan Schwartz write, When an international court ruled Friday that a double-amputee sprinter from South Africa was eligible to....
Costs of Preventive Health and Health Reform
Posted on May 16, 2008Erza Klein points out an interesting article by Neal Halfon discussing health reform and its costs. He notes the power of preventive health and positive public health efforts and how small changes add up to quite a bit of savings...
Education Level and Death Rates
Posted on May 15, 2008Newsweek post a blog about a recent PLoS study on death rates and the relationship of education level. Sharon Begley reports, Last month I blogged about a study that underlined how we truly are Two Americas (though the idea never...
In Defense of Vaccines
Posted on May 14, 2008Pandagon's Amanda Marcotte supports vaccines and has a spirited defense of them. She writes, Anti-vaccination cranks make me see red, in no small part because there?s no excuse for the levels of ignorance they demonstrate about the real value of...
Oregon's Autism Cases
Posted on May 14, 2008Reuters's Maggie Fox reports on the autism cases argued in federal court in Oregon. She writes, The parents of two 10-year-old boys who believe vaccines caused their sons to develop autism brought their case to U.S. federal court on Monday,...
Oral Cancer and HPV: Gardasil for Boys?
Posted on May 13, 2008The New York Times reports today on a study concerning a link between oral cancers and human papillomavirus. Nicholas Bakar writes, The sexually transmitted virus called HPV, for human papillomavirus, is well known to lead to cervical cancer in women...
Detained Immigrant Health Care
Posted on May 13, 2008The Diane Rehm Show focuses on the health care, or lack of it, provided to detained immigrants in the United States. The overview of the show states, The number of immigrants detained in the United States each year has tripled...
Employee Health Incentive Plans and Cheating
Posted on May 12, 2008The Chicago Tribune has been following the recent development of monitoring employee incentive plans and punishing those employees who cheat. The Tribune's Barbara Rose reports on the troubles at Whirlpool and writes, Whirlpool Corp.'s suspension of 39 production workers at...
Health of U.S. Hospitals
Posted on May 09, 2008Firedoglake posts an interesting piece on the state of our nation's hospitals and it isn't pretty. hospitals. Isaiah Poole writes, What I don't get is how all of McCain's free-market fundamentalism on health care is supposed to help make sure...
Elizabeth Edwards on Lack of Health Insurance in America
Posted on May 09, 2008Thinkprogress has a great story on Elizabeth Edwards and her continued attempt to educate everyone about the need for health reform and greater access to health care for all Americans. The story includes testimony from her recent appearance before the...
Politics of Health Reform
Posted on May 08, 2008Ezra Klein has a great piece entitled, "The Elusive Politics of Reform," and writes about the various options to reform our health care system. He starts with a brief statement on why the United States should be focused on reforming...
Who Uses the ER?
Posted on May 08, 2008The New York Times reports today on a study showing that the overcrowding that occurs in emergency rooms does not result from an increasing number of insured patients. It is often said that emergency rooms are crowded because of the...
McCain's Rhetoric on Health Care
Posted on May 07, 2008The New York Times reports and critiques on McCain's discussion of the two Democratic presidential candidates. MIchael Cooper and Julie Bosman write, Senator John McCain has been repeatedly suggesting that his Democratic rivals are proposing a single-payer, or even a...
Bipolar Disorder Overdiagnosed
Posted on May 07, 2008In a bit of a surprise, Eurekalert reports on a recent study by Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University researchers that bipolar disorder may be overdiagnosed by quite a lot (close to 50%). The study is published in the Journal...
Suregon's Criminal Case Continues
Posted on May 06, 2008AmNews reports on the Dr. Roozrokh's criminal case. He is the surgeon who has been charged with several felonies after allegedly hastening a patient's death to obtain that patient's organs for transplantation. Bonnie Booth writes, A California Superior Court judge...
10 Million Children Worldwide Die from Lack of Health Care
Posted on May 06, 2008My Way's Teresa Cerojano reports on the ten million children wordwide who die from lack of health care. She writes, More than 200 million children worldwide under age 5 do not get basic health care, leading to nearly 10 million...
Medical Debt
Posted on May 05, 2008The Cincinnati Enquirer reports on the explosion of medical debt and how individuals are dealing with it. Peggy O'Farrell writes, Vicki Mauch had a choice after she lost her health insurance in December: Pay for her medicine or pay for...
Health Insurance Costs Up
Posted on May 05, 2008The New York Times had a front page article yesterday on the high cost of health insurance and the fact that employers are covering less and less of these costs. Reed Abelson and Milt Freudenheim write, Many of the 158...
Affordable Dental Care
Posted on May 02, 2008Matthew Yglesias writes at the Atlantic.com about the problem receiving dental care in this country and some new proposals to promote dental cleanings that have come under fire from dental groups. He states, Inability to afford basic dental services is...
Professor Elizabeth Warren on Health Care Insurance
Posted on May 02, 2008Writing at TPM Cafe, Professor Elizabeth Warren writes about our complicated and bizarre health insurance stystem, . . . . But even those who have health insurance and can afford to pay are knocked around in a broken system. A...
U.S. Experiences Dramatic Increase in Measles Cases
Posted on May 01, 2008The New York Times reports today on the increase in measles in the United States. The Times article states, The United States has had 64 cases of measles since January, the highest number reported for this time period since 2001,...
Ezra Klein on McCain's Health Plan and HSAs
Posted on May 01, 2008Today, Ezra Klein provides some analysis of McCain's proposed health plan. He writes, . . . "I am convinced," said John McCain at Miami Children's Hospital, "that the wrong way to go is to turn over your lives to the...
McCain's Health Plan
Posted on April 30, 2008USAToday runs a short story on McCain's proposed health care plan. David Jackson writes, McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, wants everyone to get a tax credit to either buy insurance or offset the taxes on health care coverage obtained...
Future of Health Care Reform - The Lobbyists
Posted on April 30, 2008Firedoglake reports on the latest survey completed by Columbia Journalism Review on the large amounts of money spent by health insurance companies to their lobbyists. Christie Hardin Smith writes, According to this CJR report, regarding a series of studies from...
The New Romance: Marrying for Health Insurance
Posted on April 29, 2008Kaiser Family Foundation poll shows that approximately 7 percent of the population marries for health insurance. The LATimes reports further on their findings, Some people marry for love, some for companionship, and others for status or money. Now comes another...
Banning Medical Freebies
Posted on April 29, 2008The New York Times yesterday reported that the Association of Medical Colleges has recommended a ban on free items, including food, gifts, trips, and "ghost-writing services" from pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers. Gardiner Harris writes The proposed ban is...
Reminder Text Messages to Teens for Meds
Posted on April 28, 2008The Cincinnati Enquirer reports today on a new program by Cincinnati Children's Medical Center to help remind teenagers to take their medications - text messages. Peggy O'Farrell writes, Tylor Thomas, 16, has never counted how many text messages he gets...
Marijuana and Organ Transplants
Posted on April 28, 2008The Associated Press reports on an individual in need of a liver transplant but who was refused one dur partially to the fact that he used marijuana legally. The AP states, Timothy Garon?s face and arms are hauntingly skeletal, but...
Abstinence-Only Debate
Posted on April 25, 2008I am surprise there is much of a debate but apparently Congress is still wondering whether it is worth the many millions (ok, 1.3 billion and counting) dollars to continue to support abstinence-only sex education. The LA Times reports, Continued...
Genetic Discrimination Bill Passes Senate
Posted on April 25, 2008The Genetic Information Anti-Discrimination Act (GINA) passed the Senate yesterday. The House is epxected to approved GINA quickly and President Bush has indicated he will sign it. The New York Times reports, People learning through genetic testing that they might...
Knowledge Concerning Medicare Part D's Cost Sharing
Posted on April 24, 2008The Journal of the American Medical Association has posted the results of a recent study concerning the knowledge of Medicare Part D participants about various cost sharing aspects of this program. The abstract describes the study and the results, Design,...
Growing Heart Cells
Posted on April 24, 2008National Public Radio's Morning Edition reported on a new development in the embryonic stem cell research arena. Here is a brief overview: A team of scientists in Canada has developed an efficient way to produce heart cells from human embryonic...
Preconception Diet and Sex of Baby
Posted on April 23, 2008The Associated Press reports on a study completed in England showing that women may be able to influence their sex of their child through their preconception diet. CNN.com picks up the story and states, Women can influence the gender of...
Genetic Discrimination and Congress
Posted on April 23, 2008The New York Times reports today on Congress' efforts to confront genetic discrimination. Andrew Pollack reports, Congress reached an agreement clearing the way for a bill to prohibit discrimination by employers and health insurers on the basis of genetic tests...
Growing Body Parts
Posted on April 23, 2008In Slate.com, William Saleton reports on the latest military advance - growing body parts. He writes, The regeneration of lost body parts has just moved from science fiction to U.S. military policy. Yesterday the Department of Defense announced the creation...
Life Expectancy Drops for American Women
Posted on April 22, 2008The Washington Post reports today on an unexpected drop in American women's life expectancy in a study conducted by PLoS Medicine. The study also shows a smaller decline in life expectancy for men as well. David Brown writes, For the...
Illinois Court Rules on Sterilization of Mentally Disabled Woman
Posted on April 21, 2008The Chicago Tribune reports on a recent decision by the Illinois Appellate Court that denied a request to sterilize a mentally disabled woman against her will. Michael Higgins writing for the Tribune states, Disability rights advocates and medical ethicists praised...
Health Care Stories
Posted on April 21, 2008RoCali at Daily Kos shares his health care story and asks that others write in to share their stories as well. The goal is to educate those individuals who still seem to believe that people without health insurance or who...
Plastic Bottles/BPA Update
Posted on April 20, 2008The New York Times updates the recent concern Congress and the Canadian government have shown over the use of BPA (bisphenol-A) in many plastic children's items - including baby bottles and other products that children put in their mouths. Ian...
Children's Health Care Update - Some Good News
Posted on April 20, 2008The New York Times reports that the Bush Administration has suffered a setback in its attempt to restrict the States ability to expand the availability of SCHIP funds to middle-income families. President Bush had issued an August 17th Directive placing...
African American Bone Marrow Donors Needed
Posted on April 18, 2008Wolfrum at Shakespeare's Sister posts a call for more more bone marrow donors, particularly African American donors. He writes, When I recovered from the shock of learning that my Mom had acute myeloid Leukemia, I set to work on learning...
Wyden's Health Care Plan Video
Posted on April 18, 2008Ezra Klein points out the surprisingly good health care video produced in support of Senator Ron Wyden's health care plan, known as the Wyden Bennett plan or Healthy Americans Act. The Act proposes to de-link health insurance from employment. The...
Vioxx Deaths, Merck's Data and Ghostwriters
Posted on April 17, 2008Guardian reports on the bad data provided by Merck and the New York Times follows up with a review of yesterday's Journal of the American Medical Association piece discussing ghostwriters for medical articles on Merck data and analysis. Sarah Boseley...
Plastic Baby Bottles, BPA and the FDA
Posted on April 17, 2008Reuters reports on the National Toxicology Program's findings of the potential danger posed to young children from the chemical bisphensol A, a chemical used in such items as baby bottles and also recently approved by the FDA as safe in...
Antioxidant Supplements May Be Harmful to Health
Posted on April 16, 2008The Guardian (UK) reports today on a review by the Cochrane Collaboration which demonstrates that in many cases taking vitamin supplements, specifically antioxidants, in the hopes of extending life is not only a waste of money but can actually be...
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