Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157881.php Whistleblowers allege in lawsuits unsealed Wednesday that some medical device companies gave kickbacks to heart surgeons to get the doctors to use their products to treat a heart condition, The Wall Street Journal reports. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157861.php The California Nurses Association concurred on the need for improved enforcement to protect patients affected by the handful of nurses alleged to have found to have committed egregious misconduct that put patients in jeopardy. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157947.php After a period of improvement, trends in the sexual and reproductive health of U.S. teens and young adults have flattened, or in some instances may be worsening, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157862.php With debate underway in the House Education and Labor Committee today on the sweeping healthcare reform bill in that body, the nation's largest organization of registered nurses today called on Committee Chair George Miller to support a critical amendment that would enable individual states to go a step farther and adopt single-payer, Medicare-for-All style reforms. The amendment by Rep. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157891.php How well do you know yourself? It's a question many of us struggle with, as we try to figure out how close we are to who we actually want to be. In a new report in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, psychologist Timothy D. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157922.php As part of a series about Americans' response to the H1N1 flu outbreak, the Harvard Opinion Research Program at the Harvard School of Public Health is releasing a national poll that focuses on Americans' views and concerns about the potential for a more severe outbreak of Influenza A (H1N1) in the fall or winter. The polling was done June 22-28, 2009. Click here for the complete survey. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157946.php Cystic fibrosis medicines that help to break down mucus in the lungs may carry an unexpected long-term benefit, a study suggests. The treatments not only help breathing in the short term - they may also make lung infections develop to be less harmful in the long run, research from the University of Edinburgh shows. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157896.php Daily Monitor Reports On Success, Expansion Of Pilot Study Using Health Text Messages The Daily Monitor reviews the success of the recent 10-day "Texting4Health" pilot study in Uganda that used cell phones to "gauge the basic health knowledge" of subscribers to the MTN network. According to the newspaper, the study, which was funded by the U.N. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157940.php The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) received copies of Lord Gill's report[1] into the explosion, caused by a leak of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) on 11 May 2004, when nine people died and many more were injured at the ICL Plastics factory in Maryhill, Glasgow. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157890.php IRIN examines a Health Affairs report that found "one in four families living in the world's poorest countries borrows money or sells assets in order to afford health care" (7/15). Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157878.php The cost of health care reform has emerged as a key battle in overhaul efforts. Attention is being paid to how costs will affect specific groups including the middle class and businesses. The Wall Street Journal reports on the question of how the government will pay for subsidies and spending required to achieve near-universal coverage and focuses on the issue of exchanges. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157887.php Wrong Health Reform Will Hurt Economy Politico After the vice president admitted the administration had misread the economy, the president said administration officials, instead, had incomplete information - but yet they would not have done anything different in the too-slow stimulus. We need to prevent a recurrence of the stimulus mistake on health care (Hennessey, 7/16). Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157907.php The American Society of Hematology (ASH) announces the debut of the Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize, to be awarded at ASH's annual meeting in December. The inaugural recipients are Thomas Maniatis, PhD, of Harvard University, and Yuet Wai Kan, MD, of the University of California - San Francisco. Established in December 2008, this award, named for the late Dr. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157894.php The Daily Trust/allAfrica.com examines food security in Nigeria. Despite its agricultural potential, the "food crisis" in Nigeria "poses a big question as to what is responsible for the insecurity in food production, preservation and storage," according to the newspaper. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157944.php Expectant mothers who are obese are much more likely to suffer from minor complications such as heart burn and chest infections during pregnancy, a study suggests. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157895.php Everyday human interaction is not what you would call perfect, so what if there was a third party added to the mix - like a metallic version of us? In a new article in Perspectives on Psychological Science, psychologist Neal J. Roese and computer scientist Eyal Amir from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign investigate what human-android interactions may be like 50 years into the future. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157863.php Have you seen the commercial for in-office procedures that will make your face wrinkle-free or sculpt your stomach, with no downtime and no scars? Lifestyle Lift, Lunchtime Lift, Thread-Tox, and Smart-Lipo, are just a few of the brand-name surgical procedures being marketed to the public as a cosmetic quick fix with a clever name. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157877.php "President Obama and leading Democrats have stressed that people who like their employer-sponsored insurance would be able to keep it, under a health care overhaul. But they haven't emphasized the flip side: That people who don't like their coverage might have to keep it," Kaiser Health News reports. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157858.php Concerns raised by the Pharmacists' Division of the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia over employees being 'left out' of negotiations for the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement were unfounded, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia said today. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157912.php Quantum Immunologics, Inc. (QI), a Tampa, Florida company focusing on the research and development of cancer immunotherapies, is pleased to announce that it is receiving equity funding from Mentor Capital, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: MNTR) to support its FDA authorized Phase I/II trials on metastatic breast cancer, which are now underway (NCT00879489). Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157899.php The Amarillo, Texas City Commission on Tuesday received a grant from the Texas Department of State Health Services, of which $51,636 will be used for HIV surveillance activities across the Texas Panhandle Region, NewsChannel10.com reports. According to NewsChannel10. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157945.php Blacks had 51 percent higher prevalence of obesity, and Hispanics had 21 percent higher obesity prevalence compared with whites, according to researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Greater prevalences of obesity for blacks and whites were found in the South and Midwest than in the West and Northeast. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157892.php When considering an overhaul of "the failure-plagued Afghanistan reconstruction program," U.S. development officials are looking to Afghanistan's health sector, "where more than $1 billion in international aid since 2002 has produced measurable results," USA Today reports. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157886.php Georgetown Policy Report: Long-Term Care in Health Care Reform: Policy Options to Improve Both - Policy - Long-term care reform belongs in health care reform -- "The well-being and financial security of families depend not only on access to affordable medical services, but also on access to affordabl Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157966.php There she is again: the cute girl at the mall. Big eyes. Long legs. She smiles at you. You're about to make your move… but wait! What's she wearing? It's a letterman jacket, one clearly belonging to a hulking football player named "Steve." This girl is taken. Wisely, you move on. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157937.php According to the latest thinking, eating healthily and taking more exercise are not enough by themselves to combat the nation's rising obesity levels. Instead we need a better understanding of the issues underpinning compulsive eating so that psychological help can be successfully targeted. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157885.php "A hospital that serves thousands of indigent Massachusetts residents sued the state on Wednesday, charging that its costly universal health care law is forcing the hospital to cover too much of the expense of caring for the poor," according to the New York Times. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157872.php The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Onsolis, medication intended for certain patients with cancer to help manage breakthrough pain - severe flares of pain that break through regular pain medication. Onsolis is in a class of drugs that deliver the potent opioid fentanyl through the mouth's mucous membranes. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157936.php The NPHS influenza surveillance scheme, which records reports of diagnoses of flufrom more than 300 GP practices across Wales, shows low but increasing levels of influenza activity across Wales. Further detail can be found on the NPHS website. The report from 14 July estimates there were 26. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157868.php Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) said he plans to introduce an amendment to the House health care overhaul bill (HR 3200) that would prohibit insurers from being required to cover abortion, unless the woman's life is at risk or the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, CQ Today reports. Pitts said he will offer the amendment Thursday at the first House Energy and Commerce Committee mark-up session. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157884.php The American Nurses Association (ANA), which represents the interests of the nation's 2. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157871.php In President Obama's push for health reform, "new fault lines are opening up everywhere you look. Liberals are worried that Obama is going squishy on including a strong, government-run 'public option' among the health-care choices available to Americans. Conservatives are warning that the legislation won't do enough to control health costs. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157915.php Data presented at the annual meeting of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) in Boston show that ATryn® (Antithrombin [Recombinant]) safely prevents peri-operative and peri-partum acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or other venous thromboembolic events in patients with hereditary antithrombin deficiency (HD AT). Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157948.php The latest rise in the indirect taxation on tobacco and alcohol took place in June. The most popular brand of cigarettes went up in price from 3.10 euros to 3.30 euros per packet. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157860.php This week, Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Constabulary, Dr Timothy Brain OBE, officially launched the Meningitis Trust's annual Five Valley's Walk; and started the fundraising with a donation of £1500 he received after winning the Communicator of the Year Award 2008, from GSL/APPRO for his efforts during the Water Emergency of 2007. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157897.php Boston-based Fenway Health and the Multicultural AIDS Coalition "have launched the recruitment phase of a new study aimed at learning more about the sexual health of black gay and bi[sexual] men and finding effective strategies for HIV prevention within the black gay community," Bay Windows reports. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157902.php A daily dose of sodium bicarbonate - baking soda, already used for baking, cleaning, acid indigestion, sunburn, and more - slows the decline of kidney function in some patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD), reports an upcoming study in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157919.php More than 43,000 children are injured in bathtubs and showers every year, mostly from slips and falls, according to the study, "Injuries Associated With Bathtubs and Showers Among Children in the United States. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157929.php New research, has revealed that an extract which concentrates specific nutrients from Klamath blue green algae, could provide an effective natural remedy for women looking for an effective alternative to HRT to control mood swings and improve overall wellbeing. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157906.php The Pig Veterinary Society's revised 2009 edition of Casualty Pig, funded by the BVA Animal Welfare Foundation (BVA AWF) is now available. This booklet is intended for the use of stock keepers on farms, staff in abattoirs, veterinary surgeons, and by transporters, to give guidance and knowledge in care, treatment, and euthanasia of the casualty pig. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157865.php In her third day of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor deflected lawmakers' attempts to elicit specific answers on how she would rule on abortion-rights cases and other contentious issues, the Washington Post reports (Goldstein et al., Washington Post, 7/16). Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157873.php Votes are planned Thursday in the House Education and Labor and Ways and Means committees on a $1.5 trillion plan to overhaul the nation's health care system, The Associated Press reports. "The legislation seeks to provide coverage to nearly all Americans by subsidizing the poor and penalizing individuals and employers who don't purchase health insurance. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157876.php The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it is conducting a safety review of Xolair (omalizumab), a drug used to treat certain adults and adolescents with moderate-to-severe persistent asthma. Reviewers are looking for a possible association between patients who use Xolair and an increased risk of heart attack, abnormal heart rhythm, heart failure, and stroke. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157882.php "This is Year 20 for America's Best Hospitals, a tool for patients who need medical sophistication that most facilities are unable to provide," reports U.S. News and World Report. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157859.php Mental Health America today commended Senate and House health reform legislation for including mental health and substance use coverage in a benefit package. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157943.php A team of Canadian scientists have discovered that naringenin, a flavonoid found in citrus fruit, and especially grapefruit, makes the liver burn fat instead of storing it after a meal. (This chemical compound also gives grapefruit its bitter taste.) Potentially, without having to change diets or cut out particular foods, a dose of naringenin could prevent weight gain and even help to lose it. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157939.php The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning gas engineers of the significant costs of failing to register with the Gas Safe Register following the prosecution an unregistered gas engineer from Warwick. Gordon Connolly was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £20,632 at Rugby Magistrates Court on 15 July 2009. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157910.php Sirona Biochem Corp. (TSX-V: SBM) announced it is now ready to begin testing its novel new compounds to fight diabetes and obesity. The completion of the company's key SGLT biological assessment test and testing will be done under contract with Richmond, BC based SignalChem. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157867.php Senate Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) have been privately negotiating over how their panel's version of health reform legislation will address abortion coverage, Newsweek reports. According to Newsweek, Grassley has been pushing to include measures that would prohibit what he considers "taxpayer-subsidized abortion. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157875.php "Key senators say they want to force the health insurance industry to pay as much as $100 billion toward the 10-year cost of the health care overhaul sought by President Obama," CQ Politics reports. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157870.php All Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinics and hospitals are failing to fully comply with federal privacy standards for women, according to a Government Accountability Office report, the AP/Boston Globe reports. The report comes as thousands of female veterans are entering the VA health system after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157864.php The government's Green Paper 'Shaping the Future of Care Together' has been welcomed by the MS Society as the radical step necessary to address the crisis in social care. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157934.php Following Gordon Brown's meeting at Downing Street with Britain's top drinks industry executives he called for them to harness their considerable marketing powers to drive for change in social norm and cultural attitudes towards alcohol in the UK. This has resulted in Project 'N' - a collaboration of the not inconsiderable resources of top companies throughout the UK. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157908.php Yesterday's Senate HELP Committee's vote for a health reform bill and the beginning today of the committee markup process in the House of Representatives mark significant steps forward on the path to comprehensive health reform. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157932.php This statement updates Members on the Influenza A (H1N1v) swine flu outbreak and the latest developments in Wales and across the UK. On 2 July, I wrote to Members informing them that because of the rapid increase in the number of cases of swine flu in parts of the UK, we were moving from the containment to the treatment phase. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157904.php Adolescent alcohol use and behavior problems are influenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. A new study has found that socio-regional factors moderate the importance of genetic influences on early adolescent behavior problems in a way that parallels moderating effects observed for alcohol use later in adolescence. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157889.php Researchers have sequenced the genomes of two parasites that cause bilharzia or schistosomiasis - a disease transmitted by water-borne snails that affects more than 200 million people worldwide - "revealing potential weaknesses that could be exploited by drug developers," Nature reports (Smith, 7/15). Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157880.php Determined to cut Medicare costs, the White House unveiled a plan that would shift much of the power over Medicare payment rates from Congress to the executive branch. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157866.php The Royal College of Nursing and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health commented on a new report from the Care Quality Commission, Safeguarding children: a review of arrangements in the NHS for safeguarding children. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157942.php Researchers at Georgia State University have found that diets high in fructose - a type of sugar found in most processed foods and beverages - impaired the spatial memory of adult rats.