Health News
E-Clips
An electronic healthcare news link service
provided by UHA,
Friday, February 12, 2010
Keep Health Reform Local (Editorial, Deseret News, February 10, 2010) Utah is in the
third year of a 10-year health care reform plan. That's a process that always
has been too slow. But given the reprieve Republican filibusters now could
offer in Washington, it may yet work.
Panel delays vote on health care access for legal immigrant children (Salt Lake Tribune, February 10, 2010) The push to lift a five-year waiting period on when legal immigrant children can apply to health care programs is having trouble clearing committee.
Utahns with cystic fibrosis face challenges, but strive to live 'every day to its fullest.' (Salt Lake Tribune, February 11, 2010) Lisa Joss-Moore was more than four months pregnant when she learned her baby had cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that damages the lungs and often leads to an early death.
Kids at schools close to busy roads breathe more pollution (Salt Lake Tribune, February 11, 2010) Most Salt Lake County kids attend school in areas that aren't terribly close to major roadways.
Child Safety is State’s Duty (Editorial, Deseret News, February 11, 2010) When it comes to the safety of children, the law should err on protecting their lives and their interests.
Lawyers want fairness for malpractice victims (Opinion, Salt Lake Tribune, February 12, 2010) Health care is on everyone's mind, and in the debate over lowering costs, it has become a custom to blame the trial lawyers.
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Hot-potato legislation seeks fair
hearing (Salt Lake Tribune, February 12, 2010) After
a few detours, a controversial bill that would cap medical malpractice awards
for pain and suffering at $250,000 is now headed to the Senate Natural
Resources committee for discussion and public input.
Utah Legislature: House approves bill to keep feds out of Utah health reform (Salt Lake Tribune, February 12, 2010) A bill that would prevent any federal health care reforms — should Congress approve any — from taking effect in Utah without approval of the Legislature and the governor passed 53-20 Thursday in the Utah House.
Health hotline to focus on heart disease among women (Deseret News, February 12, 2010) Cupid's arrow piercing a heart has become an iconic symbol of Valentine's Day, but it could also symbolize the fact that more American women die of heart disease than any other ailment.
Cuts target pregnant women, sick
children (Salt Lake Tribune, February 12, 2010) Nearly 10,000 pregnant
women and catastrophically injured and ill children would lose their health
insurance next year under a proposed scaling back of Utah's Medicaid program.
National Healthcare Headlines
Ten GOP Health Ideas for Obama (Opinion, Wall Street Journal, February 10, 2010) 'If you have a better idea, show it to me." That was President Barack Obama's challenge two weeks ago to House Republicans regarding health-care reform. He has since called for a bipartisan forum, not to start over on health reform but to "move forward" on the "best ideas that are out there."
· Obama's aim on health care: Mesh 'best ideas' (USA Today, February 10, 2010) President Obama said Tuesday that he will consider any Republican health care ideas, as long as the ideas address the goals contained in the Democratic plans already passed by the House and Senate.
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Health-Care Reform Could Create a
Litigation Explosion (Wall
Street Journal, February 11, 2010) President Obama wants to convene a
bipartisan meeting later this month to discuss health reform—"to go
systematically through all the best ideas out there," as he said to CBS's
Katie Couric in a pre-Super Bowl interview. "How
do you guys want to lower costs?" he said he'd ask Republicans.
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A Simple Health-Care Fix Fizzles Out (Wall Street Journal, February 11,
2010) It sounds like such a simple concept: Study different medical treatments
and figure out which delivers the best results at the cheapest cost, giving
patients the most effective care.
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Republicans and the Health Care Pow-Wow (Wall
Street Journal, February 11, 2010) Some congressional Republicans want to turn
down President Barack Obama's invitation for a nationally televised, Feb. 25
White House pow-wow on health care. They fear that if
GOP leaders show up for the event, they will end up agreeing to a bad
health-care bill in the name of bipartisanship.
·
Rep.
Jim Matheson: Health care debate off track (Deseret News, February 12,
2010) The national health care debate needs to be
redefined, Congressman Jim Matheson told Utah lawmakers Thursday.
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Democrats skeptical health care
summit is answer (Salt Lake Tribune, February 12, 2010) First he called
congressional Democrats' yearlong march toward health care overhaul an ugly
process. Now President Barack Obama wants to talk directly with Republicans,
the very people his Capitol Hill allies call obstinate and uncooperative.
Administration Rejects Health Insurer’s Defense of Huge Rate Increases (New York Times, February 12, 2010) Anthem Blue Cross, the California health insurance company that was criticized by the Obama administration for raising its premiums, said Thursday that the increases of up to 39 percent were driven by rising health care costs. (Registration required)
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Obama
targets WellPoint premium hike (Deseret News, February 12, 2010) Health
insurer WellPoint blames the Great Recession and rising medical costs for its
planned 39 percent rate increase for some California customers. To President
Barack Obama, however, it's Exhibit A in his campaign to revive the health care
overhaul.
·
WellPoint
Takes Heat Over Rates (Wall Street Journal, February 12, 2010) The
Obama administration is seizing on a big health-insurance rate increase by
WellPoint Inc. in California as fresh evidence of the need for action as it
tries to resuscitate its health-care legislation.
·
WellPoint
blames big premium hike on demographics (USA Today, February 12, 2010) Health
insurer WellPoint blames a
shift in demographics and rising medical costs for its planned 39% rate hike
for some California customers.
Republicans
and Medicare (Op Ed, New York Times, February 12, 2010) “Don’t cut
Medicare. The reform bills passed by the House and Senate cut Medicare by
approximately $500 billion. This is wrong.” So declared Newt Gingrich, the
former speaker of the House, in a recent op-ed article written with John
Goodman, the president of the National Center for Policy Analysis.
(Registration required)
Lawmakers take on abortion, health care and budget cuts (KSL.com, February 10, 2010) Utah lawmakers took on the topics of abortion and health care for immigrant children Tuesday. There was also concern over the list of proposed budget cuts, which includes a devastating setback to the state's disabled community.
Long-Term Care Hospitals Face Little
Scrutiny (New York Times,
February 10, 2010) No one at the hospital noticed that Tina Bell-Jackman was dying. (Registration required)
First lady Michelle Obama: 'Let's move' and work on childhood obesity problem (Washington Post, February 10, 2010) In front of a packed audience in the State Dining Room at the White House on Tuesday, first lady Michelle Obama rolled out her national initiative to combat childhood obesity with a show of force that included medical, business and government leaders, grassroots activists, celebrity public service announcements, cartoon characters as nutrition experts, as well as those most directly affected -- the kids themselves. (Registration required)
Pediatricians often step in to treat new parents, too (USA Today, February 10, 2010) Tracy Hart's son, Everett, was born five weeks early. But when Hart took him to the doctor for his 2-week checkup, the pediatrician quickly saw that she was the one who needed attention.
Revision to the bible of psychiatry, DSM, could introduce new mental disorders (Washington Post, February 10, 2010) Children who throw too many tantrums could be diagnosed with "temper dysregulation with dysphoria." Teenagers who are particularly eccentric might be candidates for treatment for "psychosis risk syndrome. (Registration required)
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Shifts Ahead for Mental Diagnoses
(Wall Street Journal, February 10, 2010) Mental-health experts wrestling with
how to fit temper tantrums, hoarding and even Internet addiction into the
current understanding of mental illness are proposing changes to the field's
primary reference for diagnoses for the first time in 16 years.
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Psychiatry's bible: Autism, binge-eating
updates proposed for 'DSM' (USA Today, February
10, 2010) Autism, substance abuse and eating disorders are among the
conditions for which the American Psychiatric Association is proposing changes
in the fifth edition of its diagnostic bible, posted online today.
Stents Are Increasingly Common but Not Without Risk (Wall Street Journal, February 12, 2010) Stents, the tiny metal tubes used to relieve former President Bill Clinton's heart problem on Thursday, are one of medicine's most common devices and are implanted in about one million Americans annually.
A
Simple Health-Care Fix Fizzles Out (Wall Street Journal, February 12,
2010) It sounds like such a simple concept: Study different medical treatments
and figure out which delivers the best results at the cheapest cost, giving
patients the most effective care.
Vaccines Boost Sanofi Net Profit (Wall Street Journal, February 10, 2010) Sanofi-Aventis SA said Wednesday it plans to maintain its pace of acquisitions and focus on small and midsize targets, as the French drug maker reported a better-than-expected 10% rise in fourth-quarter net profit, spurred by sales of key drugs Lantus and Lovenox, as well as an extra boost from vaccines.
Merck Agrees to Drug-Safety Changes (Wall Street Journal, February 10, 2010) Merck & Co. agreed to pay up to $12.15 million in legal fees and bolster its monitoring of drug safety to settle shareholder lawsuits stemming from the withdrawal of former pain drug Vioxx from the market.
Becton Says Recalled Device Wasn't Responsible for Patient Death (Wall Street Journal, February 10, 2010) Becton, Dickinson & Co. said Wednesday that a recently recalled part that hospitals use to deliver fluids intravenously wasn't responsible for a death it was investigating for possible links to the device.
Defibrillator Safety Questioned (Wall Street Journal, February 11,
2010) Two defibrillator brands made by Boston
Scientific Corp. have a design flaw that can result in the devices
delivering potentially life-threatening shocks to the hearts of patients,
authors of a medical journal article say.
Weight-Loss Surgery for Obese Teens Backed by Study (Wall Street Journal, February 10, 2010) Obese teens who underwent weight-loss surgery shed significantly more pounds than those who tried just dieting and exercise in a new study, a finding that may boost interest in bariatric surgery for adolescents.
Premature death is more likely in obese children (USA Today, February 11, 2010) This week, first lady Michelle Obama announced a national campaign to combat childhood obesity, and now a new study shows that obese children are more likely to die prematurely than their healthy-weight peers.
Being bored could be bad for your health (USA Today, February 10, 2010) Can you really be bored to death?
Gene mutations tied to children's stuttering (USA Today, February 11, 2010) Scientists for the first time have identified genetic variations associated with stuttering, and the study's senior author says his team was "kind of shocked" that two of the implicated genes were linked to rare, fatal metabolic disorders.
Autism and diet: Many questions to digest (Washington Post, February 11, 2010) Last week, the British medical journal the Lancet, which had originally published a controversial 1998 study by British researcher Andrew Wakefield that implied a link between autism and the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella, formally retracted that study. (Registration required)
Tanning bed regulation heats up over cancer concerns (USA Today, February 12, 2010) Tanning beds could come under tighter regulation soon, as a result of studies linking them to cancer.
Analysis:
Chocolate may reduce stroke risk (USA Today, February 12, 2010) Just in time for Valentine's Day, research out this week
suggests eating chocolate may have a positive impact on stroke