HEALTH NEWS E-CLIPS

Health News E-Clips

An electronic healthcare news link service provided by UHA,

Utah Hospitals and Health Systems Association

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Utah Healthcare Headlines

Health reform: 'Repeal It' campaign has Utah supporters (Salt Lake Tribune, January 16, 2010) A group of Utah politicos have signed a pledge to help repeal any health reform bill that Democrats may get into law.

If Congress passes bill, court fight not far behind (Salt Lake Tribune, January 19, 2010) Republicans, led by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, are challenging the very constitutionality of the health reform bill, focusing on a requirement that every American buy insurance or face a fine.

Utah docs could get Medicare pay boost (Salt Lake Tribune, January 16, 2010) he federal government would boost the pay Utah hospitals and physicians get for treating seniors under a late addition to the health reform debate.

Medicaid to pay for birth control? (Salt Lake Tribune, January 17, 2010) Trying to curb unintended pregnancies, a coalition of groups wants the state's Medicaid program to offer expanded family planning services to some of the poorest women in the state.

Donor gives the U. $30 million for a dental school (Salt Lake Tribune, January 19, 2010) The University of Utah has received a $30 million gift to build the state's first school of dentistry, but officials are hesitant to try to build a program without a financial commitment from the state.

Politicians line up to fill seat left vacant by Killpack (Salt Lake Tribune, January 18, 2010) Two state senators will seek the majority leader position left vacant by the resignation of Sen. Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse.

Killpack quits Legislature after DUI bust (Salt Lake Tribune, January 16, 2010) Senate Majority Leader Sheldon Killpack resigned from the Utah Senate on Saturday, a day after he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
OUR VIEW: Jenkins for Senate majority leader (Editorial, Standard Examiner, January 19, 2010) We urge Republicans in the Utah State Senate on Wednesday to support Senate Majority Whip Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, as the new Senate majority leader, replacing former Sen. Sheldon Killpack, who resigned Saturday after being arrested for driving under the influence.
A tragic fall (Editorial, Deseret News, January 19, 2010) Sheldon Killpack understands how dangerous and irresponsible it is to drive drunk. Last year, when speaking in support of a tough DUI bill, he told lawmakers that when he was a teenager, his father was killed by a drunken driver.

Utah doctor heading for Haiti (Salt Lake Tribune, January 18, 2010) It has been five days since an earthquake rocked Haiti, leaving Jeff Randle's medical clinic in shambles.

Reform must protect CHIP for children's sake (Op Ed, Salt Lake Tribune, January 16, 2010) For the first time in American history, adults do not believe that our nation's children will have the opportunities they had to live happy, healthy and prosperous lives.

National Healthcare Headlines

With Senate seat in jeopardy, Democrats seek health options (Boston Globe, January 18, 2010) Faced with the possibility that Republican Scott Brown could win tomorrow’s US Senate election, Democrats in Washington are discussing with great urgency how they could keep his vote from scuttling comprehensive health care legislation, President Obama’s top domestic priority. (Registration required)

His health-care agenda at risk, Obama stumps in Massachusetts (Washington Post, January 18, 2010) President Obama made a last-ditch effort Sunday to resurrect the candidacy of a struggling Democrat who could provide him a critical Senate vote, returning to the city that launched him onto the national stage in 2004, this time to preserve his ambitious agenda. (Registration required)
Hoping It Won’t Be Needed, Democrats Ponder a Backup Plan on Health Care Bill (New York Times, January 18, 2010) With the Massachusetts special election for United States Senate increasingly unpredictable, Democrats in Washington are contemplating a fall-back plan to advance far-reaching health care legislation, even if a Republican victory on Tuesday deprives Senate Democrats of the crucial 60th vote they need to overcome filibusters. (Registration required)
Running scared, running hard (Boston Globe, January 17, 2010) Mike Urbonas was waving blue-and-red campaign signs for Democrat Martha Coakley yesterday in downtown Melrose, hoping to give the campaign a jolt and help derail her surging Republican opponent, Scott Brown. (Registration required)
Massachusetts Race Tests Staying Power of Democrats (New York Times, January 17, 2010) There may be no better place to measure the shifting fortunes of President Obama and the Democratic Party than in the race being fought here this weekend for the Senate seat that had been held by Edward M. Kennedy. (Registration required)
Fearing Senate Loss, Democrats Weigh Health-Care Options (Wall Street Journal, January 16, 2010) With the Massachusetts Senate seat unexpectedly in play, Democrats are weighing alternative scenarios for passing a health bill without their filibuster-proof majority.
Narrow Senate Race Unnerves Democrats on Health Care (New York Times, January 16, 2010) With their party’s candidate struggling in Massachusetts in a race for what should be the safest of Senate seats, Congressional Democrats are growing increasingly unnerved about the political consequences of the health care overhaul even as their leadership closes in on a final agreement. (Registration required)
Massachusetts Race Now Key to Health Bill (Wall Street Journal, January 18, 2010) Some Democrats said Monday that the methods proposed for pushing through a health bill if they lost a Senate contest in Massachusetts were unlikely to work, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office signaled the House wouldn't adopt the version already passed in the Senate.
Senate election in Massachusetts could be harbinger for health-care reform (Washington Post, January 19, 2010) Democrat Martha Coakley's struggle to stave off a potentially devastating defeat in Tuesday's special Senate election in Massachusetts marks a critical turning point in the year-long debate about health-care reform. (Registration required)
In Massachusetts, a final push in Senate special election (New York Times, January 19, 2010) On the eve of the Senate election that could determine the fate of President Obama's agenda, Democrats scrambled to build a firebreak around the candidacy of Martha Coakley against the phenomenon of Scott Brown, the Republican Massachusetts state senator whose underdog campaign has surged as the vessel for national opposition to the Democrats' supermajority in the chamber. (Registration required)
Health stocks pull market higher as Mass. votes (Deseret News, January 19, 2010) Investors moved back into stocks on hopes that a special election in Massachusetts will take away power from Senate Democrats and make it harder for President Barack Obama to make changes to health care.
Turnout Is Key in Massachusetts Battle (Wall Street Journal, January 19, 2010) The fight for a Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat, and with it President Barack Obama's domestic agenda, is coming down to one essential challenge: maximizing turnout of core supporters.

Medicaid provision for Nebraska raises ire (Washington Post, January 17, 2010) It was a single paragraph, added at the last minute on Page 2,129 of the Senate's mammoth health-care bill: a promise that the federal government would pay forever for extra poor people to join Medicaid in Nebraska. And it triggered a swift, partisan backlash. (Registration required)

For Ailing Health System, a Diagnosis but No Cure (New York Times, January 17, 2010) Nearly everyone agrees that there is something sick about the American health care system, especially when it comes to the seemingly out-of-control rise in costs. (Registration required)
Misleading claims about Safeway wellness incentives shape health-care bill (Washington Post, January 17, 2010) It's a seductively simple solution to rising health-care costs. Require workers to pay higher premiums if they flunk tests for measures such as weight, blood pressure and cholesterol. Then, bingo: You not only get a fitter workforce, you slash medical expenses. (Registration required)
Putting the health-care bill's big numbers in perspective (Washington Post, January 17, 2010) No matter what the players involved in the health-care reform fight want for the bill, they're all united in one respect: They want you to believe this is the biggest thing in the world. (Registration required)
Cadillac Plans (Editorial, New York Times, January 16, 2010) The agreement between the White House, Congressional leaders and labor unions over taxing high-priced health insurance policies is a reasonable solution to an issue that was threatening to derail health care reform. (Registration required)
In Health Talks, President Is Hands-Off No More (New York Times, January 16, 2010) President Obama has taken full control of the health care negotiations, casting himself for the first time in the role of mediator between the House and Senate during a 72-hour marathon of talks that have turned his White House into a de facto Congressional conference. (Registration required)
Democrats May Seek to Push Health Bill Through House (New York Times, January 19, 2010) The White House and Democratic Congressional leaders, scrambling for a backup plan to rescue their health care legislation if Republicans win the special election in Massachusetts on Tuesday, have begun laying the groundwork to ask House Democrats to approve the Senate version of the bill and send it directly to President Obama for his signature. (Registration required)
Health-care debate delayed action on other big issues (Washington Post, January 19, 2010) For Congress, December procrastination could turn into Valentine's Day blues. (Registration required)

Haiti's health crisis deepens as recovery efforts continue (USA Today, January 19, 2010) As the days roll into a week since a earthquake devastated Haiti, the health needs for survivors in the impoverished country are changing. Many are still vulnerable to injury and death, but only in new ways.

Catching Deadly Drug Mistakes (Wall Street Journal, January 19, 2010) A nurse misunderstands an abbreviation on a pharmacy order, and gives an accidental overdose of a drug that slows the heart rate, killing the patient.

Tylenol recall expanded to Motrin, Benadryl, more (USA Today, January 18, 2010) Johnson & Johnson issued a massive recall Friday of over-the-counter drugs including Tylenol, Motrin and St. Joseph's aspirin because of a moldy smell that has made people sick.

In Recall, a Role Model Stumbles (New York Times, January 18, 2010) The Harvard Business School teaches future executives the gold standard in brand crisis management. (Registration required)
FDA Chastises J&J Over Tylenol Recall (Wall Street Journal, January 16, 2010) A Johnson & Johnson unit said Friday it is expanding a recall of Tylenol products to include a broad array of medicines, drawing fire from U.S. regulators who said the company should have acted more quickly after reports of a moldy smell.

Warning on Fake Alli (Wall Street Journal, January 18, 2010) The Food and Drug Administration on Monday warned consumers about a counterfeit version of GlaxoSmithKline's weight-loss drug Alli.

Dearth of primary care docs boils down to money (Editorial, Boston Globe, January 18, 2010) Long waits and frustrated patients are an unintended side effect of Massachusetts’ health care overhaul, which revealed a shortage of primary care doctors to treat the newly insured. (Registration required)

Tennessee hospital to stop hiring smokers (USA Today, January 18, 2010) Joining a small number of employers nationwide, a hospital in Chattanooga, Tenn., has decided to stop hiring people who smoke or use tobacco products, the Times Free Press reports.

Some hypertension drugs may lessen dementia risk (Boston Globe, January 18, 2010) A growing body of research connects high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. (Registration required)

Ankles Gain as Candidates for Joint Replacement (New York Times, January 19, 2010) The bodies of many older Americans are practically bionic: more than 770,000 hip and knee replacements are performed each year in the United States. (Registration required)

Insurer okayed out-of-network care for heart patient but family faces huge bill (Washington Post, January 19, 2010) Five months into pregnancy, Jodi Lemacks discovered that her unborn son had a severe heart defect and would require a complex operation as soon as he was born. (Registration required)

Researchers Find Study of Medical Marijuana Discouraged (New York Times, January 19, 2010) Despite the Obama administration’s tacit support of more liberal state medical marijuana laws, the federal government still discourages research into the medicinal uses of smoked marijuana. (Registration required)

Is Marijuana a Medicine? (Wall Street Journal, January 19, 2010) Charlene DeGidio never smoked marijuana in the 1960s, or afterward. But a year ago, after medications failed to relieve the pain in her legs and feet, a doctor suggested that the Adna, Wash., retiree try the drug.

Debate on circumcision heightened as CDC evaluates surgery (Washington Post, January 19, 2010) Circumcision, long one of the most emotionally charged surgical procedures performed in the United States, has become the focus of yet another intense debate as leading health authorities are about to issue major new evaluations of the potential health benefits of the operation. (Registration required)

Your Health: Docs aim to ease kids' needle fears (USA Today, January 18, 2010) "Am I going to get a shot?" There's a reason so many kids want to know that before they head for a doctors' office, and it's pretty obvious: They don't like shots (or blood draws or anything to do with needles) because they hurt and can be a little scary.

Experts: Screen kids 6 and up for obesity, get help from pros (USA Today, January 18, 2010) Physicians and other medical professionals should screen children age 6 and older for obesity and refer obese kids to comprehensive weight-management programs, an expert panel says in today's Pediatrics online.

Should boys be vaccinated against HPV? (Boston Globe, January 18, 2010) Shouldn’t boys be vaccinated against HPV too, to prevent them from spreading it to girls and putting them at higher risk of cervical cancer? (Registration required)

Children Don’t Have Strokes? Just Ask Jared (New York Tiems, January 19, 2010) My son Jared lay in a bed at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital, limp and pale, his 7-year-old body tethered to a tangle of tubes and monitor wires. (Registration required)

J&J Is Accused Of Kickbacks To Omnicare On Drug Sales (Wall Street Journal, January 16, 2010) In the latest case in the government's campaign against abusive drug-marketing practices, the Justice Department charged Johnson & Johnson with paying "tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks" to a nursing-home pharmacy company to boost sales of J&J drugs to nursing-home patients.

F.D.A. Concerned About Substance in Food Packaging (New York Times, January 16, 2010) In a shift of position, the Food and Drug Administration is expressing concerns about possible health risks from bisphenol-A, or BPA, a widely used component of plastic bottles and food packaging that it declared safe in 2008. (Registration required)

What's in a cigarette? FDA to study ingredients (Deseret News, January 19, 2010) The Food and Drug Administration is working to lift the smokescreen clouding the ingredients used in cigarettes and other tobacco products.

E. coli alert: Calif. company recalls 864,000 pounds of beef (USA Today, January 19, 2010) A Southern California meat-packing firm has recalled some 864,000 pounds of ground-beef that might be contaminated with E. coli.

Doctors changed diagnosis after woman said allergies weren't causing runny nose (Washington Post, January 19, 2010) Rebecca Yates was sick of sounding like a broken record -- and tired of getting the same response from the internist at her HMO. (Registration required)

Many appendectomies may not be needed, study finds (USA Today, January 19, 2010) Appendectomies are the most common emergency general surgical procedure in the USA, but a new study suggests many are unneeded.

Regimens: Questioning Benefit of Diabetes Test Strips (New York Times, January 19, 2010) People with Type 2 diabetes are often advised to use blood-glucose test strips to monitor their blood sugar levels, but a Canadian analysis has found that routine self-monitoring is not cost-effective for many patients: the strips can cost almost a dollar each, and they prevent comparatively few complications of diabetes. (Registration required)