Recently in Health Services and Research Policy Category

While the benefits of physical activity in reducing colon and breast cancer are well established, results of studies on exercise and ovarian cancer have been inconclusive. Because ovarian cancer has such a poor prognosis, it is even more important to identify modifiable lifestyle factors that could prevent it. A new study, published online May 16, 2005 in the International Journal of Cancer, the official journal of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), found that regular moderate recreational and work-related physical activity may reduce the risk of ovarian cancer. The study is available via Wiley InterScience at http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/ijc.

Full Article: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-05/jws-tlb050905.php

Washington, D.C., April 27, 2005 - As a national supporter of Cover the Uninsured Week, the American Public Health Association (APHA) today expressed alarm that 45 million Americans -- 15.6 percent of the total U.S. population -- lack insurance coverage of any kind for an entire year. Eight out of 10 uninsured Americans either work or are in working families, according to federal data.

Full Article: http://www.apha.org/news/press/2005/uninsured.htm

WASHINGTON - The government flipped the 13-year-old food pyramid on its side Tuesday, added a staircase for exercise and offered a dozen different models, all aimed at helping Americans trim their waistlines.

Dubbed "MyPyramid," the new graphic interprets the food groups as rainbow-colored bands running vertically from the tip to the base: Orange for grains, green for vegetables, red for fruits, a yellow sliver for oils, blue for milk products and purple for meats and beans. Preferred foods such as grains, vegetables and milk products have wider bands.

Full Article: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=5&u=/ap/20050419/ap_on_he_me/fit_food_pyramid

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today asked for public comment on two proposals to improve the appearance and content of the nutrition label to help consumers make better-informed weight management decisions. The proposals focus on providing practical serving size information and increasing the prominence of calories on the food label.

The proposals are direct responses to the recommendations contained in the FDA's Obesity Working Group (OWG) report entitled "Calories Count." The OWG final report made short and long-term recommendations that are based on the scientific fact that weight control is mainly a function of caloric balance.

Full Aritcle: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2005/NEW01170.html

Researchers say social and cultural factors play a significant role in patients' prostate cancer treatment decisions. A new study published in the May 1, 2005 issue of CANCER (http://www.interscience.wiley.com/cancer-newsroom), a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, finds non-medical variables, such as marital status, high school education, and race/ethnicity may play a larger role in patients' treatment decisions than previously believed.

Full Aricle: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-03/jws-cas032305.php

A series of studies and reports recently released in two health care journals provide overwhelming evidence for something on which many physicians and doctor organizations already agree: Minority patients appear to be getting worse care and having worse outcomes than white patients with the same health problems

Full Article: http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/04/04/prl20404.htm

Washington, D.C., March 18, 2005 -We are greatly disappointed that the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday failed to follow the Senate's lead in shielding the Medicaid program from debilitating cuts. The roughly $20 billion in reductions over five years approved by the House are more than double the administration's proposed cuts over the same time period, greatly jeopardizing the security of the source of primary and preventive health care for 50 million of our nation's citizens.

Full Statement: http://www.apha.org/news/press/2005/med_cuts.html

DUNEDIN, Fla.--After a doctor sees a patient, he or she often prescribes medications. But what if a doctor also wants to direct a patient to up-to-date, reliable, consumer-friendly information about a health concern? Under a pilot program to be launched in Florida on Feb. 14, physicians from six counties are being encouraged to refer their patients to MedlinePlus, a consumer health site of the National Institutes of Health.

The American Medical Association Foundation (AMAF) and the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation have teamed up with the National Library of Medicine (NLM), an arm of the National Institutes of Health, to encourage Florida physicians to point patients to first-rate online health information in NLM's MedlinePlus database (www.medlineplus.gov), and Fisher Center Foundation's Web site (www.alzinfo.org). The pilot program, called the "Information Rx" project, will be launched in six Florida counties with a demonstration hosted by Rep. C. W. Bill Young (R-FL).

Full Article: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/press_releases/rx_florida05.html

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Illness and medical bills caused half (50.4 percent) of the 1,458,000 personal bankruptcies in 2001, according to a study published today as a Web Exclusive by the journal Health Affairs. The study estimates that medical bankruptcies affect about 2 million Americans annually -- counting debtors and their dependents, including about 700,000 children.

Full Article: http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=42456

U.S. Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) recently introduced the Public Health Preparedness Workforce Development Act of 2005, created to ensure that the United States has a well-trained public health workforce that can effectively respond to terrorist events, emerging infectious diseases, and other public health threats and emergencies.

Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce News Updatehttp://www.phpartners.org/news.html

"NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For children, obesity often begins in preschool, suggesting that pediatricians need to act early to prevent and treat excess weight in childhood, new research shows.

Furthermore, referring kids who have already gained too much weight to a pediatric endocrinologist does little to help them shed excess pounds.

These findings suggest that obese children need more than a visit to the doctor in order to lose weight, study author Dr. Teresa Quattrin told Reuters Health."

...

"The medical records showed that 4 out of 5 children became obese before their sixth birthdays, and came to the endocrinologist an average of 4 years after gaining weight."

Full Article: http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2005/02/24/eline/links/20050224elin018.html

David Williams

Hidden biases in data and analytical methods may obscure important insights needed to close the gap in persistent U.S. racial and ethnic disparities in health, said David Williams of the University of Michigan on February 2 in Snyder Auditorium.

Full Article: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/now/feb18/research.html

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Young adults can be motivated to eat more servings of fruits and vegetables if they are exposed to tailored, practical messages about nutrition, a University of Wisconsin-Madison nutritional scientist announced today (Feb. 20) at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington, D.C.

"Even though young adults are incredibly busy, they still want to know what they can do to improve their health," says Susan Nitzke, a professor at UW-Madison's College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Nitzke is the lead investigator of a multistate collaborative project that aimed to improve fruit and vegetable consumption among economically disadvantaged young adults.

Full Article: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-02/uow-sya021405.php

CINCINNATI--Health-care costs for morbidly obese adults are nearly twice those of people considered to be of normal weight, says a study led by University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers.

The study found that medical expenditures for morbidly obese adults in the year 2000 were 81 percent more than for normal-weight adults, 65 percent more than overweight adults, and 47 percent more than obese adults.

Full Article: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-02/uoc-mop021105.php

Thursday, February 3, 2005 (Washington, DC) – Public interest supporters of the NIH Enhanced Public Access Plan today declared the just-announced policy falls short of their expectations and long-standing recommendations. In a letter addressed to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Leavitt, the Alliance for Taxpayer Access outlined its key concerns with the NIH plan:

Full Article: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-02/wc-pia020305.php

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
Associated Press Writer

February 1, 2005, 4:20 PM EST

WASHINGTON -- The National Institutes of Health banned its scientists from working as consultants for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and similar businesses, a step officials hope will end controversy over paid consulting arrangements by some of its doctors.

"Nothing is more important for NIH than preserving the public's trust," NIH Director Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni said Tuesday.

Full Article: http://www.newsday.com/news/health/sns-ap-nih-ethics,0,6416863.story?coll=ny-top-headlines

A large US managed health care organization, Kaiser Permanente, has banned the dispensing of the Cox-2 inhibitor arthritis painkiller Bextra, because it may heighten the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Full Article: http://www.healthtalk.ca/vioxx_bextra_012905_37883.php

By MARTIGA LOHN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Twenty patients died in Minnesota hospitals during a 15-month period because of medical errors or oversights including falls, faulty medical equipment and administering the wrong medication, the state Health Department said in a new report.

The report, released Wednesday, documented 99 serious errors between July 1, 2003 and Oct. 6, 2004. Minnesota is the first state to report its mistakes under standards developed by the National Quality Forum, a Washington-based nonprofit. New Jersey and Connecticut also adopted the standards, which are being considered elsewhere.

Read more...Seattle Post

SUNDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDayNews) -- A new tool to assess the quality of home health care for the elderly and people with disabilities has been developed by an international team that includes University of Michigan researchers.

The tool is designed to be used by consumers, government and home-care agencies to improve home care and to provide useful feedback about it.

The assessment is based on 22 indicators that look at processes such as administering flu vaccine, providing physical or occupational therapy, and reviewing patient medication and outcomes. Details about the assessment tool appear in the current issue of The Gerontologist.

Read more...ajc.com Health

Posted on : 2005-01-11| Author : Helen Steele
News Category : Health

The healthcare expenditure of Americans is increasing at a rate that is outpacing overall economic growth by nearly 3 percentage points. Although the figure is more than previous years, it is still the lowest annual increase seen in seven years. These findings were made by a group of researchers from the National Health Statistics Group which also runs Medicare and Medicaid.

Read more...EARTHtimes.org

09 Jan 2005

USA - HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced that under the new National Response Plan released today by the Department of Homeland Security, HHS will continue to lead the federal government in providing public health and medical services during major disasters and emergencies.

"HHS will continue to work closely with all our partners to protect the health of the American public," Secretary Thompson said. "The National Response Plan will help strengthen crucial working relationships between federal, state, local and tribal officials, and the private sector concerned with public health issues during disasters or terrorist attacks."

Read more at...Medical News Today

Posted By: News-Medical in Healthcare News
Published: Monday, 3-Jan-2005

In 2002, the General Accounting Office (GAO), now known as the Government Accountability Office, published a study revealing that 85 percent of the time Medicare customer service representatives (CSRs) gave the wrong answer to questions posed by physicians regarding the proper way to bill Medicare so as to obtain payment. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) promised to take steps to remedy the problem.
After reviewing the 2002 study, I concluded two years ago that a monkey could answer Medicare policy questions as accurately as a Medicare bureaucrat. Today, after examining the results of the GAO’s follow-up study, published in July 2004, I felt compelled to find a more appropriate comparison and test subject. My search ended when a creature from the family Bufonidae volunteered his services. Covered in warts, and an avid promoter of the low-carb, bug-and-fly diet, he might, I felt, have the right stuff to participate in my GAO-like study.

Read more...News-Medical.Net

Posted By: News-Medical in Medical Research News
Published: Monday, 3-Jan-2005

Researchers have shown a correlation between fast food, weight gain, and insulin resistance in what appears to be the first long-term study on this subject.
The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study by Mark Pereira, Ph.D., assistant professor in epidemiology, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Obesity Program at Children's Hospital Boston, reported that fast food increases the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The results of this 15-year study will be published in the Jan. 1 issue of The Lancet.

Participants who consumed fast food two or more times a week gained approximately 10 more pounds and had twice as great increase in insulin resistance in the 15-year period than participants who consumed fast food less than once per week.

Read more...News-Medcal.Net

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Despite critics who say patients' bills of rights laws are actually designed to protect health care providers, new research published in the current issue of the American Journal of Medicine found just the opposite.
"There is little evidence these laws have much impact on providers' economic concerns," said Mark Hall, J.D., professor of law and public health at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Hall reviewed managed care patient protection laws in the 48 states that have enacted them and also surveyed state regulators about law content. Commonly known as patients' bills of rights, these laws are aimed at restraining the perceived excesses of managed care, including "gate-keeping," or denying insurance payment for medically necessary treatment and restricting patients' choice of physicians Critics of the laws, however, say they actually provide protection to providers. Hall's research was designed to assess the validity of these claims by evaluating the laws' impacts.

Read more...EurekAlert.com

Posted By: News-Medical in Healthcare News
Published: Tuesday, 21-Dec-2004
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Australia is one of the first countries in the world to implement new screening technology across all States that will help detect an increased number of diseases in newborns.
Department of Health A/Director General Dr Neale Fong said the technology, tandem mass spectrometry, which was introduced in WA this month, was the biggest step forward in newborn screening in the past 35 years.

"This new innovation has been pioneered in Australia and increases the detection at birth of inheritable disorders from four to over 20," he said.

All babies will be tested for free at birth for the early signs of treatable disorders by the WA Newborn Screening Program at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children.

Read more...News-Medical.Net

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown a connection between health and socioeconomic status (SES), demonstrating higher instances of heart disease, cancer and other evidence of poor health in those lower in the economic scale. The question is why, and how early in life these effects begin taking shape.

Eurekalert.com

From Barbara Alving, M.D., Director of the Women's Health Initiative and Acting Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
A Women's Health Initiative (WHI) review of a recent abstract on the effects of oral contraceptive use on cardiovascular disease has found flaws in both the design and interpretation of the WHI data used in the study. The October presentation of the abstract at the annual scientific meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine – and subsequent media coverage – may have created the impression that OC use is linked to lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the WHI review of the abstract shows no evidence that OC use is linked to lower risk of CVD.

The abstract used information provided by WHI participants at baseline when they first joined the study. Such analyses are limited and considered exploratory and they should not be used to reassure women about OC use. There is a large and reputable body of higher scientific evidence linking current OC use to future increases in risk of stroke and heart attack, especially in older women and in smokers. The abstract bears no relationship to the findings from the WHI clinical trials of hormones, which showed that postmenopausal hormone use clearly does not reduce, and in fact may increase the risk for CVD.

Contact: NHLBI Communications Office
nhlbi_news@nhlbi.nih.gov
301-496-4236
NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Eurekalert.com

Press Release Source: Corporate Accountability International

Tuesday November 30, 12:51 pm ET
Corporate Accountability International (formerly Infact) Applauds Countries That Stood Up to Tobacco Industry; Urges US to Reverse Direction and Ratify Quickly

BOSTON, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world's first public health and corporate accountability treaty, has been ratified by 40 countries and is now set to take effect. According to its implementing provisions, the treaty becomes binding international law after the 40th country ratifies. The landmark was reached when Peru ratified the treaty today.

"This is a tremendous victory for corporate accountability and public health that will undoubtedly save millions of lives," says Kathryn Mulvey, Executive Director of the US-based Corporate Accountability International. "This treaty demonstrates that working together, the nations of the world and their NGO allies can limit the influence of giant corporations. Attempts by Philip Morris/Altria and the rest of the tobacco industry to prevent an effective treaty from entering into force have proved futile."

Yahoo! Finance

Nov 27, 2004 Washington

The world is suffering an acute shortage of doctors, nurses, and other health workers, according to a global group of health leaders. They say overburdened health workers on the front lines of survival are losing the fight against diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria.

A new report blames feeble national health systems for the rollback of spectacular gains made over the last century in human survival. The authors are with the Joint Learning Initiative, an independent network of more than 100 health leaders from institutions such as the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and universities and government public health agencies globally.

PolitInfo.com

The Gerontological Society of America

Individuals aged 65 and older are unlikely to receive needed mental health treatment in the United States, according to a recent national study by researchers at Texas A&M University. Drawing upon data from the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health, the researchers found that older adults were three times less likely than younger adults (individuals aged 18-64) to receive outpatient mental heath care. Only 2.5% of older adults throughout the nation reported utilizing any outpatient mental health treatment in the year prior to the survey, compared to seven percent of younger adults. Although older adults were found to have lower rates of mental illness than their younger counterparts, even those with serious mental illness (SMI) were highly unlikely to receive treatment. Only one in ten older adults with SMI received any outpatient mental health care, a rate substantially lower than that for younger adults.

Eurekalert

Friday, November 19, 2004 Posted: 9:47 AM EST (1447 GMT)

ATLANTA, Georgia (Reuters) -- An increasing number of American adults diagnosed with diabetes are obese, making it more likely they will suffer heart disease, vision damage and other health problems, U.S. officials said Thursday.

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 54.8 percent of diabetics over the age of 19 were obese between 1999 and 2002. That compared with 45.7 percent in the same age group between 1988 and 1994.

CNN Health

Sat Nov 20, 2004 09:33 AM ET

By Toni Clarke and Bill Berkrot
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The recent Vioxx withdrawal and testimony from an FDA insider accusing the agency of failing to protect public health are fueling such heightened concern over drug safety that valuable medicines could be kept from patients, doctors said on Friday.

In a congressional hearing to investigate the recall of Merck & Co. Inc.'s arthritis drug Vioxx, a senior Food and Drug Administration safety official on Thursday accused the agency of being "incapable of protecting America."

Reuters Health

Cites complex and distracting work environment
PHILADELPHIA – A University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing study provides the first detailed description of the nature and prevalence of errors by hospital staff nurses. During a 28-day period, 393 registered nurses kept a detailed journal of their errors and prevented errors, referred to as near-errors. Thirty percent of the nurses reported at least one error during the 28-day period, and 33 percent reported a near-error. Although the majority of errors and near-errors were medication-related, the nurses also reported a number of procedural, transcription and charting errors.
"Given the prevalence of other types of errors, an exclusive focus on medication administration errors, often a typical practice, may miss many important and potentially hazardous situations," said Ann E. Rogers, an associate professor in Penn's School of Nursing.

Eurekalert

By: E. EDUARDO CASTILLO - Associated Press

MEXICO CITY -- African countries are facing a health crisis because they lack enough medical personnel to attend to the sick, a top international health official told a summit of government ministers and researchers Thursday.

Tim Evans, the World Health Organization's assistant director-general, said Africa only has 0.8 health workers for every 1,000 people, way below the minimum of 2.5 health workers needed to "provide essential health care."

Developed countries have between 10 and 15 health employees for every 1,000 people, while Latin America, Eastern Europe and parts of Asia have between 2.5 and four workers.

"That gives some sense of the magnitude of the crisis," he said.

Ministers and experts meeting this week in Mexico were trying to find ways to increase the number of doctors and nurses in Africa.

Evans said the dearth of personnel can result in a lack of basic care and deaths that could have been prevented.

The few health workers in Africa are at risk of being recruited to developed nations, some of which also have their own health worker shortages.

nctimes.com

BY MICHAEL O BOYLE/The Herald Mexico
El Universal
Jueves 18 de noviembre de 2004
Nuestro mundo, página 1

While spending on health has tripled over the last 20 years, poor countries are not reaping the benefits, experts warn.

Poorly managed health systems and the lack of skilled professionals are undercutting international efforts to fund better health care in developing nations, a top health official said Wednesday.
"We need to wake up to these problems," said World Health Organization (WHO)Assistant Director General Tim Evans in an interview on the sidelines of an international conference in Mexico City. "Health systems are a binding constraint on progress."

Dozens of health ministers, officials from 55 countries and hundreds of researches and representatives of aid organizations are gathered here through Saturday for two parallel conferences on improving health research.

Evans said it was the first time ministers had gathered expressly to discuss health research at a summit.

El Universal (The Herald)

Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:18 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. government researchers launched the biggest-ever study of children on Tuesday, saying they will track 100,000 children from birth through age 21 to see what makes kids sick.
The study, being launched at 96 centers, will follow the children as they grow up, looking at their environments, behavior, family and genetics.

"Together the children from these 96 locations will represent the face of all of America's children," the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which is sponsoring the study, said in a statement.

Reuters Health

11 November 2004 – With more than 22 million children under the age of five either obese or overweight, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today warned that they risk developing diabetes and must be helped.

Excess weight can also lead to heart disease, cancer and stroke, WHO warned in a press release issued jointly with the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).

"Tracking childhood obesity now is a highly effective way of preventing diabetes in the future," said Dr. Catherine Le Gales-Camus, WHO Assistant Director-General for Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental Health, in the lead up to World Diabetes Day, marked on 14 November.

Article form UN News Centre

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - MedImmune's FluMist nasal vaccine should be included in the U.S. government's Vaccines for Children program, expanding its distribution to children over the age of 5 and teens, federal advisers said on Thursday.

MedImmune said the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting in Atlanta had expanded its recommendations on FluMist to include children and adolescents aged 5 to 18 for the 2004-05 season. The vaccine, a weakened version of the influenza virus dripped into the nose, was previously recommended for healthy adults aged 18 to 50.

Article from Reuters Health

By Grace-Marie Turner

The State Policy Network, under Tracie Sharp's expert leadership, is holding its 12th annual meeting in Austin this week, with the first day featuring a health care summit (which I chaired).

Health care is a front-line issue for the leaders of state-based think tanks from around the country attending the meeting. They heard presentations on consumer-directed health care, Medicaid reform, medical malpractice, and evidence-based medicine, and took a visit to the Heart Hospital of Austin.

Article from the Galen Institute

Thorpe KE, Florence CS, Howard DH, Joski P.

the Robert W. Woodruff Professor and Chair, Department of Health Policy and Management, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, in Atlanta.

Obese people incur higher health care costs at a given point in time, but how rising obesity rates affect spending growth over time is unknown. We estimate obesity-attributable health care spending increases between 1987 and 2001. Increases in the proportion of and spending on obese people relative to people of normal weight account for 27 percent of the rise in inflation-adjusted per capita spending between 1987 and 2001; spending for diabetes, 38 percent; spending for hyperlipidemia, 22 percent; and spending for heart disease, 41 percent. Increases in obesity prevalence alone account for 12 percent of the growth in health spending.

PMID: 15496437

U of M students, faculty, and staff may access this article through the following link

Recommendations to head off a similar situation in the future
Thursday, October 21, 2004 Posted: 12:02 PM EDT (1602 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The flu vaccine shortage has set off a scramble to find ways to prevent any repetition of this year's calamity, which has restricted shots to those most at risk.

The recommendations range from the mundane -- extending the vaccination season through the winter -- to the monumental -- spending millions more on research and guaranteeing that the government buys unused flu vaccine to stabilize the volatile market.

Article from CNN.com

Health group wants task force, nutrition plan and campaign

By Nanci Hellmich / USA TODAY

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A new report by a national health advocacy group calls state and national policies ineffective tools in the war against obesity.

The Trust for America's Health, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., went a step further this week and recommended that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention become the nation's "command and control center" to manage the crisis.

Article from the Detroit News: Health

Newswise — What does the flu vaccine shortage have in common with the September 11 terrorist attacks? They are both the consequence of America’s aversion to “big government,” says Swarthmore College economist Mark Kuperberg.

The way to avoid future repeats of the vaccine shortage, Kuperberg argues, is government action on two fronts: one, extending to flu vaccine manufacturers the protection afforded to makers of childhood vaccines under the National Vaccine Compensation Fund and, two, mechanisms similar to those used in agriculture that protect manufacturers from getting stuck with unused supplies.

Article from newswise

18 October 2004 – An unprecedented loss of biodiversity has reduced the amount of food available to the world's 900 million rural poor and should receive widespread attention, UN Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette said today.

"Given the growing interdependence among countries and expanding trade in agricultural goods and services, maintaining biodiversity for food security is as much a global priority as a local one," she said at a commemoration in New York of World Food Day.

Article from UN News Centre

Last Updated: 2004-10-19 15:57:03 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Maggie Fox

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly 1.7 million U.S. veterans under the age of 65 had no health care coverage in 2003 -- no access to private insurance, to Medicare or Medicaid or to the Veterans Affairs health program -- health care advocates said on Tuesday.

Many had seen combat in Vietnam or the Gulf Wars and most were employed, the Physicians for a National Health Program and Public Citizen said in a joint report.

"The number of uninsured veterans has increased by 235,159 since 2000, when 9.9 percent of non-elderly veterans were uninsured, a figure which rose to 11.9 percent in 2003," the groups said.

They found that more than one in three veterans under the age of 25 lacked health coverage, and one in 10 of those aged 45 to 65.

Article from Reuters

Last Updated: 2004-10-19 9:49:56 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Patricia Reaney

LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists have taken tips from Mother Nature to develop a new technology that could deliver cheaper, life-saving vaccines that don't require refrigeration to millions of children in remote areas of the world.

About two million youngsters die every year from vaccine-preventable diseases, like measles. Each year up to 50 percent of vaccines are ruined because of temperature damage.

The stable-liquid vaccine technology devised by researchers at Cambridge Biostability Ltd eliminates the need for costly refrigeration.

"It could revolutionise how we deliver vaccines in the developing world," said Dr Stewart Tyson, of Britain's Department for International Development, which will provide 950,000 pounds ($1.7 million) for the project.

Article from Reuters

Last Updated: 2004-10-14 16:26:22 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Paul Simao

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Hispanics in the United States are more likely to be overweight or obese, develop diabetes and die from strokes, AIDS and liver disease than whites, federal officials said on Thursday.

Those problems, when combined with an expected jump in the U.S. Hispanic population, pose a challenge to the well-being of the nation in the form of lost productivity, higher health-care costs and social inequality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned.

There are more than 35 million Hispanics living in the United States, making them the largest minority group. Their numbers are expected to swell to more than 100 million and account for nearly 24.5 percent of the population by 2050.

Article from Reuters

Five-year study will watch changes in brains of 800
Wednesday, October 13, 2004 Posted: 5:05 PM EDT (2105 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- About 800 older Americans will be asked to lend their brains to science this spring, part of a major government study to track early Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers will use brain-scanning MRIs and other tests to track people who have either early stage Alzheimer's or a milder type of memory loss known as "mild cognitive impairment." Over several years, they'll compare biological changes deep within those patients' brains to the aging that takes place in the brains of cognitively healthy seniors.

Article from CNN.com

Last Updated: 2004-10-12 12:35:06 -0400 (Reuters Health)

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Famine in Africa could worsen unless action is taken to tackle the continent's HIV/AIDS epidemic, a senior U.N. official said on Tuesday.

"Unless urgent interventions are made, the epidemic could cause a steady fall in agricultural production which would fuel serious famine in African countries," said Peter Piot, executive director of the joint United Nations programme to fight HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), speaking in Ethiopia.

Article from Reuters

Monday, October 4, 2004 Posted: 11:55 AM EDT (1555 GMT)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- About a quarter of U.S. women who stopped taking hormone replacement therapy after it was found to raise the risk of heart disease and some cancers have gone back on it, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said Friday.

That is appropriate for women who are having severe symptoms associated with menopause, such as debilitating hot flashes, so long as they take a small dose for the shortest time needed, the group said.

The organization also issued new guidelines saying herbal remedies do not do much for women having difficulty with menopause. And it called for more research into whether hormone replacement therapy may be safer for younger women.

Article Link from CNN Heatlh

Tue Sep 28, 2004 11:04 AM ET

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Health insurance premiums for workers are rising around three times faster than their wages, and health costs eat up a quarter of earnings for more than 14 million Americans, according to a survey on Tuesday.

While benefits are being cut, health insurance premiums are rising, the report from the nonprofit Families USA found.

"Working families were squeezed by runaway health care costs over the past four years," said Families USA executive director Ron Pollack.

Article from Reuters.com

Associated Press
09.27.2004, 04:06 PM

American workers are paying more for their health insurance and getting less than they were four years ago, and the situation is particularly acute in several states important in the presidential race, said a consumer group that has been critical of President Bush.

Families USA also noted that the number of people without insurance jumped significantly since Bush took office, with more than 85 million people uninsured at some point during 2003 or 2004.

Articel from: Forbes.com

Friday September 24, 9:08 am ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The Disease Management Association of America (DMAA) has formed a committee that will be dedicated to further engaging the disease management community to support national initiatives in patient safety. The first task, a definition of patient safety as it applies to disease management programs, has been completed. The full definition will be available to the attendees at the Disease Management Leadership Forum, October 21-23, 2004, Orlando, Florida and will be included in DMAA's new book of DM Definitions.

Press Release

By Kim Dixon and Ransdell Pierson

CHICAGO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - When it comes to the price tag for the newest biotechology drugs for cancer and other hard-to-treat diseases, the sky is likely to remain the limit, insurers, drugmakers and industry watchers say.

Neither HMOs nor the government-sponsored Medicare program is seriously challenging unprecedented costs for the new drugs, which include rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis treatments.

Article from: Reuters.com

Publicly-reporting plans post fifth straight year of gains; broader system still plagued by quality gaps

Annual toll: 42,000 - 79,000 avoidable deaths, 66.5 million sick days and $1.8 billion in excess medical costs

Download the Report (PDF, 680 kb)

View the news conference Webcast (kaisernetwork.org)

NCQA's recently released State of Health Care Quality 2004 finds that the quality of care delivered by health plans that publicly report on their performance improved markedly last year. Yet the U.S. health care system as a whole remains plagued by deadly “quality gaps” that contribute to 42,000 to 79,000 avoidable deaths every year. The findings suggest that the system is deeply polarized, delivering excellent care to some people, and generally poor care to many others. NCQA’s annual State of Health Care Quality report also found that nearly 66.5 million avoidable sick days and more than $1.8 billion in excess medical costs can be traced to the health care system’s routine failure to provide needed care.

Link To: National Center for Quality Assurance (NCQA)

Publicly-reporting plans post fifth straight year of gains; broader system still plagued by quality gaps

Annual toll: 42,000 - 79,000 avoidable deaths, 66.5 million sick days and $1.8 billion in excess medical costs

Download the Report (PDF, 680 kb)

View the news conference Webcast (kaisernetwork.org)

NCQA's recently released State of Health Care Quality 2004 finds that the quality of care delivered by health plans that publicly report on their performance improved markedly last year. Yet the U.S. health care system as a whole remains plagued by deadly “quality gaps” that contribute to 42,000 to 79,000 avoidable deaths every year. The findings suggest that the system is deeply polarized, delivering excellent care to some people, and generally poor care to many others. NCQA’s annual State of Health Care Quality report also found that nearly 66.5 million avoidable sick days and more than $1.8 billion in excess medical costs can be traced to the health care system’s routine failure to provide needed care.

Link To: National Center for Quality Assurance (NCQA)

Poor Medical Treatment Kills Thousands in U.S., Says New Report on Health Care Quality

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON Sept. 23, 2004 — Requiring doctors and hospitals to report publicly on their performance and tying their pay to the results would dramatically reduce avoidable deaths and costs attributable to poor medical care, says a new report from an organization that works to improve health care quality.
Wild variations in medical care led to 79,000 avoidable deaths and $1.8 billion in additional medical costs last year, the private National Committee for Quality Assurance said in its annual report released Wednesday.

Article from: abc News

By Janice Billingsley
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Sept. 23 (HealthDayNews) -- Recent flu seasons dominated by more severe strains of flu and an aging U.S. population that's more vulnerable to disease have caused a jump in the number of hospitalizations and deaths from the respiratory illness.

That's why it's crucial that people -- particularly those most vulnerable -- get a flu shot this fall, U.S. health officials said at a press conference Thursday in Washington, D.C.

"There has been a startling increase in the number of hospitalizations for flu, to approximately 200,000 last year, and Americans need to do better to protect themselves and their families," said Dr. Walter Orenstein, director of the National Immunization Program, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Article from: Forbes.com

Annual Report Suggests Polarized Health System

POSTED: 10:11 am EDT September 23, 2004

WASHINGTON -- Routine failure to provide needed health care in the United States came with the price tag of $1.8 billion in additional medical costs and up to 79,000 avoidable deaths, according to a new study.

In its annual report, the private National Committee for Quality Assurance said there was some improvement last year in the care offered by the nation's managed care organizations.

Articel from: Channel 3000

Tuesday, September 21, 2004 Posted: 9:51 AM EDT (1351 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States needs more black, Hispanic and American Indian doctors and nurses if minorities have any hope of catching up to whites in terms of the quality and accessibility of health care, a special commission said Monday.

While blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans make up more than 25 percent of the U.S. population, they represent only 9 percent of the nation's nurses, 6 percent of doctors and 5 percent of dentists, the Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Health Workforce said.

Article from: CNN.com

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., SEPT. 22, 2004 -- The March of Dimes today issued the following statement on the report on newborn screening prepared for the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration by the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG):
The March of Dimes supports comprehensive newborn screening for all babies in this country, regardless of their place of birth. Our policy is to support screening for specific conditions when there is a documented benefit to the child and there is a reliable test that enables early detection from newborn blood spots or other means. We support parents' rights to be fully informed about their baby's screening results, and we support expansion of health care provider education about newborn screening. March of Dimes state chapters and their partners work closely with governors, state legislators, and health departments to improve state newborn screening programs.

The March of Dimes strongly commends the ACMG report for advancing the field of newborn screening, defining a uniform panel for newborn screening, and providing a policy framework for the states. We support the recommendations in this report and we urge the Secretary of Health and Human Services to accept them as a national standard for newborn screening.

Article from Eurekalert.com

Health affairs article: Federal oversight, increasing public coverage, data collection, and workforce diversity all key steps to improve care
New York City, September 14, 2004--Eliminating disparities in health care for minority children will take a concerted quality improvement effort throughout the fragmented U.S. health care system, best overseen by a national body housed within the Department of Health and Human Services, says an article in the September/October issue of Health Affairs.
In "Policies to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Child Health and Health Care," Commonwealth Fund Senior Program Officer Anne C. Beal, M.D., details a strategy to eliminate pervasive disparities in the care received by children of color in the U.S. compared with white children while improving quality of care for all children. Key elements in any effort to achieve high quality care for all children, she writes, include increasing children's enrollment in public insurance programs, improving quality of care for beneficiaries enrolled in public programs and for patients who receive care from safety net providers, collecting data on disparities and monitoring progress to eliminate them, and training providers to treat an increasingly diverse patient population as well as increasing the diversity of the health care workforce to reflect the patient population.

Article from: EurekAlert

National-NBC) Sept. 13, 2004 - Health care costs are on the rise, and American workers are feeling the effects, according to a new survey.

Employers have cut health care coverage for five million jobs since 2001, according to a yearly survey of 3000 companies in the US.

Much of the loss is credited to small businesses that can't compensate for rising health care expenses.

Article from: WIS News 10

Few patients with cancer and other serious illnesses have applied for early Medicare prescription drug coverage, according to the Associated Press.

The Bush administration had planned on a lottery to see who would get the 50,000 slots that were created as part of last year's Medicare prescription drug law. But, just 6,364 people have submitted early applications for insurance for expensive medications such as oral cancer drugs and self-injectable drugs for multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other serious diseases, the AP said.

Article from: Dr. Koop

Friday, September 10, 2004 · Last updated 2:32 p.m. PT

By MARK SHERMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

Nancy Davenport Innis, chief executive of the not-for-profit Patient Advocate Foundation is shown in Washington Friday, Sept. 10, 2004. Far from the expected deluge, applications have lagged for generous, early Medicare prescription drug coverage for patients with cancer and other illnesses.The Bush administration was planning a lottery to fill 50,000 slots that were included in last year's Medicare prescription drug law. Instead, just 6,364 people have applied for the head start on drug insurance for costly oral cancer medicines and self-injectable drugs for multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases. (AP Photo/Lauren Burke)

WASHINGTON -- Far from the expected deluge, relatively few patients with cancer and other serious illnesses have applied for generous early Medicare prescription drug coverage.

The Bush administration was planning a lottery to determine who would get the 50,000 slots included in last year's Medicare prescription drug law. Instead, just 6,364 people have applied for the head start on drug insurance for costly cancer medicines taken orally and self-injectable drugs for multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases.

The Medicare Web site now advises: "There are still many enrollment slots available!"

Article from : Seattle Post Intelligencer

Some companies are offering workers financial incentives to be healthy.

JULIE APPLEBY
USA TODAY

The cost of health insurance provided by employers rose an average of 11.2 percent this year and is expected to rise again in 2005, adding to the economic anxiety of workers and businesses.

It is the fourth-straight year of double-digit premium increases.

For the first time, the average cost of a family policy in the most popular type of insurance - known as a PPO - went above $10,000, according to an annual survey of more than 3,000 large and small employers conducted by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

Article from: Tucson Citizen

Tuesday, September 7, 2004 Posted: 11:48 AM EDT (1548 GMT)

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Vaccinating children against chickenpox saves the U.S. health care system nearly $100 million a year in reduced hospitalizations for severe cases of the itchy disease, a study found.

Though most people who get the usually mild disease can be treated at home, chickenpox can be serious, and complications requiring hospitalization can include severe skin infections, encephalitis and pneumonia.

Article from CNN:Health

www.chinaview.cn 2004-09-06 08:39:01

BEIJING, Sept. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- US Medicare patients' monthly premiums for outpatient care will jump a record US$11.60 next year, while deductibles for hospitalized patients will rise US$36, the biggest increase in 14 years, reported Monday's China Daily.

The hospital deductible will gain 17.4 per cent to US$912 on January 1, and the monthly premium for a doctor's care will increase 4.1 per cent to US$78.20, the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services said. Social Security income increases are likely to be less than 3 per cent in 2005, said Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Centre in New York.

Article from ChinaView.com

African-Americans and Asians less likely to believe the public health system would respond fairly in a bioterrorist event, UCLA study shows
While nearly three-quarters of Americans believe that the public health system would respond fairly in a bioterrorist event, African-Americans and Asians adhere to this view in smaller proportions, perhaps because of past discriminatory policies put in place by health officials, according to a new UCLA study.

The findings will be published in late September in Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science. The article is also available online at the journal's Web site, http://www.biosecurityjournal.com/PDFs/v2n304/520402.pdf

Article from Eureka Alert

Friday, August 27, 2004 Posted: 9:47 AM EDT (1347 GMT)

ATLANTA, Georgia (Reuters) -- Americans made an estimated 890 million visits to the doctor in 2002, a 1 percent increase from the previous year, according to a survey released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

High blood pressure, colds, sore throats, diabetes and arthritis were the most frequently diagnosed conditions, according to doctors who participated in the CDC's annual tracking of office-based medical care.

Article from CNN Health

By Andy Miller
Cox News Service

ATLANTA - A new Emory University study found that 15 medical conditions led to about half of the $200 billion rise in U.S. health spending from 1987 to 2000.
The study, published on the Web site of the journal Health Affairs, said five of those conditions - heart disease, trauma, cancer, pulmonary conditions and mental disorders - accounted for 31 percent of the growth in health spending over that period.

Article from The Salt Lake Tribune

Tue Aug 24, 2004 04:45 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - After exceeding their annual drug benefit cap, Medicare beneficiaries often decrease their use of essential medications, apparently to compensate for the coverage gap, according to a new report.
By contrast, stopping medications completely or not starting new medications are relatively unpopular strategies used by this group, Dr. Chien-Wen Tseng, from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, and colleagues found.

The findings, which appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association, are based on a survey of 665 beneficiaries who had exceeded their benefit cap and 643 who had not. In the former group, coverage gaps ranged from 75 to 180 days.

Article from Reuters Health

By TAD VEZNER and LUKE SHOCKMAN
BLADE STAFF WRITERS

A study released today by an anti-smoking group on the effects of smoking bans in Toledo and Bowling Green showed a sharp drop in heart attacks in Bowling Green following implementation of its ban.

The heart-attack study — done by public health researchers at the Medical College of Ohio and funded by the Ohio Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation — did not analyze heart attack rates in Toledo because its ban has been fully enforced only since January and 2004 health data are not yet available.

Article from toledoblade.com

Thursday, August 19, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.

By Julia Sommerfeld
Seattle Times staff reporter

STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Laurra Corsello of Seattle holds her 8-month-old daughter, Helena, who has galactosemia, a metabolic condition that occurs in about 1 in 50,000 babies. Hers is one of nine newborn diseases now automatically screened for in Washington.

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Other links
Department of Health Newborn Screening Program
March of Dimes, Washington chapter


Babies born in Washington are now being screened for a longer list of genetic disorders. After spending much of this year rolling out a battery of new blood tests, the state Department of Health announced yesterday that all newborns will automatically be screened for nine life-threatening conditions before they leave the hospital. In years past, newborns were screened for just four.
Each of the five new conditions is rare, has a tongue-twisting name — homocystinuria, for instance — and has potentially deadly or disabling consequences if left untreated.

Article from The Seattle Times

Cites safety as issue
From Jill Dougherty
CNN
Wednesday, August 18, 2004 Posted: 8:43 PM EDT (0043 GMT)

President Bush signs autographs Wednesday during a rally in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.


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HUDSON, Wisconsin (CNN) -- With political pressure mounting to allow imports of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and other countries, President Bush appeared to move closer to supporting the idea Wednesday -- but only if the safety of the drugs could be assured.

Asked about prescription drug imports during a town hall meeting in Wisconsin, Bush said, "I'm looking at this. ... There's a lot of pressure in Congress for importation."

Article from CNN: Health

Mon Aug 16, 2004 07:03 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Veterans with diabetes get better care under the Department of Veterans Affairs system than some patients using managed care, U.S. researchers reported on Monday and suggested nationalized health care can work well.
The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, shows VA patients got the recommended care more often.

The study suggests that nationalized health care can work, the team at the University of Michigan and University of California said.

"A nationally funded health care system can provide excellent quality of care," Dr. Eve Kerr, of the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, said in a statement.

Article from Reuters

Mon Aug 16, 2004 07:03 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Veterans with diabetes get better care under the Department of Veterans Affairs system than some patients using managed care, U.S. researchers reported on Monday and suggested nationalized health care can work well.
The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, shows VA patients got the recommended care more often.

The study suggests that nationalized health care can work, the team at the University of Michigan and University of California said.

"A nationally funded health care system can provide excellent quality of care," Dr. Eve Kerr, of the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, said in a statement.

Article from Reuters

August 11, 2004: 7:02 AM EDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - HMOs are bringing back some tried-and-true but highly unpopular methods to stem crushing medical costs, according to the findings of a nationwide survey released Wednesday.

Articel from CNNMONEY

Wednesday, August 11, 2004 Posted: 10:07 AM EDT (1407 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Older and disabled Americans strongly support proposals to permit prescription drug imports and to allow the government to negotiate prices of medicines, said a poll released Tuesday.

Both ideas, also backed by the Kerry presidential campaign, would give Americans access to cheaper prescription drugs, said most of those polled, all Medicare recipients. Four-fifths of those questioned in the Kaiser Family Foundation poll said they support both proposals, dismissing misgivings about the safety of imported drugs.

Article from CNN: Health

Two of Three Want Congress to Fix the Law, Few Currently Plan To Enroll But Most Don't Know Enough To Say

Aug. 11, 2004 - Many more people on Medicare have an unfavorable than a favorable impression of the new law that adds a drug benefit to the program, but most want Congress to fix rather than repeal it, according to a new survey of the opinions of people - primarily senior citizens - on Medicare released yesterday.

Article from SeinorJournal.com

Tue Aug 10, 2004 06:07 PM ET

By Joanne Kenen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Older Americans are confused and unhappy about upcoming changes in the federal Medicare health program, according to a nonpartisan survey released on Tuesday that indicates the issue could help Democrats win the November vote.

The Kaiser Family Foundation-Harvard School of Public Health found that 47 percent of the 1,223 Medicare beneficiaries surveyed had an unfavorable view of Medicare reforms like the prescription drug benefit, 26 percent viewed the reforms favorably, and 25 percent said they didn't know.

Article from Reuters

The government has announced plans for a new combined jab for babies.
The vaccination will protect children against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, Hib and, for the first time, polio in a single shot.

Article from BBC News

By JOHN O'NEIL

Published: August 10, 2004

edications that are considered unsafe for older people are frequently being prescribed to patients over 65, researchers reported yesterday.

The study, which examined prescription rates, found that 1 in 5 older patients received at least one unsafe drug.

Dr. Kevin A. Schulman of the Duke Clinical Research Institute, the lead author of the study, said that as the body ages, the way it reacts to medicine changes and the likelihood of severe side effects increases. In recent years, efforts to steer the drugs most likely to produce these side effects away from older patients have included the publication of lists of drugs deemed inappropriate for people over 65, Dr. Schulman said.

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In the study, the researchers compared one of these lists with a database containing all prescriptions written in 1999 for 765,423 patients over 65 through a pharmaceutical benefits management company.

The study found that 21 percent of the patients had at least one drug on the list, and that half those prescriptions were for drugs considered to have the potential for serious adverse effects. The most commonly prescribed inappropriate drugs were two antidepressants, amitriptyline and doxepin.

The study also found that 15 percent of the patients had been given two drugs from the list and that 4 percent had been given three or more.

Dr. Schulman said the list of drugs to avoid was not ironclad. In some cases, a careful evaluation by a doctor would lead to the conclusion that a drug on the list would be the best choice for a particular older patient, he said.

But often, he said, safer alternatives exist. Older patients may be able to avoid risks by discussing medications with their doctors.

Artcle from The New York Times

Mon Aug 9, 2004 05:37 PM ET

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Most women diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States are operated on by surgeons who perform relatively few of these operations each year, according to a U.S. study released on Monday.

The finding by researchers in Wisconsin is startling in light of recent U.S. and U.K studies that showed women had a better chance of surviving breast cancer if operated on by a surgeon who did at least 15 to 30 of the operations each year.

Article from Reuters

Thu Aug 5, 2004 10:55 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Only 14 percent of U.S. mothers exclusively breastfeed their babies for the minimum recommended six months, according to government data released on Thursday.
New state-by-state statistics show that Oregon has the highest rate of mothers meeting the minimum standards, but even there just 25 percent are able to give their babies breast milk and nothing else for six months, the report shows.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization and most other experts recommend that mothers give their babies breast milk only -- no formula, juice or solid food -- until they are six months old.

Article from Reuters

Workplace survey details shifting

Kristen Gerencher
CBS MarketWatch
Aug. 8, 2004 12:00 AM

SAN FRANCISCO - The cost of providing health care to workers has surpassed that of paid leave as the most expensive benefit for employers, according to a new report.

In the first quarter of this year, medical benefits accounted for 23 percent of compensation not including wages compared with 22.6 percent for paid leaves, including vacations and sick time, according to a study from Employment Policy Foundation, an economic-research group that focuses on workplace issues.

Article from azcentral.com

MARK SHERMAN

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - About 5 million children have been added to government health programs since 2001, many because their parents lost employer-sponsored insurance, according to a new study.

Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program provided a safety net for children whose parents' coverage ended or became too expensive during the economic downturn at the start of the decade, said the Center for Studying Health System Change, a private research organization in Washington, D.C.

Article from Miami Herald

Last Updated: 2004-08-03 16:16:45 -0400 (Reuters Health)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly half of the 8.5 million U.S. children who lack health insurance have not seen a doctors or nurse for a medical check-up in the past year, according to a study published on Tuesday.

One third of uninsured children have no regular source of medical care such as a pediatrician, meaning they are probably going to be taken to an emergency room for routine needs, the study found.

"What these data tell us is what low-income working parents across this nation already know - that not having health insurance is bad for our nation's children," said Dr. John Lumpkin of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which released the study.

Article from Reuters Health

If more infants worldwide are given only mother's milk and no food or formula until the age of six months, at least 1.3 million lives could be saved this year, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said today.

With more than 10 million children dying annually from mainly preventable causes like diarrhoea and pneumonia, the agency said if every baby were exclusively breastfed for the first half-year of life, an estimated 3,500 lives could be saved each day.

UNICEF cited these statistics in calling for greater global commitment to support breastfeeding. ''If a child dies a preventable death it's because mothers and infants are not getting the basic support they need,'' said UNICEF chief Carol Bellamy.

Article from ScienceBlog

BEIJING, Aug 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Most counties in central and western China will soon have mobile hospitals to ensure basic health care for poverty-stricken rural residents.

The central government has equipped counties in the region with 1,004 coaches to provide door-to-door health care for farmers, reported Monday's China Daily.

The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Health have invested 230 million yuan (US$27.7 million) in the programme.

Article from China View

Associated Press
Published on: 08/02/04

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alarmed by childhood obesity, State Superintendent of Education Joe Morton will order a review of vending machine products sold to Alabama students, school nutrition and other health-related issues.

Morton said he will appoint a task force next month on student health and expects its report for the state school board by January.

Article from ajc.com

FDA today approved the drug Campral (acamprosate), for treating alcohol dependent individuals seeking to continue to remain alcohol-free after they have stopped drinking. Campral may not be effective in patients who are actively drinking at the start of treatment, or in patients who abuse other substances in addition to alcohol.

Link

By RICHARD MACKIE
From Friday's Globe and Mail

Niagara-on-the Lake, Ont. — Canada's premiers are expected to unveil a proposal today to change and enrich health care in Canada with national goals, while ensuring that provinces can deliver services in different ways, unencumbered by federal conditions.

The premiers emerged from a day-long meeting yesterday with a plan to take to their three-day televised meeting in September with Prime Minister Paul Martin, whom they see as having little choice but to accept their program for change.

Article

By Julie Appleby, USA TODAY

The Medicare drug discount card program does save consumers money but is confusing, and similar savings may be had outside the program, a report out this week says.

Two months in, about 4 million people have cards, but about 3 million of them were enrolled automatically by their HMOs or through state assistance programs.

Article

By ROBERT PEAR

Published: July 28, 2004

As a result of incremental changes in the last few years, Medicare now covers a wide variety of preventive services.

The latest changes, authorized by the new Medicare law, take effect on Jan. 1, a year before outpatient drug benefits will become available.

Time Sensitive: New York Times

Medicare will offer for the first time a comprehensive set of screening tests and a full medical work-up for new recipients under changes proposed yesterday.

News article: http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=37484

Report doubles earlier Institute of Medicine estimate
Wednesday, July 28, 2004 Posted: 10:08 AM EDT (1408 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- As many as 195,000 people a year could be dying in U.S. hospitals because of easily prevented errors, a company said Tuesday in an estimate that doubles previous figures.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/07/28/health.mistakes.reut/index.html

Pay cuts could alter cancer care
By Globe Wire Services | July 28, 2004

WASHINGTON -- Cancer doctors and patients' advocates said a Bush administration proposal to cut Medicare payments to cancer doctors could force a dramatic change in care, with patients forced to get treatment in hospitals, sometimes far from their homes, rather than in physicians' offices.

Article: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2004/07/28/fears_voiced_on_bush_medicare_plan/

Robert Pear, New York Times
July 27, 2004 MEDI0727



WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Bush administration proposed rules on Monday to carry out the sweeping new Medicare law, and it said that nearly 11 million of the 41 million beneficiaries would receive comprehensive drug benefits at virtually no cost.

In issuing the proposals, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson took a swipe at Democrats who have opposed the Medicare law. After years of unfulfilled promises by Democrats, Thompson said, "it took George Bush and a Republican-led Congress to act."

Article: http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4895963.html

NLM has reformatted and enhanced the HSR & PH Information Programs page.
There are numerous links to a variety of web sites within NLM. Take a look when you get a chance.

Link: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hsrph.html

In court papers, the Bush administration argues that federal standards pre-empt requirements established by state judges and legislators.

BY ROBERT PEAR

New York Times

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has been going to court to block lawsuits by consumers who say they have been injured by prescription drugs and medical devices.

The administration contends that consumers cannot recover damages for such injuries if the products have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. In court papers, the Justice Department acknowledges that this position reflects a "change in governmental policy," and it has persuaded some judges to accept its arguments, most recently scoring a victory in the federal appeals court in Philadelphia.

Article: http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/news/nation/9236812.htm

By Karen Pallarito
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, July 21 (HealthDayNews) -- America's seniors would have better access to medicines if U.S. drug prices were slashed to the level paid in other industrialized nations, a new analysis suggests.

A 45 percent price cut would let Congress eliminate a gap in coverage that will occur when Medicare's outpatient prescription drug benefit takes effect in 2006, the authors conclude. Lower prices, they add, would make it possible to enhance drug coverage for seniors at no additional cost to the federal government.

Article: http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/health/feeds/hscout/2004/07/21/hscout520198.html

by David Boaz

David Boaz is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of Libertarianism: A Primer.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson says, "Obesity is a critical public health problem in our country."

Wrong. Obesity is a problem for many people, but it is not a public health problem. By calling it one, however, Thompson can promise that we, the taxpayers, will pay for everyone's diet programs, stomach surgery, and behavioral counseling. Get out your wallet.

The meaning of "public health" has sprawled out lazily over the decades. Once, it referred to the project of securing health benefits that were public: clean water, improved sanitation, and the control of epidemics through treatment, quarantine, and immunization. Public health officials worked to drain swamps that might breed mosquitoes and thus spread malaria. They strove to ensure that water supplies were not contaminated with cholera, typhoid, or other diseases. The U.S. Public Health Service began as the Marine Hospital Service, and one of its primary functions was ensuring that sailors didn't expose domestic populations to new and virulent illnesses from overseas.

Article: http://www.cato.org/dailys/07-20-04.html

Medicare reviewers missed two-thirds of safety issues, GAO says

Tuesday, July 20, 2004 Posted: 1:05 PM EDT (1705 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The private organization that clears hospitals to receive Medicare payments missed most problems later identified by state inspectors, potentially compromising patient safety, congressional investigators said Tuesday.

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, made up mainly of health professionals, failed to find 167 of 241 "serious deficiencies" in a survey of 500 hospitals that were reviewed between 2000 and 2002, the Government Accountability Office said. The agency, Congress' investigative arm, was formerly called the General Accounting Office.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/07/20/hospital.inspections.ap/index.html

Last Updated: 2004-07-16 12:49:30 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Todd Zwillich

WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - The nation's largest hospital accrediting body launched a Web site Wednesday designed to let doctors and the public compare the quality of medical care at thousands of facilities.

The site lets consumers search out hospitals and directly compare their performance in treating a handful of health conditions, a move supporters said would deliver badly needed objective information to patients while driving health providers to improve their quality.

Patients and doctors visiting the site, called Quality Check, can search hospitals in any state or zip code. The site grades facilities based on how consistently they deliver care proven to improve health outcomes.

Article: http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2004/07/16/eline/links/20040716elin021.html

Quality Check: http://www.jcaho.org/qualitycheck/directry/SearchConsumerByType.aspx

Patients' choices in medical care take a hit after high court rules in favor of insurers

By Henry Gilgoff
Staff Writer

July 18, 2004

The country's highest court delivered a major setback last month to patients trying to sue health insurers for negligence or malpractice, leaving a widow to wonder: What now?

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision gave added ammunition to health plans to argue that federal law precludes patients and their families from suing health plans for damages in state courts. The Employment Retirement Security Act of 1974 allows suits in federal court for benefits denied -- small amounts compared with the high awards possible for malpractice or negligence.

Article: http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-biz-bzcov0718,0,4096463.story?coll=ny-business-headlines

Friday, July 16, 2004 Posted: 11:09 AM EDT (1509 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Medicare now recognizes obesity as an illness, a change in policy that may allow millions of overweight Americans to make medical claims for treatments such as stomach surgery and diet programs.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said, "Obesity is a critical public health problem in our country that causes millions of Americans to suffer unnecessary health problems and to die prematurely."

Treating obesity-related illnesses results in billions of dollars in health care costs, Thompson said.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/07/16/medicare.obesity.ap/index.html

By Glenn Harlan Reynolds Published 07/14/2004


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TCS

This month's Harper's Magazine includes a cover story on the decline of the public health system, by Dr. Ronald J. Glasser. Glasser lays out a number of ways in which the global public health system isn't up to the threats posed by diseases like SARS. Dr. Glasser's diagnosis seems on target, but his article leaves a lot to be desired in terms of treatment -- he concludes (in a fashion that seems somehow emblematic for Harper's) that we are probably too foolish to survive these new epidemics, and that we probably deserve to die.

I don't agree, and I think that we should be doing something about the problem. The public health infrastructure built up in the last century was an enormous achievement. It was also, as Robert Fogel notes in his new book, Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, a gigantic undertaking. Fogel writes about...

Article: http://www.techcentralstation.com/071404C.html

VCU's new school of public health will address issues ranging from bioterrorism to obesity.

Polly Roberts
Richmond.com
Wednesday July 14, 2004

Virginia Commonwealth University will soon be home to the only school of public health in Virginia.

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia recently approved the school, which will address public health issues ranging from bioterrorism and the risk of biological and chemical weapons to obesity and cancer prevention.

Article: http://www.richmond.com/health/output.cfm?ID=3130911&vertical=Health

Newswise — One of the biggest questions facing Americans as the 2004 elections approach involves a tradeoff: Will those who currently have health insurance be willing to sacrifice in order to insure the 44 million people who don’t?

The answer may turn out to be yes, according to the results of a new research study published in the August issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, especially if citizens have a chance to get together and talk about how coverage for the uninsured might affect them personally and society as a whole.

To explore whether the insured would help cover the uninsured, the research team based at the University of Michigan didn’t turn to an opinion survey. Instead, they asked 322 insured people to play a board game that’s a cross between Monopoly and the Game of Life, but with a focus on health and insurance.

Article: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/506006/

Wednesday, July 14, 2004 Posted: 9:43 AM EDT (1343 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government plans to open a "national bank" to better grow the only embryonic stem cells eligible for government-funded research, holding firm against critics who want Bush administration restrictions on the controversial cells lifted.

In addition, the National Institutes of Health plans to spend $18 million over four years to establish three "centers of excellence" to speed research on the currently available cell lines.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/07/14/stemcells.ap/index.html

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
NEWS
July 13, 2004
Posted to the web July 13, 2004
Bangkok

WHO has called for three million on AIDS treament by 2005

Innovative community-based public health initiatives are needed to enable the rapid rollout of HIV/AIDS treatment in Africa, the World Health Organisation (WHO) director of HIV/AIDS, Jim Yong Kim, told PlusNews on Tuesday.

To reach WHO's '3 by 5' goal (three million people on treatment by 2005) "simplified, high- quality public health initiatives are needed", Kim said at the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. "There needs to be an attitude of learning by doing."

The 3 by 5 initiative, launched by WHO in 2003, was a strategy to "energise" what has been a painfully slow rollout of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, said Kim. Over 4 million people are in need of life-prolonging drugs in Africa, but less than 5 percent are receiving it in a continent

Article: http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200407130694.html

Last Updated: 2004-07-12 8:00:30 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Merritt McKinney

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Hispanic women who care for older relatives with dementia may delay placing their relatives in nursing homes longer than white caregivers, new research suggests.

Cultural values and attitudes toward caregiving may help explain some of the differences, researchers say.

Taking care of a relative with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia can put a heavy burden on caregivers. Eventually, most people with dementia are placed in a nursing home or other long-term-care institution.

But most studies on the institutionalization of people with dementia have focused on non-Hispanic whites. There is some evidence that Latino caregivers wait longer before placing their loved ones in an institution.

To look at the relationship between ethnicity and care of people with dementia, a team led by Dr. Dolores Gallagher-Thompson at Stanford University School of Medicine and VA Palo Alto Health Care System in California studied 264 women who were caring for a loved one with dementia. Of the women, 154 were Caucasian and 110 were Latinas.

Article: http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2004/07/12/eline/links/20040712elin003.html

A Public Health article highlights how a lack of access to health information for health workers in resource-poor settings is a major obstacle to achieving the 2015 millennium goals for global health.

Article: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/505979/

Saturday July 10, 9:30 am ET
Tobacco, Obesity, HIV/AIDS and Immigrant Health Addressed

MIAMI, July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of Congress, public health experts, community leaders and citizens of South Florida convened today to address racial and ethnic health disparities in the areas of tobacco, obesity, immigrant health and HIV/AIDS. The American Legacy Foundation, Pfizer and the Kellogg Men's Health Initiative sponsored the one-day summit held at Miami- Dade College.

Article: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040710/nysa004_1.html

UN, citing HIV rise, says nation may face ‘a nasty surprise’

BANGKOK Thailand's AIDS program, which has been widely touted as the world's most successful in preventing the disease, is in serious danger of unraveling, the United Nations said in a report here Thursday.

Article: http://www.iht.com/articles/528502.html

Thursday, July 8, 2004 · Last updated 6:17 a.m. PT

By FIONA SMITH
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

MEXICO CITY -- The childhood illness Rotavirus kills more than 600,000 youngsters a year, some 100,000 more than previously believed, according to a study released in Mexico's capital Wednesday.

The report was made public as hundreds of scientists, public health experts, government officials and pharmaceutical representatives kicked off the three-day International Rotavirus Symposium.

Article: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apscience_story.asp?category=1500&slug=Mexico%20Childhood%20Illness

Tuesday, July 6, 2004 Posted: 10:13 AM EDT (1413 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Struggling, inner-city parents are more likely to neglect to completely vaccinate their children, while parents who refuse to vaccinate at all tend to be white and well-off, U.S. researchers reported Tuesday.

The study is the first extensive national survey to look at why some children are not vaccinated, and it shows a big difference between parents who are unable to get their children vaccinated, and those who are unwilling to do so.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/parenting/07/06/vaccine.study.reut/index.html

Friday, July 2, 2004 Posted: 2:36 PM EDT (1836 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Add stroke to the list of health problems caused by a Western diet rich in red meat, white flour and sugar, researchers have said.

A study of more than 71,000 nurses found those who ate a "prudent" diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, legumes and whole grains were less likely to have strokes than nurses eating a more typical American diet.

Writing Thursday in the journal Stroke, the team at the Harvard School of Public Health said its study was the first to examine overall dietary habits and stroke risk.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/07/02/western.diet.reut/index.html

BOOK REVIEW

Food Fight: the Inside Story of the Food Industry, America’s Obesity Crisis, and What We Can Do About It
by Kelly D Brownell and Katherine Battle Horgen, 2003, 352 pages, hardcover, $24.95. McGraw-Hill, Columbus, OH.
June Stevens
Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology
University of North Carolina
School of Public Health, CB 7461
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
june_stevens@unc.edu

Obesity now rivals smoking in terms of health care costs and adverse effects on health and well-being, and the rapid rise in the prevalence of obesity over the past 2 decades shows no signs of leveling off. The current and future consequences of the obesity epidemic for national health make Food Fight a very timely book. Brownell and Horgen challenge the reader to reexamine the toxic environment in which we live and take note of many of the ways in which we, as a nation, have allowed this environment to encourage overeating and inactivity.

Link: http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/80/1/239-a

Tue Jun 22, 2004 11:16 AM ET

By Patricia Reaney
LONDON (Reuters) - Cigarette smokers die on average 10 years earlier than non-smokers but kicking the habit, even at 50 years old, can halve the risk, according to half a century of research reported on Tuesday.

Findings from a 50-year study into the dangers of smoking showed that if people quit by the age of 30 they can avoid nearly all of the risk of dying prematurely.

"Cigarette smoking reduces the expectation of life by 10 years," said 91-year-old Oxford University Professor Richard Doll who discovered the link between cancer and smoking.

"It is clear that consistent cigarette smoking doubles mortality throughout adult life -- middle and old age. It is also clear that giving up smoking can eliminate a very large part of the hazard," he told Reuters.

Doll and Bradford Hill confirmed the link between smoking and lung cancer in a landmark study published in the British Medical Journal on June 26, 1954.

Half a century later, Doll and Oxford University Professor Richard Peto report the 50-year results from the same study of 34,439 British doctors in the journal.

Article: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5483593

Monday, June 21, 2004 Posted: 9:20 AM EDT (1320 GMT)

... The message still hasn't gotten out that mammography will save lives.
-- Dr. Herman Kattlove, medical editor American Cancer Society
ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- After more than a decade of urging by doctors that women over 40 should receive mammograms yearly, few actually do so, according to a large cancer study.

Only 6 percent of women who received a mammogram in 1992 received mammograms yearly for the next 10 years, according to a study of 72,417 women of all ages at Massachusetts General Hospital, the largest look at mammography to date.

The American Cancer Society recommends that all women 40 and older receive a mammogram and a breast exam yearly. Younger women are encouraged to receive a breast exam every three years.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/conditions/06/21/mammograms.ap/index.html

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 Posted: 10:02 AM EDT (1402 GMT)

SUGAR LAND, Texas (AP) -- Leading up to her hysterectomy about five years ago, Ruby Calad thought she understood all the insurance bureaucracy involving her HMO.

"I'd done my homework," the suburban Houston woman said.

But the day after her operation, she was told by a Houston-area hospital she had to be released because her HMO, Cigna Healthcare of Texas Inc., would approve no additional expenses. She was discharged prematurely, then wound up in an emergency room a few days later, she said.

"(It) ended up costing them more money," Calad, 50, recalled Monday, a few hours after learning the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled against her in a lawsuit stemming from her HMO's decision.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/06/22/hmos.ap/index.html

Friday, June 18, 2004
San Francisco Chronicle

Need a doctor? Need to go to a hospital? Better answer this question first: Do you have health insurance?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, for 44 million Americans -- 8.5 million of them children -- the answer is no. That includes 6.4 million Californians, 15 percent of whom are under age 18. The picture is not much better for the millions more whose coverage is grossly inadequate

Article

Thu Jun 17, 2004 02:35 PM ET

By Paul Simao
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Smoking rates among U.S. high school students sank to their lowest levels in at least 13 years, according to a study released on Thursday, bolstering hopes the nation is recovering from an epidemic of teen cigarette use.

Higher prices for cigarettes and a wave of youth-oriented anti-tobacco programs in schools and the media were cited by health officials as the main factors behind the sharp decreases in smoking among students in grades 9 to 12.

About 22 percent admitted in 2003 to being current smokers, or those who had smoked at least once in the previous month, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Article

Tue Jun 15, 2004 02:45 PM ET

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Want to avoid a heart attack? How about a stroke? Or is it cancer or diabetes you fear?

The advice to avoid all of them is the same -- exercise more, stay slim or slim down, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, do not smoke and visit your doctor.

The American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society and the American Diabetes Association teamed up on Tuesday to deliver a simple, clear message to the U.S. public and to doctors -- these top four killers are all mostly caused by lifestyle.

Many studies have indicated that up to two-thirds of all cases of cancer are caused by smoking, poor diet, or a lack of exercise, as opposed to unlucky genes or environmental chemicals.

Article: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5429566

Friday, June 11, 2004 Posted: 11:42 AM EDT (1542 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- More Americans are abusing alcohol than in the 1990s, but fewer are technically alcoholics, U.S. government researchers.

They found that the number of American adults who abuse alcohol or are alcohol dependent rose to 17.6 million or 8.46 percent of the population in 2001-2002 from 13.8 million or 7.41 percent of the population in 1991-1992.

The researchers cannot say why heavy drinking is up.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/06/11/alcohol.abuse.reut/index.html

Wed Jun 9, 2004 06:24 PM ET

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A study of specially bred mice suggests that a mercury preservative in vaccines could potentially cause some of the brain changes in autism, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

The publication of the study gives fuel to an alliance of environmentalists, parents of children with autism, anti-vaccine advocates and politicians who say they will continue to fight to prove that vaccines can cause autism in susceptible children.

But experts who issued a report last month saying there was no link between vaccines and autism said they had already seen the study and rejected it.

Dr. Mady Hornig of Columbia University in New York said her study shows the possibility that a genetic predisposition could leave certain children vulnerable to a range of toxins in vaccines, including a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal.

Article: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5386673

Despite a slowdown in 2003, the pace remains ahead of U.S. economic expansion, study determines.

June 9, 2004: 8:12 AM EDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The pace of growth in medical costs eased significantly in 2003, but still bounded well ahead of economic expansion, making it among the biggest burdens facing corporate America, a report released Wednesday said.

A sharp slowdown in prescription drug spending growth offset by a steep rise in hospital prices fueled a jump in underlying medical costs of 7.4 percent, well below the 9.6 percent rise recorded in 2002, the study by the non-profit Center for Studying Health System Change found.

The report analyzed health care revenues to hospitals, doctors and for prescription drugs for privately insured individuals, compiled by research group Milliman USA for 2003.

Article: http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/09/news/economy/health_costs.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

Tuesday, June 8, 2004 Posted: 9:23 AM EDT (1323 GMT)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. hospitals owned by investors with the aim of making money are less cost-efficient than nonprofits, Canadian researchers said.

And experts who wrote a commentary on the study said converting all investor-owned hospitals to nonprofit status could have saved $6 billion in 2001.

The report, published in Monday's issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, adds fuel to the debate over whether health care should follow a business model.

Dr. P.J. Devereaux and colleagues at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, reviewed medical studies on hospital care in the United States, covering 350,000 patients and hundreds of hospitals.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/06/08/hospital.expenses.reut/index.html

Friday, June 4, 2004 Posted: 11:05 AM EDT (1505 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Elderly Americans and disabled people are confused and disappointed by the new Medicare drug law, according to a study released by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

The report, based on 10 focus groups in three U.S. cities conducted by a bipartisan pair of pollsters, examined attitudes about the drug discount cards that went into effect this week and about the prescription drug benefit that will be available in 2006.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/06/04/card.confusion.reut/index.html

By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY
Childhood obesity in the USA looks significantly worse than previously believed, suggests the largest assessment ever of public school students.
The report, released Thursday, indicates 40% of students in Arkansas are overweight or at risk of becoming so. Currently, the U.S. government estimates that 30% of the nation's kids are overweight or on their way to being too heavy.

Arkansas is one of the nation's poorest states, and low-income adults are known to have high obesity levels. But researchers say the study's numbers show problems across income levels.

"As more data comes in, I think it's going to be this bad everywhere. I don't think it's isolated to Arkansas," says Carden Johnston, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-06-04-child-obesity_x.htm

Wednesday, June 2, 2004 Posted: 10:53 AM EDT (1453 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Junk foods such as sugary sodas and chips make up nearly one-third of calories in the U.S. diet, researchers said.

A study of 4,700 adults showed that, despite the increased popularity of low-carbohydrate diets, soft drinks and pastries pile on more calories in the daily diet than anything else.

"What is really alarming is the major contribution of 'empty calories' in the American diet," said Gladys Block, a professor of epidemiology and public health nutrition at the University of California, Berkeley, who led the study.

Writing in the June issue of the Journal of Food Chemistry and Analysis, Bock and colleagues said that sweets and desserts, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages account for nearly 25 percent of all calories consumed by Americans.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/06/02/junk.food.reut/index.html

01 Jun 2004 20:12:53 GMT

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

WASHINGTON, June 1 (Reuters) - Mental disorders from severe depression to uncontrolled anger are surprisingly common around the world, and most of the worst cases are not being treated, researchers reported on Tuesday.

The biggest concerted study of global mental illness shows that rates vary greatly -- with 4.3 percent of people living in Shanghai showing symptoms of mental disorders in the past year, compared to 26 percent in the United States.

Even if people are not concealing their histories of mental illness -- which many undoubtedly are -- the problem is enormous, said Ronald Kessler of Harvard Medical School in Boston, who led the World Health Organization study.

Article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N01379273.htm

Fri May 28, 2004 09:18 AM ET

By Patricia Reaney
PRAGUE (Reuters) - Twin global epidemics of obesity and diabetes are out of control and could reduce life expectancy in the future, health experts said on Friday.

Obesity, a major risk factor for diabetes, already affects 300 million people worldwide while an estimated 194 million suffer from diabetes.

By 2025 the number of obese people is expected soar to 333 million.

"I suspect that within a short period of time we will begin to see a reduction in life expectancy because of the twin epidemics," said Professor Claude Bouchard, president of the International Society for the Study of Obesity (IASO).

He was speaking at the 13th European Congress on Obesity here, being attended by some 2,500 doctors and health experts. Professor Rhys Williams, a vice president of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), noted that a fall in deaths from cardiovascular disease in the United States is now showing signs of stopping.

Article: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5287875

New dietary guidelines from feds expected to focus on exercise

With America focused more than ever on its growing waistline, the federal government's best advice is to exercise at least five times a week, eat less fat and -- sorry, Atkins fans -- make carbohydrates part of a balanced diet.

The recommendations, with a new emphasis on exercise, fish and fiber, are part of a draft of dietary guidelines due out in January. Although the draft hasn't been made public, a two-day work session in Washington, D.C., that concluded Thursday offers an early peek at what will eventually determine the new shape of the famous Food Guide Pyramid, the government's attempt to translate nutrition science into practical consumer advice.

The dietary guidelines also influence federal food programs, including school lunches and food stamps.

A panel of 13 scientists led by Janet King, a senior scientist at Children's Hospital Research Center at Oakland, is preparing the guidelines. The panel was expected to pass its final draft to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services by the end of the month. But after this week's meeting, it became clear that scientific debate about what makes a healthy diet had become so complex that the group needs to meet again in August to finish, according to people who attended the sessions.

Article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/05/28/MNGPR6TB2L1.DTL

Wednesday, May 26, 2004 Posted: 10:02 AM EDT (1402 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Changes in Medicare will do little to shield older Americans from drug prices that are going up much faster than inflation, say two groups pressing for lower drug prices.

AARP and the consumer group Families USA released separate studies Tuesday that show prices for brand-name prescription medicines rose at more than three times the rate of overall inflation last year and that the rate of increase has accelerated in recent years.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/26/drug.prices.ap/index.html

Global epidemic 'getting worse before getting better'
Wednesday, May 26, 2004 Posted: 9:57 AM EDT (1357 GMT)

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (Reuters) -- Obesity is a global problem that affects 300 million people but local policies are needed to control an epidemic which is likely to get worse before it gets better, a leading expert says.

Professor Peter Kopelman, president of the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO), believes it could be five or 10 years until the epidemic peaks.

"We need to have strategies at a national and local level to tackle the immediate problems that every population is facing," he said ahead of the start of the 13th European Congress on Obesity in Prague.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/05/26/prague.obesity.reut/index.html

Tue May 25, 2004 08:05 AM ET

By Andrew Quinn
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) - A new dispute has broken out between South Africa and the world's chief AIDS funding organization, which accuses Pretoria of delaying disbursement of millions of dollars in HIV/AIDS assistance.

South Africa has an estimated five million people infected with the AIDS virus -- the highest number in the world -- and has frequently been accused of moving too slowly to combat the epidemic.

Richard Feachem, head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, told South African media this week that Pretoria was failing to get international grant money to organizations fighting the disease on the ground.

"It's intolerable that the money gets stuck in Pretoria and if Pretoria can't move it for any reason, we will simply withdraw it and establish direct relationships with the people actually doing the work," Feachem said.

South African Health Minister Manto Tshablala-Msimang on Tuesday expressed "surprise and disbelief" at Feachem's comments -- the latest ruction in a relationship with the Fund that has been marked by disputes in the past.

Article: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5248615

Sat May 22, 2004 06:32 AM ET

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations' health agency agreed Saturday to launch a global campaign against obesity, blamed for an increase in deadly chronic diseases worldwide.
The Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health was backed by the policy committee of the World Health Organization's annual assembly, and its formal adoption by the full body later in the day was a formality, diplomatic sources said.

Article: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5225340

Thu May 20, 2004 12:18 PM ET

By Kim Dixon
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A new law encouraging private health insurers to bid for Medicare business will cost the government $2.75 billion more this year than a fully government-run program, a nonprofit group reported on Thursday.

The Commonwealth Fund's study suggests that the government may be better than private insurers at managing health-care costs for the elderly, the authors said.

"It suggests that private health plans don't save more money," said Brian Biles, professor of health policy at George Washington University, an author of the study, "The Cost of Privatization" in Medicare.

The analysis of government data found that payments to the private plans in 2004

Article: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=5208142

By Ellen Beck
United Press International
Published 5/20/2004 3:10 PM

WASHINGTON, May 20 (UPI) -- Health savings accounts are popular with insurers, who say they are popular with employers -- but on Capitol Hill, five months after they became law via the Medicare drug bill, they remain not very popular among some Democrats.

Sen. John Breaux, D-La., ranking member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, told a hearing Wednesday that HSAs, "as they are currently designed, are a terrible idea whose time has not yet come."

HSAs that combine a tax-free savings account with a high-deductible insurance plan for individuals, Breaux said, make for "unprecedented tax policy," because savings are deductible when they go into the account and not counted as income when they come out. "We've never done that before," Breaux added and referenced other retirement vehicles, such as 401(k) plans.

Article: http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040520-104151-6718r

Wednesday, May 19, 2004 Posted: 9:09 AM EDT (1309 GMT)

CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- Sharp increases in out-of-pocket prescription drug payments could cause people to cut use of medications for chronic diseases like asthma and diabetes and may lead to more costly medical problems, according to a study.

Doubling co-payments, the amount paid by patients, was linked to reduced use of eight types of drugs for problems like asthma, depression and allergies, according to a study released by a unit of the nonprofit research organization RAND Corp.

Spending on outpatient prescription drugs, along with hospital and doctor costs, is rising at several times the rate of inflation.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/19/prescription.use.reut/index.html

Tuesday, May 18, 2004 Posted: 1:00 PM EDT (1700 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- There is no evidence that a controversial mercury-based vaccine preservative causes autism, concludes an eagerly anticipated scientific review that says it's time to lay vaccine suspicions to rest and find the real culprit.

Tuesday's conclusion by the prestigious Institute of Medicine pointed to five large studies, here and abroad, that tracked thousands of children since 2001 and found no association between autism and vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal.

Many parents of autistic children blame vaccination for the brain disorder.

But the panel of prominent scientists said that while high doses of mercury can cause neurological damage, there's no evidence that this type of damage causes the symptoms specific to autism -- and no laboratory or animal research that proves how the much smaller amounts of mercury in thimerosal could do so either, the IOM concluded.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/18/vaccines.autism.ap/index.html

2 hours, 7 minutes ago Add Health - AFP to My Yahoo!

OTTAWA (AFP) - Canada moved to make the "morning after" birth control pill available without prescription country-wide.

The pill prevents pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse, and Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew said the government move would provide timely help to women facing an emergency.

A public consultation period about the government changes to regulations will be held before the pills go on sale over the counter.

The "morning after" pill, technically known as levonorgestrel, is already available prescription-free in Canadian provinces British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Quebec, and across parts of Europe.

Articel: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1508&ncid=751&e=7&u=/afp/20040518/hl_afp/health_canada_pill

Fri May 14, 2004 12:48 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Companies can save millions in health-care costs simply by encouraging their employees to exercise a little bit, researchers reported on Friday.
They said obese employees have higher health-care costs, but lowered those expenses by exercising just a couple of times a week -- without even losing any weight.

Feifei Wang and colleagues at the University of Michigan studied 23,500 workers at General Motors.

They estimated that getting the most sedentary obese workers to exercise would have saved about $790,000 a year, or about 1.5 percent of health-care costs for the whole group.

Article: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5150297

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (AP) -- Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced a new program that will allow state employees to obtain certain prescription drugs for free if they order the medication from a state-inspected Canadian pharmacy.

The program applies to 45 of the most popular name-brand medicines that do not have generic alternatives. State officials estimate savings of $1.4 million a year because the drugs can be purchased for less in Canada.

About 120,000 employees and their dependents would be eligible. The state would cover shipping fees, along with the $15 monthly co-payments that are required for each prescription if employees buy their medicines from U.S. pharmacists.

The governor cautioned that the program carries risks, explaining he hoped it would not invite a government crackdown on drug imports.

But he said state experts believe federal guidelines generally prevent the government from punishing people who import medications for their own use.

Federal law forbids the importation of prescription drugs from Canada, where brand-name medicines can cost half the price because of tighter government controls. The government argues that it cannot ensure the safety of drugs imported into the United States.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/14/canadian.drugs.ap/index.html

11.07AM, Fri May 14 2004

Babies who are breastfed will be less likely to suffer from heart disease later in life, a study has revealed.

Research carried out over a 20-year period showed those fed on breast milk grew more slowly than those on formula.

And the report revealed that babies who grow fast - regardless of their weight at birth - are at a higher risk of heart disease and strokes in adulthood.

The study, published in The Lancet, examined 216 teenagers aged between 13 and 16 who were given either breast milk or formula as babies in the early 80s.

Scientists assessed levels of cholesterol as well as evidence of the c-reactive protein (CRP) which - when found in high concentrations - is linked with atherosclerosis, an arterial disease.

Article: http://www.itv.com/news/498029.html

Thursday, May 13, 2004 Posted: 11:02 AM EDT (1502 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government should pick up more of the costly medical tab for low-income Americans with HIV and create a new federal benefits program to do it, a scientific panel recommended Thursday.

Such expanded coverage could cost $5.6 billion over 10 years, says the report by the Institute of Medicine, which suggests streamlining HIV/AIDS care by shifting current federal spending, including Medicaid funds, to a single entitlement program.

Despite the advent of new and improved AIDS drugs, thousands of people are left with inadequate treatment because government programs are hampered by shortfalls in state budgets and confusing eligibility standards that vary among states, says the report.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/conditions/05/13/hiv.aids.care.ap/index.html

BY DELTHIA RICKS
STAFF WRITER

May 12, 2004

A vaccine that prevents pneumonia, meningitis and ear infections is reducing those invasive conditions among black children and closing a long-existing health care gap, public health experts report in a study to be released today.

Historically, the incidence of infections with the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae has been significantly higher in black children than in white. The microbe causes a range of illnesses from pneumonia to blood infections. Some infections can be lethal.

A study in today's Journal of the American Medical Association by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention targeted children between 6 weeks and 23 months of age in seven states, putting an emphasis on black children. The idea was to determine if a disparity could be alleviated and several infectious disorders reduced.

The analysis, begun in 1998, demonstrated that something as simple as immunization can greatly impact public health in reducing disparities in medical care. Doctors administered a vaccine called Prevnar, approved for general use in 2000.

Before Prevnar, infections among black children were 3.3 times higher than the rate among white youngsters. By the end of the first round of the study in 2002, the rate of infection among black children was only 1.6 times higher.

Article: http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hsvac123798448may12,0,7976890.story?coll=ny-health-headlines

Copyright-protection also to be studied
Monday, May 10, 2004 Posted: 2:30 PM EDT (1830 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) -- Hollywood lobbyists will be busy this week as lawmakers examine smoking on film and legislation that could undo some key portions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The hearings, one in the Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday and one in the House Commerce Committee on Wednesday, make nice legislative bookends for the entertainment industry's current troubles in Washington as one focuses on content and the other on copyright

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/10/film.smoking.reut/index.html

Mon May 10, 2004 09:28 PM ET

By Joan Gralla
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The cost of providing health care for U.S. citizens who have no insurance will total $125 billion this year, with taxpayers and private entities footing most of the bill, a report issued on Monday said.

The report by a health care research foundation estimated that there are 44 million Americans without any health insurance, and soaring health care costs have become a presidential campaign issue.

On Monday, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry accused President Bush of letting skyrocketing health care costs push families to the brink of financial ruin.

Bush signed legislation last year adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, but that measure is now embroiled in controversy, including much higher-than-projected costs.

The new report, sponsored by the Washington, D.C.-based Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, argued that the country can afford health care for all of the uninsured.

Article: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5097392

By Jacob Santini
The Salt Lake Tribune

As Cover the Uninsured Week launched Monday, big dreams shared the stage with small wishes.
Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake City's mayor, wants universal health care coverage.
Joseph Jarvis, a local doctor, wants the same but confined to Utah's borders.
The Utah Jazz hope 60,000 kids can continue participating in their junior basketball league with adequate health insurance.
And Stormy Rodriquez, a mother with two jobs, just wants to find a way to afford coverage for her four children.
Cover the Uninsured Week, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is about raising awareness about the growing number of uninsured people -- in Utah there are 200,000 and nationally there are nearly 44 million.
"I work and I should be able to afford this," Rodriquez said. "I could feed and keep a roof over [my children's] heads, or I could pay insurance premiums."

Article: http://www.sltrib.com/2004/May/05112004/utah/165392.asp

Wednesday, April 21, 2004 Posted: 11:09 AM EDT (1509 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A sizable share of diabetics who have health insurance used no medicine at all to control their condition, leading to higher costs and more frequent hospitalizations, according to new research paid for by the pharmaceutical industry.

One conclusion of the study commissioned by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America: Prescription drugs should be used more often to treat diabetes and other chronic illnesses

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/conditions/04/21/diabetes.insured.ap/index.html

Friday, May 7, 2004 Posted: 12:58 PM EDT (1658 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Veterans Affairs Department will close three hospitals in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Mississippi and build two new ones in Nevada and Florida as part of much-anticipated restructuring plan, The Associated Press has learned.

The agency also will add or remove medical services at dozens of other facilities.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/07/veterans.hospitals.ap/index.html

Wednesday, May 5, 2004 Posted: 12:02 PM EDT (1602 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than one in five working adults in Texas and five other Southern and Southwestern states don't have health insurance, a new study says.

In another 37 states and the District of Columbia, at least one in every 10 working adults is uninsured, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which is leading a campaign to build support for expanding health coverage.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/05/health.coverage.ap/index.html

Reuters Health

By Alison McCook

Monday, May 3, 2004

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Parents often have mistaken ideas about contraception, and could be passing those fallacies on to their children.

A recent poll found that less than half of parents believe that condoms are very effective at preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Moreover, roughly the same amount think oral contraceptives prevent pregnancy nearly every time when used properly, and only 40 percent think the Pill is safe.

When used correctly, condoms are up to 97 percent effective at preventing pregnancy. Among Pill users, that figure exceeds 99 percent, according to the report published in the journal Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Parents' inaccurate perceptions of the effectiveness of condoms and oral contraceptives may be putting their children at risk, study author Dr. Marla Eisenberg told Reuters Health.

"If young people hear that condoms and contraceptive pills don't work, they may be less likely to use them if they do become sexually active, which places them at risk of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections," she said.

Article: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_17505.html

Tuesday, May 4, 2004 Posted: 11:29 AM EDT (1529 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A new study challenges a widely held view in the United States that Americans have the best medical care in the world.

A review of health care in the United States and four other industrialized, English-speaking countries, published Tuesday in the journal Health Affairs, found that the United States leads in some areas and trails in others.

Breast cancer survival rates were higher in the United States than in Australia, Canada, England and New Zealand, the report says, citing health data through 2000. American women also were screened for cervical cancer at a higher rate than women in the other countries.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/04/us.healthcare.ap/index.html

Monday, May 3, 2004 Posted: 3:24 PM EDT (1924 GMT)

CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- Breast-fed children in the United States are 20 percent less likely to die during the first year of life than whose who are not nursed, according to a study.

Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences said they based their finding on a survey that included nearly 9,000 infant deaths in 48 states....

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/03/nursing.infants.reut/index.html

THURSDAY, April 22 (HealthDayNews) -- If you've ever left the doctor's office stunned or confused about the diagnosis you or a family member has been given and worried about the prognosis, help is on the way.

The American College of Physicians, the nation's largest medical specialty society, on Thursday announced a plan in which its 115,000 internists will be encouraged to direct patients to a National Institutes of Health Web site, called MedlinePlus, for more information...

Full Text of Article: http://www.healthday.com/view.cfm?id=518532

Public Health Grand Rounds Goal

This program will seek to increase awareness of the value and the process involved in utilizing evidence based resources to prevent and control the use of tobacco.

Objectives

Describe two current trends in building sustainable local efforts to prevent and control tobacco use. Identify three evidence based interventions recommended by the Community Guide for tobacco prevention and control Identify three reasons to use the Community Guide as a primary source for evidence based public health practice. Identify two strategies for integrating evidence based resources into existing tobacco control and prevention efforts.

Target Audience

Public health leaders and professionals from local and state government agencies, policy makers, purchasers of health care, physicians, community-based health organizations, academic institutions, federal agencies and others who seek to learn more about the value of using evidence based strategies to improve tobacco prevention and control.

A National Satellite Broadcast and Webcast
May 21, 2004 3:00 - 4:00pm CST

Website: http://www.publichealthgrandrounds.unc.edu/index.htm

New Senior Health Web Site -- NIH has launched a new talking web site with
formats and topics tailored to the needs of older people.

The web site's senior-friendly features include large print, short, easy-to-read segments of information and simple navigation. A "talking" function reads the text aloud and special buttons to enlarge the text or turn on high contrast make text more readable. NIHSeniorHealth makes every effort to comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which aims to make federal electronic technology accessible for persons with disabilities.

Article

Link: http://nihseniorhealth.gov/

Tuesday, April 27, 2004
12:00-1:30 P.M.
101 Walter Library, Twin Cities
*Moderator*

Linda Jorn
Digital Media Center, Twin Cities campus
*Panelists*

María Emilce López
Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies, Twin Cities campus

Susan Henly
School of Nursing, Twin Cities campus

William Riley
Division of Health Services Research and Policy, Twin Cities campus

Micky Trent
Department of Clinical and Population Sciences, Twin Cities campus

In 1990 Ernest L. Boyer, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, published his groundbreaking work, Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate, in which he redefined the work of faculty members in a way that reflected more realistically the range of scholarly activities required by academic and civic mandates. He went beyond the common "scholarship of teaching vs. research" argument and broadened the term "scholarship" to include the scholarship of discovery, integration, application, and teaching. Since then there has been much debate about defining and assessing the scholarship of teaching. Three common questions that have been asked include the following:

- What do teachers need to do to take the scholarship of teaching seriously?

- How can we assess the scholarship of teaching?

- How is the scholarship of teaching viewed similarly and differently by faculty members in various disciplines?

More recently, scholars are asking how the integration of multimedia and Internet technologies have influenced the way we think about the scholarship of teaching.

At the seminar, the current Digital Media Center faculty fellows will address questions such as:

- How do disciplinary research norms influence the methods used to evaluate and assess teaching and learning and the acceptance of research in pedagogy? In other words, what would be valued as 'scholarly activity' when researching teaching and learning?

- What trends, (e.g., student demographics) have changed the conversations about the scholarship of teaching and learning in your disciplines?

- What instructional practices used in your disciplines can give us special insight into teaching, improve teaching practices, or be adapted by teachers outside of your disciplines?

- Researchers, such as Light (2001), indicate that senior undergraduates value interdisciplinary courses, or at least understanding how courses in their disciplines fit in a broader context. Is this happening in your disciplines?

- What does it mean to be a "good teacher" in your disciplines? Is a teacher who excels in the scholarship of teaching necessarily a "good teacher"? What rubrics exist in your department for assessing the scholarship of teaching?

*Related Information*
In preparation, check out http://dmc.umn.edu/spotlight/teaching-communities.shtml . It includes a bibliography of related research materials and information about campus resources that can help you explore issues related to disciplinary TEL teaching communities. A few weeks after the seminar, we will add a summary of the seminar and any additional citations to resources highlighted during the session.

The TEL Seminar Series is sponsored by the Office of Information Technology (OIT) and organized by Academic and Distributed Computing Services (ADCS) and the Digital Media Center (DMC). Sessions are cosponsored by the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost (EVPP) and collegiate units. All University faculty members, staff members, students, and members of the general public are invited to attend at no charge.