Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

Lobbying Draws On Ranks Of Former Government Officials, Health Industry Coffers
"The nation"s largest insurers, hospitals and medical groups have hired more than 350 former government staff members and retired members of Congress in hopes of influencing their old bosses and colleagues, according to an analysis of lobbying disclosures and other records," the Washington Post reports. The Post"s analysis of lobbying disclosure records shows that three-quarters of major health firms have hired an insider to lobby on their behalf; half of those insiders once worked for the key senators and congressional committees that are now shaping the reform proposals.
generic viagra online
DeCODE Discovers Second Common Genetic Risk Factor For Atrial Fibrillation And Stroke
Scientists at deCODE genetics (Nasdaq: DCGN) and colleagues from Europe and the United States today report the discovery of a common single-letter variant in the sequence of the human genome (SNP) conferring increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) and stroke. The findings will be integrated directly into the deCODE AF(TM) reference laboratory test for gauging individual risk of AF and stroke and helping to identify stroke patients who may benefit from enhanced monitoring for AF.
News of the day
PLoS Medicine Editorial Argues For Water Access To Be Considered Human Right
"As scientists warn that the world"s fresh water supplies will soon run critically short, and companies scramble to privatize them, some researchers and activists say water should be considered a basic human right," Wired"s blog, "Wired Science" writes of an editorial published in PLoS Medicine Tuesday (Keim, 6/30).
Medical Devices

Study Says High-Cost Cancer Drugs Have Little Benefit, Strain Health System

"Crunching data from published studies, the authors found that treating a lung-cancer patient with Erbitux, a drug that costs $80,000 for an 18-week regimen, prolongs survival by only 1.2 months," the Wall Street Journal reports. The study, which estimates that the life of each American who dies or cancer could be extended by one year at the cost of $440 billion, was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The high cost and relatively low benefit points to "one of the thorniest questions facing lawmakers working on the overhaul of the U.S. health-care system": reducing growing health care spending in the last months of patient"s lives. "Some countries, like the United Kingdom, agree to pay for expensive drugs only if they meet a certain threshold of efficacy, but no such rationing exists in the U.S.," the Journal reports. "While some policy experts consider the rationing of health-care res inevitable in the quest to control medical spending, many Americans have long resisted putting the collective fiscal good over their individual health" (Johnson, 6/29). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009