Latest Health News

HIV/AIDS advocates in Georgia have become concerned that "[o]ld messages geared to urban, white, gay men simply don't resonate with many" black, rural, women and young people, who now are the "new face" of HIV/AIDS in the state, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, New Jersey's largest health insurer, on Friday filed to become a publicly held for-profit company, which could potentially provide the state $1 billion to spend on health care, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The insurer covers 3.

The California Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ruled that physicians cannot refuse medical treatment to gays and lesbians based on the physicians' religious beliefs, the Los Angeles Times reports (Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 8/19).

The AP/Long Island Newsday on Sunday examined the efforts of a mother-daughter team to reduce HIV/AIDS through community development in Kenya. Rosemell Ong'udi and her daughter, Loyce Mbewa-Ong'udi -- who runs the Rabuor Village Project -- have developed "community-owned" programs in which residents rather than donors set the priorities.

WellCare has agreed to pay $35.2 million as part of a Medicaid fraud investigation, but the payment does not settle nor limit the investigation, the health insurer wrote in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, the St. Petersburg Times reports (St. Petersburg Times, 8/18). Federal authorities raided WellCare's Tampa Bay, Fla., headquarters on Oct.

FDA's approval process and postmarket oversight of Danco Laboratories' medication abortion drug Mifeprex, also known as RU-486, were "consisten[t]" with how the agency handles other drugs with restricted distribution, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Tuesday, Bloomberg reports (Larkin, Bloomberg, 8/18).

University of Alaska Fairbanks neuroscientists studying stroke and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome are presenting their research findings at the 7th Conference of the Specialized Neuroscience Research Programs in New York Aug. 19-22, 2008.

Rising flood waters across West Africa are intensifying health risks for millions of people, and adding to the impact of the food price crisis. International aid is needed as heavy rains forecast to last until September could exacerbate health threats for conditions including malaria, diarrhea and other potentially fatal communicable diseases.

The RCM Responds to the East of England's NHS consultation "Towards the best, together": Midwives say the best is yet to come - 610 more midwives needed rather than 160 proposed.

A new fun viral campaign with a serious message has been launched to encourage more people to pledge to save a life by signing up as an organ donor. Developed as part of UK Transplant's 'Superhero' campaign 2008, the new game gives users the chance to 'superhero themselves' online with a fun photo application http://www.superhero-me.co.

A report published by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in the August 20 issue of JAMA suggests that measuring how much an individual's performance varies across several neuropsychological tests enhances the accuracy of predicting whether older adults will develop dementia.

Duloxetine hydrochloride maintained pain reduction in the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain (DPNP) for more than six months,[i] according to new data presented today at the 12th World Congress on Pain in Glasgow, Scotland.

When virally infected cells in the brain called astrocytes come in contact with anti-viral T cells of the immune system, they undergo a unique series of changes that dramatically reorganize their shape and function, according to researchers at the Board of Governors Gene Therapeutics Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Karen Evans of Baltimore, Maryland was elected Chair of the Lupus Foundation of America, Inc. (LFA) Board of Directors during the Foundation's recent Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Ms. Evans will lead the LFA Board's strategic initiatives to bring national attention and increased public and private resources to fight lupus, an unpredictable and potentially fatal autoimmune disease. Ms.

Highlights of a project that demonstrates how employee compliance in taking medication for conditions such as hypertension and diabetes benefits both employee and employer will be presented by Todd Prewitt, M.D., SHPS' director of clinical operations/medical director, and Jill D. Olds, director of global benefit strategy for Cummins Inc.

Local governments have work ahead on retiree health care costs, amid new requirements to disclose them, but are making progress, according to a study that examines trends in municipality health care costs. All state and local governments must comply with a new standard imposed by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) by the end of 2009.

Today, the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) was accredited with the CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ certification, recognizing the organization's commitment to the health of their employees and family members by certifying their efforts to meet an exceptionally high standard of cancer prevention, screening and care guidelines.

Over two thirds of smokers incorrectly believe that nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products, like NiQuitin, are just as harmful as cigarettes, and this misconception may even be stopping them from getting the support they need to give up smoking.

Medical Tourism Corporation (Med Tourism Co, LLC), an overseas medical treatment facilitation company has released a guide entitled, Choosing the Right International Hospital -- a Medical Tourism Company Perspective. The medical tourism guide provides: - Vital Tips on smart preparation for a medical tourism trip that will be convenient & predictable at the hospital destination.

The U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention announces the official opening of its newest international site located in the WTorre Technology Park, São Paulo, Brazil. The USP-Brazil facility supports USP's international public health mission to improve the health of people around the world through public standards and related programs that help ensure the quality and safety of medicines and foods.