Mental Health Bill Finally Gets Congressional Approval

After more than a decade of lobbying for equal coverage for mental health treatments in health care plans, both the US Senate and the House of Representatives approved a bill yesterday that makes coverage for mental health on par with that now enjoyed for other medical issues.  Still uncertain, however, is if the bill will become law, as the terms approved in the Senate are not the same as those approved in the House.  Agreement is required before the bill can be ratified. Read more

Walgreens Sees Smoke Over San Francisco’s Tobacco Ban

San Francisco recently passed a city-wide ordinance that bans the sale of all tobacco-based products in pharmacies, such as Walgreens. The ban, scheduled to take effect October 1, has stirred up a fire at the nationwide pharmacy chain, Walgreens leading officials to ask for an injunction against the ban. Read more

National E-prescribing Conference

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, along with industry partners from health and technology, are hosting a National E-prescribing Conference on October 6 – 7, 2008 at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, Boston, MA. Read more

NTP Report on Bisphenol A

The federal government’s top toxicologists report “concerns” over bisphenol A (BPA), the controversial chemical in many of the nation’s favorite plastic beverage containers, after a full investigation of the chemical suspected of causing problems with behavior and development of the brain and prostate gland in infants and children, with fetal effects observed also. Read more

Measles Vaccine Cleared of Autism Charges

With the hope of putting to rest the question, posed in 1998, that the widely used childhood measles vaccine is linked to gastrointestinal (GI) illness that heralds the onset of autism, researchers at Columbia University have released the findings of a recent study that found no association between the measles vaccine and the development of either GI illness or autism. Read more

45.7 Million Americans Still Without Health Insurance

On August 26, the US Census Bureau released the news that although the number of Americans living without healthcare insurance, and the level of medical care that insurance promises, has dropped by 1.3 million since 2006, there were, nevertheless, 45.7 million Americans still without health insurance coverage in 2007. Read more

FDA Condones Irradiation Of Certain Types Of Produce

After several incidents of contaminated produce sickening people across the nation, the Food and Drug Administration has decided to allow food producers to use irradiation to kill dangerous organisms such as E-coli and salmonella on fresh spinach and iceberg lettuce. While the FDA contends that the process will make food safer, some food safety advocates have argued that the agency’s decisions could lower nutritional value, create unsafe chemicals and ruin taste. The FDA disputes those claims, insisting that the agency has found no serious nutritional or chemical changes associated with irradiation. Read more

Almost Half of Working America Plagued by Medical Debt

The number of Americans of working age who have accumulated medical debt or are experiencing financial difficulties paying off their medical bills has climbed to a staggering 41% by 2007, up from only 34% in 2005. Of these 72 million Americans, almost 50 million of them were without medical insurance at some point during the previous year. The remainder had medical insurance but coverage was so costly that the out-of-pocket expenses the individual was required to pay to get medical care left economic hardship in other aspects of daily life. Read more

Good News, Bad News From Medicare

Thursday brought two announcements from Medicare officials, one bringing good news, the other not-so-good news. The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (Medicare) has announced the names of 10 medical facilities or doctors demonstrating the highest mark of improvement in the care of patients undergoing treatment for diabetes, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease. Medicare’s Physician Group Practice Demonstration project will award the 10 honorees with incentives totaling $16.7 million. Read more

Denver Doctor Under Fire Over Infant Organ Transplants

Between 2004 and 2007, Dr. Mark M. Bouchet and his surgical transplant team removed the hearts from three tiny patients at Denver Children’s Hospital and transplanted them into three tiny patients dying of heart disease. All three of those tiny transplant recipients are alive today. Read more

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