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

Stanford Bioethicist And Colleagues Call For Federal Regulation Of Genetic Ancestry Testing
Imagine donating a sample of your DNA to help researchers study the genetics of diabetes. The disease is common among your friends and family, and you"re proud of your role in finding out why. Now, imagine that some time later, you learn that your DNA has been used for other studies on topics you never expected - schizophrenia, human migration, inbreeding. Although your name isn"t attached to the sample anymore, scientists are using your DNA to draw conclusions about your community and your ancestors. Some of these studies violate your cultural beliefs.

U.N. Calls For Investing In Women To Ensure Economic Recovery, Reduce 'Health Gap'
To mark World Population Day on July 11, U.N. officials are calling for investment in women and girls during the global financial crisis as a way to promote economic recovery and tackle poverty and inequality, afrol News reports. "There is no smarter investment in troubled times," Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, executive director of UNFPA, said. According to Obaid, even before the financial downturn, women and girls were the majority of the world"s poor. "Now, they are falling deeper into poverty and face increased health risks, especially if they are pregnant," she said, adding that the "health gap" will get bigger "unless we increase social investments, maintain health gains and expand efforts to save more women"s lives."
News of the day
Whistleblower Case Against Healthways, Inc. Settled For $40,000,000
A 15-year whistleblower case filed by a former employee against Healthways, Inc. has been settled for approximately $40,000,000 in damages and fees. The case was initiated in June 1994, when A. Scott Pogue, who had recently been fired from his job as a marketing representative for a company called Diabetes Treatment Centers of America, filed a case in Nashville under the United States Civil False Claims Act against his former employer.
Public Health

Sebelius, DeParle Ready To Tackle Health Care Overhaul

The friendship between "working moms" Kathleen Sebelius and Nancy-Ann DeParle "could pay big dividends for President Obama now," USA Today reports. The two have a lot in common in the policy world as well. Sebelius, the secretary of Health and Human Services, and DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, "first met at the White House mess in 1997, during the battle for a patients" bill of rights to combat the constraints of managed care." Their relationship was then "built over a dozen years on topics ranging from the children"s health insurance program to raising their own children. Now, they are the "tag team for Obama"s most ambitious domestic policy goal: an overhaul of the nation"s health care system." Sebelius and DeParle are "two pragmatists" who aim to "work with Congress rather than dictate it, as the Clinton administration did." This means "spending more time with lawmakers." And while "their goal is to get something passed that includes Obama"s principles," "on the most controversial points, the two are willing to negotiate." For example, "they want a public insurance plan to compete with private insurers but say it doesn"t need to be a rigid, Medicare-like model. They want more employers to offer health insurance but have not insisted on a mandate. They want to cover more uninsured but have not dictated how many. They want to pay for the expansion but aren"t saying what taxes to raise or spending to cut." Sebelius and DeParle sat down with USA Today for a "joint interview," in which "the two occasionally finish each other"s sentences." The two joked that many people still believe they are hiding a completed health care bill, but insisted it will be Congress who writes it "by consensus." "So far, many members are pleased with the tag team"s light touch," but there is still significant concern and disagreement in Congress over the reform efforts in the White House. DeParle says the issue of health care "hits very close to home" for both women. "It"s part of what makes this work so important and wonderful, I think, for both of us - being able to be involved in something that could really make a difference in people"s lives" (Wolf, 6/2). 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