The Centers for Medicare %26amp; Medicaid Services (CMS) today issued Quality Measurement, Resource Use Measurement, and Value-Based Purchasing Roadmaps for the traditional Medicare Fee-For-Service Program.
“These documents are intended to offer a vision for the future and potential options for CMS to pursue to improve the quality and value of health care delivered in the [...]
FDA “has distressingly limited interest” in addressing the “rising concern that conflicts of interest may bias the outcome of clinical trials,” a New York Times editorial states. The editorial continues that a report released on Monday by the HHS Office of Inspector General on the efforts of FDA officials to identify potential conflicts of interest [...]
New York Blood Center (NYBC) and its regional operations (serving New York City, Long Island, Hudson Valley and New Jersey) have issued an emergency appeal for blood donations.
Hospital demand for blood (needed for emergency care and surgery) has increased beyond seasonal expectations while levels of blood donation have been below forecast. Blood supplies have dropped [...]
Using cancer cells that were originally isolated from an anaplastic large cell lymphoma patient, two researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a novel regulatory mechanism in inflammatory signaling of immune cells that may prove beneficial in treating the disease.
The researchers wanted to better understand how the membrane protein, CD30, contributes [...]
A protein that was first identified for playing a key role in regulating normal heart rhythms also appears to be significant in helping muscle cells survive the forces of muscle contraction. The clue was a laboratory mouse that seemed to have a form of muscular dystrophy.
A group of proteins called ankyrins, or anchor proteins, were [...]
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine acted today to address what may be a systemic failure of reporting of potential abuse at the Pinecrest Supports and Services Center in Alexandria.
These actions result from an investigation commenced upon the arrest of five employees of Pinecrest for alleged abuse of residents. The five employees, [...]
A Manhattan dialysis center is notifying patients after the facility identified, and a State Department of Health (DOH) investigation confirmed, one patient who contracted hepatitis C after undergoing dialysis there.
Approximately 170 patients of the Upper Manhattan Dialysis Center of Beth Israel Medical Center at 2465-67 Broadway in Manhattan are being notified in person or by [...]
A special series of papers in the peer-reviewed journal Zebrafish provides a comprehensive look at future directions of research on pigment biology. Model organisms such as zebrafish advance the scientific understanding of the genetic basis of human skin color and race.
“With the election of the first African-American president of the United States, our society [...]
Hospitals in eight cities around the globe have successfully demonstrated that the use of a simple surgical checklist, developed by WHO, during major operations can lower the incidence of surgery-related deaths and complications by one third.
The studies were undertaken in hospitals in each of the six WHO regions. Analysis shows that the rate of major [...]
To help motivated consumers quit smoking and to further its Operation Main Street efforts to save customers money on prescription medications, Walmart today announced that it has expanded its affordable pharmacy program to include a smoking cessation prescription starter pack for $9, the lowest price on the market.
The $9 starter pack of bupropion ER 150mg, [...]