GALVESTON — The mayor of Galveston said today that Shriners Hospital for Children-Galveston will not reopen, another blow to the Houston region’s health system after the drastic downsizing of the University of Texas Medical Branch in the wake of Hurricane Ike.
Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas made the announcement during the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s board meeting, saying she wanted the council to be aware of the anticipated further Read the rest of this entry »

Kenneth Thorpe, PhD, is the Executive Director of the Partnership to Fight
Chronic Disease, Robert W. Woodruff Professor and Chair of the Department of
Health Policy & Management, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University.
He was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Policy, U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services. In this capacity, he coordinated all financial estimates
and program impacts of President Clinton’s healthcare reform Read the rest of this entry »

– The Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA) helps qualifying
patients who lack prescription coverage receive the medicines they need
through public or private programs. Many of these programs are offered by
individual pharmaceutical companies. PPA is sponsored by the Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), doctors, other health care
providers, patient advocacy organizations and community groups. There is no
cost Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (AP) — Environmentalists and consumer advocates urged the government Thursday to increase testing of farm-raised salmon from Chile after authorities in Germany detected banned chemicals in Chilean fish.
“We obviously have a problem, at least according to German government data,” said Urvashi Rangan, a senior scientist with Consumers Union, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group. “Some of these banned substances are potentially carcinogenic, Read the rest of this entry »

The drugs case against entertainer Todd McKenny has been dropped
by police during a brief court hearing today.
McKenny, a radio, television and stage personality, was due to
have his case heard this week, but the prosecution announced today
it would be dropping the charge of possession of gamma
hydroxybutyrate – known as fantasy.
Police discovered a vial of the drug in McKenny’s pants pocket
when they found him unconscious in Rushcutters Bay Park Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
WAUKESHA, Wis. —  A 25-year-old Milwaukee woman found partially frozen in a snowbank over the weekend said Tuesday she was “gone” before doctors brought her back to life.
The woman, Tia Ross, was in the intensive care unit of Waukesha Memorial Hospital.
When Ross arrived at the hospital Sunday morning, trauma center medical director Michael Sore says she had spent nearly six hours outside, didn’t have a pulse Read the rest of this entry »

Report Finds High Rate Of Preterm Births, Calls For Improved Prenatal Care
,” urging states to address factors that contribute to the country’s high premature birth rate,
reports. The report — which gave the U.S. an overall grade of ‘D’ — examined data on the percentage of 2005 live preterm births, defined as births before 37 weeks’ gestation. The report ranked Vermont at the top of the list with a 9% rate of preterm births and Mississippi at Read the rest of this entry »

Aldo Mastro mastered social networking long before there was a phrase to describe his good-natured outreach to benefit people and causes he cared about.
He made friends easily, on the street and in the executive suite of Ford Motor Co., where he ran the in-house fitness facility for its top executives for decades.
He offered countless volunteer hours to the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, consistently selling the most tickets to its annual SOCK fund-raising Read the rest of this entry »

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Police Raid Shantytown, Kill 10, Find Drugs, Guns
February 5, 2009 7:23 a.m. EST
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (AHN) – Brazilian police on anti-drug raids shanty towns in Rio de Janeiro killed at least 10 suspects, including two teenagers.
At least seven people were arrested and police found assorted drugs, guns and two grenades. A woman was wounded by a stray bullet and taken to the hospital.
About 300 police and special Read the rest of this entry »

David Balekdjian, Partner at The Bruckner Group, indicated that “It
is a great honor to be invited to speak to NORD’s
Corporate Council. The Bruckner Group believes strongly that patients
with rare diseases must have liberal access to effective treatments, and
that we must encourage development of new, better treatments. These are
necessary requirements for a compassionate healthcare system. Yet payers
Read the rest of this entry »