NEW YORK (Associated Press) – As Congress returns from summer recess, lawmakers are expected to continue needling pharmaceutical makers and health insurers with investigations, while holding off on major health care reform until next year.
Democrats this year have launched probes of some of the country’s largest drugmakers and passed laws curbing marketing tactics used by insurers. Analysts expect those efforts to continue this fall while party Read the rest of this entry »

Governor Deval Patrick yesterday accelerated his administration’s efforts to control spiraling statewide healthcare costs, warning that rising premiums threaten to crush families and businesses and doom Massachusetts’ groundbreaking experiment with universal insurance.
Patrick said officials are considering using state insurance regulations to block excessive healthcare premiums. He is also summoning leaders of insurance and hospital companies for Read the rest of this entry »

The poll suggests many people aren’t paying enough attention to their eye health.
“Every adult should have a comprehensive eye exam at least every two years, but it’s even more important for people who already use corrective lenses,” Dr. James Kirchner, the AOA’s eye health expert, said in an association news release.
“Too often, we see people who have put off eye exams, because they assume they just need a different lens prescription, when they Read the rest of this entry »

Thousands of people are being contacted and told to test for HIV, and hepatitis B and C after a manager at the High Prairie hospital finally detected and reported the widespread practice of reusing syringes.
Syringes were reused to inject medication into intravenous lines during endoscopies from March 1, 2004, to Oct. 2, 2008. They may have also been reused during dental surgeries dating back to 1990.
It’s baffling this could go on for nearly Read the rest of this entry »

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, Sep 09, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) –
A unique line of specially designed orthopedic supports from Lil’
Drug Store Products, a leading marketer of feminine health solutions,
can help women of all ages avoid some of the health dangers associated
with the national trend toward obesity. Researchers at the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, writing in the July 2008
online issue of Obesity, Read the rest of this entry »

Aspect Medical Repurchases $15 mln of Its 2.5% Convertible Senior Notes Due 2014 – Quick Facts
(RTTNews) - 
Aspect Medical Systems, Inc. (ASPM:
) Monday said it repurchased an aggregate of $15 million face value of its 2.5% Convertible Senior Notes due 2014, for aggregate consideration of approximately $9 million in cash, including accrued interest. In June 2007, As a result of the current and prior repurchases, Read the rest of this entry »

Ask the average American their thoughts on the economy, the effects of the leadership over the last eight years, and what needs to be done to remedy the fiscal spiral we’ve wound up with and they’ll likely ramble off any number of opinions related to the yo-yoing stock market, home foreclosures, or progressive taxation vs. tax cuts for all. We’re now a nation of economists and we all know which policies we want put in place in the coming weeks and Read the rest of this entry »

Health fads are nothing new. People have been trying to find new, simple health cures for centuries. Now, we live in an age that is dichotomized by those who seek technologically-based results and those looking for quick cures through natural means. Between the two, health fads have taken an interesting course over the past few years, and many of them have since fallen by the wayside.
Some so-called healthy cures or treatments may seem like breakthroughs Read the rest of this entry »

Ind. pilot expected to stay in Fla. hospital
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — An Indiana financial manager suspected of staging his death in a plane crash is expected to remain hospitalized until early next week.
U.S. Marshals say 38-year-old Marcus Schrenker was in stable condition Friday at a Tallahassee hospital, recovering from a suicide attempt.
Once released, Schrenker will be taken to Pensacola for a court appearance on charges intentionally Read the rest of this entry »

Regional Health Alliance has helped Calhoun County become a healthier place to live by improving access to dental care and prescriptions, reducing preventable infant deaths and initiating programs to improve minorities’ health, among other things.
Volunteer members reported on this year’s successes and set some ambitious goals at RHA’s annual meeting Tuesday at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. About 85 people — 30 more than last year — attended.
Read the rest of this entry »