10:17 PM CST on Wednesday, February 4, 2009
The Texas Medical Association said Wednesday that a survey of doctors found that health insurers and government bureaucracy are hurting their ability to care for patients.
The survey of 850 Texas doctors underscores core problems with the health care system: Doctors are struggling to get paid and insurers are wrestling to keep costs under control.
The area’s largest insurers Read the rest of this entry »

The Times reported Saturday that Beasley — whose name became public when he appealed his initial termination — was hired by county officials a decade ago despite disclosing his convictions for rape.
Beasley pleaded no contest to raping two women under color of authority while on duty and in uniform as an LAPD officer in the early 1990s. His actions cost the city of Los Angeles $290,000 in civil settlements for his victims.
Beasley’s initial Read the rest of this entry »

The Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness Initiative (FFI) has announced it is seeking requests for activities to support and build on its efforts. This initiative is about people working together to create vibrant communities where the healthy choice is the easy choice.
This work began in April 2007 when the W.K. Kellogg Foundation selected Northeast Iowa as one of nine communities locations across the country to become models of community change. Each Read the rest of this entry »

MONDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) — People with a family history of melanoma are twice as likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, a new study finds.
While the reasons for this association are not clear, other studies have shown that people with Parkinson’s diseases are at greater risk for developing melanoma.
“For people with a family member with melanoma, they may be at risk for Parkinson’s disease,” said lead researcher Dr. Xiang Gao, an instructor Read the rest of this entry »

reports that Phillip Terrence Ragon will announce the gift to Massachusetts General Hospital on Wednesday.
The hospital will get $10 million a year for the next decade to bring together doctors, engineers and biologists from Massachusetts General as well as other research institutions, including Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The 59-year-old Ragon is the founder and sole owner of InterSystems Corp., a company Read the rest of this entry »

SPPI.O
) said
U.S. regulators have extended the review date of its
experimental cancer drug, Zevalin, to July 2.
The decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration comes
after the regulator received a major amendment to the
Supplemental Biologics License Application for use of Zevalin
as a treatment for patients with indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma (NHL), the company said.
The drug has received priority review status from the FDA.
Read the rest of this entry »

February 15, 2009 15:55 EST
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Achieving a goal of getting some 2,500 Kentucky women to take a health survey for the first time won’t be a problem after all for the Kentucky Women’s Health Registry.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that the numbers were languishing at around 860 with a month to go and a deadline looming. Project officials then sent an e-mail to women who have taken the survey before, asking them to urge Read the rest of this entry »

· If your spouse has a separate plan, act quickly to get on it.
· Ask about your COBRA rights. With some exceptions, laid-off workers can continue their coverage for 18 months by paying its full cost. (Congress is considering a temporary, 65 percent premium subsidy.)
· If COBRA coverage isn’t an affordable option, explore non-group plans. Make sure that any coverage meets the requirements to protect you against preexisting condition exclusions Read the rest of this entry »

LONDON (AFP) — Ronnie Biggs, Britain’s notorious Great Train Robber, is in hospital with pneumonia, his son told AFP on Saturday.
The 79-year-old has been taken from prison to a nearby hospital in Norwich, eastern England, Michael Biggs said, adding that his father’s health was poor.
Biggs is among Britain’s most notorious criminals, with the Great Train Robbery of 1963 holding legendary status.
He was jailed for 30 years in 1964 but Read the rest of this entry »

-(Dow Jones)- U.S. federal regulators on Monday acknowledged it was
a mistake to “dis-invite” a leading cardiologist to a panel that was deciding
whether to recommend approval for a controversial anti-clotting drug made by
Eli
Lilly & Co.
(LLY).
Dr. Sanjay Kaul, a cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in
, was scheduled to participate in a
Feb. 3
Prasugrel, an anti-clotting drug that has been linked
to dangerous internal bleeding.
Read the rest of this entry »