WASHINGTON – Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) last week joined a majority in the House of Representatives in support of bipartisan legislation to provide health care to 11 million children from working families.
The Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (H.R. 2) was approved by a vote of 289-139.
The bill is very similar to the legislation that President Bush vetoed twice in the 110th Congress.
“Investing Read the rest of this entry »

LONDON — Christopher Viehbacher is likely to have big changes in store for French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis SA when he takes over as chief executive this week.
Paris-based Sanofi is one of the world’s largest drug makers by sales, but investors and analysts say it badly needs to change tack if it is to keep sales and profit rising.
The company has been relatively unproductive at developing new medicines in recent years, and many of its biggest Read the rest of this entry »

SANTA ROSA, Calif.—The family of two sisters seriously injured when a pickup truck hit them as they waited for a bus with their father says they are expected to survive.
Thirteen-year-old Cruz Yesenia was airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Oakland after the crash Saturday, and is in stable condition. Her family says doctors treated her for swelling in her brain.
Her sister, 16-year-old Deysi Emelia, suffered a broken rib, shoulder and finger Read the rest of this entry »

GALESBURG, Ill. — Defense attorneys representing a man charged with killing eight people in Illinois and Missouri last summer say an evaluation of his mental fitness may not be ready for two months.
At a hearing in Galesburg, attorney Jeremy Karlin said a doctor has only recently been appointed to evaluate Nicholas Sheley’s (SHEE’-leez) competency. The report was initially due next week.
Sheley faces first-degree murder charges in the June Read the rest of this entry »

Just 2 percent of nearly 1,200 graduating medical students surveyed say they plan to work in primary care or internal medicine, according to new research published in the
. That number was 9 percent in a 1990 survey, the
. The new report raises concerns about a possible shortage of doctors who can be the primary gatekeepers in handling patient care in the future. The graduating students surveyed said that what discourages them about primary care Read the rest of this entry »

The man was arrested without incident Wednesday after police negotiators persuaded him to surrender a gun and get out of his vehicle, which was parked outside the hospital’s ER.
The standoff forced hospital officials to close the rear of the hospital, move their emergency room operations to the front of the medical center, close the wellness and fitness center and cancel cardiac rehab classes, said Julie Rajotte, hospital spokeswoman.
It’s not Read the rest of this entry »

Florida’s legislators will vote Thursday on two plans to close the state’s $2.3 billion deficit by slashing programs that, some hospital officials say, could set off a statewide healthcare system crisis.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee debates the Senate budget plan in the morning and the full House votes out its version in the afternoon. The two versions slash spending on everything from schools, roads and affordable housing to healthcare and Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON-A proposal to give the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco products appears dead for the year, but anti-smoking advocates say they expect it to pass in 2009.
The measure passed the House this summer with overwhelming support, but a threat from Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., to block it and a veto threat from the White House helped stall it in the Senate.
The Senate left town last week without bringing it up for a Read the rest of this entry »

Fifty-nine percent of U.S. companies intend to combat rising health-care costs in 2009 by raising workers’ deductibles, copays or out-of-pocket expenses, according to a survey by the Mercer consulting firm.
The survey projects health-care costs will rise on average by 5.7 percent next year for workers and their employers. That’s equal to this year’s increase.
Mercer says 19 percent of employers plan to avoid passing along that Read the rest of this entry »

on November 4, Americans are now
expecting to see him keep his promise of bringing the change that the nation
needs.
Currently,
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is said to begin to both monitor more
closely and to instate stricter regulations, as well, where imports are
concerned, in order to prevent incidents similar to the recent salmonella
outbreak from occurring in the future.
Moreover,
since president-elect Obama, who is a former Read the rest of this entry »