UPI Health Business articles from June 2005

UPI Health Business archives from June 2005

Medical helicopter businesses increasing.(UPI Science Report)
June 10, 2005... Byline: STOKELY BAKSH WASHINGTON, June 10 (UPI) -- The airborne-ambulance business is likely to grow as more companies find the industry profitable and produce more heliports and enhance airlifts with in-flight paramedics and...

Air pollutants can harm child lung growth.(UPI Science Report)
June 10, 2005... Byline: LYDELL C. BRIDGEFORD WASHINGTON, June 10 (UPI) -- Long-term exposure to air pollution is a key factor in respiratory-illness development in children, U.S. researchers said at a briefing on Capitol Hill Friday. "We found that...

Mandatory contraceptive prescriptions eyed.(UPI Science Report)
June 10, 2005... Byline: RYAN HOLEYWELL WASHINGTON, June 10 (UPI) -- When she went to a CVS pharmacy in Carlisle, Pa., to fill a prescription for Plan B emergency contraceptive, Rachel said she was shocked to learn that the store would not distribute the...

Health Wrap: Up in smoke.(UPI Science Report)
June 13, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, June 13 (UPI) -- You know it is a strange week on the consumer-health beat when U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Clarence Thomas and William Rehnquist side with the pot smokers -- though they...

Insured shoulder costs of uninsured.(UPI Science Report)
June 13, 2005... Byline: CATHERINE SHAROKY WASHINGTON, June 13 (UPI) -- Research by the non-profit consumer organization Families USA shows insurance premiums will continue to increase for people with employer-provided healthcare to cover medical expenses...

Technique generates new brain cells.(UPI Science Report)
June 13, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 13 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have developed a method to produce a limitless supply of new brain cells from adult stem cells, opening the door for using the technology to replace brain tissue damaged...

U.S. HIV infections pass 1 million.(UPI Science Report)
June 13, 2005... Byline: ED SUSMAN ATLANTA, June 13 (UPI) -- The number of people in the United States living with HIV has risen to more than 1 million, due to a combination of new infections and longer lifespans of those already infected, public-health...

Salt-reduction guidelines challenged.
June 14, 2005... Byline: ANDREW DAMSTEDT WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- The 2005 Dietary Guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should have remained silent on the issue of lowering sodium intake, experts said, because of a lack...

Caregiving: Moms in the middle.
June 14, 2005... Byline: ALEX CUKAN Ellen Mackey is a self-described soccer mom who has put 120,000 miles on her minivan ferrying four children to four different schools, sports practices, Boy Scouts, chorus and dance classes. Now she is ferrying a fifth...

The Age of Autism: Feedback on the Amish 1.
June 14, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- Readers of this column have reacted strongly to our series of reports on autism among the Amish. So far, we have found only a handful of cases of autism and have quoted some experts who...

USDA resisted retesting suspect mad cow.
June 14, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to send a brain sample from a suspected mad cow case to England to have it confirmed by experts there, after the animal had retested positive for...

Zerhouni: NIH needs strong road map.
June 15, 2005... Byline: ANDREW DAMSTEDT WASHINGTON, June 15 (UPI) -- Developing a medical research road map is the National Institutes of Health's most important undertaking following completion of the human genome project, Dr. Elias Zerhouni told...

AIDS strikes hard at poor, minority women.
June 15, 2005... Byline: ED SUSMAN ATLANTA, June 15 (UPI) -- About 250,000 women in the United States are infected with HIV and the epidemic disproportionately has hit women of color, women who are poor and women involved in the sexual trade. Actually,...

QIO group disputes JAMA article findings.
June 15, 2005... Byline: CHETAN KULKARNI WASHINGTON, June 15 (UPI) -- The American Health Quality Association is disputing results of a study that said improvements in hospital care for Medicare beneficiaries could not be attributed definitively to Quality...

Analysis: Governors together on Medicaid.
June 15, 2005... Byline: ELLEN BECK WASHINGTON, June 15 (UPI) -- The nation's governors have presented a solid, bipartisan front for Medicaid reform that should push Congress, which is trying to cut $10 billion from the large healthcare entitlement, to...

The Age of Autism: Feedback on the Amish 2.
June 16, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, June 16 (UPI) -- This is the second of two columns sharing reader response to our exploration of autism among the Amish. The first part, published Tuesday, was devoted to criticism and caveats about such...

Internet used to negotiate 'safer' sex.
June 16, 2005... Byline: ED SUSMAN ATLANTA, June 16 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have found that many HIV-positive men are using the Internet to "negotiate safety" -- make attempts to find partners for unprotected sex without risking further transmission of...

Healthcare costs boost senior income needs.
June 16, 2005... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., June 16 (UPI) -- Americans who think they can retire comfortably on 70 percent or 80 percent of their regular salaries might want to think again. Financial advisers have begun to urge retirees to try to...

New antibiotic works on resistant bugs.
June 16, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new type of antibiotic that will help doctors combat the increasing number of bacterial infections that are resistant to treatment. ...

Bioterror pursuit ensnares scientists.
June 16, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 16 (UPI) -- As President Bush pushes for Congress to renew the Patriot Act to battle terrorism, scientists are voicing their discontent that the administration's rush to prosecute suspected...

Chamber of Commerce weighs in on retirement.
June 17, 2005... Byline: ANDREW DAMSTEDT WASHINGTON, June 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has recommended four ways to redesign public policies to accommodate a maturing workforce and retirees. Speakers at the "Voice of Business on the Mature...

Health Wrap: Bristol-Myers dials it back.
June 17, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, June 17 (UPI) -- Is being bombarded with fewer TV ads for new drugs right for you? If so, you've got an unlikely ally: U.S. pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb says it will stop advertising new...

Home care featured in new Medicaid plan.
June 17, 2005... Byline: CATHERINE SHAROKY WASHINGTON, June 17 (UPI) -- Vermont's Medicaid program this fall will offer its indigent, elderly and disabled beneficiaries more choices in deciding between nursing home and home-based care. The new Vermont...

Tax reform linked to healthcare reform.
June 20, 2005... Byline: ANDREW DAMSTEDT WASHINGTON, June 20 (UPI) -- Conservative policy experts Monday said tax reform needs to be part of healthcare reform because the two interconnect in ways that increase health spending. Grace-Marie Turner,...

New service preserves DNA of deceased.
June 20, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 20 (UPI) -- Families can hang on to their departed loved one's DNA through a new profile preservation service offered to funeral homes by genetic-testing company Orchid Cellmark. The company,...

Ped Med: Childhood obesity spreading.
June 20, 2005... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ SAN FRANCISCO, June 20 (UPI) -- For a growing number of America's children, obesity presents an adult-size health threat. Some 9.8 million youngsters ages 6 to 19 -- nearly three times as many as in 1980 -- carry...

Londoners to get localized pollution alert.
June 20, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED Londoners most vulnerable to air pollution soon will receive street-by-street warnings of highly polluted areas to avoid. The European Space Agency project already is forecasting air-pollution levels in Central...

Health costs rose 8 percent last year.
June 21, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) -- Healthcare costs per insured individual rose 8.2 percent last year, a new report concludes. The rise outstripped the 5.6-percent increase in U.S. economic growth, and if it continues it will...

Health Biz: Differing views on Medicaid.
June 21, 2005... Byline: ELLEN BECK WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) -- Mixing 50 different state Medicaid plans with the federal government bureaucracy, spending $300 billion a year for 53 million indigent and disabled beneficiaries -- it is not difficult to see...

AMA wants more study of consumer drug ads.
June 21, 2005... Byline: ED SUSMAN CHICAGO, June 21 (UPI) -- Delegates to the American Medical Association Tuesday resisted -- at least for the moment -- the urge to call for a ban on direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs, such as...

Heart infection linked to Staph bacteria.
June 21, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) -- An international study suggests a growing number of cases of infective endocarditis -- a potentially deadly infection of the heart valves -- stem from healthcare settings, and the most...

AMA: Doctors should be able to sell drugs.
June 22, 2005... Byline: ED SUSMAN CHICAGO, June 22 (UPI) -- The American Medical Association wants physicians to be able to dispense medications to patients if a pharmacist claims a conscientious objection and balks at filling the prescription. The...

AMA gets facelift to attract new members.
June 22, 2005... Byline: STOKELY BAKSH WASHINGTON, June 22 (UPI) -- The American Medical Association hopes a more focused agenda, a national advertising campaign and a new logo will reverse a trend of declining membership and strengthen its position with...

First West Nile illness of 2005 detected.
June 22, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 22 (UPI) -- Federal health officials said Tuesday the first human case this year of the potentially deadly West Nile virus has been detected in Kansas. "This season's first human case of West...

Eat to Live: Bag the kids a healthy lunch.
June 22, 2005... Byline: JULIA WATSON WASHINGTON, June 22 (UPI) -- Almost out of the blue, childhood obesity has exploded as a prime social concern. The issue has appeared on the public-health radar screen, even in places such as China, where you would...

Australia biotech looks for U.S. ties.
June 22, 2005... Byline: ANDREW DAMSTEDT Australian biotech companies are courting U.S. pharmaceutical companies this week at the world's largest biotechnology conference, BIO 2005, in Philadelphia. "The enthusiasm and the drive to innovate, which is...

WHO urges mental-health policy review.
June 22, 2005... Byline: RENEE WILLIAMS WASHINGTON, June 22 (UPI) -- The World Health Organization has released a legal guidebook to help governments develop mental-health legislation, as societies in many parts of the world debate ways to treat the...

Ashley Judd works to raise AIDS awareness.
June 23, 2005... Byline: KATHERINE TORRES WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- Television and movie actress Ashley Judd took center stage in Washington this week to promote an issue she said is her passion and purpose: AIDS awareness. As the global ambassador...

AMA tries to boost organ donations.
June 23, 2005... Byline: RENEE WILLIAMS WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- The American Medical Association has added its considerable clout to the search for ways to increase organ donations. At its annual meeting in Chicago this week, AMA members agreed to...

WHO seeks to raise radon awareness.
June 23, 2005... Byline: RENEE WILLIAMS WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- The World Health Organization has launched the International Radon Project to help countries combat the dangers of radon gas. "Radon poses an easily reducible health risk to...

Health Biz: Long-term care in the long run.
June 23, 2005... Byline: ELLEN BECK AND STOKELY BAKSH WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- Medicaid at the state and federal levels is trying to balance spending on home care and nursing-home care in hopes of giving the disabled and seniors what they want while...

BCBS expands pay for performance.
June 23, 2005... Byline: ANDREW DAMSTEDT WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- Blue Cross Blue Shield plans are expanding pay-for-performance programs nationwide and tweaking the focus toward pay-for-quality to satisfy the demands of skeptical physicians. Dr....

Japan vCJD case poses blood-donor concerns.
June 23, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- The case of a Japanese man who contracted the human form of mad cow disease might have widespread implications for the safety of the U.S. blood supply. The man, who was in his 50s...

The Driving Doctor: A national plague.
June 24, 2005... Byline: PHIL BERARDELLI WASHINGTON, June 24 (UPI) -- Looking at the title of this column, the first question that might occur to a reader is 'What does this have to do with health?' Answer: Much. Consider just these statistics: In...

Caregiving: The family effect.
June 24, 2005... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., June 24 (UPI) -- Serious illness happens to entire families, but medicine has been slow to recognize anyone beyond the patient. My 92-year-old father has survived two different bouts of cancer and had...

Bill would fund research for PHT treatment.
June 24, 2005... Byline: RYAN HOLEYWELL WASHINGTON, June 24 (UPI) -- Bipartisan legislation introduced this week in the House would authorize $250 million over the next five years for a new research effort at the National Institutes of Health aimed at...

Hungary biotech looks to lead EU.
June 24, 2005... Byline: LARA SALAHI Hungary's Minister of Economy Janos Koka hopes connections made this week at the Biotech 2005 conference in Philadelphia will help the country's burgeoning biotech industry and bolster its growing economy. Hungary,...

USDA confirms second mad cow case.
June 24, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday a cow being retested for mad cow disease was positive, marking the second case of the deadly disease detected in U.S. herds in less than two...

State stem-cell funding creates options.
June 24, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 24 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts stem-cell company recently expanded by employing four scientists in California to capitalize on the West Coast state's $3 billion in stem-cell funding. It raises the...

PPI: Legislate parity for mental health.
June 24, 2005... Byline: EVA A. SYLWESTER WASHINGTON, June 24 (UPI) -- Congress should require insurers to treat mental healthcare the same as other medical coverage in the United States, according to a report released Friday by the Progressive Policy...

Health Wrap: Bad week for antibiotics.
June 24, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, June 24 (UPI) -- The wonder drugs of the last century are running into more and more resistance, and not just from those wily superbugs. Studies this week cast doubt on the usefulness of antibiotics...

Parkinson's patient participation needed.
June 24, 2005... Byline: CATHERINE SHAROKY WASHINGTON, June 24 (UPI) -- While many physicians and patients with Parkinson's disease agree clinical trials are essential to find new treatments and possibly a cure, less than 10 percent of doctors discuss...

Guidant makes second defibrillator warning.
June 24, 2005... Byline: LYDELL C. BRIDGEFORD WASHINGTON, June 24 (UPI) -- Guidant Corp. Friday advised physicians an additional five models of the company's implantable defibrillators could fail to operate properly, adding to a recall notice it issued...

One-day events help diabetics.
June 27, 2005... Byline: BRUCE SYLVESTER SAN DIEGO, June 27 (UPI) -- A one-day, community-based diabetes-education program has, six months later, led to significant effects on blood-sugar control among its participants. "Behavioral change is possible,...

Diabetic women's heart-disease risk higher.
June 27, 2005... Byline: BRUCE SYLVESTER SAN DIEGO, June 27 (UPI) -- Women suffering from type 2 diabetes are at significantly higher risk of suffering a fatal heart attack than their healthy counterparts, Swedish researchers report. "We have found a...

The Age of Autism: HHS eyes Amish study.
June 27, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, June 27 (UPI) -- A top U.S. health official is considering whether to launch studies of the Amish -- and perhaps other unvaccinated groups -- in response to United Press International's articles about a low...

New drugs may beat resistant bugs.
June 27, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, June 27 (UPI) -- A new category of antibiotics under development could replace current drugs that have lost their effectiveness against deadly bacteria, a Brigham Young researcher said. "I think this...

Following rules vital for clinical trials.
June 27, 2005... Byline: ANDREW DAMSTEDT WASHINGTON, June 27 (UPI) -- A mock trial played out at the Drug Information Association's annual meeting Monday showed how informed consent and following federal regulations must be a researcher's top priorities...

Vaccine shows promise for Lassa fever.
June 27, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 27 (UPI) -- U.S. Army scientists have developed a vaccine that may protect people from Lassa fever, a deadly disease similar to Ebola that could be used in bioterror attacks, but some experts think...

The Age of Autism: Homeschooled.
June 28, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, June 28 (UPI) -- Where are the unvaccinated homeschooled children with autism? Nowhere to be found, says a doctor who treats autistic children and is knowledgeable about the homeschooled world. "It's...

Health Biz: Breaux the healthcare broker.
June 28, 2005... Byline: ELLEN BECK WASHINGTON, June 28 (UPI) -- John Breaux may not be brokering deals in the U.S. Senate these days, but that is not stopping the Louisiana Democrat from trying to cobble together a ceasefire in the politically explosive...

Boomers fear rising healthcare costs.
June 28, 2005... Byline: ANDREW DAMSTEDT WASHINGTON, June 28 (UPI) -- A Commonwealth Fund survey released Tuesday found 69 percent of older adults said they would be willing to set aside a portion of their income in a personal account to pay for health...

USDA refuses to release mad cow records.
June 28, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 28 (UPI) -- U.S. Department of Agriculture officials have refused to release documents requested more than six months ago by a consumer group related to the agency's safeguards against mad cow...

Culture issues impede minority healthcare.
June 28, 2005... Byline: EVA A. SYLWESTER WASHINGTON, June 28 (UPI) -- Healthcare providers face cultural challenges developing and improving care for minorities, industry representatives told the 2005 Minority Health Conference Tuesday. Joy Wheeler,...

Choice bill could open up insurance market.
June 28, 2005... Byline: CATHERINE SHAROKY WASHINGTON, June 28 (UPI) -- Supporters of a bill to allow people to purchase health insurance across state lines Tuesday said it would save money, but opponents countered it would reduce consumer protections and...

Rheutoid arthritis linked to heart disease.
June 28, 2005... Byline: RAY PREGEANT WASHINGTON, June 28 (UPI) -- Rheumatoid-arthritis sufferers are at an increased risk of death if they also suffer from coronary artery disease, U.S. researchers have found. In a report to be published in the June...

Caregiving: Avoiding heat stress.
June 29, 2005... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., June 29 (UPI) -- It is not always easy to persuade the Greatest Generation to use air conditioning, so a weather report predicting temperatures in the 90s, combined with dew points of 65 to 70, can make...

Eat to Live: Eat well without the hotdogs.
June 29, 2005... Byline: JULIA WATSON WASHINGTON, June 29 (UPI) -- Next Monday, the Fourth of July, Americans will munch roughly 150 million hot dogs -- more than one for every two people. You might be thinking, like an indulgent grandmother, "Oh...

The Driving Doctor: Thinking 'backwards'.
June 29, 2005... Byline: PHIL BERARDELLI WASHINGTON, June 29 (UPI) -- Here is a scene that occurs every day on heavily traveled stretches of U.S. highways: An electronic traffic sign warns of congestion ahead, but the vehicles rolling underneath do not...

Cloned cells may be more youthful.
June 29, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 29 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts biotech company said Wednesday that research it has conducted in cows indicates cloning techniques produce vivacious cells that have a competitive advantage over adult...

Analysis: Medicaid schemes under review.
June 29, 2005... Byline: ELLEN BECK WASHINGTON, June 29 (UPI) -- It is easy for Congress to lower the boom publicly when the bad guy in healthcare fraud is a hospital or health insurer. Take Medicare in the mid-1990s, for example, when hospitals that...

Public does not favor cuts to Medicaid.
June 29, 2005... Byline: ANDREW DAMSTEDT WASHINGTON, June 29 (UPI) -- Policymakers have concerns that Medicaid is swallowing up state budgets, but a public-opinion poll released Wednesday shows strong opposition for cuts to the $300 billion healthcare...

Expert: Vioxx shows need for reform.
June 29, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, June 29 (UPI) -- The withdrawal of the painkiller Vioxx shows the need for better studies and quicker action when signs of potential drug side-effects first appear, a medical expert said Wednesday. ...

Managed care a growing part of Medicaid.
June 29, 2005... Byline: STOKELY BAKSH WASHINGTON, June 29 (UPI) -- Medicaid is expected to see 7-percent growth in coming years, and as Congress considers ways to reduce expenditures for the nation's largest healthcare entitlement program,...

Ped Med: Summer means an array of hurts.
June 30, 2005... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ SAN FRANCISCO, June 30 (UPI) -- It is summertime, and the living is not so easy if your child suffers an injury when the family trampoline comes out along with the sun. The American Academy of Orthopaedic...

Health Biz: The challenge of pharma fraud.
June 30, 2005... Byline: ELLEN BECK WASHINGTON, June 30 (UPI) -- Law-enforcement officials say pharmaceutical fraud is the most costly abuse of the Medicaid program, and although the Bush administration has proposed several remedies, the entire issue...

Health Biz: Whistleblower aided Medicaid.
June 30, 2005... Byline: LYDELL C. BRIDGEFORD WASHINGTON, June 30 (UPI) -- Prescription-drug fraud is the top fraud problem in Medicaid, and many cases stem from whistleblowers, law-enforcement officers told the Senate Finance Committee this week. ...

Panel advises pertussis vaccine for teens.
June 30, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 30 (UPI) -- A panel of experts that advises the federal government recommended Thursday that teenagers receive a booster vaccine against whooping cough to help stem a rising number of cases of the...

Prevention could reduce Medicare costs.
June 30, 2005... Byline: ANDREW DAMSTEDT WASHINGTON, June 30 (UPI) -- Budget experts and business executives told the Senate Special Committee on Aging Thursday preventive care could reduce costs in the Medicare program. Congressional Office Budget...

Ownership society in healthcare debated.
June 30, 2005... Byline: ANDREW DAMSTEDT WASHINGTON, June 30 (UPI) -- More than 1 million Americans have purchased health savings accounts, one consumer-driven product analysts with the conservative Heritage Foundation said that gives people greater...