UPI Health Business articles from June 2006

UPI Health Business archives from June 2006

Corporate Pulse: Aetna staying the course.
June 1, 2006... WASHINGTON, June 1 (UPI) -- In a new feature, Corporate Pulse, United Press International interviews Aetna President and Chief Executive Officer Ronald A. Williams about the health-insurance giant's plans for maintaining its competitive edge as...

HealthWrap: Babies, from birth to dads.
June 1, 2006... Byline: KATE WALKER OXFORD, England, June 1 (UPI) -- Another day, another reason to get educated. A new report published this week by the U.S. National Center on Health Statistics shows that men with college degrees are more likely to...

Caregiving: Down to the marrow -- Part 3.
June 1, 2006... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., June 1 (UPI) -- The National Marrow Donor Program Registry says it gives people with leukemia and blood diseases a second chance for life, but one donor says he felt like he won the lottery when he was...

Chemical may increase prostate-cancer risk.
June 1, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINE DELL'AMORE WASHINGTON, June 1 (UPI) -- A male fetus mildly exposed to estrogen-like compounds in the environment may become predisposed to developing prostate cancer later in life, researchers report for the first time....

Analysis: Statin side effects questioned.
June 1, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 1 (UPI) -- Recommendations for lowering cholesterol levels issued by a U.S. panel could mean a boost in the use of statins, but some researchers are concerned the guidelines could increase the risk...

Human enhancement: problem or solution?
June 2, 2006... Byline: MEGHAN A. O'CONNELL WASHINGTON, June 2 (UPI) -- Since the advent of simple tools, humans have been expanding their capacities. Cognitive enhancement dates back to the written word, a primitive process for downloading information...

Analysis: Global health lacks clear plan.
June 2, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, June 2 (UPI) -- Increased government and philanthropic funding for global health means that resources are on the rise, but in order to get the most for the money, donors need to coordinate their efforts and...

Analysis: GSK to purchase Pfizer unit?
June 2, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 2 (UPI) -- GlaxoSmithKline reportedly is looking to buy Pfizer's consumer healthcare division for $15 billion, a price tag analysts say will likely make it the highest bidder. If GSK procures the...

FDA urges nutrionally informative menus.
June 2, 2006... Byline: LISA CHUN WASHINGTON, June 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is urging the food-service industry to promote low-calorie eating. The FDA and the Keystone Center, a non-profit organization, recently conducted a...

Analysis: Older patients can handle chemo.
June 2, 2006... Byline: ED SUSMAN ATLANTA, June 2 (UPI) -- Just because a person is over age 65, it doesn't mean he or she can't handle potent chemotherapy to fight lung cancer. Researchers said Friday that a new analysis of a Canadian study found...

Analysis: Drugs lend hope in kidney cancer.
June 5, 2006... Byline: ED SUSMAN ATLANTA, June 5 (UPI) -- Two new treatments offer new hope to the thousands of people who each year are diagnosed with deadly kidney cancer -- a disease that often has progressed dangerously in the body before its...

Analysis: Harnessing IT for global health.
June 5, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, June 5 (UPI) -- Cheaper, more portable technology -- specially adapted to the challenges of developing countries -- has given public-health workers in some of the most extreme environments new tools for...

Ped Med: Diagnosing childhood depression.
June 5, 2006... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ SAN FRANCISCO, June 5 (UPI) -- Diagnosing depression in the young is no child's play. Among other requirements, it takes specialized skills, clinical practice, extended time and an understanding of the...

Eat to Live: Labels for grass-fed cows?
June 5, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON LE BUGUE, France, June 5 (UPI) -- A key figure in the farmers markets that move daily around villages and towns of the Dordogne in southwest France is a butcher known fondly and with respect as Monsieur Le Boucher Bio....

Analysis: Anti-psychotic use up in kids.
June 5, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 5 (UPI) -- A national study released Monday shows the number of children and teens being prescribed anti-psychotics has increased sharply over the past decade, an indication the second-generation...

Study: Britons lack mental health rights.
June 5, 2006... LONDON, June 5 (UPI) -- British employers are not meeting the mental health needs of workers, a new report says. About 80 percent of large employers have no specific mental health policy, according to a report by the Shaw Trust. And in a...

Quick, simple HIV test backed.
June 6, 2006... Byline: ALECIA DARM WASHINGTON, June 6 (UPI) -- Public-health officials are promoting wider use of a 20-minute test for HIV -- a test they say can help curb one of the leading causes of death in the United States. If more HIV testing...

Caregiving: All donors are heroes.
June 6, 2006... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., June 6 (UPI) -- All organ donors and bone-marrow donors are heroes, but an Ontario man not only donated bone marrow but became a force in the life of the teenage boy, whose life he saved. Tom Garrett, a...

FluWrap: H5N1 signature may help detection.
June 6, 2006... Byline: KATE WALKER OXFORD, England, June 6 (UPI) -- Biotechnology research and development company BioWarn LLC this week announced that its SmartSense biological substance detection system can instantly detect the presence of the H5N1...

Analysis: States retool Medicaid plans.
June 6, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, June 6 (UPI) -- Burdened by unsustainable Medicaid budget growth, states are taking advantage of a new federal law that gives them the flexibility to experiment with their Medicaid programs to cut costs. ...

Analysis: Tysabri won't top current drugs.
June 6, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 6 (UPI) -- The Food and Drug Administration's approval of Biogen Idec's multiple-sclerosis treatment Tysabri to return to the market is a positive for the company, but analysts said the drug won't...

Analysis: More uses for Gardasil vaccine?
June 6, 2006... Byline: ED SUSMAN ATLANTA, June 6 (UPI) -- An anti-cancer vaccine that may someday relegate cervical cancer to the history books also silences two other disfiguring and dangerous malignancies of the woman's genital tract. In reviewing...

Eat to Live: Lovin' McD's bigger burger.
June 7, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON LE BUGUE, France, June 7 (UPI) -- Remember when McDonald's decided to acknowledge the part fast food plays in our expanding waistlines and do something responsible about it? They added salads, with great fanfare,...

Analysis: Sleep drug has brain-tumor use.
June 7, 2006... Byline: ED SUSMAN ATLANTA, June 7 (UPI) -- A drug often prescribed to help people overcome drowsiness caused by shift work or other conditions appears to improve depression, fatigue and difficulty in maintaining attention to the activities...

Ped Med: More children on mind medicines.
June 7, 2006... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ SAN FRANCISCO, June 7 (UPI) -- The use of psychiatric pharmaceuticals in the very young is on the rise -- along with worries and concerns over its causes and consequences. Recent studies show, for example, the...

Analysis: Arthritis market to hit $10B.
June 7, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 7 (UPI) -- An analyst report released this week estimates the rheumatoid arthritis treatment market will balloon to more than $10 billion by 2015, driven by current tumor necrosis factor-alpha...

Analysis: 2 states see healthcare overhaul.
June 7, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, June 7 (UPI) -- Like other states, Massachusetts and Missouri were faced with the twin problems of out-of-control Medicaid cost increases and rising uninsurance, but the solutions they chose go beyond...

Analysis: Rx for hospital infection rates.
June 7, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, June 7 (UPI) -- Many hospital patients end up sicker than when they arrived because of serious hospital-acquired infections, experts warned Wednesday, but the number sickened could be drastically reduced...

FDA OKs Gardasil for cervical cancer.
June 8, 2006... Byline: ED SUSMAN WASHINGTON, June 8 (UPI) -- The Food and Drug Administration today approved a vaccine that protects women from infection with human papillomavirus - the microbe that causes cervical and other genital tract cancer. ...

Is green tea the next miracle drug?
June 8, 2006... Byline: MARA GORDON WASHINGTON, June 8 (UPI) -- Can a cup of green tea really keep the doctor away? From promises of preventing cancer to relieving stress, green tea seems to be the hottest cure-all on the grocery store shelves. ...

Eat To Live: Targeting kids' taste buds.
June 8, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON LE BUGUE, France, June 8 (UPI) -- In 2004, children were the direct butt of food-industry marketing-campaign expenditures of around $10 billion. That's more than the GDP -- total purchasing power capacity -- of at...

Caregiving: Ah! A quieter hospital.
June 8, 2006... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., June 8 (UPI) -- If all hospitals had an Elodia Mercier, the U.S. healthcare system might not be as broken as everyone tells me it is. Mercier is an administrative nurse manager at the Montefiore...

Analysis: Next big diabetes players ID'd.
June 8, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 8 (UPI) -- A variety of pharmaceutical and biotech companies will make presentations on diabetes treatments they are developing at the American Diabetes Association meeting beginning Friday, but...

Ped Med: The 'why' of childhood depression.
June 9, 2006... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ SAN FRANCISCO, June 9 (UPI) -- Despite recent medical advances and technological breakthroughs that have deepened scientists' understanding of psychiatric ailments, the causes of childhood depression remain more...

Eat To Live: FDA sued over biotech foods.
June 9, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON LE BUGUE, France, June 9 (UPI) -- It's been a conversational curiosity, at the very least, among consumers in Europe, Australia, Japan, and parts of Africa, why Americans don't seem the slightest bit interested in the...

The Age of Autism: Gardasil vs. Hep B.
June 9, 2006... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, June 9 (UPI) -- This week the Food and Drug Administration approved a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer in women. In an odd way, the announcement highlights what may be wrong with government policy on...

Analysis: Illegal drugs in pharmacies.
June 9, 2006... Byline: ED SUSMAN BETHESDA, Md., June 9 (UPI) -- Every day, doctors write prescriptions for their patients. Many of the doctors, their patients and the pharmacists that fill the scrip probably are not aware that the drugs are illegal --...

Analysis: Blues start transparency program.
June 9, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, June 9 (UPI) -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield announced Thursday the launch of a price transparency initiative that the group said will not only make price and quality information available to the public, but...

Analysis: Experts split on AstraZeneca.
June 9, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 9 (UPI) -- Analysts were split on AstraZeneca after the company's upbeat business review this week, with some saying the company is underrated, while others were wary of the company's pipeline. ...

Analysis: Mental patients help peers.
June 10, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, June 9 (UPI) -- State and local mental health services are enlisting the help of counselors who are themselves recovered from mental illness to improve care and hold down costs. Known as peer...

Analysis: AMA mulls rule for military docs.
June 12, 2006... Byline: ED SUSMAN CHICAGO, June 11 (UPI) -- The ethics panel of the 245,000-member American Medical Association (AMA) said Sunday that physicians in the military or in law enforcement cannot participate in interrogations of prisoners. ...

Analysis: Lilly's Forteo may be too costly.
June 12, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 12 (UPI) -- A study released Monday reveals Eli Lilly's osteoporosis treatment Forteo is not cost-effective when compared to Merck's Fosamax, and experts said the findings may have implications for...

Educating Indian sex workers.
June 12, 2006... Byline: AMBIKA BEHAL NEW DELHI, June 12 (UPI) -- National AIDS control programs in India must focus on educating rather than reforming high-risk groups including prostitutes and drug users -- contrary to the beliefs of some American...

Eat To Live: Kids aren't so food-allergic.
June 12, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON LE BUGUE, France, June 12 (UPI) -- A Veruka Salt came to tea today. Not quite the rich, spoilt mini-villainess of "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory," she was nonetheless indulged. She didn't want the home-baked...

The Age of Autism: But is Wakefield right?
June 13, 2006... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, June 12 (UPI) -- Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the British gastroenterologist who first raised the prospect of a link between the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and autism, is being pursued by British medical...

Most with COPD don't get tested.
June 13, 2006... NORTHBROOK, Ill., June 13 (UPI) -- At least two-thirds of U.S. patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, do not receive recommended lung function testing. "Spirometry testing is necessary for the diagnosis and staging...

FluWrap: H5N1 not in U.S. migratory birds.
June 13, 2006... Byline: KATE WALKER OXFORD, England, June 13 (UPI) -- No birds carrying the H5N1 subtype of avian influenza have yet been found in the United States, although monitoring efforts have been stepped up. Thousands of samples collected from...

Caregiving: Talking to the doc -- Part 1.
June 13, 2006... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., June 13 (UPI) -- Some caregivers say that the hardest part of what they do is talking to the doctor -- the conversations are always tense and leave more questions unanswered than answered. Personally,...

Experts: Fight fat to cut diabetes rate.
June 13, 2006... Byline: ALECIA DARM WASHINGTON, June 13 (UPI) -- Public-health officials are promoting weight loss early in life to decrease the epidemic of diabetes in the United States. One's risk of becoming diabetic is strongly driven by being...

Analysis: Counterfeiters hit malaria drugs.
June 13, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 13 (UPI) -- Experts said Tuesday counterfeit anti-malarial drugs, which are on the rise in Southeast Asia and Africa, threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of patients and called for new...

Anti-depressants no relief for anorexics.
June 13, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINE DELL'AMORE WASHINGTON, June 13 (UPI) -- Recovered anorexia nervosa patients who took anti-depressants were not protected against relapsing, quashing hopes that the medication could stave off recurrences of the disease, a...

Analysis: Change urged in Medicare Savings.
June 13, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, June 13 (UPI) -- Medicaid savings programs -- which pick up where Medicare coverage ends -- offer hope for low-income seniors struggling to cover out-of-pocket costs, especially those needing long-term care....

Analysis: AMA: Buy health plan or pay tax.
June 13, 2006... Byline: ED SUSMAN CHICAGO, June 13 (UPI) -- The American Medical Association has a message for five million uninsured, but well-off Americans: Either provide for your own or your family's adequate health coverage or pay more in taxes. ...

Should kidneys be for sale?
June 14, 2006... Byline: ELIZABETH NEWELL WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- With more than 92,000 people in the United States currently waiting for organ transplants and the number expected to double by 2010, some experts are urging the establishment of a...

Eat To Live: Cooking, the new food tourism.
June 14, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON LE BUGUE, France, June 14 (UPI) -- This is the best time of year for caterers. They slice their way from spring weddings through graduation parties to summer family reunions almost without switching off the oven. ...

Analysis: Salt in AMA crosshairs.
June 14, 2006... Byline: ED SUSMAN CHICAGO, June 14 (UPI) -- The American Medical Association wants the Food and Drug Administration to take sodium -- the main ingredient in salt -- off the agency's list of compounds "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS)...

Analysis:AMA seeks actor disclosure in ads.
June 14, 2006... Byline: ED SUSMAN CHICAGO, June 14 (UPI) -- If pharmaceutical companies want to advertise their prescription drugs using actors as doctors, the American Medical Association says those actors' status should be disclosed in the broadcast...

Analysis: GOP touts high Part D numbers.
June 14, 2006... Byline: TODD ZWILLICH WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- Republican lawmakers continued efforts Wednesday to turn Medicare's controversial Part D prescription-drug plan into a political asset. The Bush administration released final numbers...

Analysis: BMS' Sprycel shows promise.
June 14, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- Bristol-Myers Squibb's Sprycel may get a boost from a study released Wednesday that indicates the experimental drug improves symptoms in chronic myeloid leukemia patients who failed to...

Shrinks introduce new manual.
June 14, 2006... Byline: STEPHANIE SONNTAG WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- Several psychoanalytic organizations this week introduced a new manual to help psychiatrists and psychologists analyze and diagnose mental health conditions. The manual was...

Tobacco users unaware of ways to quit.
June 15, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINE DELL'AMORE BETHESDA, Md., June 15 (UPI) -- Although most adult tobacco users want to stop, only a few participate in treatments to kick their habit -- a gap that represents a national quality of care problem, a National...

Analysis: Corruption hinders health aid.
June 15, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, June 15 (UPI) -- No one knows for sure how much corruption exists in developing countries' healthcare systems, but the consensus is that it's prevalent, and experts are increasingly arguing that it is...

Analysis: Barr facing generic Seasonale.
June 15, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 15 (UPI) -- Barr could lose its patent on the oral contraceptive Seasonale in September, but some analysts are confident the company will continue to do well. Watson is poised to launch a generic...

Caregiving: Talking to the doc -- Part 2.
June 15, 2006... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., June 15 (UPI) -- Not a day goes by that we are not encouraged in the media or advertisements to discuss new medications or treatments with our doctors, but that can be difficult within a 15-minute...

Analysis: More markets in Medicare?
June 16, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, June 16 (UPI) -- If the Bush administration has its way, the Part D prescription-drug benefit is just the beginning of a complete overhaul of Medicare in which the private sector will play a much larger...

HealthWrap: 'Ethical stem cells' in sight?
June 16, 2006... Byline: KATE WALKER OXFORD, England, June 16 (UPI) -- There may be a way to turn normal cells into stem cells, says Jose Silva of the University of Edinburgh's Institute for Stem Cell Research. In the findings of a study published in...

Eat To Live: TV food ads make kids eat.
June 16, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON LE BUGUE, France, June 16 (UPI) -- Here are two provocative new assertions to put in your pipe and smoke. Or better not -- that would be as bad for your health as these two allegations: Food is as dangerous an...

Analysis: Millennium depends on Velcade.
June 16, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 16 (UPI) -- Despite rumors of a buyout offer, Millennium officials say they are not selling, but analysts think the firm's future success depends on improving Velcade sales. Millennium's stock...

Analysis: Deathwatch for employer coverage.
June 16, 2006... Byline: TODD ZWILLICH WASHINGTON, June 16 (UPI) -- Most Americans -- or nearly 180 million -- get their health insurance through their employer, but with rising costs placing a drag on both families and companies, a debate has begun over...

Analysis: A new drug for blood pressure?
June 16, 2006... Byline: ED SUSMAN WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., June 16 (UPI) -- An investigational drug appears to outperform a standard medication in lowering blood pressure in patients who also have diabetes, international researchers said Friday. ...

Interview: A one-stop healthcare shop.
June 17, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINE DELL'AMORE WASHINGTON, June 17 (UPI) -- Solving global health crises such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis calls for some serious innovation. So by thinking outside the box, Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for global health...

Ped Med: Of biology and depression.
June 17, 2006... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ SAN FRANCISCO, June 17 (UPI) -- Most mental-health-care practitioners see a connection between biology and depression, but exactly what that connection is remains a matter of debate. Viewing depression as brain...

Ped Med: Debating serotonin in depression.
June 19, 2006... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ SAN FRANCISCO, June 19 (UPI) -- Despite what advertisements for some medications may imply, the role of the brain chemical serotonin in depression is far from settled. "(T)here is not a single peer-reviewed...

Eat To Live: Cooking for Dad?
June 19, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON LE BUGUE, France, June 19 (UPI) -- It was La Fete des PE res in France Sunday. No, not the fate of the pears but Father's Day -- just like it was in the United States. We've had La Fete des ME res -- it's the last...

Sleep disorder may foretell Parkinson's.
June 19, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINE DELL'AMORE WASHINGTON, June 19 (UPI) -- People suffering from a rare rapid-eye-movement sleep behavior disorder are likely experiencing early warning signs of a neurodegenerative disease, according to new research. ...

Analysis: Keeping kids covered.
June 19, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, June 19 (UPI) -- Although programs like Medicaid and SCHIP give low-income children access to affordable, comprehensive health coverage, many still remain uninsured, or cycle in and out of the system in a...

Analysis: States to lose Part D savings?
June 20, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, June 20 (UPI) -- States are deciding what steps to take after the Supreme Court said this week that they must -- for now -- return to the federal government the money they save from moving low-income seniors...

Tree-bark extract may help ADHD.
June 20, 2006... Byline: SARA GORECKI WASHINGTON, June 20 (UPI) -- Pycnogenol, a supplement derived from the bark of the French maritime pine tree, reduces children's symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to a new study. ...

Analysis: OTC Plan B lowers health costs.
June 20, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, June 20 (UPI) -- As the Food and Drug Administration continues to drag its feet on making Barr's emergency contraceptive Plan B available over the counter, evidence is mounting in Canada that such a...

Statins look promising versus cataracts.
June 20, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINE DELL'AMORE WASHINGTON, June 20 (UPI) -- In a recent study, people who took cholesterol-lowering statins also developed fewer nuclear cataracts, the most common kind of age-related cataract and one of the leading causes of...

Analysis: Thoracic docs warn of shortage.
June 21, 2006... Byline: TODD ZWILLICH WASHINGTON, June 20 (UPI) -- Heart-lung surgeons are looking to Congress for new incentives that they say are key to preserving their dwindling ranks. Only 91 of 126 available thoracic surgery residency slots were...

FluWrap: Indonesia sees 39th death.
June 21, 2006... Byline: KATE WALKER OXFORD, England, June 20 (UPI) -- An Indonesian teenager has died of avian influenza, marking that country's 39th death from the disease. Few details about the boy have been made public, other than the fact that he...

Analysis: Do non-profits merit tax status?
June 21, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) -- Non-profit healthcare providers -- which generally provide better care than their for-profit counterparts -- have a lot more to offer than just charity care, a new study says. And,...

Eat To Live: Better kids' menus, please.
June 21, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON LE BUGUE, France, June 21 (UPI) -- On the children's menu this week at the Vieux Logis in Tremolat, a picture-postcard village in France's Dordogne region, were the following choices: Slice of Duck Foie Gras (liver...