Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

Blogs Comment On Supreme Court Decisions, Obama Administration, Other Topics
The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries. ~ "Just Released: Gains and Losses for Women in 2008-09 Supreme Court Decisions," National Women"s Law Center"s "Womenstake": The Supreme Court"s 2008-2009 term, which concluded Monday, included "several crucial decisions that demonstrate the impact of the court on women"s lives," according to the blog post, which summarizes a new analysis from NWLC on the cases. For example, the blog post says that the rulings in Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee and Crawford v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tenn., increased employees" protections against discrimination in the workplace. However, the rulings in Ricci v. DeStetano -- which overturned an appellate court"s anti-discrimination ruling -- and AT&T Corp. v. Hulteen -- which "permitted AT&T to pay women lower pension benefits for the rest of their lives" -- were "not as positive," the blog entry says. NWLC Co-President Marcia Greenberger said that the Supreme Court "ignored the realities of the workplace and the intent of Congress and ruled against female workers" in AT&T v. Hulteen. Greenberger also said that such cases "underscore why every seat on the Supreme Court is of paramount importance to women," adding that it is "absolutely critical" that Supreme Court nominees have "a strong commitment to upholding and enforcing women"s basic legal rights and protections" ("Womenstake," National Women"s Law Center, 6/29).~ "Waldman and Saletan: Oh What a Fine Bromance!" Jodi Jacobson, RH Reality Check: In a recent bloggingheads.tv chat on "common ground" in the abortion-rights debate, Slate columnist Will Saletan and Beliefnet Editor-in-Chief Steve Waldman "spent as much time as possible complimenting each other"s work" and "as little as possible on any real substance regarding reproductive health and choice issues," Jacobson writes. It is "clear that the Obama administration"s stated intention to create "a common ground platform"" on abortion rights has become "a full employment program for both Waldman and Saletan," she writes. Jacobson continues, "So perhaps the most striking thing about the conversation was that, in the end, they both effectively concluded that the common ground enterprise was a "just for show" political strategy," and that the "real strategies" necessary to reduce the need for abortion "are the very prevention programs least likely to be supported by the far right. (Revelation!)." She adds, "However, they came to this conclusion through the same faux-expert uninformed arguments that characterize their columns." During the "Will-interviews-Steve format," Saletan "revealed once again that there is no core philosophy or framework underlying his ever-shifting positions on choice and abortion," according to Jacobson. She adds that "Waldman, for his part, several times underscored what is clear from reading his work": that he "just throws things "out there" without considered thought" about what "might be good versus bad data, not understanding how to read evidence," and "oblivious or uncaring about the effects his free-form moralistic misinformation and opinions might actually have on an already polarized debate." According to Jacobson, "Public policies affecting sexual and reproductive health issues" should be "based first and foremost on public health and on promoting individual rights balanced by individual responsibilities," but "as anyone living on Planet Earth knows, sex and reproduction have become the front in a war waged by ultra-conservative religious and political forces for which Waldman serves as a paid flacky." She continues, "In fact, Waldman himself stated during the program: "I have a corporate interest in injecting religion into every debate."" Jacobson states, "Reading and watching this duo is like buying the OK! magazine version of the culture wars at the grocery store; they put whatever sells on the front cover, no matter the truth or consequences.

Breakthrough In The Quantum Control Of Light Could Impact Drug Design
Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have recently demonstrated a breakthrough in the quantum control of photons, the energy quanta of light. This is a significant result in quantum computation, and could eventually have implications in banking, drug design, and other applications.
News of the day
Video Games Are Helping Doctors View The Body - Using The Nintendo Wii To Interpret Radiology Exams
The popular Nintendo Wii videogame system is helping radiology students reach new levels! Faculty from Weill Cornell Medical College have coupled the motion-sensitive Wii remote with the same computers used to analyze scans, and have found that the Wii remote makes examining CT and MRI images more ergonomic, heightens the interactivity during classes, and may potentially improve the ability to interpret scans.
Diagnostics

Blue Dogs: We Have Agreement With House Dems On Health Bill

Work on the House health care reform bill is slowing as Rep. Henry Waxman of California and fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats have come to an agreement on Medicare payments, The New York Times reports. "The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, canceled sessions of the panel scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday so he could meet with Blue Dogs. They hold seven seats on the committee, a potentially decisive number, since the panel has 36 Democrats and 23 Republicans." "The Blue Dogs said they had won agreement from Mr. Waxman to help rein in Medicare spending by giving the executive branch new power to set annual payment rates for doctors, hospitals and other health care providers, based on recommendations from an independent advisory council. Rates are now set by statutory formulas, and Congress is besieged by lobbyists pleading for bigger increases each year. It was unclear when the energy committee sessions would resume, but even the two-day delay was a setback for House Democratic leaders, who had hoped to pass the bill before their summer recess, scheduled to begin at the end of next week" (Pear and Herszenhorn, 7/21). Politico: "OMB Director Peter Orszag called (the Medicare deal) "probably the most important piece that can be added" to the health care bill in the House, and the deal between the Blue Dog Coalition and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) was the first positive development Democratic Party leaders could claim since the American Medical Association endorsed their bill last week." There"s also some sign of reconciliation among other Democrats: "First-year Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), an early opponent of the surtax on the wealthy to help pay for the bill, commended Pelosi for suggesting that the trigger for a health care surtax be raised to $500,000 for individuals and $1 million for couples. "It"s a sign that leadership is listening to the concerns of new members," Polis said" (O"Connor, 7/22). But there"s still a ways to go, Roll Call reports: "Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), the chairman of the Blue Dog health task force, called the verbal agreement on an independent commission a "significant breakthrough" but said the details still have to be worked out and many other issues remain unresolved." The Blue Dogs are scheduled to meet with Waxman again today (Dennis and Newmyer, 7/22). CQ Politics: "The Blue Dogs aren"t the only Democrats Waxman has to worry about. Bart Stupak , D-Mich., who is not a Blue Dog but often sides with them, said he "respectfully declined" the White House [meeting with House Democrats] invitation. Stupak ticked off his own list of concerns with the bill: He wants health plans to be paid based on "value or outcomes, not utilization"; he wants a provision added that would require hospitals and doctors to publicly disclose prices for their services; and he wants a vote on a "conscience clause" that would allow health providers to decline to provide services they find objectionable, such as abortion" (Wayne and Epstein, 7/22). The timeline is slipping, The Hill reports: "Publicly, House Democratic leaders said they remain on track to pass the legislation by July 31. But they disagreed on what to do if the legislation stalls. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said that if consensus can"t be reached, he expects to send legislators home on schedule. "If we get consensus, we"ll move on it. If we don"t get consensus, I don"t think staying in session is necessarily necessary," said Hoyer. ... "Based on what I"ve seen and where we are now I can"t imagine that we"ll be able to finish before August," said one Democrat on the Energy panel (Soraghan and Allen, 7/21). USA Today interviewed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California on paying for the bill: ""If the Senate comes up with a potpourri of further cuts or other s of revenue that don"t hurt the middle class, then that"s something we should all be looking at. But this (reform) is going to happen. And those who oppose it are mainly just opposed to health care,"" Pelosi said (Interview with editorial board, 7/21). In the meantime, the GOP is readying a new assault on Democratic plans, Roll Call reports in a separate story: "Congressional Republicans will use the next two weeks to cast the Democratic health care plan as a harmful tax on an ailing economy - and then plan to go for the jugular over the August break. As they did on the economic stimulus and the budget, House and Senate Republicans are attacking the Democrats" approach to health care reform as a costly government takeover and will use polling data and a series of events to reinforce a message that they believe is striking a chord with the American public" (Kucinich, 7/22). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009