Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
U.S. proposes scrapping some obsolete Medicare regulations
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Social Security, health spending to hit $3.2 trillion a
year
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Spending on Social Security and
healthcare will double to $3.2 trillion a year over the next
decade, threatening a sharp rise in national debt unless
Congress acts to avoid the danger, congressional researchers
warned on Tuesday. A report from the nonpartisan Congressional
Budget Office did not put forth a plan to resolve the long-term
imbalance between revenues and spending on retirement and
healthcare benefits. But it said that action taken now would
help minimize the economic impact of whatever course lawmakers
can agree on.
U.S. scales back goal on veterans' health records with an
eye on costs
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government is ditching
ambitious plans to create a single computer system for troops
and military veterans to track their health records, opting
instead for a more modest, less costly plan that officials said
will deliver on goals faster. The decision announced on Tuesday
is complicated and technical but goes to the core of President
Barack Obama's goal to create a smooth transition for troops as
they leave the military after 11 years of war and seek care at
the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Senate to mull ban on "pay for delay" pharmaceutical deals
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Key Democratic and Republican
senators reintroduced legislation on Tuesday that would make it
illegal for brand-name pharmaceutical companies to pay generic
drug makers to keep their cheaper medicines off the market.
Such deals, in which big drug companies resolve patent
litigation with potentially infringing generic firms by
reaching a settlement that delays a generic version of a drug
in exchange for a payment, have angered U.S. and European
antitrust enforcers for years.
African-Americans still more likely to die from cancer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Drops in smoking may have
helped drive cancer death rates down among black men during the
last decade, but they are still more likely to die of cancer
than whites, according to a new analysis. "I think we see some
really good news, but then we also see some trends that are
going in the wrong direction," said Carol DeSantis, the study's
lead author from the American Cancer Society (ACS) in Atlanta.
Steroid shots for tennis elbow may hurt, not help
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Getting a cortisone injection
won't cure tennis elbow any better than a drug-free saline
shot, according to a new study - and it might actually slow
recovery. Researchers found that a few weeks after receiving
the steroid shots, people reported less pain and disability
than those who'd been given placebo injections. But a year
later, the same patients lagged behind the placebo group in
their likelihood of complete recovery.
Adults with mental illness smoke at higher rate: CDC
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Mentally ill adults in the United
States smoke cigarettes at a 70 percent higher rate than adults
without any kind of mental illness, according to a report
released by federal health agencies on Tuesday. Statistics show
smoking by the mentally ill is a "very serious health issue
that needs more attention" and should prompt mental health
facilities to ban the habit, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
End-of-life care often still hectic, aggressive
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Fewer elderly Americans are
dying in acute care hospitals than were a decade ago, according
to a new study of where Medicare beneficiaries spend their
final months of life. However, between 2000 and 2009 there was
also an increase in the proportion of people admitted to the
intensive care unit in the month before they died - suggesting
there hasn't been a general trend toward less aggressive
end-of-life care.
Merck hit with $285,000 verdict in Fosamax trial
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal jury on Tuesday ordered
Merck & Co Inc
risks of its osteoporosis drug Fosamax, the second loss for the
company after several earlier trials. The eight-person jury in
U.S. District Court in Manhattan found that Merck failed to
warn plaintiff Rhoda Scheinberg's doctors of the risks
associated with Fosamax. The jury rejected the plaintiff's
argument that Fosamax was a defective product.
Massachusetts cites violations at 32 compounding pharmacies
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