Health Care


Canada's Health Minister Approves Emergency Overdose Prevention Sites

Ginette Petitpas Taylor, the federal Minister of Health, had announced in November that Health Canada would authorize emergency overdose prevention sites for provinces and territories that request them, as an "immediate short-term response to save lives."

Worldwide Estimate of Flu Deaths Raised

"These findings remind us of the seriousness of flu and that flu prevention should really be a global priority," said Dr. Joe Bresee, M.D., associate director for global health in CDC's Influenza Division and a study co-author.

FDA Offers 3D Printing Guidance to Medical Device Makers

The agency claimed Dec. 4 to be the world's first to provide a comprehensive technical framework to advise manufacturers creating medical products on 3D printers.

ANSI Seeks Participants for Drone Panels

Subject-matter experts interested in participating in one or more of the four UASSC working groups are invited to review the working group architecture and return the sign-up sheet before Dec. 31, 2017.

CVS Health to Acquire Aetna

CVS Health to Acquire Aetna

The $69 billion deal, the largest corporate acquisition this year, would combine one of the nation's largest pharmacies with one of its oldest health insurers.

Fourteen Appointed to HHS Tick-Borne Disease Working Group

HHS reports that Lyme disease accounts for the majority of tick-borne disease in the United States, and CDC estimates more than 300,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease annually, but only about 30,000 of those cases are reported to local and state health departments and to CDC.

WHO Estimates 10 Percent of Developing Countries' Medical Products Falsified or Substandard

"Substandard and falsified medicines particularly affect the most vulnerable communities," said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO's director-general. "Imagine a mother who gives up food or other basic needs to pay for her child's treatment, unaware that the medicines are substandard or falsified, and then that treatment causes her child to die. This is unacceptable. Countries have agreed on measures at the global level – it is time to translate them into tangible action."

NIOSH Seeks Extension of Violence Research Project

Six states have enacted laws to reduce violence against health care workers by requiring workplace violence prevention programs, but little is understood about how effective their laws are at reducing violence against health workers, the NIOSH notice states.



FDA Approves Sensor-Equipped Schizophrenia Pill

"Being able to track ingestion of medications prescribed for mental illness may be useful for some patients," said Dr. Mitchell Mathis, M.D., director of the Division of Psychiatry Products in FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

NJ Governor Appoints Acting Health Commissioner

Christopher Rinn had been assistant commissioner. He replaces Cathleen D. Bennett, who became president and CEO of the New Jersey Hospital Association on Nov. 9.

AMA Expanding Diabetes Prevention Program to Eight More States

AMA reported Nov. 9 that it is currently working with more than 45 health systems throughout the United States to develop and implement system-wide diabetes prevention strategies.

Hypertension Control Champions Named

The 24 organizations provide care to more than 1.2 million adults that is focused on proven strategies to help their patients achieve blood pressure control at rates at or above the Million Hearts® target of 70 percent, according to CDC.

Each year, 660,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with cancer related to tobacco use, and 343,000 people die from such cancers, according to CDC.

Vatican Halting Cigarette Sales

Citing World World Health Organization statistics that smoking causes more than 7 million deaths worldwide every year, the Vatican said in a statement that cigarettes will not be sold there as of the start of 2018. Large cigars will continue to be sold, however.

Agencies Fund Projects to Fight Infectious Diseases

The 2017 awards fund projects that "range in scope from meters to the entire globe and time scales from weeks to millennia," said Sam Scheiner, an EEID program officer in the NSF directorate. "This broad approach to attacking problems in infectious disease ecology and evolution will provide the basic knowledge that we will need when the next Ebola virus or Zika virus outbreak happens."

Pennsylvania Creates Home Care Apprenticeship Program

Kathleen Kleinmann, CEO of TRPIL and a licensed home care provider, said the CNA apprentices "will gain invaluable hand-on training and the skills needed to provide quality community support services to consumers in a home care setting. This training will help our nurses to safely perform their job duties and provide people with disabilities with a vital service to help them transition from care facilities to living independently in their homes."

Canada Marks 2017 Patient Safety Week

The Canadian Patient Safety Institute is using the week to encourage patients to learn about key questions patients should all their health care providers about their medications.

The bottom line is health care facilities must develop a comprehensive Emergency Operations Plan that will meet the needs of patients, the community, and their staff during disasters and emergency situations.

CMS Emergency Preparedness Training Deadline is Here, Are you Ready?

The assumption is that all the accrediting organizations and CMS will be looking more deeply at Emergency Management standards starting this November.

California Medical Provider Suspensions Up to 52

The most recent suspensions involve a provider who had pleaded guilty to health care fraud and illegal kickbacks, one whose medical license was suspended in New Mexico after he was charged with sexual assault of a patient, and one who pleaded no contest to grand theft from the California Health Care Deposit Fund, according to the Department of Industrial Relations announcement.

OAOHN Annual Conference Tackling Wide Range of Health Issues

The Nov. 2-4 event is focused on workplace behavioral and cultural issues, with active shooter response, treating opioid overdoses, CPR, and a spirometry refresher course also on the program.

New ASTM Standard Concerns Alloy Useful in Stents, Implants

A new ASTM International standard is a specification for the chemical, mechanical, and metallurgical requirements for a high-strength alloy that could be used for cardiovascular stents and for surgical implants.

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