Health Care


CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden says 75 million Americans have high blood pressure, and about half of them don

CDC Study Again Calls Attention to Uncontrolled High Blood Pressure

About 75 million Americans have high blood pressure, and about half of them don't have it under control, raising their risk of stroke and heart attack, CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden reiterated Sept. 13.

Fund Created for Southeast Asia Health Emergency Preparedness

Earthquakes, cyclones, and floods have caused health emergencies in the region in recent years, and emerging diseases that include SARS, MERS CoV, pandemic influenza, and Zika virus also have threatened residents in the region.

Electronic Health Records Devouring Physicians' Time, Study Finds

The authors evaluated the time they spent on four activities (direct clinical face time, EHR and desk work, administrative tasks, and other tasks) and self-reported after-hours work. They concluded that the doctors spent 27.0 percent of their total time on direct clinical face time with patients and 49.2 percent of their time on EHR and desk work.

This is an artist

Counting Down to NSC 2016

The pre-conference program identifies 10 technical sessions as "hot topics" for this year—and they look very promising.

US Labor Secretary Renews Workplace Rights Agreements with Five Governments

Thomas E. Perez renewed partnership agreements with Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, and the Phillippines.

FDA Advises Testing for Zika in all Donated Blood

FDA Advises Testing for Zika in All Donated Blood

The revised guidance recommends all states and U.S. territories screen for the virus.

Zika virus is transmitted to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito, the mosquitoes that alos spread dengue and chikungunya viruses.

HHS Awards Back Rapid Zika Lab Tests

The agency's $2.6 million award to DiaSorin Group aims to encourage its development of a high-capacity Zika diagnostic laboratory test, and second, $7 million award is going to OraSure Technologies, Inc.

HHS Program Aids Louisiana Residents Needing Medicines

At no cost to uninsured patients, residents needing certain drugs during an emergency can obtain a 30-day supply at any EPAP participating pharmacy.



HHS Funds to Boost Health Centers' Quality

The health centers are receiving the funds based on high levels of performance in one or more of these categories: improving quality of care, advancing health equity, maintaining patient-centered medical home recognition, enhancing access to care, and delivering value.

Bloomberg Becomes WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases

NCDs include heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases. Together with injuries, they are responsible for 43 million deaths each year, or almost 80 percent of all deaths worldwide.

California Adopts Opioid Treatment Guidelines

The Department of Industry Relations' Office of Administrative Law approved the final version of the Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule regulations that updates the Chronic Pain Medical Treatment Guidelines and adopts Opioids Treatment Guidelines.

FDA Updates Guidance on Premarket Safety for Dietary Supplements

FDA Updates Guidance on Premarket Safety for Dietary Supplements

"This revised draft guidance is an important step forward in the agency's work to protect public health from potentially dangerous new dietary ingredients," said Steven Tave, acting director of FDA's Office of Dietary Supplement Programs.

HHS Awards $4.1 Million to Developer of Zika Blood Screening Test

"Accurate blood-screening tools are vital to protecting our nation's blood supply from Zika. This test may provide another tool laboratories can use to identify infected blood donations to help ensure patients' safety," said Dr. Richard Hatchett, BARDA's acting director. "At the same time, we are pursuing promising diagnostic tools and vaccines to identify and prevent Zika virus infections."

Longer Work Hours Linked to Higher Cardiovascular Risk

A new study says the risk increased beyond 45 hours per week over the course of a decade or longer.

Florida Zika Cases Linked to Mosquito-Borne Virus Transmission

The cases are the first known occurrence of local Zika transmission in the continental United States.

A Recipe for Better Trauma Care

"Every US resident should have the best possible chance for survival and functional recovery after injury. When it comes to trauma care, where people live ought not to determine if they live."

Tufts’ Patrick Collins reported that the early results "raise the possibility of optimizing patient-specific treatments" and show that using thread is a more flexible and less expensive option than substrates for implantable devices.

'Smart' Thread Collects Real-Time Diagnostic Data

Tufts University engineers headed a research team that integrated nano-sized sensors and electronics into simple threads.

NBA Players Association to Pay Health Insurance for Retired Players

The program is the first of its kind among North American professional sports.

Florida Agency Screening Donated Blood for Zika

OneBlood, which collects blood donations across most of Florida, announced that, effective July 29, it will begin testing 100 percent of its collections for the Zika virus using an investigational donor screening test.

FDA first added a Boxed Warning to fluoroquinolones in July 2008 for the increased risk of tendinitis and tendon rupture. In February 2011, the risk of worsening symptoms for those with myasthenia gravis was added to the Boxed Warning. In August 2013, the agency required updates to the labels to describe the potential for irreversible peripheral neuropathy (serious nerve damage).

FDA Updates Safety Label Warnings for Fluoroquinolones Again

The agency has enhanced the warnings about these antibiotics’ association with disabling and potentially permanent side effects and to limit their use in patients with less serious bacterial infections. FDA says fluoroquinolones should be used for some conditions only when there are no other options available.

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