Lawmakers Introduce Legislation That Would Allow Small Businesses To Form Nationwide Pools, Provide Health Insurance Tax Credits

Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Blanch Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) on Wednesday introduced legislation that would allow small-business owners to establish nationwide purchasing pools to negotiate lower health insurance premiums, CongressDaily reports.

Michigan Faces Physician Shortfall, Survey Finds

Forty-one percent of Michigan's 40, 000 licensed physicians do not plan to continue practicing medicine 10 years from now, and 61% said that their practices are full or almost full, according to a survey by the Michigan Department of Community Health, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Prescription Drug Television Ads Should Be Required To Include Toll-Free Number, Web Site For Consumers To Report Serious Side Effects To FDA

Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) on Wednesday asked FDA to mandate that all prescription drug television advertisements include information for consumers to report serious side effects to the agency, the Los Angeles Times reports.

BMA Response To Sponsored Reservists Scheme For Armed Forces Doctors, UK

Responding to Alan Johnson's announcement1 of a"Sponsored Reservist" scheme, Dr Brendan McKeating, Chairman of the BMA's Armed Forces Committee said: "The new scheme to supply sponsored reservist NHS specialists might appear to help plug manning gaps in the short-term, but it does nothing to solv.

CMS Releases Regulation Modernizing Dialysis Centers

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a final rule that will modernize the Medicare conditions for coverage for the nation's dialysis centers and promote higher quality of care for patients receiving dialysis.

Bird Flu Human Deaths Confirmed, Pakistan

H5N1 Bird flu (avian flu) did kill some family members in Peshawar, north-west Pakistan last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed after carrying out tests at its WHO H5 Reference Laboratory in Cairo, Egypt, and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in Atlanta, USA.

Rotarix, An Oral Rotavirus Vaccine, Approved By The FDA

The FDA (Food and Drug Administration, USA) has approved Rotarix, an oral vaccine for the prevention of rotavirus - an infection in children and infants which causes vomiting and diarrhea (gastroenteritis). The vaccine, which is presented in liquid form, is given in two doses to infants aged 6 and 24 weeks.

MSF Closes Medical Project In Kismayo, Somalia

Following the killing of three staff members on January 28, the medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has decided to close its project in the southern city of Kismayo, Somalia.

CMS Issues Final Rule On Electronic-Prescribing Standards Under Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit

CMS on Wednesday released a final rule that establishes standards for electronic prescribing under the Medicare prescription drug benefit, CQ HealthBeat reports.The rule establishes standards for the electronic transmission of information of the medications covered under the Medicare prescription drug plans of beneficiaries and the availability of generic versions of those treatments.

Servier Welcomes Revised NICE Guidance On Postmenopausal Osteoporosis But Urges NICE To Go Further

Servier Laboratories Ltd has welcomed the progress made by NICE to increase access to medicines such as strontium ranelate in its revised draft guidance for the primary and secondary prevention of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women but is disappointed that many women are still unable to access appropriate treatments across the UK.