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Chronically Ill U.S. Patients Often Skip Care Due to Costs
Washington Post - 11-13-2008 - Chronically ill patients in the United States spend more out-of-pocket money, skip needed care, and report more medical errors than patients in seven other industrialized countries, a new survey finds. "This is a time of economic crisis around the world, but also a time of crisis in the U.S. health-care system," Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, which conducted the survey, said during a teleconference Tuesday. "The survey findings provide a basis for action toward reforming our health-care system."
Credit crunch is hard on California hospitals
Sacramento Bee - 11-13-2008 - California hospitals are not immune to the credit crisis, according to financial advisors who note that the more a hospital pays to its bond investors, the less money it has left for patient care, new equipment, and other programs. The market for tax-exempt hospital bonds has seen significant changes in recent months, as the credit crisis has made it more expensive for health facilities to borrow money.
UCI Medical Center plans to reduce pediatric care
Los Angeles Times - 11-13-2008 - The hospital aims to eliminate 25 pediatric beds and transfer in-patient services to Children's Hospital of Orange County.
Preemie births rise; trend defies efforts
San Diego Union-Tribune - 11-13-2008 - Premature births have risen in California and nationwide despite efforts by health officials to raise awareness of the problem and devote more resources to reversing the trend, local leaders for the March of Dimes said yesterday.
Trend to C-section births worries some doctors
San Francisco Chronicle - 11-12-2008 - For her first baby, Naomi Laguana tried - with her doctor's encouragement - to give birth naturally. But after hours of anxiety-ridden labor, she ended up in the operating room, undergoing a cesarean section.
Google.org joins CDC in battle with flu
San Francisco Chronicle - 11-12-2008 - Combatting flu outbreaks hinges on warning potential victims early enough so that they can get a vaccine. Google Inc., through its philanthropic arm, Google.org, is trying to help U.S. authorities fight the flu by introducing a new tool Tuesday that can spot potential epidemics in near real-time.
Study chronicles drug-resistant TB in the U.S.
Los Angeles Times - 11-12-2008 - Unlike what is happening in much of the developing world, new U.S. cases of tuberculosis have declined sharply over the last 15 years.
Campaign to end 2-year insurance gap for disabled
San Francisco Chronicle (AP) - 11-12-2008 - Congress and the Obama administration should end the two-year wait that people deemed too sick to work by the government face before qualifying for Medicare, lawmakers and leading advocacy groups said Wednesday.
Bone Drugs Not Linked to Disorder
Wall Street Journal - 11-13-2008 - By Jennifer Corbett Dooren - The Food and Drug Administration said that a review of clinical studies involving bone-building drugs showed "no clear association" between the drugs and atrial fibrillation, a heart-rhythm disorder.
Bulging Waist Carries Risk
Wall Street Journal - 11-13-2008 - By Robert Tomsho - A bulging waistline may be a stronger predictor of premature death than a person's overall weight, according to a large-scale European study that bolsters the findings of earlier research.
For the study, published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine, researchers tracked nearly 360,000 men and women in nine European countries for about a decade. Study participants ranged in age from 25 to 70.
