Popular Articles
Burdock Root

Maryland Hospital Fined For Not Reporting Errors
Regulators have fined a hospital in Lanham, Maryland, for not reporting errors. The Washington Post reports that "Doctors Community Hospital in Prince George"s County has been fined by Maryland health regulators after failing to notify them that a patient had died and that at least seven others suffered serious harm last year as a result of mistakes by the medical staff. The 185-bed medical surgical hospital in Lanham paid the $30,000 fine last month for violating a Maryland law that requires hospitals to report serious medical errors. State officials agreed to reduce a proposed penalty of $95,000 as long as the hospital uses the remaining $65,000 to develop a patient safety program."
generic viagra online
Michigan Lawmakers Introduce Bills Package To Expand Access To Health Care To State's Uninsured
Michigan lawmakers introduced health reform packages this week, the Detroit News reports. On Thursday, state senators introduced a bipartisan package of health care bills aimed at expanding health insurance coverage to the state"s 1.2 million uninsured residents. The package, named MI Health, would establish two state health plans that provide the residents with more affordable and accessible coverage options.MI Access would expand the state Medicaid program to include residents with annual incomes under 200% of the federal poverty level, and beneficiaries would contribute copayments for services and medications. MI Coverage would provide subsidized coverage options for residents with annual incomes at 200% to 300% of the poverty level. Fees for residents under MI Coverage would be set according to their health levels and habits (Bouffard, Detroit News, 5/14). The proposed legislation package also would create a state fund that pays for insurance claims exceeding $25,000, or up to $250,000 per year, with health plans making contributions to the fund. In addition, the package proposes to bar commercial insurers from rejecting coverage for applicants with chronic conditions or increasing their premiums if they have been previously diagnosed with a chronic condition (Anstett, Detroit Free Press, 5/15).
News of the day
News Examines Lawmakers' Contributions In Health Reform Debate
Over the last 27 sessions of Congress, there has always been a Dingell universal health care bill, introduced first by Rep. John D. Dingell"s father during World War II, and then by his son, The Washington Times reports.
Public Health

10 Million H1N1 Vaccines Ordered By Australia

Reports are coming in that the government of Australia has placed an order for 10 million vaccines against the novel H1N1 swine flu virus, following a press briefing from Health Minister Nicola Roxon in Canberra earlier today, Thursday. According to a report from Reuters, Roxon said the Australian government will also be ordering 1.6 million courses of the antiviral drug Relenza, bringing the national stockpile of antivirals to nearly 12 million courses. The swine flu vaccine order has been placed with pharmaceutical company CSL Ltd who are planning to start clinical trials in a few months. Vaccine producers worldwide have to wait for good "candidate" samples of the virus to be made in approved labs before they can start developing the vaccine. These are only just starting to come forward. It is not clear whether the order is for doses or courses. If it is for doses and experts conclude that two doses are needed for full immunity, then this order will only cover 25 per cent of Australia"s 20 million inhabitants. Roxon told reporters that the health authorities will be deciding who gets the vaccine and who does not. She said the government has also approved its first release of a controlled number of antivirals from the national stockpile to highly localized and targeted areas in the Victoria and Western Australia states to "enable aggressive containment of small clusters of the disease," reported Reuters. Earlier today, the Australian authorities reported they have officially confirmed 103 cases of H1N1 swine flu, up from 61 on Wednesday. Australia is also gearing up for the regular flu season, which starts about now, as the winter months approach. Most of the swine flu cases are believed to be in New South Wales and Victoria, the country"s two most populated states and which lie to the south east. Three of the cases were passengers travelling on the cruise liner Pacific Dawn which is now not going to complete its journey north to Queensland. As of 06:00 GMT yesterday, Wednesday 27 May, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that 48 countries have now officially reported 13,398 cases of H1N1 swine flu, including 95 deaths. Most of the deaths have been in Mexico, while most of the cases are in the US and Mexico. s: Reuters, WHO. Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):