New USA Today/Kaiser/Harvard Poll Finds the Public Sees Real Benefits From Prescription Drugs, But Feels that They Cost Too Much and that Drug Companies Care Too Much About Profits
A new poll, the third in a series conducted jointly by USA Today and public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health, finds Americans greatly value prescription drugs’ potential benefits for their families, but most believe they cost too much money and many struggle to pay for needed medicines.

for results of the poll, copy and paste this link:
http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/pomr030408pkg.cfm

Here’s one simple way to keep your children healthy: Ban the bedroom TV.

By some estimates, half of American children have a television in their bedroom; one study of third-graders put the number at 70 percent. And a growing body of research shows strong associations between TV in the bedroom and numerous health and educational problems.

Children with bedroom TVs score lower on school tests and are more likely to have sleep problems. Having a television in the bedroom is strongly associated with being overweight and a higher risk for smoking.

for full story, copy and paste the following link:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-tv-children-healthmar04,1,3791149.story

Much has been said and written about the Democratic candidates’ health-care proposals [front page, Feb. 27]. I question Sen. Barack Obama’s definition of the word “universal.”

Central to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s message is universal health care — meaning that everyone would be covered. Mr. Obama’s plan does not include everyone.

It was a bold move in the 1930s to implement the Social Security Act, and it was a bold move to implement the law establishing Medicare in the 1960s. It will take a courageous president to implement a health care program that truly covers everyone.

for full story, copy and paste this link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/29/AR2008022903852.html

Malpractice and Tort Reform Act of 2003, a class action suit filed in the Marshall court of the Eastern District of Texas argues that the state’s limits on non-economic damages are unconstitutional.

Texans overhauled the Texas civil justice system by adopting the comprehensive tort reform bill (House Bill 4)regarding health care liability claims in 2003, which includes limits on non-economic damages. Economic losses are not capped and include factors like medical costs and lost income.

for full article, copy and paste this link:
http://www.setexasrecord.com/news/208641-class-action-challenges-texas-cap-on-medical-malpractice-damages

Women who discussed reconstruction with their surgeons were significantly more likely to undergo mastectomy than women who did not have such counsel.
Although surgical decision making about breast-conserving surgery (BCS) versus mastectomy has been studied extensively, we know less about the nature of guidance provided by clinicians regarding breast reconstruction and how such counsel affects the choices of women with newly diagnosed breast cancer.

for full article, copy and paste this link:
http://womens-health.jwatch.org/cgi/content/full/2008/228/1?q=etoc_jwwomen

While the Democratic-majority Congress is considering an expanded Children’s Health Insurance Program bill - possibly for after the Nov. 4 election - it was good to have Republican Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour speak up for kids’ health.

Barbour testified Tuesday before the House Health Subcommittee that poor states are suffering under the current federal formula, which has left Mississippi $50 million short this budget year.

CHIP generally is a good deal for the state, in that for every 17 cents Mississippi allocates, the federal government gives 83 cents toward the state-federal program.

About $5 billion has been spent on CHIP annually since it started in 1997 as a 10-year venture. But Bush vetoed it when it first came up for reauthorization last year.

copy and paste this link for full story:
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/OPINION01/802280336/1008/OPINION

an excellent post recently appeared in the HealthBeat Blog–

http://www.healthbeatblog.org/

The author concludes that the high cost of medicine is greatly enhanced by the fact that consumers who spend their own money and make their own healthcare decisions are the ones who end up costing the system much more in the long run.

By 2017, consumers and taxpayers will spend more than $4 trillion on health care, accounting for one of every $5 spent, the federal government projects.

The 6.7 percent annual increase in spending — nearly three times the rate of inflation — will be largely driven by higher prices and an increased demand for care, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Monday. But other factors in the mix include a growing and aging population. The first wave of baby boomers become eligible for Medicare beginning in 2011.

With the aging population, the federal government will be picking up the tab for a growing share of the nation’s medical expenses. Overall, federal and state governments accounted for about 46 percent of health expenditures in 2006. That percentage will increase to 49 percent over the next decade.

copy and paste this link for the full article:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/5569497.html

On a brilliantly sunny February morning, Valarie McQueen and Nancy Cancel are walking down some of Hallandale Beach’s meanest streets. McQueen knocks on the door of an apartment. The building’s windows are boarded. There’s litter on the ground.

“We’re from Memorial Healthcare System,” McQueen tells the woman opening the door. “Do you have health coverage?” She says yes but that some of her family members do not. McQueen tells her about the hospital’s mobile health bus parked around the corner with doctors, nurses and a pharmacy on board, then gives the woman a phone number to call for more information.

copy and paste this link for full article:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/business/epaper/2008/02/24/a1f_uninsured_0224.html

After more than 20 years of studying women’s health issues, psychologist Alice Domar has come to a grand conclusion: Women are just too hard on themselves.

There is no pill that will cure this self-imposed pressure - which Domar says creates harmful stress and makes dealing with everything from eating disorders to infertility more difficult.

People will take pills, Domar says. That’s easy. What’s hard is to get women to accept what she says is obvious to men: Perfection is not attainable.

for full article, copy and paste this link:
http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2008/02/25/its_time_to_stop_trying_to_be_perfect_psychologist_says/