MedWorm: Tax

House Unveils $940 Billion Health Accord

RWJF News Digest - Health Insurance Coverage — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:40:43 +0100

Pushing toward a Sunday vote that could transform the nation's health-insurance system, House leaders announced a $940 billion compromise Thursday that would extend coverage to the vast majority of Americans, cut billions of dollars from Medicare, and impose new taxes on the wealthy and the well-insured. (Source: RWJF News Digest - Health Insurance Coverage)

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Increased sexually transmitted infection incidence in a low risk population: Identifying the risk factors

The European Journal of Public Health — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:45:28 +0100

Conclusions: Age, condom use and number of sexual partners are important risk factors for STI diagnosis. Contrary to international STI literature, having multiple sexual partners does not increase STI incidence. Age specific behavioural interventions that target increased condom use may be effective in reducing STIs in Ireland. At policy level, a reduction in the taxation on condoms from 13.5 to 5% is needed to lower the prohibitive cost and increase their use. (Source: The European Journal of Public Health)

Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity – a summary of the second edition

Addiction — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

This article summarizes the contents of Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity (2nd edn). The first part of the book describes why alcohol is not an ordinary commodity, and reviews epidemiological data that establish alcohol as a major contributor to the global burden of disease, disability and death in high-, middle- and low-income countries. This section also documents how international beer and spirits production has been consolidated recently by a small number of global corporations that are expanding their operations in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. In the second part of the book, the scientific evidence for strategies and interventions that can prevent or minimize alcohol-related harm is reviewed critically in seven key areas: pricing and taxation, regulating the physical a...

Supported further education provision for people with long-term mental health needs: Findings from a survey of further education colleges and primary care trusts across the south east of England

The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:03:58 +0100

Conclusion: This research has implications for budget holders, health promotion staff and mental health teams working within a social model of health, and the collaborative use of resources to assist people recovering from or managing mental health difficulties in moving forward in their lives. (Source: The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health)

AHIP Statement On Health Care Reform Legislation

Health News from Medical News Today — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:00:00 +0100

America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) President and CEO Karen Ignagni released the following statement on proposed health care reform legislation: "For health care reform to work, everyone needs to be covered and the growth in health care costs must be brought under control. Health care reform legislation that does not address underlying medical costs cannot be sustained. Unfortunately, this legislation will drive up health care costs by adding billions in new health care taxes and encouraging people to wait until they are sick before getting insurance... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

WellPoint Draws Flak For Unfulfilled Promise To Help Uninsured

Health News from Medical News Today — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:00:00 +0100

The health insurance company WellPoint delivered on only about one-fifth of a $30-million pledge to help the uninsured, the Los Angeles Times reports. "It was not the first time the nation's largest insurer cast itself as an agent of change. In 2007, just as Democrats took control of Congress, WellPoint pledged that its charitable foundation would spend $30 million over three years as part of a "comprehensive plan to help address the growing ranks of the uninsured." Yet, tax filings from 2007 to 2009 show the firms charitable foundation only gave $6.2 million for that cause... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

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Health Care Fraud, Prescription Theft Lead To Significant Losses

Health News from Medical News Today — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:00:00 +0100

ABC News: "A four month 'Nightline' investigation into Medicare fraud makes one thing perfectly clear: this is a crime that pays and pays and pays. The federal government admits that a staggering $60 billion is stolen from tax payers through Medicare scams every year. Some experts believe the number is more than twice that... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

Health Care Fraud, Prescription Theft Lead To Significant Losses

Public Health News From Medical News Today — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:00:00 +0100

Statement From American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown On Congressional Approval Of The PACT Act

Health News from Medical News Today — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:00:00 +0100

We're pleased that Congress has taken another significant step in reducing tobacco use in the U.S. with passage of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act of 2009. This measure will support ongoing efforts to protect children and adults from heart disease, stroke and other chronic illnesses linked to tobacco use. The bill regulates Internet and mail-order sales of tobacco products, restricting children's access to tobacco products online and ensuring that all appropriate taxes are paid when tobacco products are sold. This legislation will have a tremendous impact on public health... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

States Weigh Taxes to Help Fund Medicaidand Raise Federal Contributions

News stories via the Rural Assistance Center — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 06:00:00 +0100

Kaiser Health News article reports that as the recession demolishes their budgets, states are increasingly turning to taxes on hospitals and other health care providers to help pay for their beleaguered Medicaid programs. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)

It Costs $940 Billion---and Cuts Deficit?

WSJ.com: Health — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:35:16 +0100

The health overhaul would cost $940 billion over a decade, yet it would bring down the federal budget deficit by $138 billion, according to the nonpartisan CBO. How is that possible? Mainly new taxes and Medicare spending curbs. (Source: WSJ.com: Health)

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How Does It Cost $940 Billion---and Cut Deficit?

WSJ.com: Health — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:38:09 +0100

Ill. Court: Nonprofit Hospital Can Be Taxed

WSJ.com: Health — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:34:10 +0100

An Illinois Catholic medical center isn't a charitable enterprise and must pay property taxes, the state's highest court ruled. (Source: WSJ.com: Health)

Burden higher for nonprofit hospitals, Illinois Supreme Court says

OrlandoSentinel: Medical Research — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

An Illinois Supreme Court decision Thursday puts nonprofit hospitals on notice that they must provide an adequate amount of charity care to patients or risk losing significant tax exemptions. The decision, closely watched at a time when medical centers... (Source: OrlandoSentinel: Medical Research)

Michigan physicians fight new tax

Modern Medicine — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Michigan physicians are fighting a receipt tax in the state's 2010-11 budget proposal. (Source: Modern Medicine)

PC Group, Inc. Reports Operating Results for Year Ended December 31, 2009; Announces Commencement of Search for New Chief Executive Officer

Medical News (via PRIMEZONE) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:31:00 +0100

NEW YORK, March 18, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PC Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:PCGR) ("PC Group" or the "Company") reported a loss from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2009 of approximately $8.5 million, or $(1.06) per share on a fully diluted basis, on net sales of approximately $40.9 million. The net loss from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2009 includes a non-recurring, non-cash deferred tax benefit of approximately $1.1 million which is discussed in more detail below. For the year ended December 31, 2008, the Company reported a loss from continuing operations of approximately $11.3 million, or $(1.06) per share on a fully diluted basis, on net sales of approximately $45.1 million. The loss from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2009...

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NY AG Cuomo probes state’s highest pensioners

bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:47:08 +0100

The state Attorney General’s office has started a probe of people who pad their state pensions at taxpayer expense. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines)

Maryland delegates weighing a bill extending millionaires' tax

bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:18:06 +0100

The state House of Delegates is considering a bill that would make permanent the so-called millionaires' tax, which is currently set to expire this year. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)

Overexpression of caveolin-1 in adult T-cell leukemia

Blood — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:02:03 +0100

Caveolin-1 is implicated in the regulation of signal pathways. Adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) is a T-cell malignancy causatively associated with human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1). To determine the role of caveolin-1 in leukemogenesis, we examined caveolin-1 expression levels in HTLV-1–infected T-cell lines and ATL cells. These cells expressed high levels of caveolin-1 compared with uninfected T-cell lines and normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Caveolin-1–positive ATL cells were detected in ATL lymph nodes and skin lesions, and caveolin-1 was also detected in the plasma of patients with ATL. Infection of a human T-cell line, an epithelial cell line, and normal PBMCs with HTLV-1 induced caveolin-1 expression. The viral protein Tax transcriptionally activate...

Big tax hikes on cigarettes urged

Nursing in Practice — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:55:18 +0100

A think tank is urging higher taxes on cigarettes to pay for health drives such as cash rewards for pregnant women who give up smoking (Source: Nursing in Practice)

Cuts to stem cell research, bay fund, approved by Senate committee

OrlandoSentinel: Medical Research — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:44:00 +0100

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A Senate committee has approved cuts to stem cell research and a fund to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay. The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee voted Thursday to approve reductions to Gov. Martin O'Malley's budget... (Source: OrlandoSentinel: Medical Research)

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Increase cigarette taxes to reward pregnant quitters, says report

Nursing Times Breaking News — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:32:00 +0100

Cigarette taxes should be increased to pay for controversial smoking cessation measures for pregnant women, a report has claimed. (Source: Nursing Times Breaking News)

Even oysters pay taxes

EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +0100

(University of Southern California) Study of oyster genes associated with growth suggests that fast-growing animals have better tuned ribosomal factories for making proteins, USC marine biologists say. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)

March 18: Feedback from newspaper readers

OrlandoSentinel: Medical Research — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Skin of color • In your article Monday "City to see tax boost from HU's cancer center," you mention "research into skin of color" in two or three places. What does that mean? What kind of research is that? Editor: I think this excerpt from a... (Source: OrlandoSentinel: Medical Research)

Tax-Exemption for Hearing Aids in Health Care Reform Under Fire

ASHA Action Alerts — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Contact your members of Congress today (Source: ASHA Action Alerts)

On Tax Breaks, Emotional Commitments, and the Myth of the Transformative Power of Marriage

Psychology Today Relationships Center — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:36:30 +0100

In her post, "Marriage gives the only tax break for commitment," fellow Psych Today blogger Ilana Simons points us to an important observation made by Laurie Abraham: "There are aspects of our culture that make it seem like marriage is the only way to find emotional sustenance in life." Simons agrees with Abraham, and so do I. In fact, in many posts to my Living Single blog here at PT, and in my books, Singled Out and Single with Attitude, I've described many of the ways that over-the-top celebrations of marriage and coupling permeate our culture, and dubbed it matrimania.The point that Simons highlights in the title of her post, about how marriage is the only emotional commitment for which there are tax breaks, is also significant. Obscured by all the dust kicked up by the same-sex marria...

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NY tax refund checks not in the mail

bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:10:05 +0100

New York state has temporarily stopped issuing income tax refund checks, hoarding money to help the state pay more than $14 billion of bills due this month. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)

Marriage Gives the Only Tax Break for Commitment

Psychology Today Relationships Center — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:33:23 +0100

Most of my friends in their 30's--women and men--fear that if they don't marry, they'll end up lonely. Or, worse: that they'll have failed in a highly public and widely accepted American personality test. This fear about the pain of living single is not quite hysteria, because it's rooted in data. Married people generally live longer and happier than others do. For instance, in 2007, the Office for National Statistics reported that single men between 30 and 60 die at a rate 2 ½ times the rate of married men. Single people are also more likely to suffer with alcoholism, depression, and various physical health problems than married people are. One possible reason for why married people are happier than unmarried ones is that our culture hasn't developed many institutions--other than marriag...

AP: After Health Reform, Premiums Rise - For Now

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:04:16 +0100

Buyers, beware: President Barack Obama says his health care overhaul will lower premiums by double digits, but check the fine print. Premiums are likely to keep going up even if the health care bill passes, experts say. If cost controls work as advertised, annual increases would level off with time. But don't look for a rollback. Instead, the main reason premiums would be more affordable is that new government tax credits would help cover the cost for millions of people. (Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire)

Blogs Comment On Abortion Coverage In Health Reform, The Catholic Health Association's Endorsement Of Health Reform, Other Topics

Health News from Medical News Today — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:00:00 +0100

The following summarizes selected women's health-related blog entries. ~ "Healthcare Reform Bill Abortion Debate is Nonsensical," Robert Schlesinger, U.S. News & World Report's "Thomas Jefferson Street": The issue of how health reform would handle abortion coverage is "of the angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin nature, unrelated to what the bill actually does but focusing on what theoretical ripple effects it might have" because the "bill on offer simply wouldn't use taxpayer dollars to fund abortions," U.S. News & World Report columnist Robert Schlesinger writes... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

Hikma thrives on US generics sales

FT.com - Drugs and Healthcare — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:34:13 +0100

Pre-tax profits leap 48 per cent to $95m as the Jordan-based drugmaker pays out a full-year dividend of 11 cents per share (Source: FT.com - Drugs and Healthcare)

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GPs unable to respond to 'tax amnesty' in time, say accountants

HealthcareRepublic Independent Nurse News — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:20:00 +0100

Accountants have called for an extension to the deadline of this month's tax 'amnesty', amid fears many GPs have not yet responded. (Source: HealthcareRepublic Independent Nurse News)

Population salt intake reduction using the UK model would be cost-effective in the US

NeLM - News — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Source: Annals of Internal Medicine Area: News A modelling study published in Annals of Internal Medicine concludes that reducing the US population dietary intake of salt using a strategy similar to that used in the UK would avert around a million strokes and myocardial infarctions (MI) and save over $30 billion in medical costs in the lifetime of adults aged 40 to 85. The authors note that US adults consume on average significantly more dietary salt than is advised, and that moderate reductions in intake can reduce blood pressure with the potential to reduce mortality from cardiovascular disease and stroke. Most dietary salt is present in manufactured foods and thus reductions rely on food industry action. They point out that the UK has recently achieved a reduction in populat...

[Epidemiology of substance use and substance use disorders in Germany.]

Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

CONCLUSIONS: The availability of nicotine and pharmaceutical dependence assistance to patients should be improved in the primary and secondary care systems. The alcohol abuse of adolescents requires specific observation and intervention. In order to adequately plan treatment systems for addiction, an estimation of the need for help and the acceptance of the help should be explored and analyzed in scientific studies. PMID: 20232026 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz)

NDP want to know if HST will apply to therapy costs

CTV Health — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:14:01 +0100

The NDP are warning Ontario parents that the new harmonized sales tax may be applied to a crucial but costly therapy for autistic kids. (Source: CTV Health)

Damning hospital probe cost £1.7m

BBC News | Health | UK Edition — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:01:29 +0100

An inquiry into what went wrong at Stafford Hospital cost taxpayers £1.7m, a Freedom of Information request reveals. (Source: BBC News | Health | UK Edition)

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Healthy Eating Research: Building Evidence to Prevent Childhood Obesity 2010 Call for Proposals-Round 5, Rapid-Response and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Connections Grant Opportunities

ScanGrants feed — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Healthy Eating Research: Building Evidence to Prevent Childhood Obesity 2010 Call for Proposals-Round 5, Rapid-Response and RWJF New Connections Grant OpportunitiesHealthy Eating Research is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The program supports research on environmental and policy strategies with strong potential to promote healthy eating among children to prevent childhood obesity, especially among lower-income and racial and ethnic populations at highest risk for obesity. Findings are expected to advance RWJF’s efforts to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015.The three types of funding opportunities included in this call for proposals (CFP) are Round 5 grants, rapid-response grants and New Connections grants through Healthy Eating Research.E...

An airborne weightless science lab

Physics Today News Picks — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

SPACE.com: A commercial company is offering researchers a chance to fly in a plane that simulates weightless and low-gravity environments like the moon, Mars, and Earth-orbit. Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G) announced the new program, known as ZERO-G Weightless Lab, on Thursday. The lab flights, costs about $30,000 (plus tax) and is open to academic, corporate and government agency customers. (Source: Physics Today News Picks)

Business group warns on public finances

HSJ — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:09:00 +0100

Repairing the public finances will require tax rises or spending cuts of up to £15bn a year, a business group has warned. (Source: HSJ)

Hospitals face tax to increase Medi-Cal funds

bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +0100

California hospitals have agreed to tax themselves to increase federal funding for services to the poor, but there’s a devil in the details. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)

In a democracy, science has to speak up

Guardian Unlimited Science — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:06:05 +0100

Britain must celebrate its scientists, because if the voters do, then so will the politiciansNational Science and Engineering Week – running now with 2,000-plus exhibitions, lectures, open days and debates for an expected audience of 1.5 million – began as a whistle in the dark. Back in 1994, the science minister, William Waldegrave, secured a derisory £100,000 for the first one, and it seemed like a gimmick.The charge of cynicism was unfair: Waldegrave was that rare thing, a minister with a prior and genuine interest in science. But the gesture came near the end of a long period of devastation of an intellectual tradition that had delivered Newton, Faraday, Darwin, James Clerk Maxwell, Rutherford and one of the unsung giants of the 20th century, Paul Dirac. In 15 years of Conservativ...

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Ageing well, ageing productively: The essential contribution of Australia's ageing population to the social and economic prosperity of the nation

Health Sociology Review — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Health Sociology Review 18(4): 379-386 Abstract In Australia we have become preoccupied with the potential adverse impact of our ageing population on our health and social systems. The projected cost of having increasing proportions of our population in the over 70s, retired, chronically ill category of the demographic profile is emerging as a major challenge for governments and private insurers: so much so in fact that the government is now urging older people to stay at work longer. In America, new approaches to the management and self-management of chronic diseases have been invoked to encourage and support older people to improve their quality of life and reduce their recourse to and dependence upon health care technologies, clinical interventions and health care management systems. Un...

Nurses Back Call For MPs To Work Together To Reform Social Care

Health News from Medical News Today — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 08:00:00 +0100

Welcoming the publication of the Health Select Committee report on Social Care, Janet Davies, Executive Director of Nursing and Service Delivery at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said: "Nurses have told us that they would prefer a comprehensive model of funding - the only option where everybody would pay collectively for social care, sharing the risk equally and fairly. We also echo the Committee's call for further debate on funding care from taxation... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

A behavioral economics perspective on tobacco taxation.

American Journal of Public Health — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 08:12:07 +0100

Authors: Cherukupalli R Economic studies of taxation typically estimate external costs of tobacco use to be low and refrain from recommending large tobacco taxes. Behavioral economics suggests that a rational decision-making process by individuals fully aware of tobacco's hazards might still lead to overconsumption through the psychological tendency to favor immediate gratification over future harm. Taxes can serve as a self-control device to help reduce tobacco use and enable successful quit attempts. Whether taxes are appropriately high depends on how excessively people underrate the harm from tobacco use and varies with a country's circumstances. Such taxes are likely to be more equitable for poorer subgroups than traditional economic analysis suggests, which would strengthen the ca...

Hawaii tax revenues fall 3.5%

bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:34:28 +0100

Hawaii’s total general fund tax revenues were down 3.5 percent to $2.78 billion for the first eight months of the fiscal year through February, compared with the previous fiscal period. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)

Archtax owner gets 3 years in prison

bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:19:35 +0100

A former tax preparer who owned Archtax in St. Louis County was sentenced to three years in prison Friday for failing to pay federal taxes and stealing tax refunds from his ex-clients. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines)

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Senate Passes Rural Medicare Add-on Payments

News stories via the Rural Assistance Center — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:08:59 +0100

National Rural Health Association, (NRHA) article reports that yesterday the Senate passed H.R. 4213, The Tax Extenders Act of 2009, the bill, which would primarily extend unemployment benefits to jobless Americans, was amended by Senator Max Baucus to include the extensions of the Medicare add-on payments for rural America that NRHA has been fighting for over the past year. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)

Statement By Hanys' President Daniel Sisto On Launch Of "Cutzilla"

Health News from Medical News Today — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:00:00 +0100

"With so much focus on recent political tribulations here in Albany, it has become increasingly difficult to focus attention on policy and budgetary issues that we believe are far more important to the lives and livelihood of everyday New Yorkers. "HANYS is deeply disturbed by the thousands of health care jobs that have already been lost in the wake of six recent rounds of budget cuts and taxes totaling more than $4 billion. We are troubled more so by the loss of critical health care services that are occurring in many communities throughout the state as a result of these actions... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

Opinions: Haiti Corruption; Financial Sector Tax, G8 Promises; Investing In Women

Public Health News From Medical News Today — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:00:00 +0100

Preval's Response To Corruption Queries Is 'A Public Relations Debacle' A Washington Post editorial reflects on Haitian President Rene Preval's response to U.S... (Source: Public Health News From Medical News Today)

Opinions: Haiti Corruption; Financial Sector Tax, G8 Promises; Investing In Women

Health News from Medical News Today — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:00:00 +0100

Preval's Response To Corruption Queries Is 'A Public Relations Debacle' A Washington Post editorial reflects on Haitian President Rene Preval's response to U.S. policy makers' queries "about the perils of corruption and what measures the Haitian government might devise to minimize misuse and theft of the billions of dollars in recovery assistance flowing into the country and the billions more expected" during his visit this week to Washington D.C. "Surprisingly, he seems utterly unprepared to discuss the matter," the editorial notes... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

BIO Asks Congress To Support Deployment Of Biotech Chemical Platforms To Create Green Jobs

Health News from Medical News Today — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:00:00 +0100

Federal tax policies should incentivize commercial deployment of advanced industrial biotechnologies, which can create jobs, reduce reliance on petroleum, and achieve greenhouse gas reductions. The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) released a white paper on the growth and jobs potential of green chemicals and briefed Congressional staff on the commercial status of industrial biotechnologies for algae applications, biobased products, and advanced biofuels... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

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BIO Asks Congress To Support Deployment Of Biotech Chemical Platforms To Create Green Jobs

Pharma Industry News From Medical News Today — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:00:00 +0100

Dispatch: Big Anti-Soda, Trade Center $, Angiography, Nicotine, Graphic Images

Health Facts and Fears — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0100

A week ago, we posed the question to Dispatch readers: who provides the millions of dollars used to promote a soda tax with commercials during the Olympics? Crain& rsquo;s New York has the answer ... (Source: Health Facts and Fears)

Disability Etiquette Webinar to Assist United Way of America Tax Preparation Sites

Disabled World — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:52:18 +0100

United Spinal Association Launches "Disability Etiquette" Webinar to Assist United Way of America Tax Preparation Sites - Increased Access to the Earned Income Tax Credit. (Source: Disabled World)

Response: Scientists should stop deceiving us

Guardian Unlimited Science — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:05:02 +0100

In holding that the aim of science is truth alone, they misrepresent its real aimsGeorge Monbiot is surely right to bemoan the profoundly unsatisfactory state of affairs that exists between science and the public (With complex science, we must take much on trust. The trouble is we can't, 9 March).Many members of the public instinctively and irrationally distrust, even fear, science. Thus, for climate sceptics, "No level of evidence can shake the growing belief that climate science is a giant conspiracy codded up by boffins and governments to tax and control us". And scientists don't help by producing specialised "gobbledegook" so incomprehensible that even scientists "studying neighbouring subjects within the same discipline can no longer understand each other".The situation might be helpe...

FDA Officials go to new length to encourage applications for Orphan-Drug Status.online.wsj.com

Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

CLAREMONT, Calif.—Staff members at the Food and Drug Administration are doing something unusual. They are leaving Washington to help drug makers take a crucial step in developing drugs for rare diseases. The staffers help administer the Orphan Drug Act, which provides incentives to create therapies for so-called orphan diseases—those that affect fewer than 200,000 Americans. There are about 7,000 such maladies, most of them serious, that have few or no drugs to treat them, from adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare head and neck cancer, to Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, which is associated with a tumor that causes the production of high levels of stomach acid. As a result, doctors may end up prescribing drugs developed for other diseases off-label, but not all insurers will cover this kind of ...

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Ga. hospitals slammed by new budget cuts

bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:54:16 +0100

Georgia hospitals would be hit with double-digit Medicaid reimbursement cuts and nonprofit hospitals would lose their state sales tax exemption under a new round of budget reductions announced Thursday by Gov. Sonny Perdue. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)

Hospitals feeling out voters on soda-liquor tax hike

bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:31:33 +0100

Arizona’s hospitals are looking at a possible November ballot measure to raise state soda, beer, wine and liquor taxes to offset deep budget cuts to the state’s version of Medicaid and other programs. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)

Settlement with IRS may benefit MGIC

bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:51:35 +0100

Executives with MGIC Investment Corp., beset with 10 consecutive quarters of net losses, may get some relief from the Internal Revenue Service. The company could show a net gain of up to $82 million after resolving income tax issues. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines)

Salt tax could massively reduce US mortality rates, healthcare costs

MedWire News - Cardiology — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:58:41 +0100

A nationwide tax on sodium could save over a million life years and billions of dollars, results of a US cost-analysis published in the Annals of Internal Medicine indicate. (Source: MedWire News - Cardiology)

FDA Sponsoring Workshops To Increase Rare Disease Treatment Options

Health News from Medical News Today — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0100

The Wall Street Journal: FDA is putting on workshops for pharmaceutical manufacturers to increase the pool of applicants for approved "orphan drugs," that treat rare diseases. Currently, there are about 7,000 so-called orphan diseases in the U.S. that have few or no FDA-approved treatments. "Getting an orphan-drug designation opens the door to incentives once the FDA approves a medicine for sale in the U.S., including seven years' marketing exclusivity and tax breaks. Last year, just 250 requests for orphan-drug designation were filed, and 160 received it... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

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Tax gene expression and cell cycling but not cell death are selected during HTLV-1 infection in vivo

Retrovirology — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Conclusions: Therefore, virus-cell interactions alone are not sufficient to initiate early leukemogenesis in vivo. (Source: Retrovirology)

Salt tax could massively reduce US mortality rates, healthcare costs

MedWire News - Hypertension — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Obama Takes Aim At Medicare Fraud

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:04:09 +0100

President Obama denounced waste, inefficiency and downright fraud in the government's health care system Wednesday as he sought to rally public support for his revamped overhaul plan. "Improper payments cost taxpayers almost $100 billion last year alone," Obama said at a rally in this St. Louis suburb. (Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire)

Unemployment bill comes with Medicaid aid

bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:28:13 +0100

A federal bill extending unemployment benefits and providing other tax breaks also would bring $600 million to $750 million more in stimulus dollars to Ohio’s Medicaid program. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)

Quinn proposes raising Illinois income tax

bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:57:14 +0100

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has proposed adding a 1 percent surcharge on the state’s 3 percent income tax to avoid making $1.3 billion in education funding cuts and laying off thousands of teachers. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)

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Lotteries as Disguised, Regressive, and Counterproductive Taxes

International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:11:40 +0100

Content Type Journal ArticleDOI 10.1007/s11469-010-9269-2Authors Rick Wolff, University of Massachusetts Amherst MA USA Journal International Journal of Mental Health and AddictionOnline ISSN 1557-1882Print ISSN 1557-1874 (Source: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction)

Senate Test Vote Today On Bill To Extend COBRA Subsidy, Doc Fix And State Medicaid Funding

Health News from Medical News Today — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0100

The Senate is poised to consider a measure today that would include extending subsidies for COBRA benefits and unemployment insurance, prevent the Medicare payment cut for doctors and provide additional funding to state Medicaid programs. The legislation "faces a key test vote in the Senate, its momentum helped by about 60 popular tax breaks for individuals and businesses that expired at the end of last year," The Associated Press reports. "All told, the measure would add $107 billion to the deficit over the coming decade... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

GOP Candidate For Calif. Gov. Switches Positions On Abortion-Related Issues

Health News from Medical News Today — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:00:00 +0100

California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who is seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination, took liberal positions on abortion-rights issues when he unsuccessfully ran for state Assembly in 2004, the Los Angeles Times reports. Poizner's past statements supporting abortion-right issues contradict the conservative stance he has taken in his current campaign. On Friday, the Poizner campaign sent an e-mail claiming that he is "the only Republican candidate for governor who is against taxpayer-funded abortion... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

Over 130,000 cases of diabetes now linked to soda consumption, HFCS

NaturalNews.com — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0100

(NaturalNews) For years, advocates of natural health have been hammering away at the message that soda causes diabetes and obesity. The soda industry, meanwhile, has remained in denial mode, mirroring the ridiculous position of the tobacco industry that "nicotine is not addictive." Soda doesn't cause diabetes, the industry claims, and it's perfectly safe to consume in essentially unlimited quantities.The Corn Refiners Association has joined the denial with its own spin campaign that seeks to convince people High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is totally natural and completely harmless. HFCS is, of course, the primary sweetener used in sodas and soft drinks.Now comes new research presented at the American Heart Association's Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention annual conference i...

N.Y. health dept. slams sugary drinks

Health News - UPI.com — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:21:05 +0100

ALBANY, N.Y., March 10 (UPI) -- New York's commissioner of health criticized the beverage industry for "ceaseless marketing" in its campaign against a proposed tax on sugary drinks. (Source: Health News - UPI.com)

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Study Links Soda Tax and Better Health

RWJF News Digest - Childhood Obesity — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:29:10 +0100

Can soda make you fat? In what may turn out to be fortunate timing for Mayor Nutter's proposed two-cents-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks, the most comprehensive study yet on the issue was published yesterday. (Source: RWJF News Digest - Childhood Obesity)

Report: NY private medical practices pay $4.5B in state taxes

bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:27:35 +0100

A report by the Medical Society of the State of New York found that private practice physicians are a key part of the state’s economy. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)

Tax soda, pizza to cut obesity, researchers say

Reuters: Health — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:19:31 +0100

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. researchers estimate that an 18 percent tax on pizza and soda can push down U.S. adults' calorie intake enough to lower their average weight by 5 pounds (2 kg) per year. (Source: Reuters: Health)

Northside critics to testify in state suit against McKee project

bizjournals.com Health Care:Hospitals headlines — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:37:43 +0100

Two St. Louis residents plan to testify Wednesday in Cole County Circuit Court in Jefferson City in their $95 million lawsuit against the state of Missouri over tax credits awarded to developer Paul McKee Jr.’s $8.1 billion Northside redevelopment. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Hospitals headlines)

Junk Food Tax Could Improve Health (CME/CE, with audio)

MedPage Today Primary Care — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:13:13 +0100

Taxing junk food may be a means of reducing obesity and improving health, researchers have found. (Source: MedPage Today Primary Care)

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Analysis: Health Reform Would Not Fund Abortion

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:04:10 +0100

President Obama's health care bill would change federal policy on abortion, but not open the spigot of taxpayer dollars that some abortion opponents fear. (Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire)

18-percent soda, pizza tax would help us lose 5 pounds a year, researchers say

OrlandoSentinel: Medical Research — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:03:00 +0100

An 18-percent tax on pizza and soda would lower the average U.S. adult's weight by about 5 pounds per year, a team of U.S. researchers say, and new data suggest the policy could work. Although taxing junk food won't solve the obesity epidemic, it... (Source: OrlandoSentinel: Medical Research)

A Policy Change On Abortion, But How Radical?

WDSU.com - Health — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:01:08 +0100

President Barack Obama's health care bill would change federal policy on abortion, but not open the spigot of taxpayer dollars that some abortion opponents fear. (Source: WDSU.com - Health)

Fat Kids: Get Ready for a New Front in the War on Obesity

RWJF News Digest - Childhood Obesity — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0100

For years, we've heard that Americans are getting fatter. Two-thirds of adults are now classified as either overweight or obese, and we don't know how to reduce that number. Standard "treatments"—nutritional advice, exhortations to visit the gym, products from a $60 billion weight-loss industry—don't do much good over the long term, and more ambitious plans, like soda taxes and menu-labeling laws, might not work, either. (Source: RWJF News Digest - Childhood Obesity)

Paper round: Tuesday

OnMedica Latest News — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Patients treated in cupboards and kitchens, happy foods, and moreRelated items from OnMedicaAre we being cloned?Liam Donaldson to lead the NPSADH launches £8mllion drive to catch cancer earlyPatient waiting times to be set out in lawTobacco tax rise will cut smoking numbers by 190,000 (Source: OnMedica Latest News)

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War on Soft Drinks Bubbles out of Schools

Health News: CBSNews.com — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:50:12 +0100

Soda Tax Targeting Adult Consumption Next Front in the Battle Against Obesity (Source: Health News: CBSNews.com)

School drink deal cuts sugar

Reuters: Health — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:30:12 +0100

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A deal to sell healthier drinks in U.S. schools has slashed the amount of fattening beverages offered to students, former President Bill Clinton said on Monday as New York leaders pushed for a soda tax to tackle obesity and budget shortfalls. (Source: Reuters: Health)

School Drink Deal Cuts Sugar

MedlinePlus Health News — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:30:12 +0100

A deal to sell healthier drinks in U.S. schools has slashed the amount of fattening beverages offered to students, former President Bill Clinton said on Monday as New York leaders pushed for a soda tax to tackle obesity and budget shortfalls.Source: Reuters Health Related MedlinePlus Pages: Children's Health, School Health (Source: MedlinePlus Health News)

Tax Soda, Pizza to Cut Obesity, Researchers Say

MedlinePlus Health News — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:00:02 +0100

U.S. researchers estimate that an 18 percent tax on pizza and soda can push down U.S. adults' calorie intake enough to lower their average weight by 5 pounds (2 kg) per year. Source: Reuters Health Related MedlinePlus Pages: Nutrition, Obesity (Source: MedlinePlus Health News)

Tax soda, pizza to cut obesity, researchers say

Reuters: Health — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:46:44 +0100

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Pricey junk foods become less appealing: study

CTV Health — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:43:47 +0100

In a study that should fuel the debate on whether "junk food taxes" would make a dent in the obesity crisis, researchers have found that the higher the prices of junk foods rise, the less likely people are to consume them. (Source: CTV Health)

Food Price and Diet and Health Outcomes: 20 Years of the CARDIA Study [Original Investigation]

Archives of Internal Medicine — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:50:40 +0100

Conclusion Policies aimed at altering the price of soda or away-from-home pizza may be effective mechanisms to steer US adults toward a more healthful diet and help reduce long-term weight gain or insulin levels over time. (Source: Archives of Internal Medicine)

Lack of trust in complex science

Guardian Unlimited Science — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:30:00 +0100

There is no simple way to battle public hostility to climate research. As the psychologists show, facts barely sway us anywayThere is one question that no one who denies manmade climate change wants to answer: what would it take to persuade you? In most cases the answer seems to be nothing. No level of evidence can shake the growing belief that climate science is a giant conspiracy codded up by boffins and governments to tax and control us. The new study by the Met Office, which paints an even grimmer picture than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, will do nothing to change this view.The attack on climate scientists is now widening to an all-out war on science. Writing recently for the Telegraph, the columnist Gerald Warner dismissed scientists as "white-coated prima donnas and...

Northrop officially bows out of 'tanker war'

bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:53:15 +0100

Northrop Grumman Corp. will not submit a bid for the controversial KC-X U.S. Air Force refueling tanker contract, the company said Monday while still maintaining that its would-be entry was "the best value for the military and taxpayer." (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines)

Patent income tax slashed

Nature Biotechnology — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:42:37 +0100

Nature Biotechnology 28, 192 (2010). doi:10.1038/nbt0310-192a Author: Asher Mullard (Source: Nature Biotechnology)

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One year in—Obama's biotech scorecard

Nature Biotechnology — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:42:37 +0100

One year in—Obama's biotech scorecard Nature Biotechnology 28, 193 (2010). doi:10.1038/nbt0310-193 Author: Jeffrey L Fox As healthcare reform falters, the biotech industry awaits the fate of biosimilars and tax credits. Jeff Fox reports. (Source: Nature Biotechnology)

H&R Block earnings rise, revenue falls in fiscal third quarter

bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:15:31 +0100

Despite a reduction in the number of tax returns it prepared, lower expenses and higher average fees helped H&R Block post income growth for the quarter that ended Jan. 31. (HRB) (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines)

New Report Finds Major Benefits To The Health Of The Nation From Increasing Tobacco Taxes, UK

Smoking / Quit Smoking News From Medical News Today — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0100

Following an extensive economic evaluation of the benefits of increasing tobacco prices on the health of the nation, ASH has published its report The Effects of Increasing Tobacco Taxation... (Source: Smoking / Quit Smoking News From Medical News Today)

New Report Finds Major Benefits To The Health Of The Nation From Increasing Tobacco Taxes, UK

Health News from Medical News Today — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0100

Slate Column Refutes Stupak's Claim That Senate Health Reform Bill Includes Federal Abortion Funding

Health News from Medical News Today — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:00:00 +0100

Rep. Bart Stupak's (D-Mich.) claim that the Senate health reform bill (HR 3590) would allow taxpayer dollars to be used to cover abortion services "concerns (or at least pretends to concern) matters of fact, not belief," Slate columnist Timothy Noah writes. The "question of whether the government funds a given medical procedure is not like the question of whether life begins at conception," Noah says, adding, "It's empirical, not ideological. And Stupak happens to be wrong... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

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Advocates, Opponents Target Two Dozen Swing Votes

Health News from Medical News Today — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:00:00 +0100

"As President Obama pushes for a prompt up or down vote on his health initiative, lobbyists and activist groups on both sides of the issue have launched grass-roots and high-dollar advertising campaigns on the roughly two dozen members of Congress who may be the final swing votes on the controversial issue," The Los Angeles Times reports. "At the headquarters of Americans for Tax Reform, 200 conservative activists received briefings on the message that will be carried to the home districts of key House Democrats... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

Bloomberg Says a Soda Tax ‘Makes Sense’

NYT — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:50:10 +0100

In his weekly radio address, the mayor stepped up his call for the Legislature to pass a penny-per-ounce tax on soda to stave off major service cuts to education and health care. (Source: NYT)

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg Now Backs a Tax on Soda

NYT — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:50:10 +0100

In his weekly radio address, the mayor stepped up his call for the Legislature to pass a penny-per-ounce tax on soda to stave off major service cuts to education and health care. (Source: NYT)

Economists leery of proposed big bank tax

bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0100

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama outlined his proposal for what the administration calls a “financial crisis responsibility fee” and what most others have tabbed a “big bank tax.” (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines)

Doctors pose 'serious tax risk', claims HMRC

HealthcareRepublic Independent Nurse News — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:20:00 +0100

There are solid grounds for targeting doctors and dentists who have not declared all their income, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). (Source: HealthcareRepublic Independent Nurse News)

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Tobacco tax rise will cut smoking numbers by 190,000

OnMedica Latest News — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

NHS will save £20m a year if tobacco tax rises 5% above inflation, says report (Source: OnMedica Latest News)

It's Tax Time! Your Medical Expenses and Tax Deductions

About.com Cancer — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

It's that time of year again - tax season. Did you know that your cancer medical expenses may be tax deductible? By cancer medical expenses, this can mean child care while you received treatment, parking fees at hospitals, and even the cost of a wig if you lost your hair to chemotherapy. There are so many aspects of treatment that can be included in your tax deductions - many of which I was unaware of! Don't forget that your entire family's medical expenses are deductible, including dental and optical care. Tax software programs like Turbotax can help you organize these deductions, or you may choose to see a tax accountant for help in filing your income taxes. Can You Deduct Non-Prescription Drugs? Tax Deductions for Cancer Medical ExpensesIt's Tax Time! Your Medical Expenses and Tax De...

AAMC Applauds Internal Revenue Service For FICA Refunds

Health News from Medical News Today — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:00:00 +0100

AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., issued the following statement commending the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for its decision to refund Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes to teaching hospitals and medical residents who filed claims for services prior to April 1, 2005: "The AAMC is pleased that, after years of litigation on this issue, the IRS has exempted residents from paying FICA taxes for time spent in their residency programs prior to April 2005, when new IRS regulations were put into place... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

State lawmakers propose income tax on wealthy

bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:33:03 +0100

Washington’s voters could lower the state sales tax this fall by imposing an income tax on the wealthy under a bill state lawmakers are considering. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines)

State lawmakers propose income tax on wealthy

bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:33:03 +0100

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Charity urges 5% tobacco tax rise

BBC News | Health | UK Edition — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:27:32 +0100

A 5% rise in tobacco tax would lead to a drop in thousands of smokers and save millions in health costs, an anti-smoking charity says. (Source: BBC News | Health | UK Edition)

Anti-smoking charity calls for 5% rise in tobacco tax

Scotsman.com News - Health — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

AN ANTI-SMOKING charity has called for a 5 per cent increase on tobacco tax, saying it would lead to a drop in the number of smokers and save millions in health costs. (Source: Scotsman.com News - Health)

Helping Heroes and Screening the Disaster Tourists

Psychology Today Work Center — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:55:09 +0100

I was recently quoted by ABC news on the psycho-physiological risks of disasters on non-psychiatric chronic illnesses in Chile and the importance of relief aid in reducing the risks of depression and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake. Yet despite the occasional media attention on the impact of these tragedies on the local population of Haiti and Chile, the psychological well-being of emergency health responders themselves continues to be ignored in the media and the larger public health debate on the outcome of these devastating earthquakes. Indeed, disasters require that we respond not only to those who require immediate psychosocial help amongst the local effected population, but also to the psychological well-being of first responders invol...

Poll: Maryland Residents Support Alcohol Tax Increase to Support Treatment

Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:20:00 +0100

A poll commissioned by the Maryland chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence found that 72 percent of state residents back a proposed 10-cent-per-drink tax if the revenues were used to pay for addiction treatment, services for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled, and healthcare for uninsured residents. (Source: Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News)

$1 Per Pack Tobacco Tax Hike Approved by Utah House

Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:19:29 +0100

The Utah House of Representatives has voted 39-35 in favor of a measure that would raise the state tax on cigarettes by $1 per pack, from the current 69.5 cents to about $1.70. (Source: Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News)

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Haiti: Raising Grieving Children

Psychology Today Relationships Center — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:48:58 +0100

I try to follow many of the articles in the daily press about what is happening in Haiti. Television provides us with graphic images of the destruction and living conditions of the survivors. What I find especially interesting is the number of children who are orphaned; they are left without relatives and many of them may be too young to even know who they are. The numbers are large and the resources are very limited in terms of providing these children with even minimum care. There are orphanages but they too are overwhelmed. Their resources are being taxed in ways they could not imagine or plan for. This blog is about raising grieving children based on the book I wrote with Madelyn Kelly, A Parent's Guide to Raising Grieving Children. But what do we do when there are no parents to raise...

Money and stuff create different beliefs about fairness.

Psychology Today Work Center — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:15:36 +0100

Fairness matters a lot to us. From a young age, children complain about inequalities with the chant, "That's not fair." Debates about public services by the government focus on whether particular programs are treating taxpayers and citizens fairly. People's happiness at their jobs is influenced by whether they feel like they are being treated fairly at work.Part of what complicates the ability to treat others fairly is that what people may consider to be fair may change with circumstance.For example, people generally have (at least) two different beliefs about fairness. One prominent belief about fairness is equity. That is, we often like to distribute things to people evenly, so that everyone gets the same amount.However, a second strong belief is fair reward. That is, w...

Absenteeism - disease in the nursing staff: relationship with the occupation tax

Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da USP — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:50:33 +0100

Estudo de natureza quantitativa, descritiva, transversal, elaborado com o objetivo de analisar a quantidade e as causas de afastamentos por doença dos profissionais de enfermagem e sua relação com taxa de ocupação das unidades de internação de um hospital de ensino. A metodologia foi desenvolvida em duas etapas: caracterização demográfica dos profissionais e identificação e análise das ausências quanto à quantidade e tipos de afastamento por doença, aos diagnósticos médicos e à relação com a taxa de ocupação do Hospital. Os técnicos de enfermagem apresentaram a maior quantidade de licenças por doença. As doenças do sistema osteomuscular e do tecido conjuntivo representaram 4.957 dias (41,5%) de ausências e os transtornos mentais e comportamentais 3.393 dias (28,...

Some Small Businesses See Burden In 'Cadillac' Tax

Health News from Medical News Today — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0100

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jenny Gold, in collaboration with NPR, writes about this proposed tax. It could make it more difficult for small businesses to purchase health coverage. Even though many businesses don't offer rich benefits, their plans may be costly because the covered employees are predominantly older, sicker or female, three categories that currently result in higher premiums. Other provisions in health overall legislation could mitigate the impact of the tax, however (Gold, 3/4). Read entire article. This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

Survey Provides New Way To Estimate U.S. Health Preferences

Health News from Medical News Today — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:00:00 +0100

A new model that can be used to guide health care financing and resource allocation decisions in the U.S. has been developed by an international group of researchers led by a team from the University of Illinois at Chicago. "There are some segments of the U.S. population for which health care is publicly financed through tax dollars," said James Shaw, assistant professor of pharmacy administration at UIC and principal investigator of the study. "To guide the financing decisions that affect these groups, it is important to understand how society values health... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

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Dispatch: More Bureaucracy, Taxes, Stimulants, False Claims, Salmonella, and Asthma

Health Facts and Fears — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0100

As ACSH& #39;s Dr. Gilbert Ross wrote in yesterday& #39;s Washington Times, two senators have been attempting to turn criticism of one GlaxoSmithKline diabetes drug into an excuse to create an entire new drug-approval bureaucracy... (Source: Health Facts and Fears)

Nutter Proposes 2-Cent-Per-Ounce Sweet-Drink Tax

RWJF News Digest - Childhood Obesity — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:46:45 +0100

Mayor Nutter wants to treat the city's weight and wallet problems in his 2010-11 budget with the same remedy: the nation's highest tax on all sweetened beverages including soda, energy drinks, ice tea, even chocolate milk. (Source: RWJF News Digest - Childhood Obesity)

Time running out for a 2006 tax refund

bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:07:17 +0100

About 101,700 Floridians who didn’t file their tax returns in 2006 may still be eligible for a median estimated individual refund of $641 if they file by April 15, according to the Internal Revenue Service. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines)

Treasury raises $1.5B from BofA warrants

bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:48:33 +0100

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has priced two public offerings of Bank of America Corp. warrants that will raise more than $1.5 billion for taxpayers. (BAC) (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines)

New York Times Analyzes Ford's Decision Not To Challenge Gillibrand For N.Y. Senate Seat

Health News from Medical News Today — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:00:00 +0100

The New York Times on Tuesday examined how former Rep. Harold Ford (D-Tenn.) came to concede that a campaign against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in the Democratic primary "would be a brutal fight dominated by endless debates about when he began paying taxes as a New Yorker and the sincerity of his support for gay marriage and abortion rights." After weeks of courting Democratic donors and traveling the state to meet with voters, Ford announced on Monday that he would not challenge Gillibrand in the primary... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

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New York Times Analyzes Ford's Decision Not To Challenge Gillibrand For N.Y. Senate Seat

Women's Health / OBGYN News From Medical News Today — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:00:00 +0100

The New York Times on Tuesday examined how former Rep. Harold Ford (D-Tenn.) came to concede that a campaign against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in the Democratic primary "would be a brutal fight dominated by endless debates about when he began paying taxes as a New Yorker and the sincerity of his support for gay marriage and abortion rights... (Source: Women's Health / OBGYN News From Medical News Today)

Daschle: Incremental Health Reforms Won't Work

Health News from Medical News Today — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0100

Kaiser Health News editors and reporters talked Monday with former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle about health reform's current dynamics, strategies, key issues and chances of passage. Daschle was nominated by President Barack Obama to be secretary of Health and Human Services and the White House's point person on health reform. Although he withdrew his name after reports that he had not paid some taxes, the South Dakota Democrat remains a close adviser to the president and continues to work for a health care overhaul (3/2). Read the entire interview or listen to the audio (.mp3)... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

Advanced Cell Technology's RPE Cells Granted Orphan Drug Status From FDA For Treatment Of Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy

Health News from Medical News Today — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:00:00 +0100

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (OTCBB: ACTC), a biotechnology company applying cellular technology in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation for the company's MA09-hRPE cells for use in the treatment of Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy (SMD). As a result, the company is eligible to receive a number of benefits, including tax credits, access to grant funding for clinical trials, accelerated FDA approval and allowance for marketing exclusivity after drug approval for a period of as long as seven years... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

Give Taxpayers 60 days To Review Health Reform Bill

Kidney Cancer Association — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 02:09:24 +0100

Point your web browser to www.GiveUs60Days.com and take action now!03/05/2010 (Source: Kidney Cancer Association)

Hawaii lawmakers OK jobless tax break

bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:15:03 +0100

A measure that cuts Hawaii employers a break from what would have been a surge in their unemployment taxes starting next month passed the Hawaii Legislature and went to Gov. Linda Lingle for approval on Wednesday. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)

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MDMLG Meeting - April 15, 2010

MDMLG / Metropolitan Detroit Medical Library Group — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Discussion and Q&ALunch Cost: Lunch is being provided by EBSCO and Mosby(Hot dogs, or veggie burgers, pretzels, nachos & cheese, popcorn, chips, fruit, cookies and ICE CREAM!!)RSVP for lunch must be received by April 8, 2010. Space will be limited so please reserve early…if we have room we will open this up to other groups. Directions to Genesys: http://www.mdmlg.org/Genesys%20Directions.doc*************************************************************Please reserve by phone, by mail or fax to:Doris BlauetGenesys Regional Medical Center LibraryOne Genesys ParkwayGrand Blanc, MI 48439Phone : 810-606-5261dblauet@genesys.orgFax : 810-606-7836Name:______________________________ Address_____________________________Institution___________________________________________Phone_______________ E-Ma...

National Foundation for Ectodermal Dysplasias 2010 National Family Conference Scholarship

ScanGrants feed — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Scholarships will include one sleeping room per family (and all taxes, services charges and the facility fee) for Thursday, July 22nd and Friday, July 23rd; dinner on Thursday evening; breakfast, lunch and dinner on Friday; breakfast and lunch on Saturday; all conference materials, clinical consults, workshops, general sessions and all Kids’ Camp activities. Deadline: March 12, 2010. National Foundation for Ectodermal DysplasiasP.O. Box 114, 410 E. Main StreetMascoutah, IL 62258-0114Phone (618) 566-2020Fax (618) 566-4718 (Source: ScanGrants feed)

Statistical modeling of volume of alcohol exposure for epidemiological studies of population health: the US example

Population Health Metrics — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Conclusions: Modeling alcohol consumption via the gamma distribution was feasible. To further refine this approach, research should focus on the main assumptions underlying the approach to explore differences between volume estimates derived from surveys and per capita consumption figures. (Source: Population Health Metrics)

Pass notes No 2,739: Hella-

Guardian Unlimited Science — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:00:01 +0100

You've got giga- and mega-, but do we need hella- for those 27-zero numbers?Age: Nought but a twinkle in its daddy's eye.Appearance: Noughty but nice.One more pun and we'll put you on headline-writing duty. It's some sort of number, then? Not half! It's 1027. To put it another way, 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000. A thousand million million million million! A billion billion billion!At last we can put a figure on the budget deficit. Indeed. But if we can forget Britain's descent into bankruptcy for a moment, hella- is the term that scientists want to go alongside prefixes such as kilo-, mega- and giga-.Says who? Austin Sendek, a University of California physics sophomore.What's a sophomore again? It's what Americans call a second-year student.They love their jargon, don't they? Carr...

Video: Health Care Headed For Reconciliation?

Health News: CBSNews.com — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:48:27 +0100

President Obama gave health care reform a final push and with or without Republicans, adding that his proposal deserves the same "up-or-down" vote cast on President Bush's tax cuts, which passed "with nothing more than a simple majority". (Source: Health News: CBSNews.com)

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EAST EUROPE: Taxing Fast Foods for Health

IPS Inter Press Service - Health — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:52:27 +0100

BRATISLAVA, Mar 2 (IPS) - Health experts have called on European governments to use a pioneering tax on fast foods to be introduced in Romania as a model for the entire continent as the battle with obesity spreads to the former communist bloc. (Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health)

Experimental drug modestly boosts survival in men with advanced prostate cancer, study finds

OrlandoSentinel: Medical Research — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:03:00 +0100

A study suggests that an experimental drug may modestly extend the lives of men with advanced prostate cancer who are no longer responding to other treatments. The drug, cabazitaxel (kuh-BAH-zuh-TAX-uhl), helped men live an average of 10 weeks longer... (Source: OrlandoSentinel: Medical Research)

Glaxo Birth Defect Litigation Reveals Paxil Promoters on Speed Dial

NaturalNews.com — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0100

(NaturalNews) In the first Paxil birth defect trial against GlaxoSmithKline, much of evidence focused on the doctors on Glaxo's payroll involved in the corruption of the medical literature and seminars given to promote the off label use of Paxil with pregnant and nursing mothers.On October 13, 2009, the trial of Kilker v Glaxo ended with a Philadelphia jury awarding $2.5 million in compensatory damages to the family of Lyam Kilker, after finding that Glaxo "negligently failed to warn" the doctor treating Lyam's mother about the risks of Paxil and the drug was a "factual cause" of the child's heart defects.Glaxo's lead attorney at trial was King and Spalding partner Chilton Varner, and the family's lead attorney was Sean Tracey from Houston.During his opening statement on September 15, 2009...

First 'orphan drug' hESC therapy

The Scientist — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Will the benefits of tax credits, access to funding, and marketing exclusivity help further the search for embryonic stem cell-based therapies? (Source: The Scientist)

IRS: Americans owed $1.3B

bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:07:21 +0100

The clock is ticking for those who did not file a federal income tax return in 2006 and who may be owed money. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines)

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Despite court's opinion, venture capitalist Larry Coleman will keep fighting for TNInvestco records

bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:47:31 +0100

A venture capitalist says he will continue to fight for state records pertaining to the state’s $120 million TNInvestco tax credit program, after he was denied access to the records Tuesday in Nashville’s Chancery Court. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines)

Despite court's opinion, venture capitalist Larry Coleman will keep fighting for TNInvestco records

bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:47:31 +0100

Gates Foundation gives $7M to support SE Asia cigarette taxes

bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:05:38 +0100

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given $7 million to provide lawmakers in Southeast Asia with evidence so they can raise taxes on cigarettes in various countries. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)

Chamber proposes tax plan to grow local jobs

bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:54:35 +0100

The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce proposed four tax initiatives Tuesday that it says would generate over 35,000 jobs for the commonwealth over the next five years. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines)

Poll finds support for tobacco tax hike

bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:40:33 +0100

Most Georgians support raising the tobacco tax to help plug the state’s budget deficit, according to a poll released Tuesday. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)

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Personal Responsibility And Obesity: A Constructive Approach To A Controversial Issue [Worsening Trends, Action Agenda]

Health Affairs — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:01:31 +0100

The concept of personal responsibility has been central to social, legal, and political approaches to obesity. It evokes language of blame, weakness, and vice and is a leading basis for inadequate government efforts, given the importance of environmental conditions in explaining high rates of obesity. These environmental conditions can override individual physical and psychological regulatory systems that might otherwise stand in the way of weight gain and obesity, hence undermining personal responsibility, narrowing choices, and eroding personal freedoms. Personal responsibility can be embraced as a value by placing priority on legislative and regulatory actions such as improving school nutrition, menu labeling, altering industry marketing practices, and even such controversial measures a...

85% of Prison Inmates Need Substance Abuse Treatment

About.com Alcoholism — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Of the estimated 2.3 million inmates currently incarcerated in U.S. prisons, 1.9 million could benefit from alcohol and drug treatment, which could ultimately save taxpayers millions of dollars, according to a new report. Currently only 11% of inmates who need treatment are receiving it during their incarceration. Approximately 85% of current inmates could benefit from treatment, according to The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University. Read more...85% of Prison Inmates Need Substance Abuse Treatment originally appeared on About.com Alcoholism on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 00:40:21.Permalink | Comment | Email this (Source: About.com Alcoholism)

Nicotinic Modulation of Auditory Attentional Shift in the Rat.

Behavioural Brain Research — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Authors: Ii DC, Nichols JA, Thomas F, Dinh L, Atzori M Numerous studies have demonstrated cognitive improvements resulting from the application of nicotine, especially in those tasks aimed at measuring attention. While the neuro-pharmacological relationship between nicotine and acetylcholine-driven attentional processes has been examined, studies tend to focus on the duration of time in which a subject can attend to a specific stimulus or series of stimuli rather than on the subjects' adaptive attentional capabilities. The present study addresses the possibility that the cholinergic agonist nicotine could improve performance on a task testing the ability to shift attention between sensory modalities under both normal and pharmacologically impaired conditions. In a pilot set of experime...

Cutting Salt Could Prevent Almost 500,000 Heart Attacks

MedlinePlus Health News — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:00:00 +0100

Government-industry collaboration would work better than a "salt tax," study finds Source: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Page: Dietary Sodium (Source: MedlinePlus Health News)

Kansas City’s Planned Industrial Expansion Authority nears abatement for $45M senior-housing project

bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:53:42 +0100

The Planned Industrial Expansion Authority on Monday took the first step toward granting a tax abatement for a proposed $45 million senior-housing development on the Research Medical Center Brookside Campus. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)

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Ex-Havenwood CEO pleads guilty to tax evasion

bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:08:08 +0100

The former CEO of Havenwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center has pleaded guilty to tax evasion for a case in which she allegedly used more than $1 million in funds belonging to Havenwood to pay for personal expenses. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)

Inhofe accused of turning climate row into 'McCarthyite witch-hunt'

Guardian Unlimited Science — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:14:39 +0100

James Inhofe calls for criminal investigation of climate scientists as senators prepare proposal that would ditch cap and tradeThe US Congress's most ardent global warming sceptic is being accused of turning the row over climate science into a McCarthyite witch-hunt by calling for a criminal investigation of scientists.Climate scientists say Senator James Inhofe's call for a criminal investigation into American as well as British scientists who worked on the UN climate body's report or had communications with East Anglia's climate research unit represents an attempt to silence debate on the eve of new proposals for a climate change law.Inhofe's document ends by naming 17 "key players" in the controversy about CRU's stolen emails, including the Britons Phil Jones and Keith Briffa."I think t...

Criticism, Passion Emerge At Day-Long Health Care Meeting

Health News from Medical News Today — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:00:00 +0100

Strong personalities and opinions emerged at yesterday's bipartisan health care summit. NPR interviewed Rep. Dave Camp, ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee. Camp said: "We were able to at least be heard and have some exposure to the ideas that we've been promoting for a long time. And the president did finally say in the close that we do have ideas that lower costs in insurance and that - do it without increasing taxes. And we don't cut Medicare. And we don't have new mandates in our proposals... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)

Wichita financial advisors caution investors on implications of Roth IRA conversions

bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0100

New tax laws this year opened up the Roth IRA to a whole new group of investor, clearing away income limits that once locked out high wage-earners. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Health Insurance headlines)