The National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation’s new report finds that annual American health care spending is now at $8,100 per person in 2009, for a total $2.5 trillion dollars or 17.6 percent of the GDP in 2009. “Higher utilization of medical technology, rising treated prevalence rates for chronic diseases, and increased provider consolidation and market power” have all contributed to the national increase in costs, the study concludes:
The Choice Matters
We live in a finite world. That will come as a surprise to generations of Washington policymakers who have wrung their hands over the rapid growth of federal health spending, and then done nothing about it. We now face a debt crisis unprecedented in our countrys history. Gene Steuerle points out that sound budget policy applied to health programs would pay off by preventing a fiscal meltdown, and it would spur the adoption of efficiency improvements in health care that lead to more value for each dollar spent.
Obama health insurance plans upheld at the Appeals court
By Dr Ananya Mandal, MD
President Obama’s healthcare make over plans sailed through its first hurdle at the federal appellate court, as the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati concluded that the law’s insurance requirement is constitutional.
“We find that the minimum coverage provision is a valid exercise of legislative power by Congress under the Commerce Clause,” a 2-1 majority of the panel concluded, rejecting a challenge by the conservative Thomas More Law Center. Notably joining the majority opinion was Judge Jeffrey Sutton, an appointee of President George W. Bus
For chronic fatigue sufferers, another blow
While chronic fatigue syndrome is now recognized by the medical community as a real illness, treatments have remained elusive, largely because nobody knows what causes the condition, marked by extreme tiredness and weakness most of the time. Now several new studies have dashed hopes that the syndrome might have a viral linkwhich in turn would have opened the door to better prevention and treatment.
In an article published online Tuesday in the journal Lancet, researchers from the Netherlands summarized the results of three recently published studies that essentially seem to rule out the possibility that a retrovirus called XMRV, or xenotropic murine leukemia virus (MLV)-related virus, is a cause of chronic fatigue syndrome.
Recall: Nearly 61,000 Tylenol bottles have that old musty smell
Johnson & Johnson issued a recall notice for 60,912 bottles of its Tylenol Extra Strength pain relief medicine after receiving a small number of reports regarding a musty, moldy odor.
As in recent recalls of Tylenol and another drug, Topomax, the foul stench is believed to be caused by trace amounts of 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA). The chemical isn’t believed to be toxic or cause any serious health risks, however, it may cause temporary “gastrointestinal symptoms.” As a precaution, Johnson & Johnson and its McNeil Consumer Healthcare are recalling the drug.
The recall affects one lot (ABA619) of Tylenol pain killers and were made in February 2009.