The Japanese Prime Minister said his ruling bloc will submit legislation to provide aid to about 1,000 people exposed to hepatitis C through defective blood-clotting products sold by pharmaceutical companies. About 200 patients have filed lawsuits across Japan, demanding compensation from the government and drug makers Nihon Pharmaceutical Co., Mitsubishi Pharma Corp. and the latter's subsidiary Benesis Corp. Japanese media say about 800 others are expected to file suit.
The modest spending increase that Congress approved for a popular children's health insurance program will maintain coverage for those already enrolled, but many lacking insurance will have to look elsewhere. Few expected such a result when 2007 began. Democrats proposed a huge spending increase on the federal-state partnership known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
Mid-South Cardiology, a Lebanon-based practice of two cardiologists, is now part of Saint Thomas Heart in the latest affiliation of an independent cardiology practice with a major Nashville area hospital. The two cardiologists have become employees of Saint Thomas Heart, which has assumed assets and liabilities of Mid-South and will run its operations.
Outpatient clinics that perform diagnostic procedures using radioactive materials could do a better job of telling patients that they may set off radiation detectors at security checkpoints, a study shows. The information and documentation that these facilities provide to patients vary widely in quality, according to the Radiation Studies Branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Currently, the diagnosis of Alzheimer's is not made until symptoms develop. By then it may already be too late to rescue the brain. Drugs now in use temporarily ease symptoms for some, but cannot halt the underlying disease. Many scientists believe the best hope of progress lies in detecting the disease early and devising treatments to stop it before brain damage becomes extensive.
The universal health insurance package that one chamber of California's legislature passed last week looks a lot like the one Massachusetts put in place a year earlier. Every resident will be required to have insurance, every employer must pitch in, and no one can be denied coverage because of a preexisting condition.