By Richard Knox

Two small clusters of drug resistance don't a public health crisis make. But experts worry they could signal the development of a Tamiflu-resistant pandemic virus with the ability to spread from person to person -- at least under certain circumstances.

Health officials are investigating two unrelated clusters of hospital patients -- four patients in North Carolina, five in Wales who've been infected with swine flu viruses resistant to the mainstay antiviral drug Tamiflu.

All of the involved patients reportedly had weakened immune systems. That may have enabled the pandemic virus to replicate in their systems more freely. If these immuno-compromised patients had been given Tamiflu, that combination of factors may have led the virus to develop a point mutation conferring resistance against the drug.

Continue reading "Tamiflu-Proof Flu? Not Much Yet" >

By Peggy Girshman

The firestorm generated by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations on mammography quickly moved to Capitol Hill this week where members of Congress took to the floor to express their outrage. But historians and medical newshounds with long memories might remember this is hardly the first time politics and breast cancer have become entangled.

The white arrow points out cancer in this mammogram. (NIH via Wikimedia Commons)

Dr. Barron Lerner of Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons and the author of "The Breast Cancer Wars: Hope, Fear and the Pursuit of a Cure in Twentieth-Century America," knows that history all too well. In an interview with Kaiser Health News, he harked back to the "early 1990s, when there was some suggestion that if you did something called a bone marrow transplant, or stem cell transplant - which was a very aggressive treatment for metastatic breast cancer - that women live longer."

Lerner says the studies were extremely preliminary but when word got out, women demanded the procedure because they thought it could save or prolong their lives. "The power of that lobby was so strong that insurance companies began to pay for the procedure, even though it was still experimental and its value hadn't been proven," he says.

Continue reading "Politics, Breast Health Have A Long History Together" >

By Maggie Mertens

The obesity epidemic has come to this, a Pennsylvania college is telling students to shape up--or else.

People who are obese are more susceptible to other diseases, one college is trying to make its students healthier. ( Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Entering freshmen at Lincoln University have to get their body mass index, or BMI, measured. And if the result comes back above 30, the threshold for obesity, the students have to take a physical education class called "HPR 103 Fitness Walking/ Conditioning" or they can't graduate. Details here.

The requirement kicked in for students who enrolled at Lincoln in the fall of 2006. That class is now in its senior year, and most are looking forward to their graduation this spring. But for 80 seniors, graduation will hinge upon their taking phys ed or passing the required BMI test, according to minutes of a Nov. 3 faculty meeting at Lincoln.

Continue reading "Pennsylvania College Makes BMI A Required Test" >

By Christopher Weaver

Republicans' attacks on the Senate Democrats' health bill kicked off with criticism about process as much as substance.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at an October press conference in Washington. ( John Moore/Getty Images)

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., spent weeks forging the bill "behind closed doors," charged the Republican leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky and his deputy, Jon Kyl, of Arizona, in statements right after the bill became public.

What about it? Squawking aside, secretive legislative engineering is business as usual for the Senate, say open-government advocates and former congressional aides, including one Republican. While the legislative process is often opaque (smoke-filled rooms, anyone?) nothing Reid did while combining bills from two Senate committees is beyond the pale, these Senate-watchers told us .

Continue reading "Legislating In Secret Irks GOP, But Insiders Say It's SOP" >

By Scott Hensley

For the second time in a week, a group of medical experts has recommended that some women can be tested less frequently for cancer.

A new guideline suggesting that less testing for cervical cancer makes more medical sense comes as a separate recommendation that women delay the start of routine mammograms until age 50 has become embroiled in the debate over health care reform.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists just recommended that young women can hold off until 21 before getting their first Pap smear and get them every two years through the rest of their 20s, instead of annually. Previously, the doctor group had said young women should get a Pap smear three years after first having sex or age 21, whichever came earlier.

Continue reading "Young Women Can Wait On Pap Smears" >

By Maggie Mertens

Should Santa Claus be allowed to cut the line for swine flu vaccine?

David Oelerich rents Santa suits in New Hampshire. Santas this year want more than just a suit, they want a swine flu vaccine. ( Jim Cole/AP)

Santa America, a group of 200 santas who visit sick children year-round, say they should. "Santa" Ernest Berger, president of Santa America, wants his cheery colleagues considered for the vaccine in the same way as schoolteachers and other caregivers are.

He tells NPR's Melissa Block on Thursday's All Things Considered that Santas should be considered seriously for the vaccine because of their close contact with large groups of children.

Continue reading "Santa Wants Swine Flu Vaccine For Christmas" >

By Scott Hensley

Hey, Big Pharma, get ready for a bunch of questions about your prices.

( iStockphoto.com )

Some heavy-hitting Democrats in the House, including Energy & Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, have asked the Government Accountability Office to look into pricing trends for common prescription drugs just as soon as possible.

You can see the letter here.

The Dems want the info right away, before plowing ahead with health overhaul. At issue is whether drugmakers preemptively jacked up prices, undercutting an $80 billion savings deal the brand-name pharmaceutical industry struck with the administration.

Continue reading "Dems Ask GAO To Investigate Drug Prices" >

By Maggie Mertens

The first two deaths from the swine flu virus on college campuses were reported this week by an organization tracking the virus at schools around the country.

Click on image to see full-size chart. (AHCA)

But the week that ended Nov. 13 also showed a drop in the number of cases of H1N1 swine flu virus reported to the American College Health Association, from 29 cases per 10,000 students to 21.3. Still, the two deaths reported to the organization were the first since they began tracking the virus.

"Though pandemic flu remains generally mild among college students, these two deaths are harsh reminders of the rare but tragic consequences of influenza," Dr. James Turner, president of the ACHA, said.

Continue reading "Swine Flu On Campus Turns Deadly" >

By Scott Hensley

Take a step back from the heated debate over when to start routine mammography and consider the broader implications for efforts, championed as part of health care overhaul, to root medical decisions in the best available science.

The white arrow points out cancer in this mammogram. (NIH via Wikimedia Commons)

You probably know by now about the American Cancer Society's disagreement with a federal task force's recommendation that women start routine mammograms at age 50 instead of 40.

Dr. Otis Brawley, the cancer group's chief medical officer, called the guideline a "step backward" in an editorial in Thursday's Washington Post because it overestimates the risk and underestimates the benefits of mammography for fortysomething women.

Continue reading "Mammogram Guideline Backlash Worries Evidence Advocates" >

By Scott Hensley

Senate Democrats' plan to overhaul health came in longer but cheaper than many people expected Wednesday. Still, with a cost of $849 billion and 2,074 pages of legalese, it's a bear of a bill to digest.

Sen. Harry Reid unveils his plan for health overhaul. ( Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, principal architect of the legislation that melds the work of two Senate committees, got creative to pay for the proposed expansion of health coverage, estimated to reduce the ranks of the uninsured by 31 million over a decade.

Here are some of the ways he plans to raise the dough:

• A "botax": Brace yourselves, denizens of Hollywood, Miami and Park Avenue, for a 5 percent tax on elective cosmetic procedures and surgery. Doesn't matter if you pay out of pocket or have insurance coverage, the tax applies across the board. Details start on page 2045 of the bill. Could raise $5.8 billion over a decade.

Continue reading "How Does Reid Pay An $849 Billion Health Tab?" >