Bea Leopold knows only too well how traumatic and potentially life-altering genetic testing can be. Having a sister with ovarian cancer and a mother who died of breast cancer convinced Leopold to be tested three-and-a-half years ago for the BRCA gene, which is predictive of both kinds of cancer.
We've come a long way, baby. Yes, women in the workplace, in the board room, in political office-and in healthcare-have come a long way. A status report on Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures specifically targeting women is showing upward trends, or at least steady statistics. Private health plans showed improvement in 35 out of 42 effectiveness of care HEDIS measures in 2005.
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Infusion of advanced vaccines: Medications that change history also present logistical questions
July 1st 2006Drug Manufacturers have introduced vaccines for meningococcal disease, shingles, pertussis, rotavirus, and cervical cancer, meanwhile even more vaccines are in the development pipeline. While each represents a major step forward for public health, the advances present an assortment of challenges from payment rates for physicians to moral issues for parents.
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Politics aside, we have a chance to prevent a deadly cancer
July 1st 2006About two hours after a colleague and I lamented over breakfast about Americans' shortcomings in wellness, I heard the news that the vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV) had received the final nod from FDA. Now there was something Americans were actually doing pretty well: immunizing.
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