If lawmakers were “serious” about “pledges of ‘fiscal responsibility’” they would propose cuts in Social Security and Medicare, Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson writes in an opinion piece. [click link for full article]

Pacifier use often attracts negative attention for potentially harming children’s oral health. There are positive effects of pacifier use, however. In addition to calming the infant, pacifier use can also assist in reducing the incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, according to a report/study that appeared in the January/February 2007 issue of General Dentistry, the Academy of General Dentistry’s (AGD) clinical, peer-reviewed journal. [click link for full article]

Seventeen states in 2006 increased access to health coverage, but new federal proof-of-citizenship rules might be leading to a decline in children’s Medicaid enrollment in some states, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, [click link for full article]

Concerns about the risk of radiation-induced cancer are growing with the increasing number of cancer patients surviving long term. [click link for full article]

A pattern of micro molecules can distinguish pancreatic cancer from normal and benign pancreatic tissue, new research suggests.The study examined human pancreatic tumor tissue and compared it to nearby normal tissue and control tissue for levels of microRNA (miRNA). It identified about 100 different miRNAs that are present usually at very high levels in the tumor tissue compared with their levels in normal pancreatic tissue. [click link for full article]

The UK government is failing sex workers by continuing to promote discriminatory laws and practices, argue experts in this week’s BMJ.Professor Michael Goodyear and Dr Linda Cusick call on the prime minister to protect women by decriminalising all aspects of sex work now.Sex workers around the world continue to be murdered, write Professor Goodyear of Dalhousie University, Canada and Dr Cusick of the University of Paisley, Scotland. [click link for full article]

House Democrats likely will have an adequate number of votes to pass a bill (HR 4) that would require the HHS secretary to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies on prices for medications under the Medicare prescription drug benefit, [click link for full article]

PTEN is one of the most commonly mutated tumor suppressor genes. It is an antagonist for many cellular growth, proliferation and survival processes. When mutated or deleted, it causes cancers of the prostate, breast, colon, and brain. Researchers led by scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have now identified fundamentally novel regulatory mechanisms of PTEN function. The findings from two related studies are published in the January 12 issue of Cell. [click link for full article]

Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in the United States. Although some risk factors, such as age and heredity, cannot be controlled, many factors, including smoking, cholesterol, blood pressure, obesity, and inactivity can be modified, thus, lowering the risk.This lifestyle concern is thoroughly explored in the headline article of the debut issue of the new American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine (AJLM) published by SAGE. [click link for full article]

Drug prices in Medicare Part D prescription drug plans are on average of 58% more for the most commonly prescribed drugs than prices paid by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, according to a study released Tuesday by Families USA, the [click link for full article]