The Miami Herald on Friday published two opinion pieces about a bill passed last month by the House that would require the HHS secretary to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies on prices for medications under the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Summaries appear below.Sarah Berk, [click link for full article]

Women who become pregnant in spring are more vulnerable to preterm birth than those who conceive in other seasons, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh. Results of a large study of such seasonal variation in preterm birth, or birth prior to 37 weeks gestation, are being presented at the 27th annual meeting of the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, being held at the Hilton San Francisco and Towers in California. [click link for full article]

Scientists exploring the physics of hearing have found an underlying molecular cause for one form of deafness, and a conceptual connection between deafness and the organization of liquid crystals, which are used in flat-panel displays.Within the cochlea of the inner ear, sound waves cause the basilar membrane to vibrate. These vibrations stimulate hair cells, which then trigger nerve impulses that are transmitted to the brain. [click link for full article]

Exclusively ambulatory techniques and equipment were as successful at identifying and treating sleep apnea as the current method of polysomnography, which requires several supervised overnight stays in a sleep laboratory (Article, p. 157).The ambulatory method involved identifying high-probability patients with a standardized clinical assessment and at-home portable sleep monitoring and auto-titration of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). [click link for full article]

Fact sheets, Georgetown University Long-Term Care Financing Project: The Georgetown University Long-Term Care Financing Project has released two new fact sheets on Medicare and long-term care and Medicaid policy that aims to protect the incomes and resources of spouses of nursing home residents who are trying to enroll in Medicaid. [click link for full article]

The number of octogenarians (people aged 80 to 89) and nonagenarians (people 90 to 99) who began dialysis increased from 7,054 people in 1996 to 13,577 people in 2003, according to a new study (Article, p. 177).Overall, one-year survival rates for patients on dialysis did not materially change from 1996 to 2003, remaining at about 50 percent. Survival rates for these very elderly are substantially lower than those previously reported. [click link for full article]

Medicaid enrollment decreased in six state programs after CMS implemented a law that requires beneficiaries and applicants to provide proof of U.S. citizenship to receive care through the program, according to a report released on Friday by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, [click link for full article]

It is “ludicrous” that Connecticut “apparently needs a state law to force hospitals to provide” rape survivors with access to emergency contraception because it would “seem like common sense to offer sexual assault victims the means to ensure that they do not become pregnant,” a New York Times editorial says (New York Times, 2/4). [click link for full article]

President Bush on Saturday spoke at the annual House Democratic retreat for the first time since 2001 to promote his health care and other domestic policy proposals, the Washington Post reports (Abramowitz/Kane, Washington Post, 2/4). [click link for full article]

The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), a leading organization for interventional cardiologists, has released a document recommending the adoption of stringent quality standards by those who perform percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in hospitals not equipped for cardiac surgery. [click link for full article]