The Wall Street Journal on Friday published two letters to the editor in response to a July 19 article about Medicaid. In the article, the Journal reported that many state Medicaid programs, “straining under surging costs, are balancing their budgets by freezing or reducing payments to doctors” — moves that have prompted a number of physicians to end participation in the programs ( [click link for full article]

The International Center for Health Outcomes and Innovation Research (InCHOIR), a joint initiative of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the Department of Surgery at Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, has received a $23 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to serve as the Data Coordinating Center for a newly established Cardiothoracic Surgery Investigations Network. [click link for full article]

House legislation (HR 3162) that would expand and reauthorize SCHIP and make revisions to Medicare will need to be revised to meet pay/go rules before it can be considered by the full chamber, CongressDaily reports (Johnson, CongressDaily, 7/27). [click link for full article]

While the overall population of New Orleans dropped considerably following Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of the city, murder rates there climbed in the following two years. [click link for full article]

America’s poorest children are much more likely to die from birth defects, unintentional injury, murder and all causes than the middle class or the wealthy, despite tremendous gains in reducing overall child death over the past three decades. A study looked at U.S. child mortality rates from 1969-2000 for children ages 1-14 and found that although overall rates declined dramatically for children at the lowest socioeconomic level, gaps in mortality widened. [click link for full article]

Giving inner-city children a safe place to play could dramatically increase their level of physical activity and even cut down on the time they spend watching television and playing video games. Researchers opened a schoolyard and provided attendants to ensure children’s safety. Over the next two years researchers observed the number and physical activity levels of children in the schoolyard and surrounding neighborhood and a comparison neighborhood. [click link for full article]

Pratibha Patil, who was sworn in as India’s first female president on Wednesday, said she would fight for women’s rights and called for an end to sex-selective abortion and infant mortality, AFP/Middle East Times reports (Roche, AFP/Middle East Times, 7/25). According to the [click link for full article]

A 30-year scientific debate over how specialized cells in the inner ear amplify sound in mammals appears to have been settled more in favor of bouncing cell bodies rather than vibrating, hair-like cilia, according to investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.The finding could explain why dogs, cats, humans and other mammals have such sensitive hearing and the ability to discriminate among frequencies. [click link for full article]

Now is the time to tune-up your asthma, or your child’s asthma, before autumn and cold/flu season arrives. Viral infections, such as the common cold, are the most common trigger…

The San Carlos, Calif.-based pharmaceutical company Conceptus on Wednesday announced that it has received FDA approval of an updated version of its nonincisional female sterilization device called Essure, the AP/Forbes reports (AP/Forbes, 7/25). [click link for full article]