The two Medtrade events in 2008 will offer preeminent opportunities to network and to gain vital information about new products and technologies and Medicare policy changes, said the American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare). The Association reiterated its strong endorsement of Medtrade as the premier trade show for the home medical equipment industry. Medtrade Spring will be held May 6-8, 2008 in Long Beach, Calif. at the Long Beach Convention Center. [click link for full article]

21% of Canadian teenagers in grades 7 to 12 said in a survey that they had used prescription painkillers (opioid drugs), such as Tylenol No. 3 and Percocet at least once during the previous twelve months for recreational purposes - the survey, carried out by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto interviewed teenagers in Ontario. Approximately three-quarter of these teenagers said they obtained the painkillers from their homes. [click link for full article]

Although the “exact nature of the investigation remains unclear,” federal authorities were searching for records of “any monetary overpayments” when they raided WellCare headquarters on Oct. 24, according to the search warrant, the St. [click link for full article]

Sponsors of the House and Senate versions of legislation (HR 1424 and S 558) that would require most health insurers to provide equal levels of coverage for physical and mental illnesses are “bumping up against” conflicts in negotiations that could “thwart” the bill’s passage this year, CongressDaily reports. [click link for full article]

The latest biological, clinical and social research behind how cancer affects different racial and ethnic groups will be the focus of the first American Association for Cancer Research conference on the topic, entitled “The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.” The meeting is to be held November 27 to 30 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, Georgia. [click link for full article]

University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have discovered that bortezomib, a promising cancer drug, is able to strike a blow against melanoma tumor cells by revving up the action of a cancer-promoting gene.They say the laboratory-based findings suggest a novel treatment strategy that might someday prove effective against many types of cancer: Push cancer cells into overdrive, so that they self-destruct. [click link for full article]

Most normal-weight women — almost 90 percent in a Cornell study of 310 college students — yearn to be thinner. Half of underweight women want to lose even more weight, or stay just the way they are, thank you very much.Meanwhile, most overweight women don’t want to be thin enough to achieve a healthy weight. [click link for full article]

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) is moving forward with a proposed expansion of FamilyCare, a state program that subsidizes health care for families, despite a vote last week by a legislative oversight panel to block the plan, the [click link for full article]

Researchers have known for years that psychological trauma that results in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression can change how a person responds to stress. Now, Cornell researchers report that rapes, sudden deaths of loved ones, life-threatening accidents and other such traumas may result in long-term changes even if the survivor doesn’t develop a clinical disorder. [click link for full article]

For the first time, a study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, is linking asthma with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among adults. The study of male twins who were veterans of the Vietnam era suggests that the association between asthma and PTSD is not primarily explained by common genetic influences. [click link for full article]