Health Care

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday that as of August 1, 2012, health insurance plans would be required to cover birth control as well as several other women’s preventative services without co-pay.

As part of the Affordable Care Act, the Institute of Medicine was commissioned to review women’s health services and recommend the preventative services that would most benefit women. The IOM released their recommendations in July and the HHS has now approved them.

“These historic guidelines are based on science and existing literature and will help ensure women get the preventive health benefits they need,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a statement. more >>

Francis Collins, chief of the National Institutes of Health, has expressed his distaste for how atheists view Christians in science fields at a USA Today editorial board meeting this week.

The “avowed” evangelical Christian commented on complaints many researchers have made about him being a man of faith and the head of a scientific agency. He stated he has concerns that well-known researchers proposing that a belief in evolution and a belief in God cannot coincide might negatively affect the opinions of people not familiar with science.

“There are a lot of scientists, I’m one of them, who believe this is a ‘middle ground’ between science and faith,” Collins said, reiterating that accepting evolution does not require the denial of religious views. more >>

A universal flu vaccine that protects against all strains may be available within the next five years, replacing regular annual shots, according to the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

The research was led by NIAID scientist Gary J. Nabel, M.D., Ph.D. and was conducted using experiments on mice, monkeys and ferrets.

Mice and ferrets produced antibodies not only against Influenza virus strains dating from before 1999, including a strain that emerged in 1934, but also against strains that emerged in 2006 and 2007, according to NIAID website. more >>

A new World Health Organization (WHO) study, published on July 25 in the journal of BMC medicine, suggests that depression is more common in affluent nations and argues that cases of major depression are on the rise throughout the world.

The study was a result of a nine category survey taken by the organization that interviewed nationally representative samples of people in 18 countries across the globe. Overall, the survey reached nearly 90,000 people.

To be able to compare the data by socioeconomic indicators, the survey divided countries into categories of high-income and low-to-middle-income, based upon World Bank classifications. more >>

McDonald’s will include sliced apples and less fries in its Happy Meal as part of the fast-food chain’s “Commitments to Offer Improved Nutrition Choices” campaign announced today.

The change is in response to what customers are asking for and not the result of any impending food industry regulations, said a McDonald’s director of nutrition. The company is one of many in the business that are responding more frequently to charges of being part of growing epidemics such as childhood obesity and diabetes.

McDonald’s intends on rolling out the new Happy Meal beginning in September and making it available in all of its 14,000 U.S. restaurants in early 2012. more >>

An outbreak of Salmonella across 23 states has left 10 people hospitalized and 97 others affected so far. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning to Americans about the outbreak and has identified papayas as the source of the spate of cases.

Agromod Produce Inc. of McAllen, Texas says the Blondie, Yaya, Mananita and Tastylicious brands of papayas sold prior to July 23 are linked to the outbreak. The papayas were imported from Mexico and were distributed nationwide and to Canada.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and anyone with weakened immune systems. The illness usually lasts four to seven days, and most people recover without treatment. more >>