“Medicine” on The Daily Caller

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According a recent study, there is no strong evidence that the Pill will make you fat. (more)

Malaria continues to ravage communities and economies and claims the life of a child approximately every 45 seconds. Some progress has been made in recent years, but this could be undone if some UN agencies continue their campaign to stop the use of public health insecticides in the fight against malaria. Unless the donor nations that fund global malaria programs, such as the US, firmly reject the unscientific, fear-based opposition to insecticides, progress against this preventable and curable disease will be lost. (more)

In the first real attempt to dismantle the nation’s health care law, two Republican congressmen introduced legislation prohibiting the federal funding of abortions, calling the procedure “accepted bigotry.” (more)

Over the weekend, Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was upgraded from “critical condition” to “serious condition.” More good news came from Giffords’ husband, Mark Kelley, who recently spoke about the amazing progress the congresswoman has made since she was shot in the head by accused gunman Jared Loughner on Jan. 8. (more)

Last month, John Chikos of Illinois suffered a massive heart attack — the kind so severe that it is often called a “widow maker.” (more)

To say the government regulates everything is an understatement. Aside from the black market, which is only unregulated insofar as it avoids taxes and bypasses age restrictions on such things as alcohol (not including illegal products), there really isn’t much in which the government doesn’t have a hand. And now they’re thinking about coming after your hand…well, your hand soap, anyway. (more)

DIAMONDHEAD, Miss. — The 34-year-old sister of Vikings quarterback Brett Favre faces drug charges after she was arrested Wednesday in a raid on a Mississippi condo where people were making crystal methamphetamine, authorities said. (more)

When people consider the connections between drugs and violence, what typically comes to mind are illegal drugs like crack cocaine. However, certain medications — most notably, some antidepressants like Prozac — have also been linked to increased risk for violent, even homicidal behavior. (more)

1.) Remember: You’re a liar and/or an idiot if you call it ‘a government takeover of health care’ — Tomorrow, a group of bureaucrats will meet to determine which treatments private insurance companies will be mandated to cover, and for how long. “The Obama administration faces a tough balancing act,” writes Kaiser Health News. “The benefits package must be broad enough to be comprehensive but not too broad as to be unaffordable. Patient advocates and industry lobbyists already are drawing up wish lists for items they want covered – including autism therapy, obesity treatments, infertility treatments and unlimited chemotherapy visits.” AEI’s Joe Antos told KHN, “This is an invitation for all kinds of lobbying from every conceivable disease group and provider group in the country.” For instance: Joe Nadglowski, CEO of the Obesity Action Coalition, thinks insurers should be required to cover bariatric surgery. “Adding a wider range of treatments would raise premium costs, Nadglowski acknowledges, but could save money over time if people sought both prevention and treatment for obesity.” That’s a lot of ifs. (more)

NEW YORK (WABC) – New and eye-opening statistics about the rate of abortions in New York City have been released by the Health Department. (more)

A recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) report calls for expanding the authority of nurses to practice medicine and for increasing their pay. Besides helping a loyal unionized constituency, the report claims that allowing nurses to do more can alleviate the physician shortage. In reality this will likely have the exact opposite effect by disincentivizing individuals from becoming medical doctors in the first place. Thereby, rather than improving patient access to physicians, these recommendations will make the problem even worse. (more)

TOKYO — When the Japanese government raised the tax on cigarettes on Oct. 1, it should have sparked a public health revolution in this land of heavy smokers. (more)

David Arquette’s starting off the new year trying to ditch his increasingly noticeable alcohol addiction. (more)

Anesthesia doesn’t put patients to “sleep,” as they’re often told. Rather, anesthesia puts the brain into a state of unconsciousness that’s more like being in a reversible coma than being asleep, a new study says. (more)

Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix, Arizona has been at the center of a roaring controversy for his decision to remove the Catholic status from St. Joseph Hospital in Phoenix. The hospital may no longer refer to itself as a Catholic institution, Mass may not be celebrated there, and the Diocese of Phoenix will not give it any further support. The decision came as a result of an abortion procedure performed at the hospital, and the repeated violations of Catholic moral teaching that the hospital had perpetrated over the years. (more)

Gage Martindale, who is 8 years old, has been taking a blood-pressure drug since he was a toddler. “I want to be healthy, and I don’t want things in my heart to go wrong,” he says. (more)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) just announced a three-month delay of the implementation of new rules for face-to-face encounters for home care and hospice patients and their physicians. The National Association for Home Care and Hospice commends CMS for recognizing the need to delay implementation and is grateful that CMS listened to our concerns and has given a reprieve in the enforcement of the face-to-face encounter requirements. This is a serious issue and it is important to protect the care provided to patients. While this is not a total solution to the issues, it is an important first step. (more)

Are tanning beds still popular? Apparently so. A new study finds 18% of women and 6.5% of men in America say they use tanning beds, even though indoor tanning has been linked to an increased risk of skin cancer. (more)

A Cornell student was arrested along the 500 block of Stewart Avenue Sunday for criminal possession of a “substantial quantity” of heroin, the Ithaca Police Department said. (more)