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Why A Houston Leukemia Doctor Is Calling Out Drug Companies More than 100 leukemia experts from around the world have signed an opinion piece objecting to the high prices of cancer drugs. The letter appeared in a prominent medical journal and was drafted by Dr. Hagop Kantarjian, the head of the leukemia department at MD Anderson Cancer Center. |
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What's Inside The New Manual For Psychiatry? Psychiatry will reach a historic milestone tomorrow, with the national release of a new diagnostic manual. It’s the most important book in the field of mental health, determining what types of mental illnesses get diagnosed and perhaps more importantly, whether and how insurance will reimburse for treatment of mental illness. |
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Options Narrow In Legislature For Helping Low-Income, Uninsured Adult Texans A bipartisan bill that would have created health insurance for some uninsured adult Texans has failed in the Texas House. Now the bill's supporters are looking for other legislative solutions before the session ends in two weeks. |
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Report: Texas Kids Benefit From Child-Focused State Spending, and Suffer When Spending Drops A new report out this week looks at the public money that Texas spends on kids. The report from the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin shows that when the state invests in children's education, health, and nutrition, the money is actually making a difference. |
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Rice Team Nabs Major Inventor’s Prize Two professors of bioengineering at Rice University are the winners of a $100,000 prize for global innovation. Although they are free to spend it as they wish, the two women have decided to use the money to help premature babies in Malawi. |
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Baylor Opens Eighth Health Clinic For Teens Baylor College of Medicine has opened another health clinic for Houston teenagers, and it's the third one that is based at a high school. |
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Why Catholic Hospital Chain Wants In On The Houston Market Houstonians in the healthcare community are still digesting the news that St. Luke's Episcopal Health System will be sold to a large Catholic hospital chain based in Colorado. |
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State Legislators Release Grim Statistics On Texas Versus Other States A group of Texas legislators has released a report ranking Texas against other states on several key measures such as health, education and the environment. The Lone Star state lags behind on several crucial ingredients needed for long-term prosperity. |
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What You Need to Know About the Measles Case In Harris County Harris County is still investigating a rare case of measles in a young boy. Although the boy appears to have contracted the virus overseas, health officials are still taking the case very seriously. |
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Interview With Local Healthcare Leader Ron Cookston About Obamacare's 'Individual Mandate' The health reform law known as Obamacare goes fully into effect next year. Americans without health insurance will have to obtain some kind of policy, and many Texans will turn to online marketplaces to shop for them. KUHF Health and Science reporter Carrie Feibel sat down with Ron Cookston. He directs Gateway to Care, a local coalition that is getting ready to launch a massive outreach campaign to the uninsured. |
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Will You Get A Health Insurance Subsidy From Obamacare? 2.6 million Texans Are Eligible The health reform law known as "Obamacare" goes fully into effect at the end of this year. At that time, almost 2.6 million Texans will start receiving assistance from the law — in the form of help paying for health insurance. |
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Walking The Streets Of Houston To Speak With The Uninsured Governor Rick Perry has made it clear that he doesn't want Texas to join other states in expanding Medicaid, the taxpayer-funded health plan for the poor. But he's being pressured by some county judges, hospitals, and public health advocates to change his mind. On Thursday, activists took the fight to the streets of Houston, fanning out through the East End to find uninsured workers. |
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Texas Legislature Weighing 5 Key Proposals To Limit Abortions The bills favor policies that would impose more regulations on abortion clinics. |
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In Texas, Abortion Issue Heats Up, Bills Introduced Could Restrict Access Political fights over abortion are heating up in the Texas Legislature. Pro-life lawmakers have introduced more than a dozen bills that would restrict abortion access or clinic operations. |
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Texas Lawmakers Duel Over Medicaid Expansion Top elected officials in Texas joined in Austin today to reinforce their stance against Medicaid expansion. The governor and lieutenant governor, along with senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz spoke at the state capitol about their concerns over the Medicaid program. |
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Major Flu Vaccine Plant Will Be Built At Texas A&M GlaxoSmithKline will build a major biopharmaceutical plant at Texas A&M in Bryan-College Station. The partnership with the university system is part of a major federal grant to grow the nation’s biological defenses against natural threats like epidemics or bioterrorism. |
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Doctors Issue Updated Guideline For Concussions It's estimated that more than a million athletes experience a concussion each year in the unted states. The American Academy of Neurology has released new guidelines for treating athletes with a concussion. |
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Should Hospitals Have Facebook Pages? The Texas Medical Center has been generating a lot of buzz on Facebook lately. And a new study, published in the American Journal of Hospital Quality, suggests they're right on track. |
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Mars Journey: Researchers Test Methods For Doing 'Astrosurgery' In Zero Gravity NASA is hoping to send humans to Mars within twenty years. In the private sector, companies are working on plans to mine asteroids and launch tourists into orbit. This all means humans will soon be spending longer and longer amounts of time in space, and potentially getting sick or injured up there. As KUHF Health and Science reporter Carrie Feibel found, researchers are already developing the techniques to conduct surgery in space. |
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KUHF Conversations: Dr. Scott Parazynski UTMB in Galveston recently became the new medical contractor for U.S. scientists working in Antarctica. UTMB has hired doctors and assistants for three polar research bases and also provides drugs and supplies. The new director of the program is Dr. Scott Parazynski, a former shuttle astronaut who lives here in houston. He is currently touring the medical clinics in Antarctica. Kuhf Health and Science reporter Carrie Feibel spoke with him before he left. |
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UT Brings Dentists To Houston Schools What chronic childhood disease is five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever? What is a disease that causes pain, deformity and millions of hours in school absences? It's tooth decay. Yes, cavities are still a silent epidemic in this country, particularly among poor children. KUHF Health and Science reporter Carrie Feibel looked into what Houston's dental school is doing about the problem. |
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First Year Of Harris County Mental Health Court Gets Good Review From Judge Harris County has established a special weekly court to deal with defendants who have a mental illness. The idea is to treat the illness that leads to crimes, and keep people from cycling in and out of jail unnecessarily. |
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MD Anderson Strikes Deal With Drug Company With Up To $335 million MD Anderson has struck a deal with GlaxoSmithKline to bring a new cancer treatment to market. To date, it's the largest financial partnership the cancer hospital has made with an outside pharmaceutical company. |
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Two Astronauts To Spend Full Year In Orbit Two astronauts, one American and one Russian, will spend a year in outer space on board the International Space Station. NASA scientists say they need to know more about how extended periods in orbit affect the human body, so they can plan for long-haul missions to Mars or other places. |
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Energy, Medicine And NASA Swap Ideas Today At Houston's 'Pumps & Pipes' Conference Today scientists from Houston's medical and oil-and-gas industries will come together to share research and ideas. It's the sixth annual "Pumps & Pipes" conference at Methodist Hospital, a conference that could probably only happen in Houston. |
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Texas Children's Hospital Operate On Baby With Rare Heart Defect Doctors at Texas Children's Hospital have saved the life of a baby who was born with part of her heart outside her body. KUHF Health and Science reporter Carrie Feibel has the story of the extremely rare condition and how the Houston surgeons fixed it. |
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UTMB Gets $2.6 Million In Federal Money For Med School Scholarships The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston has been awarded a $2.6 million grant to help disadvantaged students pay for medical school, and avoid huge debts. The problem of medical school debt is closely linked to the shortage of primary care doctors in Texas and nationally. |
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After the Election: Texas At A Crossroads With 'Obamacare' The re-election of President Obama means that his signature health care law, known as Obamacare, is here to stay. That means Republican governors like Rick Perry, who had been holding back on implementing parts of the law, will now have some decisions to make. |
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Texas Planned Parenthood Wins Temporary Court Reprieve To Stay In Women's Health Program Planned Parenthood won a temporary court injunction today that will allow it to remain in the Women's Health Program. The organization is trying to prevent state officials from kicking it out of the government program, which provides gynecological exams and birth control to low-income women. |
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After The Election: A Consumer's Guide To The Health Law The law contains a number of provisions that are changing the rules of health care for consumers. |
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Texas Children's To Offer On-Site Lawyer For Patient Families Texas Children's Hospital now has a full-time attorney on site to help patients negotiate legal programs that arise during illness. The program is part of a national trend in which hospitals try to bridge the gap between health problems and the outside world. |
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Texas Voters Say 'Obamacare' Influencing Their Vote With Election Day looming, voters say the economy and budget deficit are still their top priorities. But health care is not far behind. In many polls, voters rate the Affordable Care Act — otherwise known as "Obamacare" — as the fourth most important issue in the presidential race. |
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Houston Scientists Probe Obesity-Cancer Connection Researchers in Houston are examining the connection between obesity and cancer. A newly published study involving fat and thin mice has important lessons about how body fat can fuel the growth of a tumor. |
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Tech Research From Rice University: Genders Use Emoticons In Different Ways Psychologists at Rice University have been investigating how people use their smartphones, and their latest study revealed some interesting data about how people use emoticons. |
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Galveston Hosts Conference For Disaster Response Across Southeast Texas Emergency medical responders from at least 20 counties around Houston are gathered today in Galveston to learn the newest response techniques. While good equipment, like ambulances and helicopters does help, the best response begins with coordination. |
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SpaceX's Commercial Capsule En Route To Space Station NASA says a private cargo vehicle is on target to reach the international space station Wednesday morning. The flight represents yet another step in the commercialization of the space program. |
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Latest Medicare Fraud Crackdown Could Have Political Implications The latest nationwide crackdown on medicare fraud involved 91 doctors, nurses and others in seven cities, including Houston. KUHF Health and Science reporter Carrie Feibel has more on what happened and how this could play out politically in the upcoming election. |
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Ragweed and Ozone Causing Air Problems in Houston If you've been having respiratory problems, it's not just your imagination. Houston is having a particularly bad air day today. Residents are contending with a double whammy of ozone and ragweed pollen. |
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Houston Focused On Controlling Syphilis, HIV In the wake of an outbreak of syphilis in Harris County, health educators are calling on the public to re-focus its attention on sexually-transmitted diseases, and HIV in particular. |
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M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Will Use Reduced Mortality As New Measure Of Research Success Frustration with the slow pace of cancer research has prompted M.D. Anderson Cancer Center to launch a new effort to speed up the work. The program will target eight deadly cancers using new technology and a new sense of urgency. |
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M.D. Anderson Announces New Research Push on 8 Cancers Today M.D. Anderson launched a new effort to accelerate the fight against eight types of cancer. It's called the "Moon Shots Program" and takes its inspiration from the national push to reach the moon in the 1960s. The cancer hospital will re-organize research teams around new technologies and push for discoveries that actually reduce patient deaths. |
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Census: One Quarter Of Houstonians Now Live In Poverty, 38 Percent Are Children New data from the Census Bureau shows that Texans seem to be doing slightly better from a year ago when it comes to measurements such as median income and health coverage. Yet poverty is still creeping up across the state. |
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Unpublished JFK Photos: Houston Remembers President Kennedy's 1962 'Moon Speech' At Rice Stadium Today is the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's famous speech in which he declared, "We choose to go to the moon ..." He delivered it here in Houston, vowing to put Americans on the moon within the decade. |
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CDC Says National Childhood Vaccine Rates Good, While Texas Issues Warning On Whooping Cough Deaths The Centers for Disease Control reports that national childhood vaccinations rates remain steady, but could be better especially when it comes to vaccines that are newly-recommended. |
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Texas Records Worst Year Ever For West Nile The Centers for Disease Control reports that West Nile cases continue to rise. Almost 45 percent of the human cases have occurred in Texas. |
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Doctors Fear 'Gag Rule' Under New State Program For Women's Health Texas officials are putting together a new health program for low-income women to get reproductive services, one that will exclude Planned Parenthood. But as the politically-charged program takes shape, doctor's groups say the new rules interfere with their first amendment rights. |
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NASA Veteran Remembers Neil Armstrong And Apollo Era Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, will be laid to rest today during a private funeral service in Ohio. The astronaut was 82 when he died last Saturday after cardiovascular procedures. KUHF Health and Science reporter Carrie Feibel visited the Johnson Space Center and spoke with a long-time NASA engineer who helped Armstrong train for the Apollo missions. |
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CDC Says West Nile Infections Highest Since 2003 Federal health officials say West Nile Virus cases are up 40-percent nationwide over the last week alone and are on pace to surpass the disease's worst years in 2002 and 2003. |
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Share Your JFK's Moon Speech Memory Do you remember JFK's "We choose to go to the moon" speech? Were you or someone you know at Rice Stadium that day? We're looking for people to interview for a story on the 50th anniversary of the 'Moon Speech.' |
