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AP Health NewsBrief at 7:16 a.m. EDT
(AP Online Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Lax oversight risks millions of Medicare dollarsWASHINGTON (AP) _ The government is putting millions of Medicare dollars at risk by authorizing fictitious sellers of wheelchairs, prosthetics and other medical supplies to submit reimbursement claims with only limited review, congressional investigators say. The study by the Government Accountability Office obtained by The Associated Press sought to follow up on oversight gaps that have plagued the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services since at least 2005. Roughly $1 billion of the $10 billion in annual Medicare payments the government makes for medical equipment are later deemed improper.
12-year-old with HIV to open world AIDS conferenceMEXICO CITY (AP) _ Keren Dunaway was 5 when her parents used drawings to explain to her that they both had the HIV virus _ and so did she. Now the 12-year-old is one of the most prominent AIDS activists in Latin America and a rarity in a region where few children are willing to break the silence and tell their classmates they have HIV for fear of rejection. She edits a children's magazine on the virus.
Clinton in Africa says nutrition key to AIDS fightDAKAR, Senegal (AP) _ Former President Clinton said Sunday that keeping HIV-infected children in the developing world well-fed amid the pressures of skyrocketing global food and fuel prices will be crucial to fending off the deadly virus. Speaking on the final day of a four-nation Africa tour that began last week, Clinton said he saw children in Ethiopia who "cannot live" because they were so malnourished they could not absorb lifesaving antiretroviral drugs.
Abbott faces more litigation over AIDS drugSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ When Abbott Laboratories Inc. hiked up the price of a popular AIDS drug by 400 percent in 2003, executives prepared for the inevitable public relations hit, but assured themselves the backlash would be brief. Nearly five years later, the accusations against Abbott are still flying.
Grass-roots effort in Egypt fights 'cutting' girlsSULTAN ZAWYIT, Egypt (AP) _ In this small Nile River farming village, Maha Mohammed has started to doubt whether she should circumcise her two daughters. A year ago, she had few qualms about female genital mutilation, the practice of cutting a girl's clitoris and sometimes other genitalia. She herself was cut two decades ago, and she fears her daughters will not find husbands otherwise.
Iraq calls for doctors who fled violence to returnBAGHDAD (AP) _ Iraq's Health Ministry has appealed to physicians who fled the country due to violence to return to their jobs because security has improved, an official said Sunday. Dr. Essam Namiq, a deputy minister of health, said more than 165 Iraqi doctors have responded and resumed their work over the past 20 days, and he expected more than 90 percent to return this year.
Mixed results for growth hormone in HIV patientsCHICAGO (AP) _ A hormone better known for illicit use among athletes can help treat troublesome complications from the AIDS virus, but with potentially risky side effects, a small study found. Low-dose injections of human growth hormone, HGH, reduced fat deposits around internal abdominal organs by about 10 percent.
CDC underestimated new HIV cases by 40 percentATLANTA (AP) _ The number of Americans infected by the AIDS virus each year is much higher than the government has been estimating, U.S. health officials reported, acknowledging that their numbers have understated the level of the epidemic. The country had roughly 56,300 new HIV infections in 2006 _ about a 40 percent increase from the 40,000 annual estimate used for the past dozen years. The new figure is due to a better blood test and new statistical methods, and not a worsening of the epidemic, officials said.
Study: To sleep better, perchance to live longerWASHINGTON (AP) _ Shakespeare once called sleep the "balm of hurt minds." Bodies, too, apparently. People with the severe form of apnea, which interferes with sleep, are several times more likely to die from any cause than are folks without the disorder, researchers report in Friday's edition of the journal Sleep. The findings in the 18-year study confirm smaller studies that have indicated an increased risk of death for people with apnea, also known as sleep-disordered breathing.
Drug gives couch potato mice benefits of a workoutNEW YORK (AP) _ Here's a couch potato's dream: What if a drug could help you gain some of the benefits of exercise without working up a sweat? Scientists reported Thursday that there is such a drug _ if you happen to be a mouse. Sedentary mice that took the drug for four weeks burned more calories and had less fat than untreated mice. And when tested on a treadmill, they could run about 44 percent farther and 23 percent longer than untreated mice.
Copyright ? 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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