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Chance Of Fetal Complications Following Accidents Not Increased By Automobile Restraints
It is well established that seat belts save lives. However, many pregnant women do not wear seat belts, for fear that the belt itself could injure the baby in a car crash. But is this actually the case? Does the seat belt put the baby at risk?

Test For Strep Bacteria In Pregnant Women Misses More Cases Than Expected, Study Shows
A federal recommendation that all pregnant women undergo testing for Group B strep bacteria has helped increase the number of screenings but also has produced a high level of false negatives, according to a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the AP/Newark Star-Ledger reports. Group B strep is a common bacteria in the intestines or lower genital tract. Although it poses no harm to most adults, during delivery it can be spread to infants, who can develop blood infections, pneumonia, meningitis, mental retardation, hearing and vision loss, or death. Problems occur in fewer than one in 3,000 births, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2002 issued a recommendation that all pregnant women be tested because of the potential for serious complications. The study is the first research to examine the screening program. The researchers examined data on Group B strep cases in 10 states, finding that 250 infants out of nearly 7,700 were born with the infection. They compared the results with a similar study that was conducted before the CDC recommendations were in place, finding that the screening rate rose from 48% to 85% of pregnant women. The study also found that infant infections from Group B strep declined by 27%.Researchers predicted there would be between 44 and 86 false negatives in full-term infants, based on data from previous studies. However, their results showed about 60% of infected infants -- 116 cases -- were born to women who had tested negative for Group B strep. Researchers noted that the timing of a Group B test might play a role because the infection can come quickly, and tests could have been performed before the bacteria appeared. CDC recommends that pregnant women be screened between 35 and 37 weeks" gestation. CDC researcher Stephanie Schrag, who co-authored the study, said, "Maybe it was a true negative test, and the mother later became colonized" with the bacteria before delivery (Stobbe, AP/Newark Star-Ledger, 6/17).
News of the day
Johns Hopkins Scientists Out A Gene For Gout
Having partnered last year with an international team that surveyed the genomes of 12,000 individuals to find a genetic cause for gout, Johns Hopkins scientists now have shown that the malfunctioning gene they helped uncover can lead to high concentrations of blood urate that forms crystals in joint tissue, causing inflammation and pain - the hallmark of this disease.
Nutrition

Patient Upside Murky In Drug-Price Cases

"The prices of hundreds of brand-name drugs are about to be cut 4%, and millions of Americans may soon receive a check in the mail as compensation for having overpaid for their prescriptions," but "the extent to which the average consumer will benefit isn"t yet clear," the Wall Street Journal reports. "The price cuts and expected payments are the result of federal class-action settlements involving two drug-price publishers and a major drug wholesaler that were accused of inflating drug prices." The price rollbacks may save $100 billion in the first year, with about $100 million of that amount "saved directly by patients, while the balance would accrue to employers and private health insurers." But critics say that "because drug pricing is so opaque and complex, patients won"t likely get meaningful and long-lasting relief." Eighty-four million dollars may go to pay attorney fees, and pharmacies are still trying to stop the price rollbacks, "which could shrink their profit margins." In addition to price cuts, under the settlement, "uninsured patients who filled prescriptions for such widely used drugs as Pfizer Inc."s Lipitor, Sanofi Aventis SA"s Ambien and hundreds of other medicines between August 2001 and Jan. 23, 2009 are eligible for reimbursement checks from an about $60 million pot that has been set aside." According to testimony for the plaintiffs, the extra costs for insurers and patients comes to $2.9 billion. Many insured patients were also likely "affected indirectly because the higher costs added to a rise in health-insurance premiums." In order to qualify for the reimbursement funds, patients must have "kept good records" of their purchases and must submit claim forms by July 9 to a settlement administrator" (Rubenstein, 6/11). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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