Public health experts say they’re concerned about the low number of U.S. adults who receive recommended vaccinations — and in particular about seniors who aren’t immunized against pneumonia. (ABC News)

JAMA (Vol. 303; No. 4; January 27, 2010) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “Assessing the Legal Standard of Care in Public Health Emergencies” by James G. Hodge Jr and Brooke Courtney, 361-362.
• “Improving Health by Taking It Personally” by Ralph Snyderman and Michaela A. Dian, 363-364.
• “Ethnic Shifts Raise Issues in Elder Care” by Rebecca Voelker, 321.
• “Stem Cell Lines Cleared” by Bridget M. Kuehn, 322.

After public health authorities in the United States spent months encouraging, cajoling, and frightening the public into getting vaccinated against the H1N1 influenza virus, they had no vaccine to give. The second wave of the H1N1 pandemic hit North America in early fall 2009. Millions were infected and thousands died before people were immunized. Of the 250 million doses of vaccine ordered by the U.S. government, only five million had been delivered at the height of the outbreak because of problems with vaccine production. (Bioethics Forum)

Bill and Melinda Gates said on Friday they would spend $10 billion over the next decade to develop and deliver vaccines, an increased commitment that reflects progress in the pipeline of products for immunizing children in the developing world. (Reuters)

The new movie “Extraordinary Measures” is based on the true story of a father who starts a company to develop a treatment for the rare genetic disease threatening to kill two of his children before they turn 10. (New York Times)

JAMA (Vol. 303; No. 3; January 20, 2010)  is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “Garnering Support for Advance Care Planning” by Terri R. Fried and Margaret Drickamer, 269-270.
• “Public Health Response to Influenza A(H1N1) as an Opportunity to Build Public Trust” by Heidi J. Larson and David L. Heymann, 271-272.
• “New HIV Recommendations” by Joan Stephenson, 215.
• “Severe Childhood Obesity” by Joan Stephenson, 215.
• “Lung Cancer Screening” by Joan Stephenson, 215.

Life is complicated — especially when it comes to our health. Once we reach a certain age, we start to realize that health is a variable, not a constant. Our knees ache, our pace slows, and we’re diagnosed with diabetes or even cancer. And because the stakes are so high and the options so dizzying, we may stop engaging with our health altogether. We let doctors and insurance companies decide on our care, and we focus our energies on what we can control — our bank accounts, our relationships, but not, alas, our health. (Wired)

JAMA (Vol. 303; No. 1; January 6, 2010) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “Optogenetics Illuminates Brain Function” by Bridget M. Kuehn, 20.
• “Obesity Prevalence Among Low-Income, Preschool-Aged Children- United States, 1998-2008″ by JAMA, 28-30.

Most healthcare workers (HCWs) approve of mandatory influenza vaccines for hospital employees, and their numbers could be further boosted by giving opponents more information, according to a study released yesterday in the January 2010 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. (Medscape Today)

U.S. House leaders signaled Tuesday they are willing to agree to a final health overhaul bill without a government-run health insurance option if other parts of the bill would fulfill the same goals. (Wall Street Journal)

The New York City Department of Health has come under fire for what some are calling a “how to” pamphlet on using heroin and other intravenous drugs correctly. The Department of Health created the pamphlet, titled “Take Charge, Take Care,” in 2007 in an effort to help those who use injection drugs reduce the various risks associated with drug use. (ABC News)

For Jeanne d’Arc Kayembe, the trip to Washington in May 2007 was meant to be a month-long respite from an abusive boyfriend and a chance to visit relatives before going home to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to have her first child.

But searing abdominal pains sent Kayembe, who was six months pregnant, to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. After relieving her pain, a doctor told her to stay in bed and not return to Kinshasa until after she had delivered her baby. (Washington Post)

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel’s recommendation that some adults with no prior heart problems should take the cholesterol-busting statin Crestor appears to have pitted cardiologists against many primary care physicians over the best use of the popular drug. (ABC News)

For decades, ethicist Daniel Callahan has argued that expensive medical care be parceled out carefully – essentially rationed – for elderly patients. Now, at 79, his quest to stem late-in-life spending is coming face to face with his own mortality. (eGov monitor)

The well-worn notion that patients in the United States have unfettered access to the most expensive cancer drugs while the United Kingdom’s nationalized health care system regularly denies access to some high-cost treatments needs rethinking, a team of bioethicists and health policy experts says in a new report. (ScienceDaily)

The Senate Republican leader said on Sunday Democrats were too divided to muster the votes to pass an overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, but a senior Democratic senator said he was optimistic although the task is “very, very hard.” (Reuters)

Most of the world’s religions share some version of the golden rule of treating others as you wish to be treated. (Beliefnet)

Journal of Academic Ethics (Volume 7, Numbers 1-2, June 2009) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “Protecting Human Dignity in Research Involving Humans” by Thomas De Koninck, 17-25.
• “Reflections on My Experience in Human Research Ethics” by K. G. Davey, 27-31.
• “Moral Integrity and Academic Research” by J. Angelo Corlett, 45-49.
• “The Ethics of Conducting Community-Engaged Homelessness Research” by Vivien Runnels, Elizabeth Hay, Elyse Sevigny, and Paddi O’Hara; 57-68.
• “End of Life Pediatric Research: What About the Ethics?” by Danielle Laudy, 87-91.
• “Health Research in Complex Emergencies: A Humanitarian Imperative” by John D. Pringle and Donald C. Cole, 115-123.

In 1997, a federal committee of medical experts recommended against routine mammograms for women in their 40s, sparking a political uproar that led to congressional hearings and a unanimous Senate vote challenging the findings.

Now, 12 years later, a similar drama is playing out around a different federal medical panel, which this week recommended against routine mammograms for women younger than 50, saying it is not worth subjecting some patients to unnecessary biopsies, radiation and stress. (Washington Post)

University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers will use nearly $5 million in federal stimulus dollars to boost minority participation in clinical trials and improve quality care in remote communities. (SoMDNews)

The American Medical Association on Tuesday voted to oppose the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, and declared that gay marriage bans contribute to health disparities.

The nation’s largest doctors’ group stopped short of saying it would seek to overturn marriage bans, but its new stance angered conservative activists and provides a fresh boost to lobbying efforts by gay-rights advocates. (USA TODAY)