Children between the ages of six months and five years will start to be vaccinated against swine flu in the run up to Christmas, Health Secretary Andy Burnham announced today.
This age group has been identified as the next priority group for the vaccine because they are more likely to be hospitalised if they fall ill [...]

Responding to the negotiations on GP payment for swine flu vaccination of children aged six months to five years of age, Andrew Clapperton, head of primary care workforce and contracting at NHS Employers, says:

This statement updates Members on latest developments in respect of the Influenza A (H1N1) swine flu pandemic.
The latest GP consultation rates in Wales for flu-like illness have decreased and are now steady, although still a little above the usual rates for the time of year. On the 26th November, 77 people were in hospital with [...]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement on legislation that would permanently reform the broken Medicare physician payment system. The Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act, which passed by a vote of 243 to 183, repeals a 21 percent fee reduction scheduled for January 2010, and replaces the physician payment formula with a more stable [...]

Chronic pain patients with a history of depression are three times more likely to receive long-term prescriptions for opioid medications like Vicodin compared to pain patients who do not suffer from depression, according to new research.