Archives: Morning Breakouts

Whistleblowers at big pharmaceutical companies helped the Justice Department collect $3 billion last year; government agencies plan to upgrade procedures and IT systems to prevent costly payment errors.

The report says that $35.7 million were paid by hundreds of companies to health care providers, from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2009.

New studies forwarn of skyrocketing costs associated with diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure; a Gallup survey reveals most Americans say their healthcare is at least "good."

"Tens of millions of people are pushed into poverty each year as a result of rising costs for health care, the World Health Organization said Monday" as the agency released a report on financing health systems and universal coverage, Deutsche Presse-Agentur/M&C reports. It also highlights the vulnerability of populations without access to health care services and outlines the steps countries can take to move toward universal health care, according to the article (11/22).

Following five days of deliberations aimed at "fleshing-out the so-called Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC)," delegates on Saturday "approved a proposal to limit the use of tobacco additives, which critics say improve the flavor of cigarettes, encouraging consumers to smoke more," Reuters reports (Fleitas, 11/20).

"Pope Benedict XVI says in a new book that condoms can be justified for male prostitutes seeking to stop the spread of HIV, a stunning comment for a church criticized for its opposition to condoms and for a pontiff who has blamed them for making the AIDS crisis worse," the Associated Press/Washington Post reports. The pope's comments were made public on Saturday, when a Vatican newspaper ran excerpts from Benedict's book-length interview with German Journalist Peter Seewald for "Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times," due out Tuesday, the news service writes (D'Emilio/Winfield, 11/21).

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced on Friday that former Nigerian Health Minister Babatunde Osotimehin has been appointed to head to head the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), the U.K. Press Association reports. Osotimehin, "a 61-year-old medical doctor and AIDS expert, is the first African to head the agency," according to the news service (11/20).