The possibility of imminent health care reform is certainly exciting, but just because some of us might be ready for health care reform doesn't mean that the media is ready to cover it properly. That could have important implications for how reform plays out.

The Red Cross is in continual need for new blood to restore supplies. In a effort to spur more of us to donate, the American Red Cross's southern region will award 15 pairs of tickets to blood donors in Georgia, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Puerto Rico, southern Mississippi, and northern Florida (panhandle and Jacksonville area). You must donate blood between now and March 31st to be eligible to win a pair of airline tickets to anywhere Delta flies domestically.

The Vietnamese government's efforts to increase access to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs among injection drug users are showing success.

SAVE THE PATIENT discusses how to choose and use your eye doctor, and the importance of an eye exam with a Board Certified Ophthalmologist (medical doctor specializing in the eye).

A Superior Court judge in Los Angeles late last month ruled that the California Department of Health Care Services must provide medical care to low-income state residents living with HIV in compliance with a 2002 state law.

Aides to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released a proposal to address the state's budget deficit in part by cutting funds for Medi-Cal and other health care programs.

Despite a deepening recession, only eight percent of hospital fundraising executives who expect to raise less money this year than in 2008 said their institutions would have to curtail critical health care services for the poor and underinsured.

The recent tragic death of Jett Travolta has raised awareness of Kawasaki Disease, a disease with which he was diagnosed in early childhood.

January is National Hot Tea Month and is also the height of the dreaded "cold and flu season".

According to ASPS statistics, $12.4 billion was spent on elective cosmetic procedures in 2007.

President Bush will leave office with a health care legacy in bricks and mortar: he has doubled federal financing for community health centers, enabling the creation or expansion of 1,297 clinics in medically underserved areas.

The New York Times on Sunday examined a CDC pilot program that began Dec. 1, 2008, at three Connecticut hospital emergency departments and provides no-cost HIV testing to patients.

New guidelines by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America to address conflicts of interest that illuminated the once-shadowy financial dealings between pharmaceutical companies and physicians took effect Thursday.

FDA approved 24 new drugs in 2008, more than in any of the prior three years.

The New York Times examined how so much hope is riding on the promise of 'personalized medicine,' in which genetic screening and other tests give doctors more evidence for tailoring treatments to patients, potentially improving care and saving money.

Giant Food stores and stores of its sister chain Stop & Shop will provide no-cost generic antibiotics to customers with prescriptions for three months.

Enrollment in a Massachusetts program designed to help unemployed state residents pay health insurance premiums has increased by 73% in the past year.

Summaries of recent Medicaid news involving Medicaid in Connecticut, Louisiana and Rhode Island appear below.

The Washington Post recently examined how many states are being forced to curtail Medicaid services as they struggle to cope with the deteriorating economy.

HIV-positive infants are about 20 times more likely to develop tuberculosis than infants without HIV.

The Washington Post recently examined how various forces -- educational, medical and sociological -- are making general surgeons an endangered species in rural areas of the U.S.

The New York Times last week examined how widespread adoption of electronic health records might ... greatly increase evidence-based medicine, among other benefits.

National Brands is initiating a nationwide recall of all their Topaz brand Wafer Rolls because it may be contaminated with Melamine.

Researchers have identified a variation in a particular gene that increases a person's susceptibility to early coronary artery disease.

A law requiring California health, dental and specialty insurers to provide members with interpreters took effect Jan. 1.