Health Beats: June 30, 2010
June 30, 2010 | Steph
Beats this week:
1) The Robert Woods Johnson Foundation released its annual report on obesity this week and the results for Illinois are not great: over the last year the percentage of obese adults has risen to 26.6% percent, up one whole percentage point from the year before. This places Illinois 26th in the nation for adult obesity.
2) Today the New York Times homepage included a story about the crisis of the AIDS Drug Assistance Program across the country. Increased demand because of unemployment and lack of insurance is too much for a system that continues to see cuts in funding. In Florida, the ADAP program has closed its doors to new clients and has chosen not to start a waiting list.
3) A study released this week claims that the diabetes drug, Avandia, has a higher risk of causing heart risks, strokes and deaths in older people than other diabetes medications. The release of this study comes two weeks before the FDA’s hearings on the safety of the drug.
4) Happy end of the fiscal year! Today is the last day of the fiscal year for the state of Illinois and we still do not have a budget in place. According to news sources, at an early morning press conference tomorrow Governor Quinn will outline the cuts that will be included in the new fiscal year budget. We are still staying tuned.
5) A recent tracking poll done by Kaiser Health has found that health care reform law is picking up support. In the last month health care reform has improved its approval rating by 7 points, with 48% of Americans having a favorable view of the legislation.
Tags: deficit, Erie, health research, HIV/AIDS, Illinois Budget Crisis, obesity
