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Fertility Treatments Becoming More Common, Costly To Health Care System, CDC Says
The number of assisted reproduction procedures, such as in vitro fertilization, continues to increase at a rapid pace, with half of the 54,656 infants born in 2006 being twins, triplets or higher multiples, according to a series of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports, HealthLeaders Media reports. Since 2001, the number of live-birth deliveries -- which includes those in which at least one infant was born -- as the result of assisted reproductive technology increased by 41%, and the number of infants born as a result increased by 34%, according to CDC. ART services are offered at 483 medical centers, compared with 421 in 2001.According to CDC, ART procedures are more likely to result in multiple births, which produce higher rates of complication in the infants, such as prematurity, low birthweight and disability. CDC said that the cost of treating complications resulting from ART pregnancies totaled $1 billion in 2005, presenting an economic burden to hospitals and payers. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology recommend that doctors transfer one embryo in women younger than age 35, one or two in women ages 35 to 37, no more than three embryos in women ages 38 to 40 and up to five in older women and "extraordinary circumstances." However, CDC reported that about 16% of ART procedures since 2001 involved four or more embryos, and 5% involved five or more embryos, indicating that these guidelines were not widely followed. According to CDC, "In certain states, ART procedures are not covered by insurance carriers, and patients might feel pressured to maximize the opportunity for live-birth delivery by transferring multiple embryos." The report also noted that physicians might be implanting more embryos to increase the percentage of total live-birth deliveries by their patients. The report said that to "minimize the adverse maternal and child health effects associated with multiple pregnancies, ongoing efforts to limit the number of embryos transferred in each ART procedure should be continued and strengthened."Many hospitals consider ART a lucrative field because most patients undergoing the procedures have private insurance or pay out of pocket. However, health plans pass on the costs of complications to employers and the insured in the form of higher premiums, HealthLeaders Media reports. Thomas Moore, director of Obstetrical Services at the University of California-San Diego, said, "Even though private insurance pays a large percentage of the cost of caring for these newborns, it can be expensive for the health insurance industry overall," adding, "At $2,000 to $3,000 a day for intensive care, which can continue three and four months, that"s a cost that raises premiums across the board" (Clark, HealthLeaders Media, 6/12).
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Inhaled Growth Hormone Safe For Children Deficient In This Key Protein
A multi-center clinical trial led by a Riley Hospital for Children endocrinologist has found that inhaled growth hormone (GH) is well tolerated by children with GH deficiency and that this easy-to-use method can, over a one-week period, safely deliver GH to the blood stream. In addition to having implications for those who need GH, this first pediatric study of administering it through the lungs may also help researchers interested in using this convenient method for effectively delivering other types of medications to children.
News of the day
National HIV/AIDS Advocate, Physician Joel Weisman Dies In California
Joel Weisman, "one of the first physicians to detect the AIDS epidemic and who became a national advocate for AIDS research, treatment and prevention," died on Saturday at his home in Westwood, Calif., the Los Angeles Times reports. Weisman was 66. Weisman was a general practitioner in southern California when in 1980 he first saw three ill gay men with a set of mysterious symptoms. He later contributed to the June 5, 1981 CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which "signaled the official start of the epidemic that the federal agency later named acquired immunodeficiency syndrome," according to the Times. Weisman was the founding chair of AIDS Project Los Angeles in 1983, helped organize the first dedicated hospital AIDS unit in Southern California and was an original board member of amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research (Woo, 7/23).
Public Health

Editorials Respond To Selection Of Sotomayor As Supreme Court Nominee

Several newspapers recently published editorials on President Obama"s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Summaries appear below.~ Boston Globe: "Some liberal activists hoped that Obama would seek a firebrand to counter [Supreme Court Justice] Antonin Scalia, the darling of the right," but "Sotomayor has made her reputation not on hot-button social issues but on matters ranging from environmental regulation to the baseball business," a Globe editorial states. It adds that while Sotomayor "presumably shares Obama"s support for abortion rights, she upheld the Bush administration"s restrictions on family-planning activities" by international groups that received U.S. funding. Now, "conservative groups have seized upon an offhand remark in 2005" when she described the "federal appeals courts as the place "where policy is made" ... as evidence that Sotomayor would legislate from the bench," the editorial states, adding. "The attack is disingenuous." The editorial concludes, "Short of any unexpected revelations about her record or her philosophy, though, the Senate should confirm Sonia Sotomayor," adding that in addition to her "intriguing" personal background she "also has the experience to make an excellent Supreme Court Justice" (Boston Globe, 5/27).~ Chicago Tribune: Sotomayor "has to bring more than diversity to the court," a Tribune editorial states, adding that the "evidence so far suggests that she is up to the job." One "would expect a nominee chosen by Obama to be on the liberal side of the judicial spectrum," but some of her rulings "suggest otherwise," according to the editorial. While Sotomayor "has stressed that the "duty of a judge is to follow the law, not to question its plain terms,"" on the bench, "she ruled against an abortion-rights group challenging" the Bush administration"s "global gag rule," the editorial notes, among other rulings that "could be characterized as "conservative decisions"." However, "the point is not that she"s a closet conservative -- it"s that ideology didn"t seem to determine her decisions," according to the editorial. The "Senate has a responsibility to undertake a thorough examination of her record and her thinking," the editorial states, concluding, "But for now, it looks as though her critics have a tough task ahead of them" (Chicago Tribune, 5/27).~ Los Angeles Times: "Sotomayor doesn"t possess the political experience that would be brought to the court"s cloistered chambers by Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) or Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano," but "she satisfies Obama"s other criteria: experience, erudition and, as he put it, "a common touch and a sense of compassion, an understanding of how the world works and how ordinary people live,"" a Times editorial states. Sotomayor"s "experiences as a Latina raised in a housing project who went on to excel at Princeton and Yale don"t in themselves qualify her for the court," but these facts do "complement her sterling credentials and equip her with perspectives that could illuminate legal issues that come before her," the editorial continues. Senate Republicans "should accord her the same respect [they] demanded for Bush"s nominees and end the tiresome tit-for-tat that has cheapened the confirmation of federal judges and deprived the bench of some of the nation"s most capable legal minds," the editorial concludes (Los Angeles Times, 5/27).~ Philadelphia Inquirer: "Sotomayor would bring to the court a diversity it has lacked for most of its history," an Inquirer editorial states. Although "[c]onservatives want to make an issue out of President Obama"s search for "empathy" in a nominee" and "criticize Sotomayor for a speech in 2001 in which she said that being a woman of color affects her decisions," neither comment "is sinister nor shocking," according to the editorial. It concludes, "The Senate has a duty to examine Sotomayor"s qualifications rigorously and fairly. But she appears to have the experience and the temperament to merit Obama"s confidence" (Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/27).~ Washington Times: "Justice is supposed to be blind, but some Democrats want everyone to focus on Sonia Sotomayor"s race and impoverished upbringing when considering her Supreme Court nomination," a Times editorial states. The editorial continues, "Sotomayor"s judicial record and views of the law are what must be examined, not the color of her skin or where she grew up." The editorial concludes, "With the first Hispanic women positioned to serve on the Supreme Court, liberal Democrats are diverting attention from Judge Sotomayor"s controversial record by playing the race card" (Washington Times, 5/28). Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women"s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women"s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company. © 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.


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