AACCA - American Association of Certified Coders and Auditors

AACCA Coding Newswire
January, 2007
To automatically receive our newsletter and other AACCA information via email, please sign up here.

Click here to access our Coding Newswire archives and check out previous issues.

Scientists Develop Male Birth Control Pill

When it comes to birth control, it may finally be the guy's turn.

British scientists are developing a male birth control pill that could put a smile on the faces of a lot of women, according to a report by NBC's Dawn Friesen on "Today" Tuesday. The hormone-free pill, which prevents the ejaculation of sperm, could be on the market in five years.

Visit MSNBC's online coverage to get more specifics on this new medicine.

Lifetime Cost of Living with HIV: $618,900

People with HIV can get 24 extra years of life from modern treatments -- at a total cost of $618,900 in 2004 dollars.

That finding comes from a Cornell/Johns Hopkins/Harvard/Boston University research team that analyzed the costs and benefits of modern HIV treatment.

Learn more about how these costs will be impacted in the future at the Fox News website.

Experimental Shot Fights the Sniffles

Could the sneezy, runny-eyed misery of hay fever one day be a thing of the past?

Scientists are reporting encouraging results from early tests of a vaccine they hope will give long-lasting relief from this seasonal scourge.

The experimental vaccine has been tested on only a couple of dozen people so far, but it substantially relieved symptoms for those who received it in six weekly shots, and the benefit lasted for at least two years, doctors reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

Find out the results of previous and expectations for future availability at ABC News.

Survey: Many Assume They Can't Control Cancer Risk

There's plenty of fear about cancer, but a new American Cancer Society poll found more than a third of Americans surveyed -- 36 percent -- believe they have little or no control over reducing their risk for getting the disease.

"There's nothing I can about it. I don't think I have any control," said Stephanie Smith of Raleigh, North Carolina.

But the American Cancer Society says the way we live has an enormous effect on our odds of getting cancer. The organization estimates more than a half of all cancer deaths are related to lifestyle.

Learn how you can minimize your caner risks at the CNN website.

Drug Errors Send 700,000 to ER Every Year

Experts from the CDC and FDA estimate that every year, more than 700,000 people visit U.S. emergency departments because of side effects, accidental overdoses, and other adverse drug events.

Those patients are particularly likely to be 65 years old or older, note the researchers, who included the CDC’s Daniel Budnitz, MD, MPH.

Learn more about the specific and common drug mistakes that occur at Fox News.

Dental X-Rays Can Spot Osteoporosis

A computer program that analyzes routine dental X-rays could offer a simple, cheap way to detect the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, new research suggests.

British researchers found that a software program they developed was able to spot signs of declining bone density in dental X-rays of the lower jaw — a potential sign of osteoporosis.

Learn more about this interesting new discovery at MSNBC.com.