News and Issues

This study estimates the impact of Missouri’s 2007 repeal of its permit-to-purchase (PTP) handgun law on states’ homicide rates and controls for changes in poverty, unemployment, crime, incarceration, policing levels, and other policies that could potentially affect homicides. Using Uniform Crime Reporting data from police through 2012, the law’s repeal was associated with increased annual murders rates of 0.93 per 100,000 (+16%). These estimated effects translate to increases of between 55 and 63 homicides per year in Missouri. more »

As the US population ages and more people opt for home health care services instead of lengthy hospital and nursing home stays, the number of Americans who rely on the electrical grid to power life-sustaining home devices is soaring. Hurricane Sandy, which hit the East Coast in 2012, caused prolonged power losses for millions of residents in 17 states and sent hundreds of medically fragile people to hospital emergency departments to plug in their devices. At the same time, people with life-threatening injuries were crowding the same hospitals, creating chaos and death. That’s when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services decided to help states locate and care for electricity-dependent residents during natural disasters. Using Medicare claims data, the agency created a database of people who use home medical equipment paid for by the federal insurance program for the elderly and disabled. more »

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health estimates approximately 252,710 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and 40,610 will die of the disease. Approximately 72 percent of patients with breast cancer have tumors that are HR-positive and HER2-negative. The safety and efficacy of Verzenio in combination with fulvestrant were studied in a randomized trial of 669 patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer that had progressed after treatment with endocrine therapy and who had not received chemotherapy once the cancer had metastasized. more »

Jeanne Hubbell Asher wrote: The thrill of the hunt, beating the system, however one defines it, tag sale fever abounds in the New York suburbs and, for that matter, around the country whether on the scene or over the Internet. By any name, be it tag sale, garage sale, yard sale, they're all means of getting rid of things you no longer want or need. It's like cleaning house and getting paid for it. These are high-energy events: quick decisions, brisk sales, in and out and on to the next sale. For the faithful, sales are not only a part of their vocabulary but, indeed, an essential part of the fabric of their lives. more »