Virus Alert
The FirstGov for Seniors in-box gets about 20 messages a day with viruses attached. Our expert Systems Staff has effective blocks to keep our systems healthy, but you might be vulnerable. Check out the products available to protect your home PC.

Medicare Streamlines Nursing Homes Paperwork
May 29, 2002 - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced streamlined Medicare paperwork requirements so that nurses and other clinical staff in nursing homes can spend more time caring for patients and less time filling out forms. 

Exercise Just Once a Week to Maintain Muscle Strength
May 2002 - Exercising just one day a week can give older adults the strength to maintain their independence and to avoid injuries, according to a study by a group of scientists at Ball State University, Muncie, IN.

Unique Employer Identifier for Use under HIPAA 
May 29, 2002 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced the adoption of the Employer Identification Number (EIN) as the standard unique identifier for employers in the filing and processing of health care claims and other transactions. 

Cell Phone Facts
Consumer information from the FDA on wireless cell phones. Learn about Specific Absorption Rates (SAR), phone safety, and research being conducted around this important consumer item.

Two-Drug Therapy for Prostate Enlargement
May 28, 2002 - Two drugs commonly used to treat  benign prostatic hyperplasia  (BPH)  are more effective in combination than alone to prevent progression of this condition, according to results of a multi-center National Institutes of Health clinical trial being presented at the American Urological Association (AUA) meeting in Orlando on May 28. 

Identity Theft
The U.S. government's central website for information about identity theft. This site is maintained by the Federal Trade Commission

Women and Retirement
On May 23, 2002 at a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing, women of all ages were called to take charge of their own retirement needs.

NCCAM Launches Redesigned Web Site
May 28, 2002 - The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) announces the launch of its newly redesigned Web site, http://nccam.nih.gov,  which houses an array of information on complementary and alternative medicine

Spanish-Version FDA Fact Sheets Now Online
May 28, 2002 - Fact Sheets In Spanish with helpful information on rare diseases, medical devices, "mad cow disease," the safety of the food supply, and other topics can be found on a revised FDA Web page.

Drug Slows Kidney Cancer 
May 20, 2002 - Researchers from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) reported today that the molecularly targeted drug bevacizumab slowed tumor growth in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Long Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center
The National Long Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center provides support, technical assistance and training to the 53 State Long Term Care Ombudsman Programs and their statewide networks of almost 600 regional (local) programs.

Researchers Gain Insight Into Function Of Memory Enhancing Drugs
May 15, 2002 - Researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have come one step closer to understanding how experimental, memory-enhancing drugs affect the brain on a molecular level.  The researchers published their results in the May 16 issue of "Nature".

CMS Moderately Expands Medicare Coverage For Injected Drugs
May 15, 2002 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced new guidance for Medicare contractors to use to determine whether a particular drug is "not usually self-administered" and therefore may be covered by Medicare. The change is expected to expand drug access for multiple sclerosis patients 

New VA Benefits Guide
May 14, 2002 -- The Department of Veterans Affairs has made its comprehensive benefits guide available for free on the Internet. This118-page handbook is available as an Acrobat file on the VA web site. We converted the original file to a standard web format here on the FirstGov for Seniors web site for your convenience.

CMS Cites Nursing Homes Complaints on Web Site 
May 13, 2002 - As part of its continuing efforts to give seniors and families more information on nursing home quality, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has now placed the results of complaint investigations on its Web site. 

Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program
May 9, 2002 - The Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program (NELRP) offers registered nurses substantial assistance to repay educational loans in exchange for service in eligible facilities located in areas experiencing a shortage of nurses. 

New Defibrillator Also Resynchronizes The Heart
May 6, 2002 - The FDA has approved the first implantable defibrillator that treats life-threatening heart rhythms and also coordinates the beating of both ventricles so they can pump blood more effectively throughout the body.

 Two Websites Devoted To Diabetes Debut
May 6, 2002 - The FDA has launched a pair of Websites with information for consumers on diabetes, a disease that affects more than 17 million Americans.  One site gives general background on the disease and FDA's role; the other site is part of the agency’s Take Time to Care campaign, targeted at early detection and treatment of diabetes in women. FDA Diabetes Information and Take Time to Care .

Wyeth Recalls Heparin Lots After Finding Crystals
May 6, 2002 - Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and ESI Lederle are recalling all lots of a Heparin  Sodium Injection product due to the presence of clear crystals containing an antioxidant compound from the rubber vial enclosures.