MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Democrats celebrate "Romneycare" birthday. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) announced that he’s running for president yesterday. The announcement arrived a day before the five-year anniversary of the health care reform measures he architected becoming law — an issue that could potentially sink Romney’s candidacy as Democrats gleefully tie the state’s overhaul to the federal reform, writes The Hill.
That law has emerged as Romney’s biggest obstacle to winning the GOP presidential nomination, and Democrats accross the country have been more than happy to make things worse by hailing the law as a model for national reform, writes Politico.
Boston’s NPR station took time to point out some of the law’s more positive effects on the state of the Commonwealth’s health care system and rounded up a series of expert opinions on the reforms.
Bay State Dems created a video to thank their former governor for his health care reform efforts:
Dems lash Brown to Bay State health reforms. Democrats spent Monday reminding everyone that Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) voted for the Commonwealth’s health care reform laws as a state legislator in 2006. Check out The Hill’s story.
Study: Doctors care for and treat themselves differently. A study is published in the Archives of Internal Medicine finds that what the doctor recommends for a patient is likely to be different from what a doctor would decide for himself or herself. It sheds light on what may seem like doctors’ double standards, writes WebMD.
Docs trust in Johnson & Johnson wains. Given the ongoing problems at Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) – and the tremendous attention this has generated – it is hardly surprising that some physicians have their doubts about the health care giant’s management, writes Pharmalot.
Genital herpes ‘contagious even without symptoms,’ A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. found that a lot of the 16 percent of U.S. adults that have herpes simplex virus type 2 don’t have outbreaks and don’t know they have the infection. Others know they have herpes but believe they can’t transmit it to a sexual partner unless they’re experiencing symptoms, writes The Los Angeles Times.