News Briefs: Week of Dec. 7-11

This roundup includes the following news briefs:

Unilever United States Inc., in cooperation with the FDA, is conducting a nationwide recall of ready-to-drink Slim-Fast cans because of the possibility of bacterial contamination of these popular weight loss products. The manufacturer said in a news release posted on the FDA Web site that the probability of serious health consequences is remote, but ingestion of Bacillus cereus -- the pathogen discovered during product quality testing -- may cause diarrhea and, possibly, nausea or vomiting.

Unilever said the recall involves all ready-to-drink cans -- whether sold individually or in multipacks -- regardless of flavor, "best by" date, lot number or universal product code. Slim-Fast powdered shakes, meal bars and snack bars are not included in the recall.

Consumers who have purchased ready-to-drink Slim-Fast cans are urged to discard them and contact the company at (800) 896-9479 for a refund.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, or MedPAC, has released a report on regional variations in Medicare spending and the use of Medicare-covered services.

"Measuring Regional Variation in Service Use" (24-page PDF; About PDFs) found that to characterize these regional differences, Medicare spending figures must be adjusted to remove the effect of such factors as differences in wages, health status of beneficiaries and special Medicare payments. The adjusted figures reflect the differences in volume of services provided to beneficiaries across the country, according to MedPAC.

The report also found substantial variation between high and low per beneficiary spending -- a 50 percent difference between the highest 10 percent and the lowest 10 percent of areas. But when examining service use, the difference between high and low areas is a smaller, but still substantial, 30 percent.

HHS recently announced plans to establish a nationwide health information technology, or health IT, initiative dubbed the Beacon Community Program. In a Dec. 2 news release, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the government would allocate $235 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to fund the initiative.

The program will establish cooperative agreements with 15 communities that will enable the areas to build and strengthen their health IT infrastructure and health information exchange capabilities. Sebelius called the program "a critical step forward as we work to expand the use of health information technology in hospitals and doctor' offices across the country."