> Consumer prices for hospital services fell 0.5 percent in July, the first decline since August 2005, when the Consumer Price Index for hospital services fell 0.2 percent, according to the Healthcare Financial Management Association. The one-month drop in July is the largest since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics began publishing comparable data in 1997. Article
> In the 1990s, patients who had polio decades ago and recovered began to report progressive pain and weakness in muscles and joints as well as increasing problems with fatigue, Medical News Today reports. Article
> American Hospital Association, which represents nearly 5,000 hospitals, spent $4.2 million lobbying the federal government in Q2 on Medicare fraud and health care reform, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. Article
> The risk of colorectal cancer has been increasing by an average of 2.5 percent a year, HealthDay News reports. Article
> In a new project called mPedigree, consumers send in a code via text message that lets them check if their malaria drugs are genuine, Associated Press reports. Across Africa, more than 30 percent of malaria drugs are fake. Article
And finally... When "It takes a village" goes wrong. Article