Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) has demanded that 33 states and the District of Columbia explain what they plan to do about physicians who hand out huge numbers of painkiller and psychiatric drug prescriptions paid for by Medicaid.

Each of the letters said, "I have concerns about the oversight and enforcement of Medicaid abuse in your state. ... the numbers themselves are quite shocking.  One ... doctor, for example, had written 18,890 scrips for quetiapine (Seroquel) in 2009 -- 'nearly 73 prescriptions per weekday or nine prescriptions per hour .... [another] physician who had written 2,522 scrips for oxycodone (OxyContin) in 2009, and another with more than 2,800 prescriptions for alprazolam (Xanax)."

Some of Grassley's letters highlighted a single Wyoming doctor who wrote prescriptions for aripiprazole (Abilify) that cost the state nearly $300,000.

The Surgeon General's Division of the Civilian Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is looking for doctors of chiropractic who want to make a meaningful contribution to America's health structure and their community.

The Indian Health Service (IHS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), issued a public notice Monday in the Federal Register that details the requirements for qualified health professionals who may apply for funds available under the student loan repayment program of IHS.

DCs are now eligible to apply through this program.

School cafeteria workers will be serving up more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and keeping an eye on portion control as well, according to new rules set down by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The plan will be phased in over three years.

Obesity -- in both kids and adults -- may be hitting a plateau, according to CDC researchers. Over the past seven years, the prevalence of obesity has hovered at around 36% for adults and at about 17% among children and adolescents.

Drug and device companies have just a month remaining to comment on a proposed rule that would require them to report all financial relationships with doctors.  The government will post the financial relationship information on a public website where patients and anyone else can check what ties to the medical industry a given doctor has.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a set of 26 quality measures that will eventually be used to determine the quality of care that adult Medicaid patients are receiving in each state.

About one in every six U.S. adults binges on alcohol, according to the CDC, and among those who do, the binges occur roughly once a week on average and include an average of eight drinks each time, agency researchers reported.  More stats in this report.

A federal appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit brought against the FDA by advocates of medical uses for ear candles.

The companies suing the FDA deny that the candles are "medical devices."  The appeals court dismissed the ear candle supporters' charge because the letters don't amount to "final agency action." The FDA said only that the companies "appear" to be intending their ear candles to be used to treat medical conditions, the court stated.