"Health & Medical News"

Officials who accredit medical schools are busier than usual these days. The creation of new campuses and the expansion of existing ones has accreditation agencies hopping as state officials and medical educators seek more physicians to prevent a shortage.

In 2007, seven allopathic medical schools were in various stages of the accreditation process. Five osteopathic schools won provisional accreditation, which allows them to start admitting medical students.

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While physicians in some states will see a break in their medical liability premiums next year, Maryland insurance officials are questioning a proposal by the state’s largest medical liability insurance carrier to issue a credit to its physician policyholders on Jan. 1, 2008.

In a Sept. 13 order, Maryland Insurance Commissioner Ralph S. Tyler halted Medical Mutual Liability Insurance Society of Maryland’s plans to pay a portion of a $68.6 million dividend to policyholders as a premium discount. The company allotted some of the money to reimburse the state because it subsidizes Medical Mutual’s premiums under a program set up in 2005 to ensure that doctors have access to medical liability insurance.

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New animal research concludes that the appeal of beer has less to do with taste than its alcoholic content and effect on the brain’s reward system, Science Daily reported Sept. 13.

Researcher Judy Grisel of Furman University said she and colleagues studying mice genes and behavior found that, “there is no significant correlation between the drinking patterns and the allelic status of the taste receptor on Chromosome 2, and many strains of mice voluntarily consumed enough alcohol to become dependent.”

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