"Health & Medical News"

A new study suggests that providing monetary rewards to cocaine users may not be an effective way to get them to overcome their addictions.

The study by researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory found that cocaine users have less sensitivity to monetary rewards than nonusers. Moreover, researchers found that the heaviest cocaine users were least able to improve their behavior in response to monetary incentives.

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The New Jersey Board of Education has beefed up regulation of schools that conduct student drug testing, but won’t require schools to send all drug tests to costly state-licensed labs, the Newark Star-Ledger reported Nov. 8.

The new regulations will still allow school nurses to conduct drug tests, but will require schools to provide more training and oversight. Schools also would have to adhere to rules governing student notification of testing results. “This is insurance that there is a basic floor of training and accuracy,” said Barbara Gantwerk, assistant commissioner in the state education department. “We don’t believe this undermines it, but provides a uniform consistency throughout the state.”

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With Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Parker, Colo., one step closer to becoming the only for-profit, accredited medical school in the United States, it is generating controversy in the medical community.

In August, the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation awarded the school provisional accreditation. Once fully accredited, it will join the ranks of 149 public and private medical schools in the U.S. All those institutions are nonprofits.

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