HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The National Football League has agreed to pay $765 million to settle a lawsuit brought by more than 4,500 players and their families, largely closing the legal front in the league’s battle against accusations that it concealed what it knew about the dangers of repeated hits to the head. The settlement, announced Thursday, will be seen as a victory for the league, which has nearly $10 billion in annual revenue and faced the possibility of billions of dollars in liability payments and a discovery phase that could have proved damaging if the case had moved forward.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The percentage of newborn boys who are circumcised in the United States declined to 58.3% in 2010 from 64.5% in 1979, according to a new from the National Center for Health Statistics. The report is based on annual surveys of about 450 hospitals nationwide. There are regional variations as well. In 2010, about 71% of babies in the Midwest were circumcised, 66.3% in the Northeast, 58.4% in the South, and 40.2% in the West.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: As the clock ticks down to the launch of President Barack Obama's healthcare reform, hundreds of businesses, unions and advocacy groups are still pushing to win concessions on the far-reaching law. Restaurants want to increase the number of hours that define a full-time worker. Unionized electrical workers are seeking to change the treatment of health plans offered by multiple employers.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Joint pain and swelling in postmenopausal women is common, and some studies have suggested that low vitamin D and calcium levels may be one cause. But a randomized clinical trial found that vitamin D and calcium supplements are no better than a placebo for relieving joint problems. The analysis is posted online in The Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Nationwide, roughly 1/3 of all visits to emergency rooms for injuries are alcohol related. Now a new study suggests that certain beverages may be more likely to be involved than others. The study, carried out over the course of a year at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, found that five beer brands were consumed most often by people who ended up in the emergency room. They were Budweiser, Steel Reserve, Colt 45, Bud Ice and Bud Light.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Over the past two decades, the use of antidepressants has skyrocketed. One in 10 Americans now takes an antidepressant medication; among women in their 40s and 50s, the figure is one in four. The study, published in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, found that nearly two-thirds of a sample of more than 5,000 patients who had been given a diagnosis of depression within the previous 12 months did not meet the criteria for major depressive episode as described by the psychiatrists’ bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: With the new health law's enrollment period set to open in just a little more than six weeks, President Barack Obama's administration announced $67 million in awards Thursday to organizations that will help people understand their new insurance opportunities and get signed up. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the Navigator grant awards to 105 groups in states where the federal government will run online insurance marketplaces. Sebelius said consumers are "hungry for information".

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: In an effort to address what many predict will be increased Affordable Care Act-related costs, employers that sponsor their own health insurance plans will shift costs to employees and expand wellness and value-based health care initiatives. According to a new survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefits, 53% of employers are shifting costs and 36% are boosting wellness and value-based health care initiatives.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: People can only handle so much complexity. And few things in life seem more complex than the American health-care system. How complex? A new paper suggests that even those who have health insurance have a poor understanding of their coverage. Researchers commissioned two surveys of covered Americans and found that only 14% could explain all four key health insurance concepts: deductible, copay, coinsurance and out-of-pocket maximum. Only 11%, given all the necessary information, could calculate the cost of a four-day hospital stay to within $1,000.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Researchers studying two seemingly unrelated conditions — autism and cancer — have unexpectedly converged on a surprising discovery. Some people with autism have mutated cancer or tumor genes that apparently caused their brain disorder. 10% of children with mutations in a gene called PTEN, which causes cancers of the breast, colon, thyroid and other organs, have autism. So do about half of children with gene mutations that can lead to some kinds of brain and kidney cancer and large tumors in several organs, including the brain. That is many times the rate of autism in the general population.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: While many residents in New York and California may see sizable decreases in their premiums, Americans in many places could face significant increases if they buy insurance through state-based exchanges next year. That's because these people live in states where insurers were allowed to sell bare-bones plans and exclude the sick, which has kept costs down. Under Obamacare, insurers must offer a package of essential benefits -- including maternity, mental health and medications -- and must cover all who apply. But more comprehensive coverage may lead to more expensive insurance plans.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: A study that analyzed articles published in just one prominent medical journal over a period of 10 years has found that newly established medical practices — even ones in wide use — are often reversed by subsequent evidence-based research. The finding, which was published online this month in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, belies the common assumption that the very latest screening technology, medication or surgical technique is an improvement on care.