Endocrinology
The Health Law Partners, P.C. released a HealthCare Notification entitled: What All Health Care Providers and Suppliers Need To Know About the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) Program.
An MS Society-funded study has highlighted the impact that MS has on partners" lives and demonstrates the need for support and services for partners of people with MS.
The earliest known writings about herbal medicines date back to 2800 B.C. in China, but while many complementary modalities may not be new, their application in veterinary medicine is still novel to many Americans.
The death toll from three of the UK"s most common cancers has dropped to its lowest level for almost 40 years* - according to new figures released by Cancer Research UK.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer death in both men and women and the second leading cause of cancer death when both sexes are combined. African Americans have lower survival rates compared to whites. Researchers at Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, in Detroit, Michigan in Detroit sought to investigate the effect of demographics, clinical factors and socioeconomic status (SES) on racial disparities in CRC survival in the Detroit Metropolitan Area.
safefood today launched a new advertising campaign to highlight common and widespread poor food hygiene practices in the home as new research (1) revealed that 84% of people did not thoroughly wash their hands after handling raw chicken. The campaign titled "Don"t Take Risks" focuses on key messages of proper hand washing, proper cleaning of cooking utensils and thorough cooking, steps all of which can help minimise the risks of food poisoning in the home. The research also revealed that 72% failed to properly wash a knife used in preparing raw chicken before its reuse on salad vegetables, and 56% did not check if the chicken was cooked properly.
The Senate on Monday by voice vote confirmed Margaret Hamburg as FDA commissioner, CQ HealthBeat reports (CQ HealthBeat, 5/18). As commissioner, Hamburg is expected to immediately begin working on the agency"s response to the H1N1 flu virus. She also has said she wants to overhaul the agency"s food safety efforts. According to CongressDaily, Hamburg hopes to restore confidence in the agency, which has experienced controversy surrounding drug and food safety issues in recent years (CongressDaily, 5/19). Hamburg is the 21st FDA commissioner and the second woman to hold the position in FDA"s 100-year history (AP/Washington Post, 5/19).
Women"s Way, North Dakota"s breast and cervical cancer early detection
Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, Germany, are using the enterprise analytics platform from TIBCO Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TIBX) for scientific research. This research includes looking at the mechanisms behind the causes of cancer, development of custom-tailored drugs, and understanding the types of cancer caused by infections.
The U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, has filed a complaint for permanent injunction against Quality Formulation Laboratories, Inc., American Sports Nutrition Inc., Sports Nutrition International LLC and Mohamed S. Desoky, who oversees operations at all three companies.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the blood-thinning drug Effient tablets (prasugrel) to reduce the risk of blood clots from forming in patients who undergo angioplasty, a common procedure to unblock a clogged coronary artery.
Cepheid (Nasdaq: CPHD) announced it has received clearance from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to market its Xpert(R) C. difficile test, an on-demand molecular diagnostic test designed for 45-minute detection of the bacterium that causes Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). The Xpert C. difficile test is the first test for CDI to deliver both rapid turnaround and a high degree of accuracy.
Nanostructured materials have garnered great interest worldwide due to their unique size-dependent properties for chemical, electronic, structural, medical and consumer applications.
Even as our global population rises, our world is getting smaller. International travel by both people and animals from all corners of the world occurs every hour of every day, bringing both into contact with each other.
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) announces that Ellis J. Neufeld, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School, Thomas Shea, MD, of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Alvin Schmaier, MD, of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, will each receive ASH"s Alternative Training Pathway Grant this July. The grant is awarded to selected training program directors to encourage the development and implementation of novel hematology-related training programs in recognition of the need for more clinicians and clinical/translational researchers in hematology-related disciplines.
About 200 uninsured people have enrolled in the Howard County, Md., Healthy Howard program since it began on Oct. 1, 2008, county health officer Peter Beilenson told a county council budget panel, the Baltimore Sun reports. Healthy Howard is a network of local doctors who charge members between $50 and $115 monthly for comprehensive medical coverage. The program uses health coaches to improve residents" overall health and seeks to lower costs related to emergency care over time. Beilenson had set a goal of enrolling 2,000 people in the program"s first year. According to Beilenson, "The biggest problem with all this is me. I made the definition of success this arbitrary 2,000 number." His new prediction is for 908 enrollees by July 2010. He said, "I think it"s very clear people just don"t know about it." He added that some residents are hesitant to pay even a small monthly charge during the continuing recession. County council member Greg Fox questioned if the enrollment level justifies a second county outlay of $500,000 for the program in fiscal year 2010, adding that he supports cutting county funding in half for the program in that year. Supporters of the program, however, say it needs more time and money in order to succeed, noting that enrollees have been seeing doctors through the program only since January. Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis said the program "seems like it"s off to a great start" compared with similar local programs nationwide. She added that the program has helped 2,500 county residents, including children, find coverage through state and federal insurance programs, in part thanks to an electronic enrollment system that identifies programs they are eligible for. Howard Health Department Director of Policy and Planning Glenn Schneider said, "None of those applications would have happened without announcing the (Healthy Howard) program" (Carson, Baltimore Sun, 5/18).
Rural Americans are hopeful that health reform includes funding for clinics and health care services in their communities, where the cost of care is often high, CNN reports.
"A large percentage" of U.S. and Mexican men who regularly engage in sexual activity with sex workers in Tijuana, Mexico, do not use condoms and have a history of substance and alcohol use, according to a study published in the online journal AIDS, the Los Angeles Times" blog "L.A. Now" reports. The study, by researchers from Mexico and the University of California-San Diego, surveyed 400 men - both Mexico and U.S. residents - and found that half of the men had unprotected sex with a female sex worker within the last four months. Researchers noted that although Tijuana authorities require that sex workers be registered and tested regularly for HIV, "only about half of [sex workers] have registered or been tested," according to the blog. Thomas Patterson of the UC-San Diego"s department of psychiatry and the Veterans Affairs health center, said the findings indicate a need for an educational campaign targeting men who frequent sex workers (Perry, 7/11).
Hemangiomas are the most common tumor of infancy. They are benign tumors derived from cells that line blood vessels (endothelial cells) and spontaneously regress as a child gets older. Jack Arbiser and colleagues, at Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, have now provided new insight into the molecules that control hemangioma growth and found that inhibiting a key molecule substantially inhibits hemangioma growth in a mouse model. Specifically, the protein Nox4 was found to be crucial for hemangioma growth in a mouse model and the drug fulvene 5 was found to be a potent in vitro inhibitor of Nox4 and to substantially inhibit in vivo hemangioma growth. The authors therefore suggest that targeting Nox4, potentially using fulvene derivatives, might provide a way to attenuate hemangioma growth.
Condom use is associated with a reduced risk of contracting herpes simplex virus 2, according to a report based on pooled analysis of data from previous studies in the July 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Individuals who have higher levels of education and who are more impaired by Parkinson"s disease appear to require treatment for their symptoms earlier than do other patients, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the September print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Research led by The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy has found that medication prescribers correctly identified fewer than half of drug pairs with potentially dangerous drug-drug interactions.
What if you could test your risk for Alzheimer"s disease much like your cholesterol levels - through a simple blood test?
The tiny translucent egg nestled in the special laboratory gel was a mere 30 days old, but its four-week birthday caused researchers to quietly celebrate. This was the first time anyone had successfully grown a woman"s immature egg cells, contained in a tiny sac called a follicle, to a healthy and nearly mature egg in the laboratory. When an egg is fully mature, it is ready to be fertilized.
A flavonoid derived from citrus fruit has shown tremendous promise for preventing weight gain and other signs of metabolic syndrome which can lead to Type 2 Diabetes and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The study, led by Murray Huff of the Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario looked at a flavonoid (plant-based bioactive molecule) called naringenin. The findings are published online in the journal Diabetes.
Researchers at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center and Graduate Center for Toxicology (GCT) have gained new insight into the genetic mechanisms underlying Huntington"s disease and other neurodegenerative or neuromuscular disorders caused by trinucleotide repeats (or TNRs) in DNA.
A new, highly detailed study of the H1N1 flu virus shows that
The number of people with Alzheimer"s and dementia - both new cases and
Abraxis BioScience, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABII), a fully integrated biotechnology company, announced that the company has completed patient enrollment of a pivotal, phase III clinical study comparing the company"s chemotherapy agent ABRAXANE® for Injectable Suspension (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) (albumin bound) with Taxol® (paclitaxel) injection, both in combination with carboplatin, in the first-line treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The study, which is being conducted at 111 sites globally, includes 1,050 patients and is being led by principal investigator Dr. Mark Socinski at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. It is one of the largest NSCLC clinical studies to complete enrollment.
CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTR), a biopharmaceutical research and development company engaged in the development of high-value human therapeutics, today announced that its investigational cancer drug INNO-206 caused a dramatic destruction of implanted tumors in an experimental animal model of breast cancer, performing considerably better than the broadly used and generally effective chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin. In addition to improved efficacy in this animal trial, INNO-206 was comparable in toxicity with doxorubicin based on animal body-weight loss.
A UQ Science researcher has received a prestigious honorary fellowship for her long-time work into understanding the underlying mechanisms of pain.
While total knee surgery is a common procedure with a high success rate in the US, getting a second opinion is still recommended. Each surgeon has had a specific training and education, and more experience with certain procedures over others. Some surgeons embrace new technologies and methods while others are more traditional in their practice. Furthermore, you want to feel comfortable with your surgeon. Taking the additional steps to research, interview, and visit more than one doctor can pay off in the long run.
Cataracts are cloudy areas in the lens inside the eye - which is normally clear. Cataracts can develop in one or both eyes. If they develop in both eyes, one will be more severely affected than the other. A normally clear lens allows light to pass through to the back of the eye, so that the patient can see well-defined images. If a part of the lens becomes opaque light does not pass through easily and the patient"s vision becomes blurry - like looking through cloudy water or a fogged-up window. The more opaque (cloudier) the lens becomes, the worse the person"s vision will be.
Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI), a leading specialty pharmaceutical company, announced that it received a Complete Response Letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on its New Drug Application (NDA) for TRELSTAR(R) 22.5 mg (triptorelin pamoate for injectable suspension), a 24-week formulation of TRELSTAR(R) for the palliative treatment of advanced prostate cancer. The TRELSTAR(R) NDA was prepared in cooperation with Debiopharm Group, a Swiss-based global biopharmaceutical group of companies.
A new review of existing research says there is little evidence to support mandatory hearing-loss prevention programs at the workplace.
Researchers studying a large population of women in Denmark found that those who took hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after menopause
Research released at the International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease suggests that adhering to a Mediterranean diet may decrease risk of dementia.
A new health series following the lives of six South Asian people, and offering diet and healthy lifestyle advice, will be hitting our screens on Sunday 17 May.
Dr. James Cook officially handed over the title of American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) president to Dr. Larry Corry today at the 2009 AVMA Convention President"s Installation Luncheon in Seattle. Dr. Corry, a small-animal practitioner from Buford, Ga., becomes the 129th president of the AVMA.
Nineteen Democrats have written House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promising not to vote for a health bill that includes funding for abortion, igniting a debate that has the potential to derail a health care overhaul, NPR reports.
The Small Business Surtax The Wall Street Journal
New research showing that "a receptor molecule involved in the recognition of HIV-1 responds to the virus differently in women than in men," might "explain why HIV infection progresses faster to AIDS in women than in men with similar viral loads," the HealthDay/Greenville Daily Reflector reports. The study was conducted by researchers at the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University and will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Study authors also note that during the early stages of infection, women tend to have a stronger immune response to HIV than men, but then progress to AIDS more quickly. The different immune system response "then leads to differences in chronic T-cell activation, a known activator of disease progression, according to the researchers," the article states (7/13). Researcher Marcus Altfeld said the findings raise new questions about how sex hormones affect HIV in the body. "Focusing on immune activation separately from viral replication might give us new therapeutic approaches" to treating HIV, he added (AFP/Google News, 7/13).
ChemBioOffice 2010 is the latest release of CambridgeSoft Corporation"s full suite of integrated scientific desktop applications designed to aid individual chemists and biologists at their desktops, while also providing a shared solution benefiting scientists across an institution.
Passport Health of Massachusetts, specialists in vaccinations against dread diseases faced by international travelers, is concerned that eastern New England"s wettest spring and early summer in decades can be more deadly than usual.
"Saying the new H1N1 [swine flu] virus is "unstoppable", the WHO gave drug makers a full go-ahead to manufacture vaccines against the pandemic influenza strain on Monday and said healthcare workers should be the first to get one," Reuters reports (Fox, 7/14). This, as "Britain, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, the Philippines and Thailand all reported deaths on Monday, while Saudi Arabia shut an international school after 20 students were diagnosed with the A(H1N1) virus," AFP/Google.com reports (7/13). "As of last week, the WHO had reported nearly 95,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of pandemic flu and 429 deaths," the Los Angeles Times reports (Maugh, 7/14).
According a Toronto Star column, it is an "enormous challenge" for India"s government to try to get all of its citizens immunized against polio. "It has used everything from elephants and camels to rickety boats and bikes to ferry the vaccine to remote regions where temperatures have topped 40C the past three months. The polio serum needs to be kept at a temperature below 8C. Its efforts have not all been in vain: the number of new cases in the country last year was 559, down from 200,000 in the early 1980s," writes columnist Rick Westhead.
British Members Of Parliament Want HIV Drug Patent Changes
People with mental health problems could find themselves without adequate help and support under proposals set out in today"s green paper on adult social care, warns leading mental health charity Rethink.
International agency Oxfam fears that companies producing affordable generic medicines could be subject to criminal prosecutions and have their medicines seized on orders from big drug companies under plans being drawn up by a closed group of mainly rich countries.
Researchers have identified a potential biological mechanism that could explain why oral contraceptives may be less effective at preventing pregnancy in obese women, as some epidemiological studies have indicated.
The human brain can adapt to changing demands even in adulthood, but MIT neuroscientists have now found evidence of it changing with unsuspected speed. Their findings suggest that the brain has a network of silent connections that underlie its plasticity.
Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ: LMNX), the worldwide leader in multiplexed solutions, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared labeling updates for the company"s xTAG® Respiratory Viral Panel (RVP) to include data about the performance of the test in humans infected with the pandemic strain of influenza A, 2009 influenza A/H1N1, which is sometimes referred to as "swine flu." The test"s labeling has been updated to include information from two new studies that demonstrate that xTAG RVP can be an effective aid in the detection of 2009 Influenza A/HIN1, but cannot identify the hemagglutinin gene of the 2009 Influenza A/H1N1 in clinical specimens.
Children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy and their early childhood years may be predisposed to take up smoking as teens and young adults, compounding the physical damage they sustained from the smoke exposure.
Aerosol delivery of antibiotics via nanoparticles may provide a means to improve drug delivery and increase patient compliance, thus reducing the severity of individual illnesses, the spread of epidemics, and possibly even retarding antibiotic resistance.
The human brain can adapt to changing demands even in adulthood, but MIT neuroscientists have now found evidence of it changing with unsuspected speed. Their findings suggest that the brain has a network of silent connections that underlie its plasticity.
A large study of patients with mild cognitive impairment revealed that results from cognitive tests and brain scans can work as an early warning system for the subsequent development of Alzheimer"s disease.
For the first time, the Society of Interventional Radiology has assembled a major electronic collection of professional articles about uterine artery embolization, a treatment directed toward a number of conditions involving the uterus-most often adverse health effects that may occur due to the presence of uterine fibroids. The Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology "virtual" collection allows health care providers and the public to view the abstracts on current research on this topic in one place, eliminating the need to search topics individually.
U.S. House of Representative Democrats unveiled their bill for health care reform - the America"s Affordable Health Care Choice of 2009. In response, National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Executive Vice President and CEO Bruce T. Roberts, RPh, issued the following statement:
The following are helpful tips to pet owners offered by veterinarians at Colorado State University?s Veterinary Teaching Hospital. The paragraphs can be used alone as filler or in a group as a set of tips. If you need additional information, please contact Dell Rae Moellenberg at 970-491-6009 or DellRae.Moellenberg@colostate.edu. If you?d like to attribute the information, please attribute it to Colorado State University?s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
New results show that postmenopausal women with breast cancer receiving adjuvant letrozole have better cognitive function than women being treated with tamoxifen. The data, from a recent meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), are drawn from a sub-study of the Breast International Group (BIG) 1-98 trial.
UCSF scientists have created a method of quickly identifying large numbers of the genetic material known as short hairpin RNA - also called shRNA - that turns genes on and off.
Dimebolin, originally administered as an antihistamine, has previously been found to help slow the decline of cognitive ability in participants.
Genetics researchers have unveiled a powerful new re for scientists and health providers studying human illnesses--a reference standard of deletions and duplications of DNA found in the human genome. Drawn from over 2,000 healthy persons, the study provides one of the deepest and broadest sets of copy number variations (CNVs) available to date, along with a new research tool for diagnosing and identifying genetic problems in patients.
Most people get allergic conjunctivitis when their eyes come into contact with an allergen - a substance which makes the body"s immune system overreact. The eye becomes sore, inflamed and sometimes painful. Symptoms occur because the overreacting immune system makes the body release histamine and other active substances by mast cells - these cause dilation of blood vessels (blood vessels expand, widen), which irritates the nerve endings and causes increased secretion of tears.
A Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)-based research team has identified how a chromosomal abnormality known to be associated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)- the most common cancer in children- initiates the disease process. In the July issue of Cell Stem Cell, they describe how expression of this mutation in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which usually occurs before birth, leads to the development of leukemia many years later.
Many people who discover that they have inherited a higher risk of developing Alzheimer"s can cope with the news, especially if they receive the
During the second day of her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor said she views the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion in the U.S. as settled law reaffirmed by subsequent Supreme Court rulings, the Washington Post reports (Goldstein et al., Washington Post, 7/15). At Tuesday"s hearing, lawmakers pressed Sotomayor on her views regarding abortion rights and Supreme Court precedent, the New York Times reports. She told committee members that the contraception rights case that is the foundation for Roe was "the precedent of the court, so it is settled law." She also said the 1992 ruling in Casey v. Planned Parenthood "reaffirmed the core holding of Roe," adding, "That is the precedent of the court and settled law in terms of the holding of the court" (Savage, New York Times, 7/15). Sotomayor said that "there is a right of privacy" and that the Supreme Court "has found it in various places in the Constitution." She cited the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure and the 14th Amendment guaranteeing equal protection of the law (AP/Yahoo! News, 7/14).Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) asked Sotomayor if she considered the 2007 ruling in Gonzales v. Carhart an example of settled law. In the case, the court voted 5-4 to uphold the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. The ruling was the first time since Roe that the court upheld an abortion restriction that made no exception for the health of the woman, the Times reports. In her response, Sotomayor said that "[a]ll precedent of the Supreme Court I consider settled law, subject to the deference the doctrine of stare decisis would counsel," although she did not address the health exception component of the Gonzales case.Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) later pressed Sotomayor to elaborate on her views on Gonzales. Feinstein noted that at least seven Supreme Court rulings prior to the 2007 case stated that abortion laws "cannot put a woman"s health at risk." She added that Gonzales "essentially removed this basic constitutional right for women." Feinstein asked Sotomayor, "When there are multiple precedents and a question arises, are all the previous decisions discarded, or should the court re-examine all the cases on point?" Sotomayor replied that she does not consider Gonzales to be a precedent making it settled law that health exceptions for abortion laws are constitutionally unnecessary. She said, "That was, I don"t believe, a rejection of its prior precedents," which are "still precedents of the court." Sotomayor added that the "health and welfare of a woman must be -- must be a compelling consideration." Feinstein pressed Sotomayor to clarify that she meant that it is still settled that abortion restrictions must have health exceptions. Sotomayor said, "It has been a part of the court"s jurisprudence and a part of its precedents. Those precedents must be given deference in any situation that arises before the court" (New York Times, 7/15).Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) asked Sotomayor if the Constitution prohibits Congress or state legislatures "from defining life or regulating the rights of the unborn or protecting the right of the unborn in the first trimester?" Sotomayor began to cite the 14th Amendment to answer the question. Graham interrupted, asking, "[I]s there÷ anything in the document written about abortion?" Sotomayor said the "word "abortion" is not used in the Constitution, but the Constitution does have a broad provision concerning a liberty provision under the due process" clause (Holman, "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," PBS, 7/14).Graham also asked Sotomayor about her work with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which had submitted legal briefs in the past that supported public funding for abortion coverage for low-income women. Sotomayor served on the group"s board from 1980 to 1992. She said that she "wasn"t aware of what was said in those briefs." She noted that she had served on the board but was not a lawyer for the gro
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) on Monday signed into law a bill (HB 2564) that mandates a 24-hour waiting period and in-person counseling with a doctor before women can receive abortion care, the AP/Yahoo! News reports. The law requires doctors to list risks and alternatives and describe the fetus"s probable characteristics. It also makes an existing parental consent law more restrictive for minors seeking abortion care and allows health care workers to refuse to dispense emergency contraception on moral or religious grounds.Planned Parenthood Arizona said the measure "creates barriers, increases costs and denies access to services and providers to women who seek abortion care." Bryan Howard, the affiliate"s president, said, "Women will be forced to delay their care, in turn increasing their health risks." In signing the measure, Brewer "set a new course" from former Gov. Janet Napolitano (D), who vetoed all bills that restricted abortion rights during her six years as governor, the AP/Yahoo! News reports.Brewer Signs Law Revising "Partial-Birth Abortion" Ban Brewer also signed legislation (HB 2400) that revises an Arizona law banning so-called "partial-birth" abortion except when the procedure is necessary to save the woman"s life. A federal judge in October 1997 ruled that a state law banning the procedure was unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court in 2007 upheld a similar federal law. The new law is intended to align the 1997 state law with the federal statute, according to the AP/Yahoo! News.The new law specifies a punishment of up to two years in prison. It allows a doctor charged under the law to seek a hearing before a state regulatory board to determine if the doctor"s actions were necessary to save the woman. Advocates of the bill say that it will allow local authorities to enforce the ban on the procedure (Davenport, AP/Yahoo! News, 7/13).
USA Today asks what the additional $1 trillion cost of a health care overhaul (over 10 years) will actually buy. "Although the eye-popping price tag would help boost insurance coverage to 95% or more of the public, it"s not enough to do everything advocates initially want. The proposals being shaped in Congress - including the $1.042 trillion bill unveiled by House Democratic leaders Tuesday - offer subsidies to fewer moderate-income families than originally intended, bar most workers from choosing to leave their employer-provided plans and likely drive up Medicaid costs for states." The Congressional Budget Office estimates that "at the end of a decade, 15 million to 20 million would remain uninsured."
Almost half of all artemisinin manufacturers and malaria-endemic countries are "failing to comply" with WHO requirements to sell the treatment in combination with other drugs, which is increasing the risk that malaria parasites will develop resistance to artemsinin, Nature reports. "Of the 69 manufacturers of artemisinin monotherapies that the WHO has identified, 21 have withdrawn monotherapies, and 14 say they intend to comply with the WHO"s recommendations. But the remaining 34 have not yet disclosed their intentions," Nature writes.
As lawmakers debate how to pay for an overhaul of the nation"s health care system, a new report from The Commonwealth Fund projects that including both private and public insurance choices in a new insurance exchange would save the United States as much as $265 billion in administrative costs from 2010 to 2020. Congressional leaders are attempting to keep 10-year federal budget costs of health care reform legislation under $1 trillion.
A team of researchers has mapped patterns of illicit drug use across the state of Oregon using a method of sampling municipal wastewater before it is treated.
Canada and the European Communities announced the end of a six-year World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute regarding the approval and marketing of biotechnology products.
NHS clinical teams will have access to data showing their performance against a set of more than 200 indicators of high quality care in the NHS in one place. It is the next phase in the drive to help NHS professionals improve the quality of care they deliver to patients, and will also support providers and commissioners of NHS services.
Amid reports that swine flu viruses are developing the ability to shrug off existing antiviral drugs, scientists in Japan are reporting a first-of-its kind discovery that could foster a new genre of antivirals that sidestep resistance problems, according to an article scheduled for the July 23 issue of the ACS" Journal of the Medicinal Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication.
FUJIFILM Dimatix announced that a research team at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, working with Canada"s SENTINEL Bioactive Paper Network, has used its DMP-2800 Dimatix Materials Printer to develop a new inkjet method for printing bioactive inks (bioinks) on paper strips used to detect harmful substances that can make animals or humans sick or be used as bioterrorism agents.
Obesity -- that never-ending "battle of the bulge"-- dates back to the Stone Age and yet is emerging today as a modern health epidemic. While its root cause is as simple as calories consumed versus calories burned, it"s cure is knotted somewhere in a complex web of biology, psychology and culture.
The president of the American College of Physicians (ACP) told the chairmen of the House Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor Committees that America"s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, H.R. 3200, is "closely aligned" with ACP policies on coverage, workforce, and payment and delivery system reform.
Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE) announced that it has designed and delivered a Web-based multilingual solution to support the efforts of CdLS World, an international federation of non-profit organizations committed to assisting those affected by Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS), a rare congenital disorder. While there is as yet no cure for CdLS, information and access to early therapeutic interventions and therapies is the key to helping children with CdLS reach their full potential. Sapient"s Ask the Doctor - which can be accessed at http://www.cdlsworld.org or through local CdLS country websites - brings a vast online re of up-to-date, relevant medical information to families and medical professionals around the world.
Cook Medical has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its newest balloon dilatation catheter, the Advance® 35LP. The device is intended for use in patients with lesions in the femoral, iliac and renal arteries and rounds out Cook"s complete line of low-profile PTA balloons.
Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announces it has received Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for velaglucerase alfa, its enzyme replacement therapy in development for the treatment of Type I Gaucher disease. Shire is working with the FDA to determine subsequent steps and timing for the filing of its NDA.
Peter Campbell, 65, was struggling to find the words to communicate. When his wife asked what his name was and where he lived, he couldn"t think of the answers. Following a CT scan of his brain, he learned that an aggressive type of brain tumor was hindering his speech and language functions. The tumor was removed surgically, and as is standard for treating this type of brain tumor, Campbell began a seven-week course of radiotherapy that is targeting the area where the lesion was removed, in order to kill any cancer cells that might have been left behind.
Elderly Medicare beneficiaries are more satisfied with their health care, and experience fewer problems accessing and paying for care, than Americans with employer-sponsored insurance (ESI), according to a study by Commonwealth Fund researchers published May 12 on the Health Affairs Web site. If given the opportunity, many adults under age 65 would likely select a public health insurance option, say lead author Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, and colleagues.
In a week that has seen the British swine flu death toll reach 29 and it is estimated that 55,000 people have caught the virus, hospitalizing 652 of them, the
The California Nurses Association concurred on the need for improved enforcement to protect patients affected by the handful of nurses alleged to have found to have committed egregious misconduct that put patients in jeopardy.
The government"s Green Paper "Shaping the Future of Care Together" has been welcomed by the MS Society as the radical step necessary to address the crisis in social care.
All Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinics and hospitals are failing to fully comply with federal privacy standards for women, according to a Government Accountability Office report, the AP/Boston Globe reports. The report comes as thousands of female veterans are entering the VA health system after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.GAO auditors said that many VA facilities had gynecological tables that faced the door. In one instance, a gynecological table faced a door opening to a waiting room. The investigation also found cases where women had to walk through waiting rooms to use the restroom -- a violation of VA policy requiring adjoining restrooms. Four VA hospitals did not guarantee women access to private bathing facilities. In two of those cases, the facilities did not have locks.Nearly 20% of female veterans have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and many of them have experienced sexual trauma while serving, according to the report. The report also said that most female veterans at VA facilities are ages 20 to 29. On average, female veterans using VA facilities are much younger than male VA patients, it noted.Randall Williamson, director of health care issues at GAO, said that although top VA officials are committed to improving care for female veterans, facilities are not always taking simple steps, such as repositioning exam tables. Patricia Hayes, chief consultant for VA"s veterans strategic health care group, said that the agency recognizes issues and is making changes to address disparities in care. She noted that VA is creating a long-term plan for construction improvements to address space and building layout challenges (AP/Boston Globe, 7/15).
Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) are pleased to announce a new series of Health Policy Briefs aimed at providing clear, accessible overviews of timely and important health policy topics. The first brief explores the current debate over cutting payments to Medicare Advantage plans - the privately run health plans that now serve almost a quarter of Medicare enrollees.
IRIN examines a Health Affairs report that found "one in four families living in the world"s poorest countries borrows money or sells assets in order to afford health care" (7/15).
The Daily Trust/allAfrica.com examines food security in Nigeria. Despite its agricultural potential, the "food crisis" in Nigeria "poses a big question as to what is responsible for the insecurity in food production, preservation and storage," according to the newspaper. A government committee recently toured the country in an effort to address some of the problems involved with agricultural production and food insecurity.
Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) have a high risk of psychiatric problems, particularly attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder, or both. Often children with FASD are initially diagnosed with ADHD. A new study is the first to examine a range of cognitive factors and social behavior in children with FASD and ADHD, finding that those with FASD have significantly weaker social cognition and facial emotion-processing abilities.
Following Gordon Brown"s meeting at Downing Street with Britain"s top drinks industry executives he called for them to harness their considerable marketing powers to drive for change in social norm and cultural attitudes towards alcohol in the UK. This has resulted in Project "N" - a collaboration of the not inconsiderable res of top companies throughout the UK.
Cystic fibrosis medicines that help to break down mucus in the lungs may carry an unexpected long-term benefit, a study suggests.
The latest rise in the indirect taxation on tobacco and alcohol took place in June. The most popular brand of cigarettes went up in price from 3.10 euros to 3.30 euros per packet. Are these taxes a form of dissuasion or a way of compensating the rest of society for the harm generated by those who smoke? A study by the Polytechnic University of Cartagena has looked into the most significant questions concerning the tobacco economy.
Clarithromycin is currently one of the antibiotics used for eradication of Helicobacter pylori. However, reports of H. pylori resistance to this antibiotic are increasing worldwide. Clarithromycin resistance has been attributed to the presence of mutations in the 23S rRNA gene, a component of the ribosome that is the protein manufacturing machinery of all living cells. There is little information on the prevalence and characteristics of clarithromycin resistance in H. pylori strains isolated from Malaysian patients.
Based on serum bank material, BA profiling was applied in IBD patients and healthy controls which showed that most but not all BA species were decreased to a different extent in CD and UC. BA decreases were highly pronounced in CD patients with surgical interventions in the gut. On the other hand, UC patients with additional liver and gallbladder diseases showed clearly increased levels of those BAs that are synthesized directly in the liver (primary BAs), or subsequently modified by intestinal bacteria (secondary BAs). Furthermore, a marked decrease in the toxic BA lithocholic acid (LCA) was found together with a marked increase in its physiological detoxification product, hyodeoxycholic acid (HDCA), irrespective of the IBD phenotype or clinical manifestation, which showed accelerated detoxification activity in IBD patients. Thus, serum BA profiling might serve as an additional diagnostic tool for IBD characterization and differentiation. In combination with expression profiles of nuclear pregnane X receptor (PXR)-regulated genes, it might allow us to estimate the BA detoxification potential of IBD patients.
University of Minnesota McKnight professor and Director of Center for Neuroengineering Bin He has developed a new technique that has led to preliminary successes in noninvasive imaging of seizure foci. He"s technique promises to play an important role in the treatment of epileptic seizures.
Some people say they never forget a face, a claim now bolstered by psychologists at Harvard University who"ve discovered a group they call "super-recognizers": those who can easily recognize someone they met in passing, even many years later.
The Royal College of Nursing welcomed the signing of a joint agreement by European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and the European Hospital and Healthcare Employers Association (HOSPEEM). This is an EU-wide agreement which the RCN has played a key role in bringing about to prevent one million medical sharps injuries per year. Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said:
Argenta Discovery Limited, the respiratory drug discovery and development company, announces a major milestone in its joint programme with AstraZeneca aimed at identifying improved inhaled bronchodilators to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Nearly 90 per cent of people in the UK back proposals to stop under 18s from using sunbeds according to a new survey by Cancer Research UK.
AlphaVax, Inc. announced today that it has completed process development and preclinical immunogenicity studies of its H1N1 (swine) influenza vaccine and will manufacture clinical trial material by the end of the month. This vaccine has shown good production yields as well as excellent immunogenicity, even after just a single inoculation.
Rabies is a virus that occurs in mammals and infects the central nervous system; the disease can cause death in humans if it is not treated. Nearly 90 percent of cases occur in wild animals (raccoons, bats, foxes etc.); less than 10% of cases occur in domestic animals like dogs or cats. Humans usually become infected when they are bitten by an infected animal.
Adults between the ages of 34 and 56 are at a greater risk of dying from poisonings than from motor vehicle accidents, according to a new report from the CDC.
Senate Republicans on Thursday said that they do not plan to block a vote on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, the Washington Post reports. Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) told Sotomayor that he would not support any effort to filibuster her nomination, meaning that she would need a simple majority of 50 votes to be confirmed. Because Democrats hold 60 votes in the Senate, Sessions" comments effectively end "any possible suspense over her fate," according to the Post (Kane et al., Washington Post, 7/17). Sessions said, "I will not support and I don"t think any member of this side will support a filibuster or any attempt to block a vote on your nomination," adding, "I look forward to you getting that vote before we recess in August." According to CQ Politics, Sessions" statement that Republicans will not filibuster "is bound to rile conservative activists," who have urged GOP senators to delay the vote to allow more time to build opposition.Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) also signaled that he would vote for Sotomayor"s confirmation (Perine, CQ Politics, 7/16). He said, "We"ll see what your future holds, but I think it"s going to be pretty bright" (Bendavid, "Washington Wire," Wall Street Journal, 7/16). Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said that although he will not support Sotomayor"s confirmation, he will not filibuster the vote (Rushing, The Hill, 7/16). Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) told Sotomayor, "Thank you for giving us such a cordial response, and I am mightily impressed" (Washington Post, 7/17).Voting Timeline UnclearSenate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said he would schedule a committee vote on the nomination for July 21. It remains unclear whether committee Republicans will delay the vote until July 28, as they are permitted to do under committee rules. Sessions called the July 21 vote "unrealistic," adding that there "will be a number of questions submitted to the nominee that take some time" (CQ Politics, 7/16). A party-line vote on the nomination does not seem likely, as a number of committee Republicans have praised Sotomayor and signaled that they will vote to confirm her, the AP/Boston Globe reports (Holland, AP/Boston Globe, 7/17). The committee"s vote serves as a recommendation to the full Senate, which likely will hold its final roll-call vote on the nomination by Aug. 7 (Washington Post, 7/17). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday said he wants a floor vote on Sotomayor "as quickly as possible" (Brady, Roll Call, 7/16).During the hearing on Thursday, Sotomayor reiterated that she would consider each case individually and declined to state her specific views on abortion rights. In response to Coburn, she said, "Would you want a ... nominee who came in here and said, "I agree with you. This is unconstitutional," before I had a case before me?" She added, "I don"t know that that"s a justice that I can be" (Kiely/Biskupic, USA Today, 7/17). According to the New York Times, "Some observers thought they detected her tipping her hand on abortion rights when she said Supreme Court precedents required abortion restrictions to make exceptions for a woman"s health" (Savage, New York Times, 7/17).
MorphoSys AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) announced the start of a further two oncology-focused therapeutic antibody programs within its collaboration with DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, LIMITED (TSE: 4568, hereinafter Daiichi Sankyo). By exercising two options available under the parties" existing agreement, Daiichi Sankyo has selected two new target molecules against which MorphoSys will generate antibodies using its proprietary HuCAL technology. Daiichi Sankyo will carry out pre-clinical and clinical development and has worldwide marketing rights for all resulting products. MorphoSys receives exclusive license fees and stands to receive milestones and royalties for the therapeutic antibody programs, as per the terms of the companies" existing agreement. Further financial details were not disclosed.
"For a brief moment Thursday, Senate Democrats could celebrate. Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus suggested for the first time publicly he was hoping for a bipartisan deal to pay for health care reform by the end of the day. The good feelings didn"t last long," Politico reports. "Within hours, Baucus (D-Mont.) said the talks were suspended until next week - defying President Barack Obama"s request to produce an agreement by the weekend and throwing into doubt any hopes of meeting the president"s August deadline to pass a Senate bill." And Baucus "had to call the White House and apologize for saying earlier in the day that Obama"s resistance to taxing employer health benefits "is not helping us" get a bill."
The Obama administration ramps up efforts to promote health care reform and reacts to a sobering announcement by the Congressional Budget Office about the scoring of a health care bill.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Thursday said food prices remain high in many developing countries because of reduced harvests, civil conflict and other factors, AP/Google.com reports (7/16).
Experts estimate that over 24 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, and many of these people live in low- and middle-income countries. Recently, there has been growing interest in whether dietary factors, particularly oily fish and meat, might influence the onset and/or severity of dementia. Oily fish are rich in omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, which some studies suggest are positively related to cognitive function in later life. Conversely, there is a suggestion from some studies that increased meat consumption may be related to cognitive decline. To examine this, a group of international researchers studied older people in 7 middle- to low-income countries. You can read the results of their study in the August 2009 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Today, Human Genome Sciences (HGS) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced positive results from a year-long clinical trial of BENLYSTA for treating lupus. When the 52-week study concluded, the lupus patients who were treated with BENLYSTA had improvement in overall disease activity without clinically significant flare-ups in one or more isolated organs when compared to patients who received the placebo (inactive agent). The patients receiving BENLYSTA also were able to reduce their intake of steroid medications. The study is the largest ever to be completed for lupus and the first Phase III (late stage) trial of a new biologic immune therapy for lupus to succeed in meeting its primary endpoint and most of its secondary endpoints.
Commenting on today"s speech by Conservative Party Leader Rt
King Saud University professor, Dr. Adel Almogren, along with a diverse team of academic researchers from the United States, Canada, and Taiwan, has discovered a new process that could lead to a vaccine to block cancer cell adhesion and growth.
An international team of scientists has tracked how and when HIV has made its way around Europe. They found that tourists, travellers and
An article published in the August edition of The Lancet Infectious Diseases studies how the closing of schools during flu pandemics causes a health, social, and economic impact. The review is the work of Dr Simon Cauchemez and Professor Neil Ferguson, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London, UK, and collaborators. They examined data from earlier epidemics and pandemics worldwide. They conclude that extended school closure early on can considerably relieve saturated hospitals by reducing the number of cases at the highest point of the pandemic. On the other hand, it is uncertain if the intervention would have a major impact on the total number of cases. Also, it is linked with high social and economical costs, and could potentially disrupt health care systems and other vital services. In closing, the review indicates that the ultimate decision to close schools for extended periods should cautiously consider the severity of the pandemic.
Scientists have worked for 20 years to perfect gene therapy for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, which causes the body to produce dehydrated, thicker-than-normal mucus that clogs the lungs and leads to life threatening infections.
It is estimated that 1.4 billion people live in extreme poverty, on less than $2 a day. In 2000, 189 nations declared that they would "free all men, women, and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty". These nations signed up to Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to combat poverty by 2015. To help meet these complex challenges and "make poverty history" more knowledge and evidence is needed. A launch event Wednesday 22nd July 2009 at the Department for International Development (DFID) marks a new phase of research collaboration between the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and DFID which will provide more robust social science research to address poverty alleviation amongst the poorest countries and peoples of the world.
The largest and most comprehensive ophthalmic educational meeting in the world, the American Academy of Ophthalmology"s (Academy) 2009 Joint Meeting in conjunction with the Pan- American Association of Ophthalmology (PAAO) will be taking place in San Francisco, Oct. 24 to 27.
In an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," White House Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag said that he is "not prepared to say explicitly" whether health care reform legislation would prohibit the use of federal tax revenue to fund abortion coverage, the New York Times reports. Orszag"s statement came in reply to a question asking whether he was prepared to say that "no taxpayer money will go to pay for abortions." Orszag said, "It"s obviously a controversial issue, and it"s one of the questions that is playing out in the debate" (Pear/Liptak, New York Times, 7/20).Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), who also appeared on "Fox News Sunday," said, "No matter what your views are on abortion, you shouldn"t ask people to use their tax dollars if they think that abortion is taking a life." Gregg added, "I would hate to see the health care debate go down over that issue. We do really need health care reform, and it has to be substantive. ... So hopefully we won"t get ourselves wrapped around the wheel of abortion in this debate" (FoxNews.com, 7/19). According to the Times, there is an ongoing behind-the-scenes debate over handling abortion coverage in health overhaul legislation. The debate affects both the public insurance plan the legislation would create and private insurers, who would receive tens of billions of dollars in federal subsidies to expand coverage for low- and moderate-income U.S. residents. A provision in the House health reform bill (HR 3200) calls for a federal advisory committee to advise the HHS secretary on an "essential benefits package" that most insurers would be required to provide. Abortion-rights opponents want abortion coverage excluded from the package, while abortion-rights advocates say the decision should be left to medical professionals. House committees working on health reform legislation have rejected Republican amendments that would have restricted abortion coverage. The Hyde Amendment, first enacted in 1976, prohibits the use of federal Medicaid money for abortion services. However, abortion-rights opponents argue that federally subsidized coverage of the uninsured would not be subject to the existing restrictions. The National Right to Life Committee issued an analysis of the House bill, stating, "There is no doubt that coverage of abortion will be mandated, unless Congress explicitly excludes abortion from the scope of federal authority to define "essential benefits."" According to the group, even if the HHS secretary did not require abortion coverage, "federal courts would interpret the broadly worded mandatory categories of coverage to include abortion" (New York Times, 7/20).