Sexual Health
Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI) announced that it has submitted a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its human monoclonal antibody drug ABthrax(TM) (raxibacumab) for the treatment of inhalation anthrax.
Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd., (DSP) announced today positive results from the first phase 3 clinical trial for lurasidone, which is under clinical development globally, for the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. In this six-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, lurasidone 80 mg/day was significantly more effective than placebo for the treatment of acute schizophrenia. In addition, lurasidone was well-tolerated and had a relatively low discontinuation rate. The findings were presented at the 162nd Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in San Francisco, held on May 16-21.
A man who used a forged document to obtain an NHS bursary and train as a mental health nurse has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for fraud at Sheffield Crown Court (18 May 2009) after a joint investigation by NHS Counter Fraud and the UK Border Agency.
Stromal Caveolin-1 Predicts Breast Cancer Prognosis
The 62nd World Health Assembly opened in Geneva, as officials from 193 member countries began their annual review of the activities of the World Health Organization and set new priorities for the future.
"The Supreme Court keeps finding ways to deny women equal pay and benefits," a New York Times editorial states in response to the court"s 7-2 ruling on Monday that employers are not required to award women credit toward pension benefits for pregnancy leave taken before Congress passed the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act. According to the Times, the ruling reflects reasoning similar to the court"s 2007 decision in which it denied former Goodyear employee Lilly Ledbetter"s "claim for equal pay because it thought she waited too long to file it." In Monday"s decision, the majority "reasoned mainly that the pregnancy leaves predated the 1978 law, and since the law was not retroactive, the discrepancy in benefits was the product of "past completed events that were entirely lawful at the time they occurred,"" the editorial states. It notes that the majority included "two generally reliable votes for equality, Justices John Paul Stevens and David Souter." The editorial continues, "This may sound logical, but it is not just." The editorial says that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in writing the dissent, "quite correctly" recognized a company"s "ongoing denial of equal benefits not as past discriminatory behavior that started and ended decades ago, but as a current violation of the act." In a similar way, "Goodyear discriminated against Lilly Ledbetter by maintaining her unequal pay for years, not merely the first time the company underpaid her." The Times calls on Congress to "write corrective legislation" on pregnancy leave (New York Times, 5/21).
The fitness mantra - Activity, Belief, Confidence, Diet and Exercise.
The number of people who each year die or are severely disabled by stroke could be substantially reduced through a cheap blood test and simple inexpensive treatment.
The Massachusetts Health Insurance Law of 2006 has allowed the state to have the lowest uninsured rate in the country while having a "marginal impact" on state spending, according to a report by the Massachusetts Taxpayer Association, the AP/Boston Globe reports. MTA was among the groups supporting the bill"s original passage. The report shows that health care spending will increase by $707 million from fiscal year 2006 to FY 2010. Half of that increase would be covered by the federal government, so the annual cost increase for the state would be $88 million, according to MTA. It noted that many workers who had chosen not to purchase employer-provided insurance before the law took effect now have done so, which has resulted in about $750 million in additional costs for businesses each year (AP/Boston Globe, 5/20). A summary of the report is available online. The full report also is available on the same page (.pdf).
A chemical found in green tea might be an effective tool against the sexual transmission of HIV, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Heidelberg in Germany and published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, AFP/Google.com reports. According to the study, green tea polyphenol -- called epigallocatechin-3-gallete, or EGCG -- neutralizes a protein in sperm that aids in the transmission of HIV during sex. The researchers noted that they "recently identified a peptide fraction in human semen that consistently enhanced HIV-1 infection." The study found that EGCG is able to neutralize the sperm protein, known as a semen-derived enhancer of virus infection, or SEVI. The researchers said that SEVI is "an important infectivity factor of HIV." According to the researchers, EGCG "appears to be a promising supplement to antiretroviral microbicides to reduce sexual transmission of HIV-1." The researchers said that because a majority of people living with HIV contract the disease through heterosexual transmission and that 96% of new cases are reported in developing and impoverished nations, the use of green tea in topical creams could be a "simple and affordable prevention method" (AFP/Google.com, 5/19).
Somerset"s midwives can now offer women a new early pregnancy support service.
Mayo Clinic researchers have found that bipolar disorder (BPD) is a more costly chronic condition than diabetes, depression, asthma and coronary artery disease (CAD), based on a review of health care claim costs. Specialty care costs (the costs of seeing any specialist and all tests ordered) were especially higher for bipolar patients. Results of this review were presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in San Francisco.
An experimental vaccine applied to the surface of the skin appears to protect against certain types of ear infections. Scientists from the Research Institute at Nationwide Children"s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, reported their findings at the 109th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Philadelphia.
New sequencing and analysis of six strains Chlamydia will result in improved diagnosis of the sexually transmitted infection. This study provides remarkable insights into a new strain of Chlamydia that was identified in Sweden in 2006 after spreading rapidly across the country by evading most established diagnostic tests.
Lyrica is Pfizer"s trade name for a drug called pregabalin. Pregabalin is an anticonvulsant (anti-seizure) drug that is often used to treat neuropathic pain as well as partial seizures that are common in temporal lobe epilepsy. In Europe, pregabalin is also approved to treat generalized anxiety disorder.
A scientific study has found further evidence that high blood pressure in adulthood is pre-programmed in the womb.
John Swinney MSP, Finance Secretary officially opened a new vaccine manufacturing facility at Big DNA, Roslin Biocentre, by Edinburgh on 12 May 2009. This major facility takes a completely new method of making vaccines to its next level, to test a variety of methods that will be used in future to manufacture important new vaccines, which have the potential to save millions of lives during major outbreaks of disease worldwide.
Autism Spectrum Therapies (AST), an agency providing behavior therapy and other autism services, now offers new summer programs for children of all ages and their parents. These fun, kid-friendly programs are designed to help children with autism disorders maintain their academic and communication skills over summer vacation and to develop new skills for the upcoming school year.
Cellceutix Corporation (OTCBB: CTIX), announced it has filed a U.S. patent application covering pharmaceutical formulations of a compound referred to as Kevetrin™ and many novel compounds having similar structures to Kevetrin. These structures cover a large number of compounds that Cellceutix can look at as possible drug development candidates. The application covers the use of Kevetrin™ and the other compounds in various areas, including cancers. Cellceutix plans to file in other countries within a year of the U.S. filing.
UK charity the Blood Pressure Association has responded to the BMJ research paper "Use of blood pressure lowering drugs in the prevention of cardiovascular disease":
Researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) in Buffalo, New York, are strongly advocating a national discussion about the need to vaccinate both young men and women against HPV 16 to prevent head & neck cancers. The call comes amid growing evidence that certain cancers of the head and neck are strongly linked to HPV 16, a specific strain of the human papillomavirus (HPV) that is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the United States. It is estimated that approximately 70% of Americans, both men and women, will be infected with HPV at some point in their lives.
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) announced data from its ALTITUDE Clinical Science program that show real-word survival rates for implantable cardiac device patients exceeding rates from clinical trials. ALTITUDE analyzes outcomes data from patients monitored by the LATITUDE(R) Patient Management system. Five-year survival rate data for patients using implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds) were presented at the Heart Rhythm Society Scientific Sessions in Boston by Leslie Saxon, M.D., F.A.C.C., Chief, Cardiovascular Medicine at the Cardiovascular and Thoracic Institute, University of Southern California, and chairperson of the ALTITUDE physician panel.
Canada has received new support to recruit some of its best minds in pediatric leukemia research, thanks to the Cole Foundation. The family foundation has generously pledged $2.5 million to support up-and-coming, Montreal-based researchers at the Universitç© de Montrç©al, McGill University and the Universitç© du Quç©bec"s Institut national de la recherche scientifique - Institut Armand-Frappier. The Cole Foundation investment will include:
Results of a phase I clinical trial of a novel herb-based therapeutic called Zyflamend have demonstrated that the therapy is associated with minimal toxicity and no serious adverse events in men at high-risk for developing prostate cancer.
Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Thursday said that Congress" health care overhaul plan would cover 94% to 96% of the population but not undocumented immigrants, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports (Alonso-Zaldivar, AP/Las Vegas Sun, 5/21). In remarks at a briefing sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Families USA and the National Federation of Independent Business, Baucus said, "There are always going to be some people ... you just can"t find" to enroll, adding that "we"re going to try to get as close as we can (to 100% coverage) and we"re working hard to accomplish that." He added, "[W]e"re not going to cover undocumented workers. That"s too politically explosive" (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 5/21). According to an analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies and the U.S. Census Bureau, undocumented immigrants make up between 15% and 22% of the estimated 47 million U.S. residents without health coverage. Baucus said, "I don"t have a good answer yet to undocumented workers, illegal aliens," adding, "There will still be charity care " (Landers, Dallas Morning News, 5/22). Baucus said that the bill his committee is working on and that he expects to mark up in mid-June will include "incentives" and possibly requirements for employers to pay for employee health insurance. Baucus mentioned the possibility of including an individual mandate and establishing a health insurance exchange (AP/Las Vegas Sun, 5/21). Baucus also noted that the plan most likely will include a public health insurance option in some form (Tumulty, "Swampland," Time Magazine, 5/21). "Everything"s on the table," Baucus said, warning that "because this is so big, so complex, there are going to be a lot of trade-offs. ... This is just so large" (CQ HealthBeat, 5/21). He said that he is very optimistic about the prospects of bipartisan support for the legislation, placing the odds at between 75% and 80% ("Swampland," Time Magazine, 5/21).
Implementing proposed reductions in the number of hours medical residents work could cost as much as $2.5 billion annually, according to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Baltimore Sun reports. The study follows an Institute of Medicine report that proposed reducing the maximum hours that residents can work without sleep from 30 to 16, increasing the number of days they must take off and improving their supervision (Desmon, Baltimore Sun, 5/21). In 2003, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education reduced the number of hours residents at teaching hospitals could work weekly from more than 100 hours to 80 hours. In the recent study, which was partially funded by IOM, researchers examined post-2003 literature on resident work hours and patient harm and evaluated it against additional labor costs. The authors concluded that the IOM recommendations "would be costly, and their effectiveness is unknown" (Shishkin, Wall Street Journal, 5/21). Teryl Nuckols, the lead author of the study, said that teaching hospitals would most likely need to hire more residents and experienced physicians to take care of patients, which would likely cost each teaching hospital $3.2 million annually (Baltimore Sun, 5/21). The study was accompanied by an NEJM editorial in which the authors "strongly disagree" with the IOM recommendations, claiming that reducing resident work hours "leads to an increase in the number of handoffs in care, and this increase outweighs the potential benefits of reducing residents" fatigue." The accreditation council said that more research is needed before it decides whether to adopt the IOM recommendations. The council"s decision will be announced in February 2010 (Wall Street Journal, 5/21).
Colorectal cancer is thought to result from a combination of environmental factors: diet, lifestyle, chronic inflammation and accumulation of specific genetic alterations. The pathogenesis and development of colorectal cancer involves multi-genes and multi-steps. TSPAN1 (GenBank Accession No. AF065388) is a new member of TM4SF located at chromosome 1 p34.1. It encodes a 241 amino acid protein. TSPAN1 was reported as a tumor-related gene recently.
Today sees the European launch of the first topical calcineurin inhibitor to be approved for the maintenance treatment of eczema to prevent flares and prolong flare-free intervals. PROTOPIC ointment (tacrolimus monohydrate) is already licensed to treat moderate and severe eczema (atopic dermatitis), often involving the treatment of flares as and when they occur.* It is now also approved for twice-weekly application to previously affected skin to prevent these exacerbations and prolong flare-free periods in PROTOPIC-responsive patients.ò€ Clinical studies have shown that this new approach brings significant benefits with over 40% of patients with moderate to severe eczema remaining flare-free for at least a year.1 Flares are known to place an enormous burden on patients. The International Study of Life with Atopic Eczema (ISOLATE) found that about 55% of these patients worried about the onset of their next exacerbation and that they spent on average over a third of the year (136 days) with their eczema in flare.2
Researchers in Finland who tracked the health of over 1,000 men from middle age into old age found that being overweight and having high risk
The President of the California Medical Association, Dr. Dev GnanaDev, issued the following statement today:
Commenting in response to the Public Accounts Select Committee report into financial management in the NHS, which highlighted the service had a ÷£1.7 billion surplus at the end of 2007/8, The King"s Fund"s Chief Executive Niall Dickson said:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Samsca tablets (tolvaptan) to treat hyponatremia, an abnormally low concentration of sodium in the blood.
Cytokinetics, Incorporated (NASDAQ: CYTK) announced that data relating to two Phase IIa clinical trials evaluating CK-1827452, one in stable heart failure patients and one in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and angina, are scheduled to be presented in two poster presentations and in the late breaking trials session at the 2009 Heart Failure Congress of the European Society of Cardiology, to be held May 30-June 2, 2009, at the Nice Acropolis Palais des Congrç¨s et Expositions in Nice, France.
The GMC is starting a 3 month consultation into the management of fitness to practise hearings.
The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) today announced a $5 million gift from the Ellison Medical Foundation to support cancer research under the direction of David B. Agus, M.D., a renowned oncologist and cancer researcher who joined the Keck School faculty on April 1 as a professor of medicine.
The Pharmaceutical Marketing Society is pleased to announce the launch of an all new Digital Media Awards, to be held in October 2009 in London.
New light has been thrown on how humans choose their partners, a scientist told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics on May 25. Professor Maria da GraÃýa Bicalho, head of the Immunogenetics and Histocompatibility Laboratory at the University of Parana, Brazil, says that her research had shown that people with diverse major histocompatibility complexes (MHCs) were more likely to choose each other as mates than those whose MHCs were similar, and that this was likely to be an evolutionary strategy to ensure healthy reproduction.
Dr Hamish Meldrum, Chairman of BMA Council, has written to the Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnson, to request that he intervenes to ensure that the UK does not lose further doctors as a result of recent changes to the immigration system. The changes restrict international medical students, who are studying in the UK, from continuing with their medical training beyond the two-year postgraduate Foundation Programme.
Neurosensory diseases are difficult to model in mice because their symptoms are complex and diverse. The genetic causes identified are often lethal when transferred to a mouse. The lack of animal models slows progress in understanding and treating the diseases. By strategically altering a protein-making molecule, a mouse was made to help understand nervous system diseases that impair feeling and cause paralysis of the arms and legs in humans.
Hospice, a well-established approach to palliative care, has enabled countless people worldwide to die with dignity. Through focusing on the patient rather than the disease, individuals can spend the last weeks of their lives in an environment where hospice caregivers minimize their pain, maximize their comfort, and provide bereavement services for loved ones and family members.
The UK Autism Foundation has backed the call for a substantial increase in the carer"s allowance.
ReachMD, which provides medical news and information to healthcare practitioners, is raising its profile with the Continuing Medical Education, or CME, application for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. This is the first CME application that lets users listen to all ReachMD Continuing Medical Education content, get regular updates on new Continuing Medical Education content and take Continuing Medical Education tests for credit, all from their iPhone or iPod touch.
Scientists at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology uncover how an important cancer gene, BRCA1, works by increasing the accuracy with which broken DNA is repaired. Women who inherit a faulty version of the BRCA1 gene are at a higher risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer.
TeleHealth Services, the nation"s leading provider of healthcare grade televisions and on-demand patient and staff interactive education solutions, has announced the implementation of its TIGR on-demand video education and entertainment system into Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem, Utah.
Stem cells that respond after a severe injury in the lungs of mice may be a of rapidly dividing cells that lead to lung cancer, according to a team of American and British researchers.
Driven by rising health care costs at home, nearly 1 million Californians cross the border each year to seek medical care in Mexico, according a new paper by UCLA researchers and colleagues published in the journal Medical Care.
A short, preoperative team briefing prior to cardiac surgery - where each person on the team speaks - improves communication and reduces errors and costs, according to a pilot study conducted at Mayo Clinic.
Two-thirds of American teenagers have sex by the time they"re 18. A new longitudinal study finds that when adolescents engage in risky sexual activity, fathers respond by increasing their efforts to supervise and monitor their children.
Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston University School of Public Health have found that no adjustment method fully resolves confounding by indication in observational studies, meaning when the validity of a study is threatened by unmeasured confounding, it is not straightforward to determine which method of adjustment, if any, is most effective in obtaining a valid and precise estimate of effect. The study appears online in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology.
A new study published online in the journal Obesity provides further evidence that strict maternal control over eating habits - such as determining how much a child should eat and coaxing them to eat certain foods - during early childhood may not lead to significant future weight gain in boys or girls. Instead, this behavior may be a response to concerns over a child"s increasing weight.
United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: UTHR) announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ADCIRCA(TM) (tadalafil) tablets for oral administration, with a recommended dose of 40 mg, as the first once-daily phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitor for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). ADCIRCA is indicated to improve exercise ability in WHO Group I PAH patients, which encompasses patients with multiple forms of PAH including etiologies such as idiopathic and familial PAH as well as PAH associated with scleroderma and congenital heart disease.
The BMA welcomed the publication of Audit Scotland"s Overview of mental health services but warned that psychiatry continues to be the "Cinderella specialty" when it came to funding.
Penicillin and other antibiotics in the beta-lactam family work as well as other antibiotics to treat MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcuss aureus) infections in the skin and soft-tissue of children and may help prevent further resistance to antibiotic treatment, according to a new study funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
The California State Assembly has approved legislation by Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi (D-Hayward) that would prevent health plans and insurers from canceling a health insurance policy 18 months after the policy was issued. Assembly Bill 108 (Hayashi) passed on a 48-28 vote.
A research team may have broken the impasse that has frustrated HIV vaccine researchers by using an unconventional approach that bypasses the usual vaccine development path. Using gene transfer technology to produces molecules that block infection, the scientists protected monkeys from infection by a virus closely related to HIV -- the simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV. "We used a leapfrog strategy, bypassing the natural immune system response that was the target of previous HIV and SIV vaccine candidates," explains study leader Philip R. Johnson, MD, chief scientific officer at The Children"s Hospital of Philadelphia and professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania. Johnson and colleagues reported their work in Nature Medicine Most attempts at developing an HIV vaccine have used substances aimed at stimulating the body"s immune system to produce antibodies that would eliminate the virus before or after it infected cells. In clinical trials, however, these vaccines have not elicited protective immune responses, just as the body fails on its own to produce an effective response during natural HIV infection.
A new home test kit called SpermCheck Vasectomy, based on a protein discovered at the University of Virginia (UVA) Health System, marks the launch of a product line that could revolutionize the way men monitor their reproductive status. Based on antibodies that bind to SP-10, a protein discovered in the laboratory of John C. Herr, PhD, SpermCheck Vasectomy is the only FDA-approved immunodiagnostic test for monitoring sperm after vasectomy.
Eastman Kodak Company announced that St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has installed an electronic document management system (EDMS), using C-Cube software from OITUK and Kodak i660 and i780 scanners, to radically change the way health records are distributed around its various outpatient facilities in Merseyside.
Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced results of a European survey that found a child"s Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms at school were a key concern for parents, yet outside of school their child"s ADHD also had significant impact on parents" personal time.1 The survey also revealed key findings surrounding parents" role in assessment and treatment for their child.1 Additionally, the survey suggested that informational needs may not be met adequately for these children with ADHD and their families.1 Conducted in partnership with ADHD advocacy groups in four EU countries, the survey analysed parental impressions surrounding the impact of ADHD on their child, themselves and their family, as well as their child"s ADHD treatment plan.
For patients who experience pain and depression, common co-existing conditions, an intervention that included individually tailored antidepressant therapy and a pain self-management program resulted in greater improvement in the symptoms of these conditions than patients who received usual care, according to a study in the May 27 issue of JAMA.
A growing number of American children are enrolled in child care and questions remain about how these settings may affect them in both positive and negative ways. A new study published in the May/June 2009 issue of the journal Child Development finds that early interpersonal experiences - center-based child care and parenting - may have independent and lasting developmental effects.
Fact or fiction? Chewing gum stays in your stomach for seven years. Cold weather makes you sick. You should never wake a sleepwalker. A dog"s mouth is cleaner than a human"s.
Non-invasive imaging can measure how well patients with the most common form of breast cancer - estrogen receptor positive type - respond to standard aromatase inhibitor therapy after only two weeks and shows similar findings that more invasive needle sampling identifies, according to a poster presentation to be presented at the ASCO annual meeting May 29 - June 2, 2009, Orland, Fl.
A new way of assessing professionalism among medical students could help to make better doctors, a new research study suggests.
Childhood cancer survivors have a persistent and high risk for a second primary cancer throughout their lives, according to a new study published in the May 26 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Statins, a commonly prescribed class of drugs used by millions worldwide to effectively lower blood cholesterol levels, may actually have a negative impact in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients treated with high daily dosages.
Senesco Technologies, Inc. ("Senesco" or the "Company") (NYSE Amex: SNT) announced that Richard Dondero, Vice President of Research and Development, will be presenting pre-clinical data from Senesco"s multiple myeloma studies at the 12th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene Therapy, which is being held at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, CA, from Wednesday, May 27th through to Saturday, May 30th, 2009. Mr. Dondero will be presenting in the afternoon session on Thursday, May 28th.
Contrary to the industry"s position that visible drink labels will promote responsible drinking, young people are, instead, using these visible standard drink labels to increase or even maximize the amount of alcohol they consume at the lowest cost possible.
A research team led by a University of Iowa investigator has generated DNA-like compounds that effectively inhibit the cells responsible for systemic lupus erythematosus -- the most common and serious form of lupus. There currently is no cure for this chronic autoimmune condition that damages the skin, joints and internal organs and affects an estimated one million Americans.
A landmark clinical trial led by a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher concludes that radiofrequency ablation is an effective treatment for dysplasia in people with Barrett"s esophagus, a condition that can lead to deadly gastrointestinal cancer.
Medical students and teaching staff have welcomed the Review & Modernisation of Supplement for Undergraduate Medical and Dental Education (SUMDE) consultation, which was undertaken by the DHSSPS.
The incidence of cardiovascular disease is rising due to factors such as ageing, obesity, smoking and other cardiac ailments. Each year cardiovascular diseases cause over 4.3 million deaths, accounting for 48 per cent of all mortalities in Europe.
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic set out to determine whether the flu vaccine
The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) will receive $18 million to research pancreatic cancer, Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) has announced.
The Foundation for Digestive Health and Nutrition has announced the 2009 American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Foundation Research Scholars. The grants have been awarded to five outstanding young gastroenterologists who promise to make significant strides in the field of gastrointestinal research.
The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee on Tuesday heard testimony on the Medical Device Safety Act of 2009 (HR 1346), which would allow consumers to sue medical device manufacturers in state courts, CQ HealthBeat reports. The bill responds to last year"s Supreme Court ruling that says medical devices with FDA pre-marketing approval can be pre-empted from lawsuits under state law, in accordance with the Medical Device Amendments of 1976. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.Y.), who introduced the bill, said that the 2008 Supreme Court ruling "ignor[ed] congressional intent" by providing blanket immunity for medical device makers. According to Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), a co-sponsor of the bill, the original 1976 law sought to grant regulatory authority to FDA for medical devices, but it did not aim to eliminate state liability. Committee Chair Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), another co-sponsor, said last year"s ruling already has caused 1,400 injury cases to be thrown out of court, adding that the threat of litigation provides manufacturers with additional safety incentives. David Vladeck -- a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center who testified at the hearing -- added that immunity from lawsuits "removes incentive to manufacturers to fix devices quickly and get defective devices off the market."Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) said the class of device that must obtain pre-marketing approval -- which includes pacemakers and replacement heart valves -- represents only 2% of all approved medical devices each year. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) added that the measure could create an inconsistent system that allows both FDA experts and jurors in various states to make decisions on medical device safety standards. In addition, Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) cautioned that the bill might encourage manufacturers to limit distribution of their devices to certain states (Kim, CQ HealthBeat, 5/13). Related Editorial
Effective 1 July 2009, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish nine new Collaborative Research Centres. This decision has just been made by the responsible Grants Committee of the DFG at its spring session in Bonn. The new centres will initially be funded for four years with a total of 73.6 million euros. In addition to this, the DFG will also provide 20 percent overhead funding for each centre for indirect costs incurred by the research projects.
People with type 1 diabetes who have already been successful in achieving recommended blood sugar goals can further benefit from using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices, according to results of a major multi-center clinical trial by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Findings of the study were published online by the journal Diabetes Care, available here.
Our brain is wired to identify gender based on facial cues and coloring, according to a new study published in the Journal of Vision. Psychology Professor Frç©dç©ric Gosselin and his Universitç© de Montrç©al team found the luminescence of the eyebrow and mouth region is vital in rapid gender discrimination.
PerkinElmer, Inc., a global leader focused on improving the health and safety of people and the environment, announced the introduction of four new products leveraging the Company"s innovative infrared sensing (IR) and photon detection technologies. Aimed at a range of OEM applications including energy conservation, enhanced home security, and clinical diagnostics applications, the new products will be showcased at the 16th annual Sensor + Test Fair taking place this week in NÃørnberg, Germany.
A procedure that uses heat generated by radio waves to treat Barrett"s esophagus, a condition caused by acid reflux (severe heartburn), can eliminate signs of the potentially cancer-causing disorder and reduce the risk that the disease will progress.
A recent study finds that the antidepressant effects of drugs like Prozac involve both neurogenesis-dependent and -independent mechanisms, a finding that may lead to development of better treatments for depression and anxiety. The research, published by Cell Press in the May 28th issue of the journal Neuron, utilizes a new experimental mouse model of depression/anxiety that is the first to permit simultaneous examination of multiple effects of antidepressant treatment in the same animal.
Fast and secure access to patient files whilst on the move will be just one of the benefits IGEL Technology will be demonstrating using thin clients at Smart Healthcare Live in Earls Court, London, from June 9-10. Using IGEL Universal Desktops with integrated smartcard devices, healthcare professionals can securely log-in to any IGEL device and access patient records in under 10 seconds.
As the credit crunch keeps on crunching and finances are squeezed ever tighter it is tempting to put off that visit to the optometrist and to carry on with your old specs for another few months. If your vision is good then it is even less likely that you will make an appointment for a sight test - after all you can "see" that nothing is wrong!