Diagnostics
The next two weeks of a health reform fight may prove pivotal for President Barack Obama"s image and his ability to use his popularity to get things done, The Washington Post reports.
The British Medical Association in Northern Ireland (BMA(NI)) and members of its Patient Liaison Group welcomed the Northern Ireland Assembly debate on "Health Provision for Older People", which had previously been postponed.
Doctors increasingly use email and electronic medical records to improve health care. In an essay in the Los Angeles Times, Rahul Parikh writes about his own experience at a Kaiser Permanente facility in Northern California where they implemented an electronic medical record system in 2006: "...notes, orders and prescriptions are clear and contiguous. There"s no waiting for paperwork. And if a patient of mine shows up in another office across town (remember, Kaiser is an integrated system -- we all share the same computer network), a doctor whom I have never met can see what I"ve written, my patient"s list of problems and what I"ve done for the patient in the past before he or she even sets foot in the room to talk to the patient. Such record systems can alert us to possible medication errors or dangerous drug interactions. They can continuously be updated to identify best practices. And they talk to patients as well, allowing them to access past-visit information and immunization records and to make appointments and send e-mails to their doctor."
NPR reports that California"s $26.3 billion budget deficit is marginalizing seniors who rely on California state-provided health care and service to help them manage their lives.
HIV infection rates among gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in "some African countries are 10 times that of the general male population, and stigma, poor access to treatment or testing are to blame," according to a Lancet study published online on Monday, AFP/China Post reports. University of Oxford researchers looked at published studies to examine HIV prevalence rates between 2003 and 2009. "The difference varies a lot across Africa, but in most of the countries studied," MSM HIV prevalence rates "were substantially higher than among heterosexuals," writes AFP/China Post (7/20).
Ducking a punch or a thrown spear calls for the power of the human brain to process 3-D motion, and to perceive an object (whether it"s offensive or not) moving in three dimensions is critical to survival. It also leads to a lot of fun at 3-D movies.
As the UK enters a summer of discontent, one company has a vision to make the outlook decidedly brighter - by looking at life through blue-tinted spectacles.
The British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) and the General Optical Council (GOC) are today urging Britain"s 3.5 million contact lens wearers not to endanger their eye health and comfort during the recession through risky contact lens practices.
Placebos are a sham - usually mere sugar pills designed to represent "no treatment" in a clinical treatment study. The effectiveness of the actual medication is compared with the placebo to determine if the medication works.
Johns Hopkins biomedical engineering students have demonstrated a practical way to embed a patient"s own adult stem cells in the surgical thread that doctors use to repair serious orthopedic injuries such as ruptured tendons. The goal, the students said, is to enhance healing and reduce the likelihood of re-injury without changing the surgical procedure itself.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy"s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a fast and efficient way to determine the structure of proteins, shortening a process that often takes years into a matter of days.
New research suggests that antibiotic treatment could be asymptomatically inducing the transmission of the healthcare-acquired infection, C. difficile, contributing to the outbreaks that have recently been widely reported in hospitals and other settings. A team of scientists have successfully mirrored the infection cycle of C. difficile by generating a "mouse hospital" with conditions mimicking the human environment in which C. difficile is transmitted.
Researchers at Brown University and the University of Arizona have determined that variations of three different genes in the brain (called single-nucleotide polymorphisms) may help predict a person"s tendency to make certain choices.
A joint Department of Health and Home Office review group has published its findings on a review into access to the NHS by foreign nationals, Health Minister Ann Keen announced today.
When cells cannot carry out the tasks required of them by our bodies, the result is disease. Nanobiotechnology researchers are looking for ways to allow synthetic systems take over simple cellular activities when they are absent from the cell. This requires transport systems that can encapsulate medications and other substances and release them in a controlled fashion at the right moment. The transporter must be able to interact with the surroundings in order to receive the signal to unload its cargo. A team led by Frank Caruso at the University of Melbourne has now developed a microcontainer that can hold thousands of individual "carrier units" - a "capsosome". As they report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, these are polymer capsules in which liposomes have been embedded to form subcompartments.
The risk of developing breast cancer due to taking hormone replacement therapy appears to be the same for women with a family history of the disease and without a family history, a University of Rochester Medical Center study concluded.
CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTR), a biopharmaceutical research and development company engaged in the development of high-value human therapeutics, announced that treatment with its cancer drug candidate INNO-206 resulted in a statistically significant reduction in the average primary tumor size in an animal model of pancreatic cancer, outperforming the broadly used chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin, as well as the current standard of care in pancreatic cancer treatment, gemcitabine.
Debiopharm Group (Debiopharm), a Swiss-based global biopharmaceutical group of companies with a focus on the development of prescription drugs that target unmet medical needs, announced that the Swiss agency for therapeutic products, Swissmedic, has issued a marketing authorisation for Moapar(R) 11.25mg, the first 3-month injectable formulation, prescribed for a reversible reduction of serum testosterone to the level of castration in adult men suffering from sexual deviations. Developed by Debiopharm, Moapar(R) contains a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist analogue.
An article published in the August edition of The Lancet Infectious Diseases reports that additional research is required on the vulnerability to the new H1N1 flu strain of different immunosuppressed populations. The possible effectiveness and side-effects of future vaccines also need to be evaluated. The review is the work of Dr Ken M Kunisaki, Minneapolis VA Medical Center, USA, and University of Minnesota, USA, and Dr Edward N Janoff, Univeristy of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center, USA.
Revised guidelines on when and how to induce labor in pregnant women were issued by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). The guidelines provide physicians with guidance regarding which induction methods may be most appropriate under particular circumstances, as well as the safety requirements, and risks and benefits of the different methods. ACOG"s Practice Bulletin "Induction of Labor" is published in the August 2009 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
The Kansas chapter of the National Organization for Women has formed its own political action committee to replace ProKanDo, a PAC founded in 2002 by abortion provider George Tiller that was closed after his murder in May, the AP/Hays Daily News reports. ProKanDo spent more than $1 million over the last four years to advocate for abortion rights, assist candidates who support abortion rights and oppose antiabortion-rights candidates. The organization had more than 6,400 contributors but received between one-third and one-half of its annual funding from Tiller, according to former Director Julie Burkhart.NOW has scheduled a conference in Wichita on July 25 to discuss legislative strategy and Kansas elections. Marla Patrick, coordinator of NOW"s Kansas chapter,÷ said that although the new PAC will not have the same financial support from Tiller that ProKanDo received, his death has invigorated grassroots support. She added, "I think that can be every bit as effective, if not more so, especially in light of all the recent events" (Hegeman, AP/Hays Daily News, 7/18).
Democratic leaders may scale back a plan to tax the highest American earners, The New York Times reports.
"Emboldened by divided Democrats and polls that show rising public anxiety about President Obama"s handling of health care and the economy, Republicans on Monday launched an aggressive effort to link the two, comparing the health-care bills moving through Congress to what they labeled as a failed economic stimulus bill," The Washington Post reports. "And the news Monday that the Obama administration would delay release of a congressionally mandated report on the nation"s economic conditions only stoked the rhetoric, spawning GOP speculation that the White House is trying to avoid bad news amid the health-care debate. "The last time the president made grand promises and demanded passage of a bill before it could be reviewed, we ended up with the colossal stimulus failure and unemployment near 10 percent," Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said. "Now the president wants Americans to trust him again, but he can"t back up the utopian promises he"s making.""
AccuVein LLC announced the launch of AccuVein AV300, the world"s first hand-held, non-contact vein illumination device that helps healthcare professionals locate hard-to-find veins. IV starts and blood draws (venipuncture) can be a of patient anxiety and discomfort, and accessing veins in difficult patients can take up to 10 minutes and require multiple needle sticks. Venipuncture is the most common invasive medical procedure with an estimated 2.7 million procedures conducted every day in the United States alone. The AV300 can help reduce the need for multiple needle sticks, with the goal of improving patient care and the time to access veins.
A Better Remedy For Health Reform The Dallas Morning News
Patients would spend less time waiting for medical testing and treatment if the Government introduced Medicare rebates for GP-referred MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and diagnostic testing in GP surgeries, the AMA said today.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has today (22 July) published guidance on the use of rituximab for the first line treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. The guidance recommends that rituximab should be considered asa possible first treatment for people with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia who are able to take fludarabine in combination with cyclophosphamide.
The largest clinical trial of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) for people with HIV infection ever run in Africa has found that regular laboratory tests offer little additional clinical benefit to populations when compared to careful clinical monitoring.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released new data from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample - the largest, all-payer emergency department database in the United States. The Nationwide Emergency Department Sample is designed to help public health experts, policymakers, health care administrators, researchers, journalists and others find the data they need to answer questions about care that occurs in U.S. hospital emergency departments.
According to the Department of Health, for every ÷£1 spent on healthcare in the UK, just 12p goes on medicines. Yet when it comes to debate around
The anticipated National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) decision on the Final Appraisal Determination (FAD) for Nexavar® (sorafenib) for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been delayed, to allow consideration of the patient access scheme, Bayer Schering Pharma has agreed with the Department of Health.
Larry Wackett and Michael Sadowsky, members of the University of Minnesota"s BioTechnology Institute, developed an enzyme that is used in Bioo Scientific"s new MaxDiscovery™ Melamine Test kit, which simplifies the detection of melamine contamination in food. Melamine is an industrial chemical that killed six Chinese children and hospitalized 150,000 last year after it was added to milk to increase its apparent protein content. Some children may have life-long chronic kidney problems resulting from melamine exposure.
A new report aimed at increasing the number of doctors from lower income groups was branded a missed opportunity by doctor and medical student leaders after it failed to address the full of extent of the soaring financial cost of studying medicine in the UK.
European travellers are still putting their health at risk says the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID), with one third experiencing travel-related illness when visiting abroad. On a typical two-week trip, travellers lose an average of three days due to illness - almost 20 percent of them remain ill after their return home, and another 10 percent need medical care.
FoldRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (FoldRx) announced positive results from its pivotal Phase II/III clinical study of the company"s lead compound, tafamidis (Fx-1006A), in patients suffering from TTR amyloid polyneuropathy (ATTR-PN), a fatal orphan disease also known as Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy (FAP). Liver transplantation is the only currently available treatment option for this progressive neurodegenerative disease. Preliminary results from the first randomized controlled trial ever completed in this disease demonstrate that tafamidis treatment significantly halts disease progression in ATTR-PN, reduces the burden of disease after 18 months compared to placebo, and appears to be safe and well-tolerated.
A research published ahead of print in Gut (International Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology) reports that high intakes of linoleic acid might be associated to a third of ulcerative colitis cases. Linoleic acid is a common dietary polyunsaturated fatty acid (N-6 PUFA).
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is reminding construction companies of their duties to employees after a worker was paralysed in a fall.
AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced positive results from its first Phase 2 clinical study evaluating the functionality of the handheld device component of its ARX-01 Sufentanil NanoTab(TM) PCA System for management of acute post-operative pain in patients requiring opioid analgesia during hospitalization. Patients reliably self-administered sufentanil NanoTabs repeatedly over the 12-hour study without any ARX-01 System failures or dosing errors of any kind.
Tobira Therapeutics Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company committed to research and product discovery for the treatment of life-threatening and life-altering infectious diseases, today announced pharmacokinetic data and results from two Phase I pharmacokinetic studies for TAK-652, an investigational compound being developed for the treatment of HIV. These data suggest that TAK-652 is rapidly absorbed and demonstrate relatively good oral bioavailability (as shown by the plasma TBR-652 concentration data) and has a long plasma half-life of TBR-652 (approximate mean of 35 hours) supporting once-daily dosing. Mean TBR-652 plasma concentrations were well above the predicted target plasma concentration (2ng/mL) with or without food. In both studies TBR-652 was safe and well tolerated in this healthy subject population when administered over a dose range of 10 mg to 800 mg in 2 tablet formulations. "These two Phase I studies provide encouraging support for TAK-652 as a therapeutic option for the treatment of HIV. We look forward to results from our on-going proof-of-concept study," said James Sapirstein, CEO.
Schering-Plough announced that a New Drug Application (NDA) for a fixed-dose combination of mometasone furoate and formoterol fumarate has been filed in the United States and accepted for review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Schering-Plough is seeking marketing approval from the FDA of the mometasone furoate/formoterol fumarate combination for the maintenance treatment of asthma in patients 12 years of age and older.
Your favourite painting could reveal a lot about your personality, this is a conclusion of a study published today, 23rd July 2009 in the British Journal of Psychology, which found that people"s preferences for painting genres is linked to key personality traits.
A US non-profit organization filed a lawsuit on Wednesday asking a New Jersey county court to force food companies to put labels warning of
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that a laboratory analysis of electronic cigarette samples has found that they contain carcinogens and toxic chemicals such as diethylene glycol, an ingredient used in antifreeze.
At a time when the entertainment industry is perpetuating inaccurate portrayals of nursing in the new television shows "Nurse Jackie" and "HawthoRNe," ANA"s ethics books are especially relevant to all registered nurses (RNs). The fictional nurses are shown violating the nursing Code of Ethics by participating in activities ranging from on-the-job drug use to inappropriate nurse/patient contact in these shows. The very heart of nursing is mischaracterized as nurses are portrayed engaging in irresponsible and often criminal acts for entertainment purposes. ANA sets the ethical standards for nurses in the U.S. and internationally with its highly respected Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements, and is deeply concerned about the lasting impact these negative portrayals may have on the nursing profession.
"Nationally, about a quarter of all residency graduates began their medical training abroad. And in primary care - where there is a national shortage of physicians - more than half of all graduates are immigrants," The Concord Monitor reports. "New Hampshire"s primary care doctors are aging, and as they retire, recruiters said they will increasingly be replaced by physicians who began their training outside the country."
A proposal in Massachusetts to end the practice of paying doctors for individual procedures could prove a model to hold down costs for U.S. health care reform, Reuters reports.
During the 5th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, scientists "renewed the call for more immediate and urgent effort to be directed towards HIV prevention amid the dominance of treatment interventions and the world-wide search for a quick fix vaccine, which many agree, is years away," Health-e/allAfrica.com reports (Thom, 7/22).
Despite increasing danger posed by "al Qaeda-linked militants," U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes said Tuesday U.N. aid workers "were not backing away" from the country, Reuters reports. "Intense fighting is making it increasingly difficult to deliver aid in the Horn of Africa country, where U.N. agencies are trying to combat cholera outbreaks and maintain food supplies to 3.5 million hungry people," the news service writes (Nebehay, 7/21).
Rush University Medical Center and surgical robotics company Prosurgics announce the completion of the first colorectal surgeries in the U.S. using the FreeHand® laparoscopic camera controller.
CareFusion Corporation, the company that will become publicly traded following the planned spinoff of the clinical and medical products businesses of Cardinal Health, announced it has expanded its Pyxis® perioperative offerings that integrate with leading operating room information systems (ORIS), incorporate radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology1 and include new services.
Fingerprints move over. Scientists are reporting evidence that people have another defining trait that may distinguish each of the 6.7 billion humans on Earth from one another almost as surely as the arches, loops, and whorls on their fingertips. In a study scheduled for the Aug. 7 issue of ACS" monthly publication the Journal of Proteome Research, they report evidence from studies in humans for the existence of unique patterns in metabolism.
Dr. David H. Martin, Professor and Chief of the Section of Infectious Diseases at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, updated reporters and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases on sexually transmitted diseases in the United States on July 22, 2009 at the National Press Club in Washington , DC. Dr. Martin, whose presentation was called, Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Neither Gone nor Forgotten, revealed significant information about STDs including Chlamydia trachomatis, gonorrhea, syphilis, and a relatively new STD, Mycoplasma genitalium.
Mice with a defective mitochondrial protein called MCLK1 produce elevated amounts of reactive oxygen when young; that should spell disaster, yet according to a study in this week"s JBC these mice actually age at a slower rate and live longer than normal mice.
Stephania Cormier, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has shown for the first time that early exposure to environmentally persistent free radicals (present in airborne ultrafine particulate matter) affects long-term lung function. She recently presented her latest research data at the 11th International Congress on Combustion By-Products and Their Health Effects at the Environmental Protection Agency Conference Center in Research Triangle Park, N.C.
Music, rather than electromechanical valves, can drive experimental samples through a lab-on-a-chip in a new system developed at the University of Michigan. This development could significantly simplify the process of conducting experiments in microfluidic devices.
Whites experiencing depression are far more likely to be diagnosed by a physician than other ethnic groups, according to a new Consumer Health Sciences (CHS) study presented today at the 14th Annual ISPOR (International Society for Pharmacoeconomic and Outcomes Research) Conference in Orlando, Florida. The study reveals that 76% of whites with self-reported depression symptoms are officially diagnosed, compared to just 58.7% of blacks, 62.7% of Hispanics and 47.4% of Asians.
New research commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme will assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of bone anchored hearing aids (BAHAs) for people who are bilaterally deaf (deaf in both ears). Hearing impairment is the most common sensory deficit and it is estimated that there are approximately 688,000 severely to profoundly deaf adults in the UK. According to evidence given to the House of Commons Health Committee, the NHS tariff puts the cost per person of conventional hearing aid provision from appointment and clinic time to use of equipment at about ÷£270. The price of a working BAHA per patient is estimated to be at least ÷£4500.
PMSI Settlement Solutions, a leading provider of solutions for the liability and workers" compensation markets, today responded to the results of the recent California Workers" Compensation Institute (CWCI) study on how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services" (CMS) stepped-up enforcement of Medicare Set-Aside (MSA) rules will impact payers.
Ten years ago, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) sounded the alarm about the widespread toll of medical errors in a groundbreaking report call "To Err is Human." The report prompted a rush of congressional hearings and promises of reform. But in the decade since the report was published, little progress has been made implementing key reforms recommended by the IOM to improve patient safety, according to Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.
The cost of insuring a family of four with an employer-sponsored health plan in the United States averaged $12,298 in 2008, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Researchers from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center have discovered a new gene fusion that is highly expressed in a subset of prostate cancers. The results may lead to more accurate prostate cancer testing and new targets for potential treatments. Experts believe that gene fusions -- a hybrid gene formed from two previously separated genes -- may be at the root of what causes cancer cells to grow more quickly than normal cells.
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new use for its osteoporosis drug FORTEO((R)) [teriparatide (rDNA origin) injection] to treat osteoporosis associated with sustained, systemic glucocorticoid therapy in men and women at high risk of fracture. Glucocorticoid therapy is the most common cause of secondary osteoporosis, leading to bone loss and an increased risk for fracture.(1)
The National Changing Diabetes((R)) Program (NCDP), a program of Novo Nordisk, and several member associations today urged President Obama and members of Congress to make the prevention, detection and treatment of diabetes, one of the nation"s most pervasive and costly diseases, a priority in reforming the U.S. healthcare system.
Coal dust exposure is directly linked to severity of emphysema in smokers and nonsmokers alike, according to new research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Side discrepancy errors in radiology reports do occur and it is important that radiologists, referring physicians and patients communicate well to help prevent errors in clinical management, according to a study performed at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. "Side discrepancy errors refer to instances when the side of the lesion is incorrectly noted in one or more sections of the radiology report," said Minal Jagtiani Sangwaiya, MD, lead author of the study.
The risk of developing deep vein thrombosis during a long flight is often overestimated. According to the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), this condition is very unlikely in healthy travellers. When people wear a cast or splint after a sports accident, on the other hand, many are not aware that they have an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis in their leg and pelvic area. This is emphasised in information published on IQWiG"s website Informed Health Online.
Patients with moderate COPD were randomized to receive "usual care" or to undergo an interdisciplinary, community-based program (INTERCOM) that offered an intensive lifestyle moderation phase of four months, during which patients were instructed in detail to perform two 15-minute intervals of pleasurable walking or cycling, and offered instruction in other lifestyle changes such as nutrition and smoking cessation. After the four-month introductory period, there was a less intensive 20-month maintenance during which patients were offered guidance but not intensive intervention.
Three prominent figures in the field of neuromuscular disease research have been re-elected to national leadership positions with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).
A new study finds more seniors are covered by a Medicare drug plan and report greater savings, but gaps in coverage and other problems still persist.
"You hear the pitch in drug ads all the time: "Ask your doctor if this medication is right for you,"" reports MSNBC. However, evidence to show whether a treatment is appropriate for a given patient is often scarce. Matching therapies to patients is further complicated by vast difference in how people respond to medicines. However, a national push for so-called comparative effectiveness research could make that job easier. The economic stimulus package includes $1 billion to support the research.
Ovulation is one part of the female menstrual cycle whereby a mature ovarian follicle (part of the ovary) discharges an egg (also known as an ovum, oocyte, or female gamete). It is during this process that the egg travels down the fallopian tube where it may be met by a sperm and become fertilized.
Take A Look At The Swiss Answer To Health Care Roll Call
Police detectives searched the offices of one of Michael Jackson"s doctors for evidence of manslaughter on Wednesday, according to various US
The race to develop a H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine before the fall flu season ramped up Wednesday, after Australia launched the first human trials of the H1N1 vaccine and scientists from the U.S., China and Britain announced plans for human trials of an H1N1 vaccine in coming weeks, AFP/France24.com reports (7/23).
The Health Protection Agency has reported an 11% decrease in the total number of new gonorrhoea infections diagnosed in the UK last year from 18,649 infections in 2007 to 16,629 in 2008 - the lowest number of new infections recorded since 1999.
Join America"s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) September 13 - 17, 2009, along with senior health insurance plan executives, policymakers, and federal and state representatives for updates, analyses, and discussion on the leading issues for health insurance plans participating in Medicare and Medicaid. Whatever is of special interest to you, AHIP"s Medicare & Medicaid Conferences offer sound public policy analyses and access to best practices and insights to help you strengthen your work serving Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
Gangrene occurs when tissue dies (necrosis) because its blood supply is interrupted. Gangrene may be caused by an infection, injury, or a complication of a long-term condition that restricts blood circulation. It most commonly occurs in the extremities - the toes, fingers, arms and legs - but internal organs and muscles may also become gangrenous. There are five main types of gangrene: 1. Dry gangrene. 2. Wet gangrene. 3. Gas gangrene. 4. Internal gangrene. 5. Fournier"s gangrene.
Speaking at a meeting of the New
Even during the Black Death in the 15th century the sharing of communion wine was not stopped in England. The Church of England has taken the unprecedented step of ordering its entire clergy to suspend the sharing of the chalice at Holy Communion services. This measure, says the Church, is a precaution against the spread of the H1N1 swine flu virus.
The House on Friday is expected to pass its fiscal year 2010 Labor-HHS-Education spending bill (HB 3293) after considering several Republican amendments addressing the bill"s price tag and certain policy priorities, CQ Today reports. The bill would appropriate $730.5 billion, making it the largest of the 12 annual appropriations bills. A vote is expected on a GOP amendment, offered by Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), to prohibit family planning funding through the Title X program to Planned Parenthood clinics. Other expected amendments will seek to ban NIH from funding grants to research the HIV/AIDS risks associated with alcohol and substance abuse among sex workers in Asia and to strip language that would lift the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs (Wolfe, CQ Today, 7/23).In related news, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday said the Senate would not vote on a health care reform bill until after Congress returns from its August recess, the New York Times reports (Herszenhorn/Zeleny, New York Times, 7/24).
South African President Jacob Zuma and Virgin Group founder and chair Richard Branson "intend [on] establishing a disease control centre in South Africa as soon as next year," SAPA/The Times reports. "Branson said the initiative, expected to be launched by March, would be 50 percent private and 50 percent government funded," the news service writes (7/22).
A Web-based system allowing general practitioners to confer with specialists regarding patients with skin conditions may reduce referrals to dermatologists by approximately 20 percent, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Lancet Commends U.K. All-Parliamentary Group on AIDS Call For HIV Drug Patent Pool
New research shows that training your brain may be just as effective as training your muscles in preventing ACL knee injuries, and suggests a shift from performance-based to prevention-based athletic training programs.
Several state and local agencies, hospitals and others conducted a full-scale exercise involving
Merck Serono announced that it is seeking a European license for cladribine, its oral therapy that is in late-stage clinical trials for relapsing remitting MS.
A new report from the Institute of Medicine finds suggestive but limited evidence that exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides used during the Vietnam War is associated with an increased chance of developing ischemic heart disease and Parkinson"s disease for Vietnam veterans. The report is the latest in a congressionally mandated series by the IOM that every two years reviews the evidence about the health effects of these herbicides and a type of dioxin -- TCDD -- that contaminated some of the defoliants.
In recent years, oncologists have debated whether patients with a certain type of advanced lung cancer would benefit from surgery.
Roofing companies in Greater Manchester are being urged to make safety one of their top priorities after a man fell through the roof of a Swinton factory.
Staff working in UK veterinary practices lack access to good occupational health advice warns a new study published in the scientific journal, Occupational Medicine. The research, the first published benchmark of occupational health risk management by vet practices in the UK, showed that despite veterinary surgeons and nurses being exposed to many occupational hazards less than a third of practices had trained staff in health and safety and only 14% sought advice from occupational health professionals.
The Financial Secretary to Her Majesty"s Government, Rt. Hon. Stephen Timms MP has written to Ivan Corea of the UK Autism Foundation, pledging support for families with autism.
The Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) has responded to the decision by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to move to a neutral position on assisted suicide.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology announced that it has issued a revised policy statement on Learning Disabilities, Dyslexia, and Vision. The revised statement, which was issued jointly with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) and the American Association of Certified Orthoptists (AACO), expands upon the previous policy and includes extensive scientific references. The statement was also published today in Pediatrics, the journal of the AAP.
Lutonix, Inc., a privately held medical device start-up, announced that patient enrollment is underway for its three simultaneous first-in-human clinical trials. The three studies are designed to test whether the proprietary Lutonix Drug Coated Balloon (DCB) Catheter is safe and effective in the treatment of vascular narrowing.
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) and BioMS Medical Corp. (TSX: MS) announced that dirucotide did not meet the primary endpoint of delaying disease progression, as measured by the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), during the two-year MAESTRO-01 Phase III trial in patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). In addition, there were no statistically significant differences between dirucotide and placebo on the secondary endpoints of the study.
A common food additive that gives M&Ms and Gatorade their blue tint may offer promise for preventing the additional and serious secondary damage that immediately follows a traumatic injury to the spinal cord. In an article published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers report that the compound Brilliant Blue G (BBG) stops the cascade of molecular events that cause secondary damage to the spinal cord in the hours following a spinal cord injury, an injury known to expand the injured area in the spinal cord and permanently worsen the paralysis for patients.
Divorce and widowhood have a lingering, detrimental impact on health, even after a person remarries, research at the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins University shows.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will give an additional $80 million to Avahan, a foundation initiative launched in 2003 for HIV prevention programs in India, Bill Gates said on Thursday, the Seattle Times blog, "Business of Giving" reports. Previous foundation commitments to the program, "which involves more than 100 non-profits in six Indian states," total $258 million, the blog writes (Heim, 7/23).
The House on Friday passed a $730.5 billion bill (HR 3293) "to fund health, education and labor programs in fiscal 2010 after narrowly defeating an attempt to strip language that would lift the ban on federal needle exchange programs," in the U.S., CQ Today reports (Wolfe, 7/24). Lawmakers voted 211-218 to reject an amendment by Mark Souder (R-Ind.) that sought to keep the ban in place, the AP/Lewiston Sun Journal reports (Taylor, 7/25). The bill that passed includes a restriction against using federal funds for needle exchanges within 1,000 feet of day care centers, schools, parks, playgrounds, pools and youth centers, the Washington Post reports.
A drug used to remove iron from the body could help doctors fight one of diabetes" cruelest complications: poor wound healing, which can lead to amputation of patients" toes, feet and even legs.
Program is top priority under new health care imperatives to reduce the rate of 30-day readmissions
Long-term survivors of cancer that developed in adulthood are at increased risk of experiencing serious psychological distress, according to a report in the July 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Government health officials from 13 African countries today launched the first-ever push for accreditation of the continent"s medical laboratories, starting a process that the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Government believe will be an historic step to strengthen health systems and lead to better care for patients.
The Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF) is pleased to announce that the 2009 Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc./Lymphoma Research Foundation Clinical Investigator Career Development Award has been awarded to Kai Fu, MD, PhD, Associate Professor at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
Couples struggling with fertility problems have a new option for assessing their ability to have a child with the start-up of a new Buffalo-based company called LifeCell Dx, Inc. (LCDX).
Health care experts at the University of California, San Francisco highlight in a new report the hidden risks and complexities that compromise patient safety for ambulatory patients with chronic disease.
For physiotherapist Associate Professor Michele Sterling, treating whiplash is all about thinking outside of the box.
A research project is currently in progress that focuses on tumour stem
Two of the UK"s top ophthalmologists based at Southampton General Hospital"s Eye Unit are offering the most advanced treatment for corneal disease in the country.
÷£25 million announced to more than treble the number of NHS apprenticeships
The Director of The Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute (APHCRI) based at The Australian National University has welcomed the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission"s final report and its recommendations.
Cardium Therapeutics (NYSE Amex: CXM) and its subsidiary Tissue Repair Company (TRC) provided an update on the completion of their MATRIX Phase 2b clinical study and announced plans to provide detailed safety and efficacy data for their Excellarate(TM) product candidate around the end of September. The MATRIX trial, a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, has enrolled 124 diabetic patients with non-healing, lower extremity neuropathic ulcers.