Health Insurance
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued a new warning urging parents in Scotland to keep their children away from construction sites so they stay safe.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today proposed changes to policies and payment rates for services to be furnished during calendar year (CY 2010) by over 1 million physicians and nonphysician practitioners who are paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). The MPFS sets payment rates for more than 7,000 types of services in physician offices, hospitals, and other settings.
Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) launched GoldenGate Indexing, a high-throughput genotyping solution that utilizes multi-sample indexing technology. Researchers may now screen up to 16 times as many samples per reaction as the standard GoldenGate Assay, increasing throughput from 288 samples per day to greater than 2000, while decreasing total reagent consumption. This high-quality genotyping system includes automation control and positive sample tracking through an Illumina Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), creating a turnkey solution for low-complexity screening at an affordable cost per sample. The plexity ranges include 96-plex, 192-plex and 384-plex, which are ideal for screening in the livestock and agriculture market as well as for whole-genome association target validation and quality control applications.
A comprehensive overview that explores the prospects and progress of synthetic inhibitors to target cell cycle kinases in cancer forecasts that "novel compounds with increased potency, improved kinase specificity and favorable drug like properties will soon be available for clinical evaluation."
In a bid to reduce dangerous levels of undiagnosed HIV among gay men, Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) is launching a new campaign encouraging men to take control of their sexual health by regularly testing for HIV. The campaign "THIVK - Test - Take Control" will be run through a stand-alone website (http://www.thinkHIV.co.uk), adverts in gay press, posters, leaflets and condom packs, carrying the following messages:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) informed in its weekly update on Friday evening, 3rd July, 2009, that the total number of confirmed human cases of swine flu A(H1N1) infection stands at 33,902, including 170 deaths.
The innovative pharmaceutical industry is committed to ensuring any animal-based
Almost 30% of 14-year-old Australian children fall within a group identified as being at future increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes or stroke, according to results referred to in the Medical Journal of Australia.
Leading interventional pain physicians from key U.S. centers gathered at a special clinical symposium to share their experience with Vertos Medical"s mild (Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression), the least invasive surgical procedure for treating lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), with no implants left behind.* Their early clinical experiences suggest that mild may be an appropriate treatment alternative earlier in the LSS progression, as mild patients have shown favorable results when comparing post-treatment improvement at three months to open surgical procedure patient results at one year1. Moreover, mild leaves future surgical options open.
GE (NYSE:GE), and Asklepios Hospital Group today signed an agreement to create their first project in German healthcare to comprehensively address environmental issues. The renovation and expansion of one of the hospitals owned by Asklepios in Hamburg, Germany, known as the "Green Hospital" project, will be their pilot hospital in Europe entirely planned and designed on ecological principles.
Media coverage of skin cancer advice and sun awareness campaigns may have generated a 47 percent increase in diagnoses of melanoma in just one year, according to research due to be released at the British Association of Dermatologists" Annual Conference next week.
While Lands End and John O"Groats may be poles apart geographically they"re side by side when it comes to generosity.
Heart transplant recipients" cardio-respiratory fitness is around 30 to 50 per cent lower than age-matched healthy sedentary individuals. As a result, exercise rehabilitation should be very important to these patients, and a University of Alberta study shows they can improve their overall physical fitness.
Power3 Medical Products, Inc. (OTCBB: PWRM), announced that results for the early stage diagnosis from clinical validation trials of the NuroPro® PD test for Parkinson"s disease are better than expected. The NuroPro PD test was developed to help clinicians distinguish patients with Parkinson"s disease from "normal" individuals and patients with other neurological disorders. The NuroPro PD test, developed by Power3, utilizes a panel of blood serum protein biomarkers evaluated by biostatistical analysis to predict the probability that a patient has Parkinson"s disease. The test is intended to solve a critical challenge facing physicians, clinicians, and patients for a quick, early stage and accurate diagnosis of the debilitating disease known as Parkinson"s.
WHO leaders and international health ministers met Thursday for a two-day meeting in Cancun, Mexico, to share the lessons learned from the spread of H1N1 (swine flu) (Xinhua, 7/3) and strategies for "battling the pandemic," the AP/Washington Post reports (Rodriguez, 7/2).
The global economic downturn has "reversed a 20-year decline in world poverty" and could "add up to 90 million to the ranks of the hungry in 2009, an increase of six percent over current totals," according to a U.N. report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched in Geneva on Monday, Reuters reports (Evans, 7/6).
The Iowa Independent looks at the complexity of changing Iowa"s HIV transmission law. The Independent writes that Iowa "isn"t a state with a high percentage of people living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Prosecutions related to this particular law are often highly publicized as much for their uniqueness as for a public"s need to know. In addition, of the statute"s 24 convictions since its inception, three have been appealed and subsequently affirmed by the Iowa Supreme Court." The article features comments from a former state legislator and a member of the legislative study committee that could potentially reconsider this law (Waddington, 7/3).
Three new small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) - Syncom, Synvolux Therapeutics and InteRNA Technologies - have joined public-private partnership TI Pharma by participating in two new projects. These projects, focusing on cancer and inflammatory diseases, have a total budget of nearly 6 million euros.
A procedure that sends targeted energy into the heart through a catheter can be used to treat a common type of irregular heartbeat, but little is known about the treatment"s long-term benefits and the best methods and circumstances for applying it, according to a new report funded by HHS" Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Senator Christopher Dodd, who is presiding over the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee during the absence of Committee Chair Edward Kennedy, today released the remaining portions of the health care reform bill that the Committee will consider when the July 4th recess ends. The following is the statement of Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA, about the bill:
Democrats and Republicans are saying that they will need to compromise on a government-run public plan if they are to meet the deadline of having a bill on the Senate floor by the August recess, The Associated Press reports.
The Medicare Rights Center (Medicare Rights) and Food Bank For New York City (Food Bank) have joined forces to enroll poor older New York City residents in programs to help them afford health care and healthy food. Funded by a $1 million grant from the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the two advocacy organizations will help city seniors enroll in four under-utilized assistance programs, with a total project value to enrollees of $46 million.
"The nation"s largest insurers, hospitals and medical groups have hired more than 350 former government staff members and retired members of Congress in hopes of influencing their old bosses and colleagues, according to an analysis of lobbying disclosures and other records," the Washington Post reports. The Post"s analysis of lobbying disclosure records shows that three-quarters of major health firms have hired an insider to lobby on their behalf; half of those insiders once worked for the key senators and congressional committees that are now shaping the reform proposals.
As the temperatures rise, so do trips to pediatric emergency rooms. Severe cuts, broken bones and head injuries are the most common causes for trips to the emergency room during the summer, says Tony Scalzo, M.D., professor of pediatric emergency medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
President Obama on Friday said that although he intends to reverse the Bush administration"s provider "conscience" rule, he still favors a "robust" federal policy that would enhance the rights of health care workers to refuse to perform certain procedures because of moral or religious objections, the Washington Post reports. In a session with reporters one week before his first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, Obama said that he is a "believer in conscience clauses." He added that a new policy from his administration "may not meet the criteria of every possible critic of our approach, but it certainly will not be weaker than what existed before the changes were made." According to the Post, Obama"s comments aimed to reassure Roman Catholic health care workers that they would still be able to refuse to perform abortions and other procedures that go against the Church"s teachings. Several federal laws in place since the 1970s protect the rights of health care workers with moral or religious objections (Salmon, Washington Post, 7/3). Nancy Berlinger, deputy director of the Hastings Center, said that conscience laws also "are on the books in almost every state." She added, "The idea was that when abortion moved from being an illegal procedure, therefore something that you did not offer in a hospital, to being a legal procedure, therefore something that you might offer in a hospital, there was a move to protect providers ... from having to participate in abortions." However, not all conscience laws are specific to abortion, NPR"s "Morning Edition" reports. For example, some allow providers to refuse to provide birth control, in vitro fertilization or end-of-life care (Rovner, "Morning Edition," NPR, 7/6).The Bush administration said its 2008 policy was designed to ensure that the federal laws are enforced. The policy would cut off federal funding to health care facilities and other entities that did not accommodate workers who refused to participate in certain procedures (Washington Post, 7/3). Joxel Garcia, the assistant secretary for health in the Bush administration who helped write the policy, said that it is necessary because few health care workers are aware of the protections. He added that the policy gives health workers "a mechanism to seek help" through HHS.However, critics of the Bush administration"s policy contend that it would widely expand the scope of health care covered by the policy and the type of health care workers who could object to procedures. Berlinger said, "Words like belief, when you talk about them in the context of health care, aren"t just anything you might think of." She noted that a "false belief about science or the promotion of ambiguity where things can be disambiguated," such as the claim that birth control is equivalent to abortion, "is not ethical" ("Morning Edition," NPR, 7/6).Obama"s plan to replace the policy has stoked concern from Catholic health care providers that they would be forced to perform abortions, sterilizations and other procedures that go against Catholic teachings (Washington Post, 7/3). A recent survey conducted for the Christian Medical Association found that 90% of doctors surveyed said that "they will quit their practices before violating their conscience," according to David Stevens, executive director of CMA. Stevens said that repealing the Bush administration"s rule "sends a clear message: It"s open season on health care professionals of conscience -- discriminate at will" ("Morning Edition," NPR, 7/6).Obama on Friday also said that although he and the pope have areas of "deep agreement ... there are going to be some areas where we"ve got some disagreements," such as abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research. The president will meet with the pope on July 10, while he is in Europe for a summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations. Obama Addresses Catholic Concerns on Pregnancy PreventionObama also discussed opposition to the inclusion of comprehensive sex education and contraception in any legislative pac
As lawmakers work to pass health reform legislation, "few are talking about" the "essential question" of whether "health reform will force taxpayers to pay for abortions for the first time in 30 years," Family Research Council President Tony Perkins writes in a Washington Times opinion piece. According to Perkins, "the short answer is yes" because there is no "explicit provision" in any Democratic health plan that would "[p]revent taxpayer funding of abortions as part of the health care benefit Congress is considering"; avert "delays in health care services that result in the death of the patient waiting for care"; or allow health care providers "to refuse to participate in health care-related action that violates their conscience." Perkins continues that the House"s reform proposal would provide federal coverage for ""family planning," the well-worn buzz word that includes abortion unless specified to the contrary." He adds that "it would be naive to assume, unless there is an explicit prohibition in the bill, that [HHS] Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will not use her discretion to fund abortions with taxpayers" money." Perkins also writes that the Democratic reform plans, "in short, ... attempt to be silent on the key question of whether or not to allow the U.S. government to fund abortions with taxpayers" money," and also give the HHS secretary "the power to allow taxpayer-funded abortions."He writes, "The Family Research Council"s answer is clear: There must be a permanent prohibition on taxpayer-funded abortions," as well as "provision to allow a right of conscience for doctors and nurses and other health care providers" to refuse to participate in treatments they oppose. He adds that "there can be no system of denial or delay or rationing of care." Perkins concludes, "Euthanasia by any other name is a poison pill in the health reform debate" (Perkins, Washington Times, 7/5)
The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) commends Chairman Kennedy and Senator Dodd on the recent version of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee bill that includes a public health insurance option and reforms to expand access, and urges leaders in Washington to further strengthen legislation. AMSA calls for a robust public health insurance option funded by tax revenue, available to all Americans.
GeckoSystems Intl. Corp. (PINKSHEETS: GCKO) announced that they expect pent-up demand for their cost effective, home based eldercare personal robots. This new type of modern eldercare will postpone, if not eliminate, many elderly persons from having to endure the loneliness and loss of independence when living in nursing homes, and other assisted living facilities. Their families can now better manage the difficult decisions regarding independence they allow their now dependent aged parent while minimizing the concern and risk the adult caregiving child is willing to assume to enable an acceptable level of independence for their now dependent parent. GeckoSystems is a dynamic leader in the emerging Mobile Service Robot industry revolutionizing their development and usage with "Mobile Robot Solutions for Safety, Security and Service™."
The prescription charge in England is a tax in all but name - and an unfair one at that - and should be axed, says Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB).
The way certain patients present in the post-acute hospital setting with delirium, a common, preventable but life-threatening acute confusional state, predicts mortality, according to a study conducted by the Institute for Aging Research of Hebrew SeniorLife.
Chronic seizures caused by traumatic head injuries may result from chemicals released by the brain"s immune system attempting to repair the injured site, according to a study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Where biology, chemistry and physics intersect, a Kansas State University professor expects to find applications to improve human health.
Antibodies to a wide range of substances that can aggregate to form plaques, such as those found in Alzheimer"s patients, have been identified in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of healthy people. Levels of these antibodies decline with age and, in Alzheimer"s patients, with increasing progression of the disease.
An electronic system with personalized patient information shared by diabetes patients and their primary care providers improved diabetes care and clinical outcomes, found a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) .
Primary Health Care Trusts (PCTs) the length of England could soon find themselves in the High Court over the pitiful lack of appropriate treatment being offered to those with severe alcohol problems following an audit carried out by pressure group UK Advocates.
A new prostate cancer "homing device" could improve detection and allow for the first targeted treatment of the disease.
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: LXRX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing breakthrough treatments for human disease, announced today that it has initiated a Phase 2 clinical trial of LX1032, the company"s oral drug candidate for managing gastrointestinal symptoms associated with carcinoid syndrome. LX1032 is designed to reduce serotonin production in patients with metastatic carcinoid tumors. Elevated levels of serotonin contribute to the gastrointestinal and possibly other symptoms experienced by these patients.
Hologic, Inc., (Hologic or the Company) (Nasdaq: HOLX), a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of premium diagnostics, medical imaging systems and surgical products dedicated to serving the healthcare needs of women, announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Company"s premarket approval (PMA) application for the Adiana(R) permanent contraception system. The Adiana system is designed to provide women a minimally-invasive, non-incision alternative to traditional, surgical means of permanent contraception. In January 2009, Hologic received CE marking approval for the Adiana system and commenced marketing and sales of this product in certain European countries.
A recent study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) reports that diabetes care and clinical outcomes are improved by an electronic system with personalized patient information shared by diabetes patients and their primary care providers.
Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radiologists may be able to diagnose deep endometriosis and accurately locate lesions prior to surgery, according to a new study published in the online edition of Radiology.
More men and women are seeking to donate sperm and eggs as a way to make money during the continuing recession, according to sperm banks and egg donation agencies, USA Today reports. Compensation for donations varies by region, state and donor agency, according to USA Today. David Battaglia, lab director for Oregon Health and Science University Fertility Consultants, said that sperm donors receive $100 per collection and can donate twice per week, while egg donors -- who undergo an outpatient extraction process -- can receive $5,000 for a donation. Battaglia said his lab has seen "easily a 25%-30% increase in calls in the last nine months." Kim Springfield, vice president of sales for donor referral service Health News, said that the company"s donations have seen "a definite spike" of about 40% since February. Robin van Halle, president of Alternative Reproductive Res, which works with egg donors, said, "Our calls have just about doubled." However, she noted, "It"s not a quick buck."Springfield said that many prospective donors choose not to begin the process once they learn that medical and psychological screening can take weeks or months and rules out most interested people. Egg donors must be screened for mental and physical health, then chosen by prospective parents. Battaglia said that OHSU Fertility Consultants require that egg donors are between ages 21 to 32 and that sperm donors are between ages 20 to 39 to improve fertility odds. Von Halle noted that the rise in donors is giving infertility patients more choices. However, because in vitro fertilization can cost thousands of dollars, economic concerns are forcing many to postpone their plans, she said (Keen, USA Today, 7/7).
Despite some roadblocks, Senate Democrats are trying to hold true to their pledge to pass health care reform legislation by the August recess, Roll Call reports.
"Health care overhaul legislation from President Barack Obama"s congressional allies would create a federal insurance czar with sweeping new powers to oversee medical plans nationwide, an idea already drawing fierce criticism," The Associated Press reports. "State insurance commissioners are objecting, saying it would duplicate what they now do without offering any better protection for consumers. Conservatives are calling it a textbook example of a big government mentality."
In a study of specially designed peripheral prism glasses for hemianopia patients (blinded in half the visual field in both eyes), scientists found that two-thirds of patients continued to wear the glasses at the end of the study period and beyond, indicating a high level of success. They also found that the brains of patients had not fully remapped to adjust for the prisms, which means that improved training in their use could further enhance the benefits, says principal investigator, Dr. Eli Peli, a senior scientist at Schepens Eye Research Institute and inventor of the glasses.
Michael R. Taylor, J.D., a nationally recognized food safety expert and research professor at George Washington University"s School of Public Health and Health Services, will return to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to serve as senior advisor to the commissioner.
National research on income and wealth in Australia has confirmed AMA observations that there is a clear connection between unemployment and health.
Developing countries will need an estimated $1 billion by year"s end to ensure their access to antivirals and vaccines to protect against the H1N1 (swine flu) virus, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday, AFP/Google.com reports. "Funding had "not been flowing as expected," following appeals in recent weeks, [Ban] added," according to the news service (7/6).
Researchers at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research in Wellington, New Zealand have found that abnormally proliferating human T-cells, rapidly dividing cancer cells such as primary myeloid and lymphoid leukemic blast cells undergo programmed cell death when exposed briefly to the investigational anti-tumor drug phenoxodiol.
Atrium Medical is pleased to announce that is has received CE Mark for a new generation Cobalt Chromium Coronary Stent System called Cinatra™. Cinatra™ is indicated for the treatment of coronary artery occlusive disease.
A study by researchers from Duke University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and published in PLoS Medicine has found that upon infection "three lines of attack by the immune system are quickly neutralized by HIV," findings they hope "will provide a better understanding of how to develop a vaccine to protect against the virus," the Raleigh News & Observer reports. The study, lead by Duke"s Barton Haynes, showed that HIV, "once considered a slow if stealthy invader, actually works incredibly fast at disarming key immune fighters in the body." Haynes said scientists still have a difficult task in developing a vaccine, adding, "It would have to be different than any other vaccine made" (Avery, 7/7).
Jeremiah (Jere) Mead, architect of the field of respiratory mechanics and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), passed away on July 4, 2009, at a health care facility in Ellsworth, ME. He was 88 years old.
Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have discovered a molecular coupling factor that helps bones grow and remodel themselves to stay strong, a finding that could lead to better bone-building therapies and new osteoporosis drugs, the researchers said
Giving a local anaesthetic during a Caesarean section helps manage pain after the operation and can reduce consumption of painkillers, according to Cochrane Researchers. The researchers recommend local anaesthetics as part of integrated pain management strategies for Caesarean section operations, provided that consideration is given to the cost.
Psychological interventions intended to prevent the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the early stages after a traumatic experience have not been shown to be effective, Cochrane Researchers have concluded. This systematic review focused on multiple-session treatments for everyone involved, irrespective of the presence of symptoms. Two previous reviews found single session interventions to be ineffective.
Diabetes UK and NHS Diabetes have joined forces to deliver an innovative project that will support three primary care trusts (PCTs) in England to develop effective user involvement approaches in diabetes care. The charity is now seeking three organisations to become our local partners.
NexMed, Inc. (Nasdaq: NEXM), a developer of products based on the NexACT® technology, announced the mutual decision with Novartis to terminate the licensing agreement for NM100060, a topically-applied treatment for onychomycosis, commonly known as nail fungus. NexMed entered into the exclusive, worldwide agreement with Novartis in September 2005, under which Novartis assumed all clinical development, regulatory, manufacturing and commercialization responsibilities for NM100060.
Have you ever covered yourself with a blanket to stave off the shivers? A new study shows that a blanket can also help alleviate shivering in patients who have been cooled to prevent brain damage.
A recent survey of low-income parents has found that financial stress caused by the economic recession is forcing many families to choose between basic necessities such as food, transportation and housing, and routine dental care for their children - exacerbating an epidemic of poor dental health among children from underserved communities.
One of nature"s most gripping feats of survival is now better understood. For the first time, scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy"s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory observed the chemical changes in individual cells that enable them to survive conditions that should kill them.
A team of Rice University bioengineering students who invented a device to measure intrinsic hand muscle strength has won two prestigious honors for their patent-pending creation, PRIME. The device could revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of hand injuries and neurological disorders, specifically carpal tunnel syndrome.
Infants who weigh less than five and a half pounds at birth often enter the world with a host of medical complications, including respiratory problems. New research shows that these respiratory problems may persist well beyond their infancy and childhood and into adulthood.
Severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with lower cognitive function in older adults, according to research from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Researchers compared cognitive performance in over 4,150 adults with and without COPD and found that individuals with severe COPD had significantly lower cognitive function than those without, even after controlling for confounding factors such as comorbidities.
Medical mycologists in The South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID) and the Department of Biology at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) have significantly advanced the fight against San Joaquin Valley Fever, a respiratory infection of humans, commonly called Valley Fever, which is caused by the Coccidioides fungus. For the first time, the researchers have genetically engineered a live, attenuated vaccine that successfully protects mice against Valley Fever, known in scientific circles as coccidioidomycosis.
Dr. SleepGood, Inc. has announced the release of the SnoreSling™, a non-invasive fabric product that could help millions of sleep apnea and snoring sufferers, as well as their bed partners, finally get a good night"s rest.
Infants who received two or three primary doses of the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-7) both had a decreased rate of carrying pneumococcal microorganisms that can cause pneumonia and other infections, compared to infants who were not vaccinated, according to a study in the July 8 issue of JAMA.
Typhoid fever is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Salmonella typhi. It is also known as enteric fever, or commonly just typhoid. Typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever are clinically indistinguishable diseases, collectively called enteric fever. It easily spreads through contaminated food and water supplies and close contact with others who are infected. The illness is characterized by very high fever, sweating, gastroenteritis, and diarrhea. Although typhoid is very rare in the developed world, it is still a serious health threat in the developing world. Typhoid is treatable with antibiotics.
Fate Therapeutics, Inc. announced the presentation of data from its research on small molecule modulators of the Wnt pathway for osteo-regeneration at the 7th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) in Barcelona, Spain. In its findings, the Company demonstrated that selected Wnt activators induce the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells to mature, bone-forming osteoblasts. The study highlights the potential for using small molecule Wnt activators as osteogenic agents. Because osteogenic agents stimulate positive bone growth, they may offer an improved course of action in clinical settings ranging from orthopedics to osteoporosis as compared to current medications aimed at preventing bone decay.
Many global companies have activated a pandemic response plan to the threat of an A(H1N1) "swine flu" pandemic, according to a survey released by The Conference Board.
The following is a statement of Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:
Police, teachers and other public sector workers should be trained in spotting signs of mental ill-health as a new report from a coalition of mental health groups sets out its vision for mental health services that spans across public services.
DrugScope has published research [1] showing that 1 in 5 adults in the UK have either direct or indirect personal experience of drug addiction [2]. The survey findings, revealed exclusively in the charity"s magazine Druglink, shed new light on public attitudes to drug use and drug users.
The House Appropriations Committee during consideration of the fiscal year 2010 Financial Services spending bill on Tuesday defeated an amendment that sought to prohibit Washington, D.C., from using locally raised money to fund abortion services, CQ Today reports. Funding for the district is under the bill"s jurisdiction.The panel voted 26-33 to defeat the amendment, offered by Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) and Lincoln Davis (D-Tenn). The committee approved the FY 2010 funding bill by voice vote, and House Democrats hope to have the measure on the floor by late next week (Clarke, CQ Today, 7/8).
New estimates of the likelihood that a latent case of tuberculosis (TB) will become active have resulted in a roughly 50 percent increase over previous estimates of the number of people needed to be screened (NNS) to prevent an active infection, limiting the cost effectiveness of screening in many Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-defined risk groups, according to an analysis conducted by experts in the epidemiology of the disease.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that stillbirth occurs in about one in every 160 pregnancies in the U.S., but physicians rarely warn pregnant women or their partners about the possibility, Washington Post staff writer Alan Goldenbach writes in an article discussing his experience when his wife"s pregnancy ended in stillbirth. In the U.S., the clinical definition for stillbirth is the death of a fetus after 20 weeks" gestation or weighing 350 grams if the age is unknown.There are about 26,000 stillbirths annually in the U.S., according to CDC. Goldenbach writes that this is "10 times the number of deaths attributed to sudden infant death syndrome, which has been identified as a key public health issue, and four times the incidence rate of Down syndrome, for which prenatal testing has become almost ritual." He continues that many doctors told him and his wife "that they don"t see any point in discussing stillbirth, that it"s a catch-all term for an event, and one that is frequently unexplained." Doctors contend that if they knew the causes or signs of stillbirth, they would warn patients or take preventive action, he adds. Noting that awareness of SIDS spurred research into preventive measures, Goldenbach writes that "[w]e can"t know if improved technology or more stringent standards of monitoring can lower stillbirth rates unless we do the research."Ruth Fretts, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Harvard Medical School and chair of the scientific committee for the International Stillbirth Alliance, said, "It"s a trade-off -- you are going to frighten a lot of people" by discussing stillbirths. According to Fretts" research, the leading cause of fetal death after 28 weeks" gestation is an unexplained . Goldenbach writes, "Several doctors told us privately that many ob-gyns fear charges of malpractice following a stillbirth, leading them to avoid citing a cause of death."Stillbirth Legislation in Development Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) is drafting legislation similar to a stillbirth prevention bill that then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) introduced in June 2008. According to s familiar with the bill, it will be brought to the Senate floor before the August recess. The legislation will expand stillbirth registries already in operation in Iowa and metropolitan Atlanta. The bill"s supporters hope to have as many as 12 states participating in the registry and installing a standard protocol for data collection after each stillbirth. Another provision would create a campaign to increase public awareness and strengthen grief support services, Goldenbach writes (Goldenbach, Washington Post, 7/6).
Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) is launching a new campaign to reduce levels of undiagnosed HIV by encouraging gay men, and particularly younger gay men, to start regularly attending sexual health clinics. The campaign will use a stand-alone website (http://www.betterclinics.co.uk), media adverts, posters, condom packs and pin badges to dispel some of the myths about clinics and what the testing process involves.
Inter Press Service News Agency examines the shortcomings of treatments for neglected tropical diseases - which, according to the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), account "for 12 percent of the global disease burden," and 1.3 percent of the new drugs developed between 1975 to 2004. "The diseases in question account for the deaths of 500,000 people annually, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, but drug development is biased towards the prospect of high profits, which diseases of the poor like sleeping sickness and visceral leishmaniaisis are unable to offer," IPS writes.
The world-wide explosion of overweight people has been called an epidemic. The inflammatory nature of obesity is widely recognized. Could it really be an epidemic involving an infectious agent? In this climate of concern over the increasing prevalence of overweight conditions in our society, investigators have focused on the possible role of oral bacteria as a potential direct contributor to obesity.
It"s well known that those who suffer from mental illness can benefit greatly from an active lifestyle. But most of the existing research focuses almost solely on physical activity, and while exercise is certainly important for mind and body, Temple researcher Yoshitaka Iwasaki says it"s not the only aspect of an active lifestyle.
WASHINGTON-AARP"s Health Action Now campaign turns its
The relationship between migraine headaches in women and a significant reduction in breast cancer risk has been confirmed in a follow-on study to landmark research published last year and conducted by scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The new study found a 26 percent reduced risk of breast cancer among both premenopausal and postmenopausal women with a clinical diagnosis of migraines.
Boston Medical Center (BMC) researchers have identified potential safety risks among methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) patients due to the quantity and accuracy of medical record documentation. Improved communication and coordination among substance use treatment and medical providers could mitigate and manage the potential adverse effects of methadone and interacting medications. The BMC study appears in the July issue of Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Bisphenol A, a chemical widely used in plastics and known to cause reproductive problems in the offspring of pregnant mice exposed to it, also has been found to retard the growth of follicles of adult mice and hinder their production of steroid hormones, researchers report.
Recently, the World Health Organization raised the pandemic alert to level 6, which officially declared the H1N1 flu outbreak a pandemic. New York Life Insurance Company, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States, announced that the company is well prepared to meet its commitments to policyholders in a pandemic, even one as severe as the highly lethal 1918 flu pandemic.
If you have the financial res of Bill Gates or Warren Buffett you needn"t pay money to a health plan each month, since if you get sick or injured - even very seriously - you have more than enough money to pay all your medical bills yourself.
Nanyang Technological University (NTU)"s Associate Professor Zhong Guofu has made a significant contribution to the field of organic chemistry, in particular the study of using small organic molecules as catalysts, in the synthesis process called organocatalysis. Such synthesis process takes place for example, during the production of chiral drugs.
Treatment with the angiogenesis inhibitor bevacizumab improved hearing and alleviated other symptoms in patients with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2). In a paper to appear in the July 23 New England Journal of Medicine, which is receiving early online release, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) report that bevacizumab treatment successfully shrank characteristic tumors in a small group of NF2 patients, the first reported successful NF2 treatment not involving surgery or radiation.
People with dementia and their families will get more support throughout the course of the illness as the first dementia advisors started work on Wednesday.
The Department of Health and Human Services" Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has again granted The Joint Commission deeming authority for the accreditation of critical access hospitals.
Researchers conclude in a paper just published on bmj.com that one in three breast cancers detected in a population with a public breast screening program is overdiagnosed.
As far as earning more, it appears that size really does matter, or at least it does in Australia, where researchers recently discovered a significant link
Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI) announced publication by The New England Journal of Medicine of the results of two pivotal animal efficacy studies, which showed the life-saving potential of the Company"s human monoclonal antibody drug raxibacumab (ABthrax(TM)), as well as the results of human safety studies, which supported the use of raxibacumab in the event of life-threatening inhalation anthrax disease.
A potential vaccine for Alzheimer"s disease also has been shown in mice to slow the weakening of muscles associated with inclusion body myositis, a disorder that affects the elderly.
Specialty care physicians can improve the health of high-risk patients by reviewing electronic health records and proactively providing e-consultations and treatment plan recommendations with primary care physicians, according to a Kaiser Permanente paper published online in the British Medical Journal.
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) and the World Heart Federation (WHF) called today on the UN"s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to take immediate action to avert the fastest growing threat by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) to global health.
Over 600 drummers will gather in Birmingham"s National Indoor Arena on Monday 13 July to beat a world record in aid of the MS Society.
Fourteen young people from countries attending the G8 called on their respective leaders to get tough with countries who don"t meet climate change targets and teachers whose standards slip.
In a bid to reduce levels of undiagnosed HIV, HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), Positive East and NHS Tower Hamlets are encouraging people who may have been at risk to attend a local service offering fast HIV testing. A "Fastest" clinic runs at Mile End Road every Tuesday from 6pm-9pm and there is also a monthly mobile clinic at venues across the borough.
BioElectronics Corp. (PINKSHEETS: BIEL), the maker of inexpensive, disposable drug-free anti-inflammatory devices, announced the Company is currently preparing an application for 510(k) premarket notification for submission to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for general surgical recovery. The filing will request an indication for the adjunct of use in palliative treatment of postoperative edema and pain in superficial soft tissue.
As more specific legislative language emerges on health care, "small business organizations are encouraging members to make their views known through e-mails, letters, phone calls and personal visits" to members of Congress, but "the message is a decidedly mixed one," Kaiser Health News reports. "Small business, a powerful constituency in every congressional district, no longer speaks with one voice on health care. Many of the bigger and more powerful groups that represent small businesses, including the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have long been allied with Republicans and are lobbying hard against the public option and the employer mandate." But newer, less conservative groups, including the Main Street Alliance, are advocating for those same hot button issues.
G8 Addresses Developing Nation Economic Assistance, Reforming African Aid, Establishing Farming Investment, Food Security, Climate Change
"The White House, months before flu season, will roll out the big guns Thursday for a swine flu preparedness summit, underscoring the importance the Obama administration is placing on the pandemic," CNN reports. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and National Security Adviser John Brennan are expected to attend sessions held at the NIH.
William Gerwick is quite happy to tell you about his scientific expeditions to Fiji. He can expound on the amazing explorations his group has led to Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, and other destinations in search of exotic molecules that could one day lead to new treatments for human diseases.
President Obama has announced that two Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center investigators have been awarded the nation"s highest honor for scientists at the beginning of their independent research careers. Basic scientist Harmit Singh Malik, Ph.D., and cancer-prevention researcher Ulrike "Riki" Peters, Ph.D., are among 100 researchers to receive the prestigious 2008 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Each will be honored in a ceremony this fall at the White House.
Several large adoption agencies are reporting an increase in the number of women with unintended pregnancies who are considering adoption, a trend that some advocates say is tied to the recession, USA Today reports. Scott Mars of American Adoptions said that he has observed a 10% to 12% increase in the past year in the number of women asking about adoption and a 7% to 10% increase in actual placements. Mars said that the economy has led women to "take a second look at adoption." Adam Pertman of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, a research group, said, "Finances are one of the major reasons women feel compelled to place their children for adoption." According to USA Today, more women also are considering delaying pregnancy or inquiring about abortion because of financial factors. A recent Gallup poll found that the economy has prompted one in 10 married women to delay pregnancy. Vicki Saporta of the National Abortion Federation, which represents abortion providers, said that calls to the group"s hotline have increased nearly threefold since 2008 and that many of the calls have come from women who have experienced job loss in their families.According to Joan Jaeger of the Chicago-area adoption agency The Cradle, about 30% more women are asking about placing a child for adoption than in 2008. She noted that many of the women inquiring about adoption are in their 20s and have at least one child. Joseph Sica of Adoption by Shepherd Care said he has seen a "dramatic increase in girls calling us from the hospital" who are interested in placing a child for adoption. Sica said that many of these women expect to receive assistance in raising their infants but inquire about adoption after they give birth and find that little help is available. He said that in 2008 his agency facilitated 14 such adoptions, an increase from 11 in 2007 and four in 2006. However, Chuck Johnson -- chief operating officer of the advocacy group the National Council for Adoption -- said that the percentage of women who place a child for adoption remains low overall, which he attributed to access to legal abortion and greater societal acceptance of single parenthood. Data from the National Center for Health Statistics show that before abortion became legal in 1973, one in five never-married white women and one in 10 never-married women overall placed a child for adoption after giving birth. Since then, that rate has "plummeted," USA Today reports. A 2002 survey, the most recent available, found that only 1% of such women placed a child for adoption (Koch, USA Today, 5/19).
Race fans at this year"s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard can get a free oral, head and neck cancer screening.
Amarillo Biosciences, Inc. (ABI) (OTCBB: AMAR) announced that it has reached full enrollment in a Phase 2 clinical study of the company"s oral interferon product at the University of Western Australia located in Perth. A total of 200 healthy volunteers meeting all eligibility criteria have been enrolled to 16 weeks of treatment with oral interferon or matching placebo.
Nine-year-old Martha sits in front of a poster that depicts a single chocolate chip sitting on top of five pounds of grapes. After several weeks participating in a University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing research program on healthy eating and weight management the message is not lost on her. The chocolate chip has the same amount of fat grams as the grapes.
Emerging research suggests that nutritional factors including vitamin D, magnesium, and others may influence the risk and progression of cardiovascular disease. The new data on nutrition and heart disease were the topic of a recent symposium and are summarized in the July issue of The American Journal of the Medical Sciences (AJMS), official journal of the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (SSCI). The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and biomedical intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, pharmacy and the pharmaceutical industry.
UroToday.com - In the Annals of Oncology, Dr. Dror Michaelson and associates reported Phase II data on the efficacy and safety of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Sunitinib inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), both elevated in prostate cancer (CaP).
UroToday.com - Dietary micronutrients are a common component of people"s diet as they seek to prevent cancer and other diseases. Micronutrients protect against cellular oxidative damage by neutralizing oxygen free radicals. In the May 2009 issue of Cancer Prevention Research, Dr. VasundaraVenkateswaran and associates tested the effects and timing of the micronutrients vitamin E (E), selenium (S), and lycopene (L) on the development of prostate cancer (CaP) in the Lady transgenic model.
"Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) presented his members Thursday with more than a dozen ways to pay for health care legislation, ranging from new fees on industry to an income-tax hike on couples making more than $1 million a year," Politico reports.
President Obama during his speech at Notre Dame, "fought back" antiabortion-rights protesters "not with harsh words but with the most devastating weapons in his political arsenal: a call for "open hearts," "open minds," "fair-minded words" and a search for "common ground,"" Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne writes. Dionne continues that as "Obama"s opponents seek to reignite the culture wars," the president has "refused to join" and instead "opted for humility." Dionne writes that Obama "did all this without skirting the abortion question and without flinching from the "controversy surrounding my visit here."" In what might have been Obama"s "most radical and the most conservative speech of his presidency," he "[a]cknowledg[ed] the Roman Catholic Church"s role in supporting his early community organizing work," while drawing "on the res of Catholic social thought" that "combines opposition to abortion with a sharp critique of economic injustice and thus doesn"t squeeze into the round holes of contemporary ideology," according to Dionne.In his speech, Obama "tried to undo mistakes made early in his administration, making clearer, for example, that his revisions of an earlier Bush executive order on the rights of health professionals would continue to "honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion,"" Dionne continues. In addition, Obama "paid more respect to opponents of stem cell research -- he spoke of their "admirable conviction about the sacredness of life" -- than he had in his original announcement altering Bush"s policies," Dionne writes. He adds that on the issue of abortion rights, "Obama endorsed a broad agenda: "Let"s reduce unintended pregnancies. Let"s make adoption more available. Let"s provide care and support for women who do carry their children to term.""However, it "was hard to square that message with the rage directed toward Obama" and Notre Dame"s president, the Rev. John Jenkins, by their opponents, Dionne says. "By facing their arguments head-on and by demonstrating his attentiveness to Catholic concerns, Obama strengthened moderate and liberal forces inside the church itself," according to Dionne. He concludes, "He also struck a forceful blow against those who would keep the nation mired in culture-war politics without end. Obama"s opponents on the Catholic right placed a large bet on his Notre Dame visit. And they lost" (Dionne, Washington Post, 5/18).
CNN reports on Alfonso Torress-Cook and his efforts to eliminate fatal infections at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, California: "Torress-Cook is part of a growing movement in medicine that no longer accepts hospital-acquired infections as inevitable complications. Every year, such infections sicken 1.7 million and kill 99,000 people in the United States."
"All 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children will stay open, but some eventually might become outpatient-only surgery facilities, the system that offers free specialty pediatric care said Thursday," CNN reports. "The system, which has covered all costs of its patients" care throughout its 87-year history, eventually will accept insurance from patients who have it, members of the Shriners fraternity decided in their annual convention in San Antonio, Texas. Accepting money from insurers and finding other ways to cut costs will help Shriners retain their presence in all 22 locations, said Doug Maxwell, the new president and CEO of Shriners Hospitals."
The WHO announced Thursday it had approved a second cervical cancer vaccine, opening "U.N. agencies and partners [to] now officially buy millions of doses of the vaccine for poor countries worldwide," where an estimated 80 percent of the 280,000 annual deaths from cervical cancer occur each year, the AP/Google.com reports (7/9).
ECCO 15 - ESMO 34 will take place at the ICC Berlin - Internationales Congress Centrum, Messedamm 22, D-14055 Berlin, Germany (http://www.icc-berlin.de) from Sunday 20 September to Thursday 24 September 2009.
Knee injuries are a common problem in collegiate and professional football, often hindering an individual"s career length and future. A study presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine"s Annual Meeting in Keystone, Colorado suggests that anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction versus a simple meniscus repair may predict a longer professional career in those that have suffered knee injuries.
A study by a bi-national team of global health researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, examining HIV infection among male clients of female sex workers in Tijuana, has found that over half of male clients had recently had unprotected sex. They also reported a high prevalence of drug use.
A doctor"s positive attitude to Alzheimer"s diagnosis and their trusting, personal relationships with local dementia support service providers are powerful enablers for early diagnosis of Alzheimer"s, according to new research reported at the Alzheimer"s Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease (ICAD 2009) in Vienna.