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Rep. Stupak Signals Willingness To Compromise On Abortion Coverage In Health Reform Legislation
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) on Monday said that he and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) are negotiating to resolve the concerns of antiabortion-rights Democrats who want to exclude abortion coverage from the House health reform bill (HR 3200), Dow Jones reports. Stupak said that the compromise would affect how state abortion laws are handled under the bill (Yoest, Dow Jones, 7/20.). According to the AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Stupak did not give details on the negotiations, and aides said that no final deal has been reached (Werner, AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/21).Stupak said that he and Waxman"s staff discussed the compromise over the weekend. According to Stupak, a compromise could be voted on this week as an amendment during the committee"s markup of the bill. According to Dow Jones, Stupak holds a key vote on the health bill, which faces opposition from some other conservative Democrats on the panel over costs. His comments on Monday suggest "an easing of tensions" between antiabortion-right Democrats and supporters of the bill, Dow Jones reports. Stupak and 19 other House Democrats last week sent a letter to party leaders stating that they "cannot support a health care reform proposal unless it explicitly excludes abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health plan." They also stated that they want to ensure that a health benefits advisory council created under the bill "cannot recommend abortion services be included under covered benefits or as part of a benefits package." The advisory council would make recommendations to the HHS secretary, who would make final determinations on what public and private plans would be required to cover in a health insurance exchange. Stupak said that the two sides are "working in good faith" and that other members of the committee should not push their own abortion-related amendments (Dow Jones, 7/20). On Monday, committee voted 20-35 to reject an amendment, offered by Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.), that would have eliminated a provision requiring states to adhere to minimum benefits requirements that employer-sponsored insurance must include. Deal said that states could be required to cover abortion or "out of mainstream" services. Stupak responded, "I hope we"re not going to start using reproductive rights as a red herring on every amendment that comes up." Panel Approves Sex Education AmendmentThe panel voted 33-23 to approve an amendment that would authorize $250 million through 2014 for "evidence-based" sex education programs for teenagers. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.), who offered the amendment, said that abstinence-only programs would not be excluded if they are proven effective. Following debate on Capps" amendment, Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) offered an amendment that would reauthorize the Title V abstinence-only sex education program. Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said that Title V "has been a failure," adding that 25 states refused to accept the money through the program because it is ineffective. Terry"s amendment was rejected 26-29.The committee also voted 36-23 to adopt an amendment that would provide $150 million in grants through 2014 to state and local governments and not-for-profits for educating residents in "medically underserved" areas on various topics, including sexual behavior (Wayne, CQ Today, 7/21).
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Deworming Drug Could Help Reduce Spread Of HIV In Africa, Study Finds
Providing girls in rural Africa with a deworming drug could help reduce the spread of HIV, according to a study recently published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the New York Times reports. The drug, called praziquantel, costs about 32 cents per pediatric dose and prevents schistosomiasis, a worm disease that starts as a urinary tract infection. If untreated, schistosomiasis can lead to female genital sores that can facilitate HIV infection. Because the drug can kill the worms but cannot cure genital sores, girls should be protected before they reach sexual maturity, according to the Times. "For this relatively small investment, the reproductive health of young women would be improved," the authors from the Sabin Vaccine Institute, Imperial College London and Oslo University wrote, adding that "there is a reasonable chance that HIV/AIDS transmission can be reduced." There are about 207 million schistosomiasis cases worldwide, 90% of which occur in Africa, where humans are exposed usually through snail-infested water. According to a pilot program conducted in Burkina Faso, all 70 million cases among young children in Africa could be treated for $22 million, and repeating universal treatment every two years for 10 years would cost $112 million (McNeil, New York Times, 5/26).
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'Green' Fireworks May Brighten Eco-Friendly 4th Of July Displays In Future
With millions of people in the United States eagerly awaiting those July 4 fireworks displays - and our Canadian neighbors doing likewise for their July 1 Canada Day celebrations - here"s a prospect for those light shows of the future likely to ignite a smile on Mother Nature"s face: A new generation of "green" fireworks is quietly making its way toward the sky.
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AltheaDx Receives CLIA Certification

AltheaDx, a world leader in the development of companion diagnostics and biopharma services, announced that they have successfully passed the State of California survey for CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) certification. AltheaDx is offering high-quality patient and biopharma molecular testing services from their state-of-the-art, GMP, GLP, and now CLIA compliant facility located in the Sorrento Valley, San Diego. "We are excited about the addition of clinical laboratory testing to the suite of services in our offering," said David Macdonald, CEO of AltheaDx. "We are now able to extend our success into later stage clinical trials and provide broader market access for our assays. Our CLIA certification is an important milestone in realizing our strategy of bringing theranostics into clinical use." AltheaDx provides its customers with a full range of molecular biopharma services: from biomarker discovery, clinical studies, diagnostic translation, through to reporting clinical results. AltheaDx will immediately provide clinical genotyping services from their CLIA certified laboratory for the K-RAS gene, along with a menu of other high-value molecular tests. K-RAS testing allows clinicians to screen patients for mutations in the K-RAS gene, which are found in 35-45% of metastatic colorectal cancer cases as well as a variety of other cancers including breast, lung, and ovarian. K-RAS mutations have been shown to be predictive of limited clinical response and poor prognosis. Data announced at last year"s ASCO conference has led to a need for colorectal cancer patients to be screened for mutations in the K-RAS gene in order to identify the most appropriate therapy. Patients carrying mutations in the K-RAS gene do not respond to a class of drugs known as EGFR inhibitors -- such as Vectibix® and Erbitux®. AltheaDx


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