Endocrinology
The National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) recently revised a position statement on Reimbursement for Nurse Practitioner Services. This statement affirms that Nurse Practitioners must receive equitable reimbursement from all payers in order for them to provide the communities they serve with the full scope of healthcare services.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that the United States Senate unanimously confirmed Dr. Nicole Lurie as the next Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at HHS. Dr. Lurie, an internationally recognized leader in public health, most recently served as co-director of the RAND Corporation Center for Domestic and International Health Security, senior natural scientist and professor of policy analysis at the RAND Corporation.
The Health Law Partners, P.C. released a HealthCare Notification entitled: What All Health Care Providers and Suppliers Need To Know About the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) Program.
The AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) applauds Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) for introducing legislation (H.R. 3134) to establish pilot "health care innovation zones" (HIZs) building on the strengths of academic medical centers (AMCs). The legislation creates and tests these zones around the country with the goal of improving patient outcomes, while slowing the growth of health care costs.
People with pain in the elbow or forearm from playing sports or just from common
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer death in both men and women and the second leading cause of cancer death when both sexes are combined. African Americans have lower survival rates compared to whites. Researchers at Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, in Detroit, Michigan in Detroit sought to investigate the effect of demographics, clinical factors and socioeconomic status (SES) on racial disparities in CRC survival in the Detroit Metropolitan Area.
The Union-managed initiative TREAT TB (Technology, Research, Education and Technical Assistance for TB) is now on the web offering direct access to the work of this five-year, USAID-funded project.
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) last week held a private meeting to discuss a compromise on health care reform legislation that would include a "fallback public plan," implemented in several years if private insurers do not take steps to make coverage more affordable and accessible, CongressDaily reports. The plan is modeled on the Medicare prescription drug benefit, under which the government can offer prescription drug benefits if private insurers choose not to do so. The government currently does not offer a Medicare Part D directly plan because a sufficient number of private firms have done so. According to CongressDaily, Snowe is seeking to go further than the fallback option under Part D, in which success is measured on the number of participating insurers. Snowe would measure success by the affordability and accessibility of private plans. Snowe has had conversations regarding the plan with Senate Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), CongressDaily reports. In addition, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Thomas Carper (D-Del.) also have expressed interest in the proposal. A Republican committee aide said that a public plan that offers the same benefits as private plans and is funded by money from premiums rather than taxpayer money, such as that proposed by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), could be put in place if private insurers fail. The aide said, "If you"ve done everything you possibly can, and you don"t get the result that you need, then a lever there might be helpful as long as the lever doesn"t take over the whole system" (Edney, CongressDaily, 5/19). Other Reform News
A new law requiring the state"s licensed child care centers to educate parents and caregivers about the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has taken effect, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) announced.
The IMPACT (Important Perspectives on Alzheimer"s Care & Treatment) study explored the views of 1800 people - physicians (GPs and specialists),1 Alzheimer"s carers,1 payors1 and the general public1 in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK
The Department of Health and Hospitals" Bureau of Primary Care and Rural Health is offering grants to medically underserved, rural and urban areas to expand access to primary care services.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the blood-thinning drug Effient tablets (prasugrel) to reduce the risk of blood clots from forming in patients who undergo angioplasty, a common procedure to unblock a clogged coronary artery.
Though discoveries about Alzheimer"s disease risk factors are often in the news, adults do not know about the relationship between Alzheimer"s disease risk and heart health, nor that physical activity can be protective against dementia, according to new research reported today at the Alzheimer"s Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease (ICAD 2009) in Vienna.
El Salvador and Benin have marked World Asthma Day by placing orders with the Asthma Drug Facility (ADF). Through the ADF these and other low- and middle-income countries will be able to obtain quality-assured essential asthma medicines at affordable prices for the first time.
New data pooled from four large, "real world" post-marketing surveillance studies showed that sucrose-formulated recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII-FS) reduced bleeding and provided data regarding adverse events in more than 950 patients with mild-to-severe hemophilia A. Additionally, rates of inhibitor formation were reported in both previously treated and previously untreated patients. The data were presented at the XXII Congress of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH).(1)(2)
Thomson Reuters today announced the results of a study documenting Brazil"s steady rise during the last two decades in both the volume and impact of its scientific work. According to Science Watch, these findings underscore Brazil"s standing among the emergent "BRIC" nations. BRIC -- an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India and China -- are the countries possessing the res and economic potential to capture a significant share of the world"s future economic growth.
A landmark study conducted by Children"s Hospital & Research Center Oakland is the first to reveal a new syndrome in children that presents with a combination of allergy, apraxia and malabsorption. Autism spectrum disorders were variably present. Verbal apraxia has until now been understood to be a neurologically based speech disorder, although hints of other neurological soft signs have been described. The new study, led by Children"s Hospital & Research Center Oakland scientist and pediatric emergency medicine physician, Claudia Morris, MD, and Marilyn C. Agin, MD, a neurodevelopmental pediatrician at Saint Vincent Medical Center in New York, however, suggests that the symptoms of verbal apraxia are, at least for a sub-group of children, part of a larger, multifactorial, neurologic syndrome involving food allergies/gluten-sensitivity and nutritional malabsorption.
Ms Aine Brady T.D. Minister for Older People and Health Promotion, announced the publication of the 2008 Annual Report from the Alcohol Marketing Communications Monitoring Body (AMCMB). The AMCMB was established to monitor the level of adherence by advertisers and media owners to the Codes of Practice on Alcohol Marketing, Communications and Sponsorship. The AMCMB has concluded that there continues to be overall compliance with the Codes.
The Muscular Dystrophy Association has awarded its highest philanthropic achievement honor, the MDA Directors" Award, to two entertainment industry celebrities.
IRIN examines how a "dramatic plunge" in international donor funding for family planning could undermine other health- and humanitarian-related goals, including fighting poverty and hunger. About 200 million women do not have access to contraception, which could cause a surge in the world"s population leading to a reversal of humanitarian gains, according to some experts.
Wall Street Journal: A recent decision by CMS to end Medicare coverage of virtual colonoscopies is "a preview of how health care will be rationed when Democrats" create "a new "universal" health insurance entitlement for the middle class," a Journal editorial states. According to the editorial, the prospects of such a health system are "playing out in miniature in Medicare" where CMS has decided that offering an alternative to the traditional colonoscopy is "too pricey." The editorial states that the situation features "precisely the sort of complexity that the Democrats would prefer to ignore as they try to restructure health care" and use comparative effectiveness research to determine what works best for the majority of patients. According to the editorial, "The problem is that what "works best" isn"t the same for everyone." It continues that CMS "made the hard-and-fast choice that it was cheaper to cut [virtual colonoscopies] ... for all beneficiaries. If some patients are worse off, well, too bad." The editorial concludes that the situation is "merely a preview of the life-and-death decisions that will be determined by politics" if Democrats enact their ideal system (Wall Street Journal, 5/19).
A study published this week in the open access journal PLoS Medicine has
Condom use is associated with a reduced risk of contracting herpes simplex virus 2, according to a report based on pooled analysis of data from previous studies in the July 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Plans to improve access to occupational health services in Wales to help tackle absenteeism and ill-health in the workplace will be announced today [Tuesday, 14 July] by Health Minister Edwina Hart.
The threshold for being overweight or obese has been lowered in India, as people of South Asian origin are more likely than white people to develop obesity-related conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Health Net Federal Services, LLC, the government operations division of Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT), released the following statement today in response to the Department of Defense"s release of the TRICARE contract awards:
Sticker campaign builds awareness for smoke-free Mumbai
Scientists have shown that E. coli - one of the best known and extensively studied organisms in the world - remains an enigma that may hold the key to human diseases, such as cancer.
In the brain, many types of synaptic proteins are spatio-temporally regulated to maintain synaptic activity at a constant level. Here, the Japanese research group led by Professor Masaki Fukata, Drs. Yuko Fukata and Jun Noritake in National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Japan, found that two types of palmitoylating enzymes finely-tune the location and function of a major synaptic protein, PSD-95, in different ways. They also found that this mechanism contributes to keeping synaptic activity stable when synaptic activity dynamically changes. The Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) supported this study. They report the finding in Journal of Cell Biology published on July 13, 2009.
A study by scientists at Penn State provides new information about the genes that are involved in a mammal"s early brain development, including those that contribute to neurological disorders. The study is the first to use high-throughput sequencing to uncover active genes in developing brains, and it is likely the best evidence thus far for the activity in the brain of such a large number of genes. The research results one day could lead to the development of drugs or gene therapies that treat neurological disorders such as autism and mental retardation. The research, which was led by Distinguished Professor of Biology Hong Ma and Associate Professor of Biology Gong Chen, will be published online in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences sometime during the week of 13 July 2009.
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have turned simple baker"s yeast into a virtual army of medicinal chemists capable of rapidly searching for drugs to treat Parkinson"s disease.
Anyone who has ever had cats knows how difficult it can be to get them to do anything they don"t already want to do. But it seems that the house cats themselves have had distinctly less trouble getting humans to do their bidding, according to a report published in the July 14th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.
Eye movement tests developed by Queen"s University researchers to aid in understanding childhood brain development and healthy aging may also help in the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and detecting the early onset of Parkinson"s disease. The project has received close to $1 million in recent funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
Memantine improves functional communication skills in patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer"s disease (AD), noticeable by caregivers. These are the study results discussed at the International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease (ICAD). The data of two recent clinical trials support that AXURA®/AKATINOL® - an uncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist - effects language skills in AD patients and improves cognitive abilities and functional communication. Leading neurologists emphasize that improvement of communication skills is a meaningful treatment target. Communication breakdown can trigger feelings of frustration in Alzheimer"s patients and these feelings may manifest as behavioral instability. This in turn is known to be a major of caregiver"s burden and distress.
Results from two large studies using DHA, an omega 3 fatty acid, were
The American College of Physicians (ACP) joined with two other physician groups to offer strong support for the Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) provisions included in the Tri-Committee health reform bill about to be considered in the House. The Tri-Committee, which unveiled its proposed legislation on June 19, is made up of the House Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor Committees.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, announced it offers a premium collection of Thermo Scientific Taq DNA polymerases that are licensed and optimised for use in PCR processes. ThermoPrime Taq DNA Polymerase and Thermo-Start® Taq DNA Polymerase are designed to provide excellent amplification specificity and improved product yield. In addition, the high purity of these enzymes ensures their consistent and reliable performance.
Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI), a leading specialty pharmaceutical company, announced that it received a Complete Response Letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on its New Drug Application (NDA) for TRELSTAR(R) 22.5 mg (triptorelin pamoate for injectable suspension), a 24-week formulation of TRELSTAR(R) for the palliative treatment of advanced prostate cancer. The TRELSTAR(R) NDA was prepared in cooperation with Debiopharm Group, a Swiss-based global biopharmaceutical group of companies.
A group of Utah State University researchers and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University, Duke University and Boston University have demonstrated that the rate of clinical progression of dementia may be slowed by a close relationship with one"s caregiver. The findings will be published in the September 2009 issue of "The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences" by Oxford Journals
Different segments of the carotid artery that supply the brain with blood respond in different fashions to the build-up of complex, health-threatening plaque, according to researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and their colleagues.
Research released at the International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease suggests that adhering to a Mediterranean diet may decrease risk of dementia.
Following yesterday"s police operation at a makeshift camp for migrants in Patras and the subsequent fire that broke out, Doctors Without Borders/Mç©decins Sans Frontiç¨res (MSF) expresses concern for the medical and humanitarian condition of the migrants and asylum seekers who were left homeless, as well as those who were arrested. MSF urges authorities to ensure humane living conditions and the provision of medical assistance to this population.
Researchers who analyzed pooled data from several studies concluded that using condoms was linked to a modest reduction in the risk of
The financial crisis and lack of trust in public services mean that the NHS and the government face tough political and economic challenges ahead. In this climate, improvements in health services will only be possible if primary care takes the lead and political leaders sharpen up their vision.
"After a series of false starts, House Democrats are finally expected to unveil the details of a sweeping reform measure on Tuesday that would drastically revamp the country"s health care system," Politico reports. "Party leaders had initially planned to introduce legislation last week and start considering it in committees this week. But that timeline was scuttled when a parade of moderates threw up their arms last week at a draft of the bill offered weeks earlier by the three chairmen writing it." While the Democrats "know that the clock is ticking-that the slower the process goes, the more time opponents will have to plant doubts in the minds of voters," Republicans are "feeling giddy-free to stand back and watch as Democrats fight amongst themselves."
"After a weeklong overseas trip that pushed him to the fringes of Washington"s health care debate, Mr. Obama moved aggressively to reclaim control," the New York Times reports. "He summoned top Democrats to the White House to urge them to stick to his legislative timetable - he wants the House and the Senate to pass bills before the August recess - and appeared in the Rose Garden to cast himself as a kind of sheriff who had just come back to town."
"Senators agreed Monday to give high-tech biologic drugs 12 years of market protection before generic versions can compete," according to The Associated Press.
A new federal rating system to track quality gives nursing homes mixed reviews. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) developed the Nursing Home Compare Web site, which compares the nation"s 15,600 homes. There were complaints that the old site was unmanageable.
There were 839 reported cases of HIV/AIDS in Alabama in 2008, and of those 122 were reported in Montgomery County, which had the highest number in the state per capita, the Montgomery Advertiser reports. Black residents comprised 70 percent of all HIV/AIDS cases in Alabama reported that year. Poverty, lack of transportation to health services, not knowing a partner"s status and not getting tested are cited as factors contributing to the greater risk for HIV among blacks in the state, according to the Advertiser. Jane Cheeks, director of HIV/AIDS programs for the Alabama Department of Public Health, said, "The more we test, the more we find," adding, "But we"re hoping we can lower the infection rate." She also said, "In 2007, we got a pretty significant increase in funding and we were able to provide more services and give more testing." In addition to administering HIV tests, the "state educates the public through public service announcements and rolling billboards on the sides of 18-wheelers, which give people toll-free numbers to call" for information, the article states (Klass, 7/11).
"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday she is frustrated over the failure" to name a new head of the USAID, despite it being a priority for the administration, AFP/Google.com reports. "Clinton, addressing USAID staff who asked why there was no administrator and deputy six months into President Barack Obama"s administration, complained about what she called an increasingly burdensome vetting process," the news service writes (7/13).
In response to the inquiry report into "Was the NHS Plan really a blueprint for the NHS - 10 years on?" released by the All Party Parliamentary Group Primary Care & Public Health today. Mubeen Bhutta Policy Manager at the British Heart Foundation said:
Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ: LMNX), the worldwide leader in multiplexed solutions, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared labeling updates for the company"s xTAG® Respiratory Viral Panel (RVP) to include data about the performance of the test in humans infected with the pandemic strain of influenza A, 2009 influenza A/H1N1, which is sometimes referred to as "swine flu." The test"s labeling has been updated to include information from two new studies that demonstrate that xTAG RVP can be an effective aid in the detection of 2009 Influenza A/HIN1, but cannot identify the hemagglutinin gene of the 2009 Influenza A/H1N1 in clinical specimens.
Drugs that block a growth factor receptor on brain cells may prevent epilepsy after brain damage, according to a new study appearing in the July 15 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
Brazil"s nearly two-decade effort to treat people living with HIV and AIDS shows that developing countries can successfully combat the epidemic. Inexpensive generic medicines are a large part of the solution, say researchers from Brown University and the Harvard School of Public Health.
For the first time, the Society of Interventional Radiology has assembled a major electronic collection of professional articles about uterine artery embolization, a treatment directed toward a number of conditions involving the uterus-most often adverse health effects that may occur due to the presence of uterine fibroids. The Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology "virtual" collection allows health care providers and the public to view the abstracts on current research on this topic in one place, eliminating the need to search topics individually.
U.S. House of Representatives Democrats today unveiled their bill for health care reform - the America"s Affordable Health Care Choice of 2009. In response, National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Executive Vice President and CEO Bruce T. Roberts, RPh, issued the following statement:
U.S. House of Representative Democrats unveiled their bill for health care reform - the America"s Affordable Health Care Choice of 2009. In response, National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Executive Vice President and CEO Bruce T. Roberts, RPh, issued the following statement:
High-resolution comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) has rapidly emerged as the method of choice for molecular cytogenetic detection and characterization of chromosomal abnormalities associated with mental retardation, cancer, and other complex phenotypes. In two recent studies published in the Journal of Medical Genetics (1, 2), high-resolution NimbleGen CGH arrays were used to further characterize two recently identified genomic disorders (3, 4).
Can-Fite BioPharma (TASE:CFBI), a biotechnology company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange announced that, following the approval by the Israel Ministry of Health and Rabin MC Ethics Committee, a phase I/II clinical trial with CF102 for the treatment of HCV will now start enrolling patients.
Surprising new insights into how a Phase III Alzheimer"s drug might work
UCSF scientists have created a method of quickly identifying large numbers of the genetic material known as short hairpin RNA - also called shRNA - that turns genes on and off.
Scientists have found a way to identify breast cancer patients at risk of heart disease after radiotherapy, according to a report published yesterday.
Dimebolin, originally administered as an antihistamine, has previously been found to help slow the decline of cognitive ability in participants.
A paper published on bmj.com reports that there is a need for precise estimates of the severity of the new H1N1 virus. Experts need to assess in particular how many deaths might arise over the course of the pandemic. This will be the focus of healthcare planning over the upcoming months.
A sub-analysis of a Phase IIb multinational study(1) with edoxaban(2) - an investigational oral Factor Xa inhibitor - provides insights into why patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) receiving edoxaban once daily (QD) experienced fewer bleeding events than patients given edoxaban twice a day (BID). The analysis finds that bleeding associated with edoxaban is most closely correlated with minimum concentration levels of the drug in the blood, and that these trough levels may best predict bleeding events, rather than total exposure or maximum concentration levels.
Providing a voice to home oxygen patients nationwide, including patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other lung diseases, the National Emphysema/COPD Association (NECA) today called the Medicare Home Oxygen Therapy Act of 2009 (H.R. 3220) a patient-focused piece of legislation that protects the best interests of the nation"s 1.5 million beneficiaries and promotes quality home oxygen care.
Health reform may succeed in creating better coverage and access for Americans, but until we reduce the barriers to proper medication adherence, many patients will not experience improved health, according to experts meeting today to discuss the challenges of adherence.
A program that provides health care coverage to uninsured kids saved Los Angeles County health facilities more than $37 million in uncompensated costs over the past three years, according to an analysis led by USC community health expert Michael Cousineau.
American Nurses Association (ANA) members joined President Obama at a White House press conference, sending a strong message to Congress that the country no longer can wait to reform health care as rising costs threaten the financial stability of families and their ability to access health care services.
House Democratic leaders on Tuesday unveiled a health care reform bill that aims to extend coverage to 37 million U.S. residents over 10 years, the Washington Post reports. According to Democratic aides, the bill would ensure that 97% of U.S. residents are insured by 2015 (Montgomery/Connolly, Washington Post, 7/15). The bill would require employers and individuals to get health insurance coverage or pay into a fund (AP/Google.com, 7/14). To help people obtain insurance, the bill would increase Medicaid eligibility and provide tax credits to those with incomes up to 400% of the federal poverty level, or about $43,000 for an individual (Washington Post, 7/15). The bill would establish a government-run public plan option designed to compete with private insurers (Frank, Reuters, 7/14). The bill also includes several provisions designed to slow the growth of Medicare (Pear/Herszenhorn, New York Times, 7/15).The bill does not include total cost figures, and it is unclear whether last-minute changes by its sponsors would satisfy moderate and conservative Democrats who last week refused to support the legislation, according to the AP/Google.com (AP/Google.com, 7/14). The Congressional Budget Office estimated yesterday that the bill would cost $1 trillion over 10 years, though more information is needed before final cost estimates are released. A new surtax on higher-income residents is projected to cover more than half of the bill"s cost over 10 years, with smaller amounts of funding from changes to the corporate tax code, according to the Post (Washington Post, 7/15).
A U.S. company registered by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Center for Veterans Enterprise as a veteran-run business filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and with NYS Governor David A. Paterson, alleging discriminatory practices by the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH).
USA Today asks what the additional $1 trillion cost of a health care overhaul (over 10 years) will actually buy. "Although the eye-popping price tag would help boost insurance coverage to 95% or more of the public, it"s not enough to do everything advocates initially want. The proposals being shaped in Congress - including the $1.042 trillion bill unveiled by House Democratic leaders Tuesday - offer subsidies to fewer moderate-income families than originally intended, bar most workers from choosing to leave their employer-provided plans and likely drive up Medicaid costs for states." The Congressional Budget Office estimates that "at the end of a decade, 15 million to 20 million would remain uninsured."
"Here"s a little secret you might not know about the health care reform being debated in Washington: Minnesota might not want it," Minnesota Public Radio reports. The state"s congressional delegation is "not sure that the potential cures for the system - requiring everyone to have insurance, expanding Medicare or taxing health benefits - won"t be worse than what currently ails health care." Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., is critical of the additional taxes proposed to help pay for the overhaul. "What they"re talking about doing here is just adding some more gasoline to the fire that"s going to burn down this country. And I"m not going to go along with that," Peterson says.
A 9-1-1 For Health Care Reform: Send Leadership Now Washington Post
New research shows that childhood adversity is associated with diminished neural activity in brain regions implicated in the anticipation of possible rewards.
Patrick Lane, age 74, was plagued by recurring aortic aneurysms ten years ago that threatened his survival. His doctor at the time suggested he contact a leading vascular surgeon at UCLA who was pioneering a new treatment technique for high-risk patients who couldn"t receive traditional surgery.
Canada and the European Communities announced the end of a six-year World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute regarding the approval and marketing of biotechnology products.
Prolonged use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) to treat people infected with both HIV and hepatitis B (HBV) helps to better control the hepatitis B infection and could delay or prevent liver complications, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
New research demonstrates that single neurons in the reward center of the brain process not only primitive rewards but also more abstract, cognitive rewards related to the quest for information about the future. The study, published by Cell Press in the July 16 issue of the journal Neuron, enhances our understanding of learning and suggests that current theories of reward should be revised to include the effect of information seeking.
New England Cord Blood Bank, Inc. (NECBB), a global cord blood processing and storage facility, announced today that it will be implementing an automated blood processing system at the company"s Newton facility. The AutoXpress™ System (AXP), developed by ThermoGenesis Corp. and distributed by GE Healthcare, is a state-of-the-art, fully closed and sterile system that will provide automated cell separation and processing for cord blood samples, ensuring quality and consistency in cord blood processing while maximizing the yield of valuable stem cells from the cord blood.
Scientists in Louisiana are reporting development of a process for producing large batches of a new and potentially safer form of acetaminophen, the widely used pain-reliever now the of growing concern over its potentially toxic effects on the liver. Their study, which could speed development of a next-generation pain-reliever, is scheduled for the July 17 issue of ACS" Organic Process Research & Development, a bi-monthly journal.
For parents, summer is the ideal time to ensure college students are prepared academically and financially for campus life. From selecting courses to buying textbooks, there are a number of decisions to be made; however, one important decision - health insurance - is often overlooked. As part of the college preparation process, Aetna (NYSE: AET) encourages parents to also consider their student"s health insurance options before heading off to school.
FUJIFILM Dimatix announced that a research team at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, working with Canada"s SENTINEL Bioactive Paper Network, has used its DMP-2800 Dimatix Materials Printer to develop a new inkjet method for printing bioactive inks (bioinks) on paper strips used to detect harmful substances that can make animals or humans sick or be used as bioterrorism agents.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has announced an innovative and wide-ranging programme for the Health Protection 2009 conference, which is taking place at Warwick University from 14th to 16th September.
The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) has released a Statement on Professionalism in Dental Education for the academic dental community. Aligned with existing codes of ethics and conduct within the dental education and dental practice communities, the Statement helps to define expectations for professional behavior in dental education institutions. It includes the values and behaviors that should guide students as they enter the dental and allied dental professions and faculty and administrators as they continuously improve their educational programs.
AARP CEO Barry Rand released this statement following the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee"s passage of the Affordable Health Choices Act:
The Lewin Group today released a new report assessing the financial impact and administrative burden that out-of-network claims pose in Medicaid managed care. The authors of the report recommend a federally mandated payment standard for Medicaid health plans similar to that used in the Medicare Advantage managed care program.
The College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) launched their annual campaign to educate the public on the steps they can take to ensure their children aren"t struggling with reading and learning because of undiagnosed vision problems.
Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) said he plans to introduce an amendment to the House health care overhaul bill (HR 3200) that would prohibit insurers from being required to cover abortion, unless the woman"s life is at risk or the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, CQ Today reports. Pitts said he will offer the amendment Thursday at the first House Energy and Commerce Committee mark-up session.The House bill would authorize the Obama administration to craft minimum benefit standards for health insurance plans, CQ Today reports. President Obama has said that he considers reproductive health care an essential service. Democrats say Republicans are trying to expand the Hyde amendment"s exclusion on using federal Medicaid funding to cover abortion to all health care services. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), vice chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said, "I think that if anti-choice Republicans or others see this as an opportunity to expand prohibitions on a legally allowed and medically appropriate practice, then they are wrong." She added, "We are not going to use the health care bill to expand prohibitions on a legal medical practice, period." Pitts, Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) and other supporters of the amendment say it is necessary to block the administration from requiring abortion coverage. The committee has blocked three of Smith"s abortion-related amendments so far this year (Wayne, CQ Today, 7/15).
"A hospital that serves thousands of indigent Massachusetts residents sued the state on Wednesday, charging that its costly universal health care law is forcing the hospital to cover too much of the expense of caring for the poor," according to the New York Times.
The board of directors of Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), announced that the company"s annual meeting of shareholders will be held at 10:30 a.m., Central Daylight Time, on Thursday, August 27, 2009 at Medtronic World Headquarters, located at 710 Medtronic Parkway, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Shareholders of record at the close of business on June 29, 2009, will be eligible to vote at the meeting.
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) announces the debut of the Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize, to be awarded at ASH"s annual meeting in December. The inaugural recipients are Thomas Maniatis, PhD, of Harvard University, and Yuet Wai Kan, MD, of the University of California - San Francisco.
Fewer births in states such as California may be delaying the annual onset of a common intestinal virus in the southwest, according to epidemiologists. The timing of infectious outbreaks in other locations such as the northeast remains more or less unchanged.
Springer, one of the leading publishers in the fields of science, technology and medicine, has signed a co-publishing agreement with the Association of Food Scientists and Technologists, India (AFST(I)), for one of their publications, the Journal of Food Science and Technology (JFST). Dr. Satish Kulkarni, Head of the Southern Campus at the National Dairy Research Institute in Bangalore and President of AFST(I); Dr. S.G. Prapulla, Deputy Director of the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) in Mysore and Honorable Secretary of AFST(I); Dr. William F. Curtis, President of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC; and Sanjiv Goswami, Managing Director of Springer India, signed the agreement at the Southern Campus at the National Dairy Research Institute in Bangalore.
Newly announced National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding will expand the reach of ongoing University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) research into a unique nanostructured coating to improve the performance and longevity of total joint replacement components. The broadened UAB research opportunity is funded by a four-year, $790,931 National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant through the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS).
Training increases brain processing speed and improves our ability to multitask, new research from Vanderbilt University published in the June 15 issue of Neuron indicates.
Impulsive boys with inadequate supervision, poor families and deviant friends are more likely to commit criminal acts that land them in juvenile court, according to a new study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. The most surprising finding from the 20-year study, conducted by researchers from the Universitç© de Montrç©al and University of Genoa, was how help provided by the juvenile justice system substantially increased the risk of the boys engaging in criminal activities during early adulthood.
Gliomas are among the most common and most malignant brain tumors. These tumors infiltrate normal brain tissue and grow very rapidly. As a result, surgery can never completely remove the tumor. Now, the neurosurgeons Dr. Darko S. Markovic (Helios Klinikum Berlin-Buch) and Dr. Michael Synowitz (Charit̩) as well as Dr. Rainer Glass and Professor Helmut Kettenmann (both Max Delbr̿ck Center for Molecular Medicine, MDC, Berlin-Buch), have been able to show that glioma cells exploit microglia, the immune cells of the brain, for their expansion (PNAS Early Edition)*.
A team of Canadian scientists have discovered that naringenin, a flavonoid found in citrus fruit, and especially grapefruit, makes the liver burn fat instead of storing it after a meal. (This chemical compound also gives grapefruit its bitter taste.)
The latest rise in the indirect taxation on tobacco and alcohol took place in June. The most popular brand of cigarettes went up in price from 3.10 euros to 3.30 euros per packet. Are these taxes a form of dissuasion or a way of compensating the rest of society for the harm generated by those who smoke? A study by the Polytechnic University of Cartagena has looked into the most significant questions concerning the tobacco economy.
Those travelling abroad should take seriously advice to pack their condoms and keep their needles to themselves: research published today in the open access journal Retrovirology shows that tourists, travellers and migrants from Greece, Portugal, Serbia and Spain actively export HIV-1 subtype B to other European nations.
There she is again: the cute girl at the mall. Big eyes. Long legs. She smiles at you. You"re about to make your moveò€¦ but wait! What"s she wearing? It"s a letterman jacket, one clearly belonging to a hulking football player named "Steve." This girl is taken. Wisely, you move on.
LATITUDE Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (LPI), a San Diego-based drug formulation developer, announced today that it has initiated two new collaboration programs for its Phospholipid Gel (PG) Depot drug delivery platform. The programs are designed to provide prolonged and peak-free pharmacokinetic profiles for 3 and 7 days following a subcutaneous injection for an antibiotic and a protein drug, respectively. The new studies bring the total to seven feasibility/license agreements that are applying the PG Depot to deliver small molecules, peptides, and proteins for pain, metabolic disease, anti-bacterial, and cardiovascular applications.
New research demonstrates that a large majority (70%) of Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) in England are failing to oversee the Government"s strategy to tackle hepatitis C1, leaving infection rates of this deadly virus to increase and causing the disease to spiral out of control - putting thousands of lives at risk. A further study shows SHAs ignoring NICE guidance with only 29% of diagnosed patients2 being treated across the country, less than half of the 60% that NICE recommends.3
Mental health diagnoses increased substantially after the start of the Iraq War among specific subgroups of returned veterans entering Veterans" Administration (VA) health care, reports a new study.
The Royal College of Nursing welcomed the signing of a joint agreement by European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and the European Hospital and Healthcare Employers Association (HOSPEEM). This is an EU-wide agreement which the RCN has played a key role in bringing about to prevent one million medical sharps injuries per year. Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said:
Argenta Discovery Limited, the respiratory drug discovery and development company, announces a major milestone in its joint programme with AstraZeneca aimed at identifying improved inhaled bronchodilators to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Bone fractures might heal faster if the patient is injected with medications. This is the outcome of a unique study of 102 women with wrist fractures.
In August and September, the University of Antwerp organises vaccine studies for different producers of Mexican flu (H1N1v) test vaccines. 300 to 400 volunteers will be recruited for these tests. "There is a good chance that a Mexican flu vaccine is available early November", expects vaccine expert prof. dr. Pierre van Damme, director of the Centre for the Evaluation of Vaccination (CEV), a department of the Vaccine & Infectious Disease Institute (VAXINFECTIO) at the University of Antwerp.
Teens who drink heavily are more likely than their peers to have behavioural and attention problems and suffer from anxiety and depression, a team led by researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has reported.
The House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday voted 23-18 to approve its health care reform bill (HR 3200) after rejecting dozens of Republican amendments, including attempts to exclude abortion coverage from the essential benefit package created in the legislation, CQ Today reports. An amendment offered by Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas) was rejected in an 18-23 vote; Reps. Bill Pascrell (N.J.), Earl Pomeroy (N.D.) and John Tanner (Tenn.) were the only Democrats to support the amendment. The amendment included exceptions for abortion to save the woman"s life or in cases of rape or incest. Committee members voted 19-22 to reject a similar amendment by House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.).The House health reform bill would establish a panel to set a minimum benefits package that health insurers must offer. The bill aims to expand health insurance coverage by mandating that individuals obtain insurance, requiring employers to offer workers coverage or pay a fine, and establishing a health insurance exchange where people could compare and purchase plans. The exchange would include a government-run health insurance option that would compete with private plans (Rubin, CQ Today, 7/17).
One Maryland county"s tiny new health care programs for the uninsured could be a model for providing care nationwide, National Public Radio says in an ongoing series. The program is cheap, effective and heavy on preventive care, Howard County"s health commissioner, Dr. Peter Beilenson says. The program, called Healthy Howard, provides care for families of four earning up to $66,000 a year, and patients are required to pay $50 to $85 a month. But some of the enrollees are running into trouble.
The Boston Globe: "A state commission recommended yesterday that Massachusetts dramatically change how doctors and hospitals are paid, essentially putting providers on a budget as a way to control exploding healthcare costs and improve the quality of care. The 10-member commission, which includes key legislators and members of Governor Deval Patrick"s administration, voted unanimously to largely scrap the current system, in which insurers typically pay doctors and hospitals a negotiated fee for each individual procedure or visit. That arrangement is widely seen as leading to unneeded tests and procedures. Instead, the group wants private insurers and the state and federal Medicaid program to pay providers a set payment for each patient that covers all that person"s care for an entire year and to make the radical shift within five years" (Kowalczyk, 7/17).
Male circumcision does not reduce the transmission of HIV from men to their female partners, according to a Lancet study conducted in Uganda, Bloomberg reports (Sargent, 7/16). The researchers recruited 922 uncircumcised HIV-positive men between the ages of 15 and 49 for the study, who were then divided into two groups - those who were "immediately circumcised" and those for whom the procedure was "delayed for two years" Reuters reports. Researchers also followed the wives and female sex partners of the men, who all were HIV-negative (Fox, 7/16). The analysis found that "18 percent of the female partners of the circumcised men became infected with the virus compared with 12 percent of the partners of men who hadn"t undergone the procedure," Bloomberg writes (7/16). Despite studies that "suggested circumcision ò€¦ can lower the rate of male-to-female virus transmission from HIV-positive men" the researchers concluded that "[c]ircumcision of HIV-infected men didn"t reduce HIV transmission to female partners over 24 months; longer-term effects could not be assessed" (Wawer et al., Lancet, July 2009).
Bed bugs, known scientifically as Cimex lectularius (Cimicidae) are small wingless insects that feed by hematophagy - exclusively on the blood of warm blooded-animals. As we are warm-blooded animals we are ideal hosts for them. Over millions of years bed bugs have evolved as nest parasites - inhabiting the nests of birds and the roosts of bats. Some of them have learnt to adapt to the human environment and live in our nests, i.e. our homes, and more specifically, our beds. Newborns, called hatchlings or nymphs, are tiny, about the size of a poppy seed, while adults grow to about ÂÜ of an inch long. Their shape is oval and flattened. Both nymphs, eggs and adults are visible to the naked eye.
Texas Medical Association (TMA) statement from TMA president William H. Fleming III, MD, regarding H.R. 3200, "America"s Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009," Congressional legislation to reform America"s health care system.
The American Hospital Association announces the 2009-2010 class of Patient Safety Leadership Fellows. Thirteen individuals have been selected to participate in this year"s fellowship class.
The incidence of obesity among US blacks is higher than among Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites, reports the Centers for Disease Control and
EFPIA, the voice of the pharmaceutical industry in Europe, of which the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA) is a member, has announced an important step in the industry"s efforts to protect Europe"s citizens against counterfeit medicines. EFPIA has agreed to run a pilot of its coding and identification solution (1) in Sweden later this year in partnership with Swedish retail pharmacy chain Apoteket AB and local wholesalers Tamro and KD.
Bovie Medical Corporation (the "Company") (NYSE-AMEX Symbol: BVX), a manufacturer and marketer of electrosurgical products, announced a 510K submission to the FDA seeking pre-market clearance for Bovie"s BOSS for surgical applications where soft tissue bipolar coagulation is desired. The BOSS is the latest generation device based on Bovie"s saline enhanced sintered steel technology.
Cytori Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CYTX) was informed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the Celution® 700 System will be regulated as a medical device under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. This determination, in response to Cytori"s Request for Designation, clears the way for Cytori to compile and submit a marketing application to the FDA for the Celution® 700 System for use as a medical device in aesthetic body contouring and/or filling of soft tissue voids.
The misuse of prescription medications by adolescents is surpassed only by illicit use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. A study to be published in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) shows that how an adolescent obtains these prescription drugs may signal the likelihood that an adolescent will be concurrently abusing another substance and the severity of substance abuse and prescription misuse.
Mathematical modelling can help inform public health policy in outbreaks such as the H1N1 pandemic, write members of the Pandemic Influenza Outbreak Research Modelling Team in Canada in a CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) article http://www.cmaj.ca/press/cmaj090885.pdf. These models are useful tools for simulating plausible scenarios, developing control strategies and identifying important areas for immediate research.
The ability to imitate is crucial for human social interaction and cultural inheritance. Until recently, it was assumed that this ability was innate. We review new evidence indicating that experience plays a critical role in the development of imitation.
18 months on from the landmark KP3 report, a "snapshot" review concludes that though the safety of the UK"s offshore installations is improving, the work is by no means complete and will require sustained effort and investment.
American Medical Association sent a letter to House leaders supporting H.R. 3200, "America"s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009."
People have the opportunity to have their eyes checked with one-of-a-kind equipment for free, while helping to solve the mystery behind the leading cause of blindness in Australia. Even people with healthy eyes, aged 50 and over, are being encouraged to participate in the Queensland University of Technology study. Eye specialist and QUT researcher Dr Beatrix Feigl is embarking on the study to detect the early signs of age-related macular degeneration, a disease that progressively causes vision loss.
Data from two presentations highlighting the use of Perforomist® (formoterol fumarate) Inhalation Solution in moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients were featured at the International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego. In one analysis, use of Perforomist Inhalation Solution, when added to maintenance tiotropium, resulted in improved pulmonary function, dyspnea (shortness of breath) and rescue medication use versus treatment with tiotropium alone. In a second study, patient satisfaction increased in those treated with Perforomist Inhalation Solution twice daily compared with ipratropium/albuterol metered-dose inhaler (MDI) four times daily.
At the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. marshals today seized livestock and horse feeds stored under filthy conditions at the Bi-County Farm Bureau Cooperative Association, Inc., in Florence, Ky.
Tiny bubbles of fat in urine hold molecules that could predict whether prostate cancer is aggressive, according to research published in the British Journal of Cancer.
Many countries worldwide are digitizing patients" medical records. In the
An FDA-approved drug used for preventing recurrence of breast cancer shows promise in fighting life-threatening fungal infections common in immune-compromised patients, such as infants born prematurely and patients with cancer. Some scientists suspected that tamoxifen has antifungal properties; now new research from the University of Rochester Medical Center shows that it actually kills fungus cells and stops them from causing disease.
Behavioural ecologists working in Bolivia have found that wild spider monkeys control their diets in a similar way to humans, contrary to what has been thought up to now. Rather than trying to maximize their daily energy intake, the monkeys tightly regulate their daily protein intake, so that it stays at the same level regardless of seasonal variation in the availability of different foods.