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Burdock Root

Cambridge Consultants Advises Cambridge University's Tech Transfer Arm On IP Strategy
A multidisciplinary team of technology strategists and scientists from Cambridge Consultants has provided advice to Cambridge Enterprise Ltd., regarding potential applications for microdroplet technology in a high-growth sector of the drug discovery market, currently valued at US$140m.
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Some Medical Providers Slow To Adopt Electronic Records, Prescribing
"Digital medical records could cut down on office visits," and maybe even health care costs, Marketplace reports. "But for doctors, going electronic could be complicated and expensive. And nothing at all like what they learned in medical school." Relatively few doctors have made the switch so far, though new government incentives, funded by the stimulus bill, could shift the industry into gear. The doctors who have pioneered e-health have confronted a newish industry with few standards. One recalled that his early adoption of the records in 2003 was "a disaster," though he is now touted as an example for other practices (Carroll, 7/20).
News of the day
Kansas Abortion Provider Tiller Shot Dead At Church Service
Kansas abortion provider George Tiller, one of the few U.S. doctors who performed the procedure later in pregnancy, was shot and killed Sunday at his church in Kansas, the New York Times reports. Tiller, who ran Women"s Health Care Services, was believed to be one of about three doctors in the country who provided abortion services to women in the third trimester of pregnancy under certain conditions, according to the Times. He was a longtime target for protests from antiabortion-rights groups and, in recent years, had endured multiple legal challenges from the groups and antiabortion-rights officials seeking to shut down his practice through prosecution (Stumpe/Davey, New York Times, 6/1). The Washington Post reports that Kansas resident Scott Roeder is considered a suspect in the shooting and was taken into custody. According to the Post, Roeder "is known in antiabortion circles as a man who believes that killing an abortion doctor is justifiable" (Slevin/Barnes, Washington Post, 6/1). The killing further intensifies attention on abortion-rights issues at a time when the Supreme Court nomination and the controversy over President Obama"s recent speech at the University of Notre Dame have brought the debate to the forefront, the Post reports (Barnes, Washington Post, 6/1). In a statement, Obama said he was "shocked and outraged" by the murder (Simon/Bustillo, Wall Street Journal, 6/1). "However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence," Obama said. Abortion-rights supporters said Tiller"s death would leave few options for women in need of abortion later in pregnancy. Peter Brownlie, president of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said, "This is a tremendous loss on so many levels" (New York Times, 6/1). The Post reports that Tiller is the fourth abortion provider to be killed since 1993 and the first since 1998. Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said, "Dr. Tiller"s murder will send a chill down the spines of the brave and courageous providers and other professionals who are part of reproductive health centers that serve women across this country" (Barnes, Washington Post, 6/1). NARAL New York President Kelli Conlin, said, "It is cold-blooded, vicious actions like today"s assassination that make it hard for those of us in the pro-choice community to find common ground with those on the other side" (Abcarian, Los Angeles Times, 6/1). Center for Reproductive Rights President Nancy Northup said that Tiller was "willing to be a very public, forthright and brave defender of women"s right to abortion," adding that he "put himself out front as a defender of women"s reproductive health care" (Welch, USA Today, 6/1). Abortion-rights opponents also condemned the murder, saying that they do not condone violence as a means to further their cause, USA Today reports. Troy Newman, director of Operation Rescue, which had been working to pressure Kansas" medical licensing board to revoke Tiller"s license, called Tiller"s death "a setback for the cause," adding that he "will likely be seen as a hero from the pro-choice perspective" (Bello, USA Today, 6/1). Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of the antiabortion-rights group Susan B. Anthony List, said she condemned "this anti-life act in the strongest of terms" (Wall Street Journal, 6/1).
Mental Health

ATS, ERS Jointly Issue Asthma Assessment Guidelines

The American Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society have released official standards for clinical trials and practice with respect to the assessment of asthma. The statement appears in the July 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. "In the past, there has been no standard way of assessing asthma. This has led to a lot of confusion for doctors who are managing asthma, and in research, it was difficult to compare the results of different studies," said Helen Reddel, M.D., Ph.D., from the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia, and co-chair of the international task force with D. Robin Taylor, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. The American Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society set up the task force of 24 asthma experts from North America, Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, to provide standardized definitions and measurement recommendations for three main areas: asthma control, asthma severity and asthma exacerbations. Asthma Control Asthma control was defined as the extent to which the features of asthma have been reduced or removed by treatment, with respect to both current clinical control and future risk. The explicit inclusion of future risk is a change from the previous approach that had mainly focused on current clinical control. "The addition of future risk is important for three reasons: first, because some medications can improve symptoms while not treating the underlying disease; second, because some patients are at increased risk of asthma attacks despite having few symptoms; and third, because medication side-effects should be taken into account when deciding a patient"s need for treatment," said Dr. Reddel. To assess future risk, the report found that the most robust predictors were frequency of asthma exacerbations, repeated measures of lung function, and treatment side-effects. However, Dr. Reddel noted, "if a study is not long enough to measure these directly, the task force provided recommendations about surrogate markers such as sputum analysis or bronchial challenges which can predict the risk of these outcomes." The task force found that no single measure of asthma control could be recommended at present for use in clinical trials, but developed a short list of standardized endpoints, which were divided up into essential, desirable and optional. They recommended symptom-free days, reliever use, lung function, quality of life and a validated composite score as robust measurements for current clinical control. Other measurements which may be considered include a daily diary (preferably electronic) and a record of visits to doctors and the emergency room. Asthma Severity Asthma severity was defined as the intensity of treatment required to achieve good asthma control. "In the past, asthma severity was usually defined before a patient started asthma treatment, using measures which were almost identical to those used to assess asthma control. This was very confusing, and it meant that asthma severity could not be re-assessed once treatment had started," explained Dr. Reddel. Asthma Exacerbations Asthma exacerbations were defined as events where symptoms worsen enough to require a change in treatment. For clinical trials, the task force standardized the definition of severe asthma exacerbations (also called severe attacks) as events that require urgent treatment such as corticosteroid tablets over three or more days in order to prevent serious consequences. Recommendations The task force made the clinical recommendation that doctors routinely ask every asthma patient a few simple questions about their asthma symptoms and management both in the short- and long-term: for the past one to four weeks, how many days a week they have had symptoms, how much quick-relief medication have they used, and whether they have woken at night from asthma; and for the past year, how many times they have had severe attacks, since this can identify patients who are at risk of severe attacks in the future. "In clinical practice, it is particularly important to measure lung function for the diagnosis of asthma, and also for assessment of patients whose asthma is troublesome either because they have a lot of symptoms despite treatment, or because they have few symptoms but a lot of severe attacks," said Dr. Reddel. For both research trials and clinical practice, the task force report provided detailed information about how each endpoint should be measured, the range of normal values and how the measurement should be interpreted. The statement further stressed the need for more research, which will make the assessment of asthma control simpler in the future. "More research is needed to understand more clearly how asthma control and risks for asthma exacerbations - can be best assessed for the different types (i.e., phenotypes) of asthma, which have different responses to therapy," John Heffner, M.D., past president of the ATS confirmed. "The task force identified that studies will need to characterize the clinical features of study patients during enrolment to "type" their asthma and then note patterns of treatment responses for each type. With enough information, accurate type-specific measures to assess asthma control will emerge that will guide physicians in adjusting therapy for each phenotype." Future directions of research were suggested at the end of each section, and the statement concludes with an eye toward the possibility of identifying and determining appropriate biomarkers and for some groups of patients relying on those, rather than symptoms, to determine the appropriate medical treatment. American Thoracic Society (ATS)


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