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Dietary Supplements With Steroids Pose Health Danger: Case Studies
Three cases of patients suffering from the adverse affects of steroid-enriched dietary supplements have been reported by researchers at Henry Ford Hospital.
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GOP Sens. Say Sotomayor Filibuster Possible But Unlikely, Obama Defends Judge's Past Comments
Several Republican senators in appearances on various talk shows on Sunday said that they do not expect the GOP to attempt a filibuster to block the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, although none ruled the idea out, the Washington Post reports. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) said that she does not think the "need for filibuster will be there unless we have not had a chance to look at the record fully," adding that the Senate "need[s] to look at the record fully" and in an "expeditious way." Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, on NBC"s "Meet the Press" said that Sotomayor"s 17-year career as a federal judge is "very strong in her favor" and "the kind of background you would look for" in a Supreme Court justice. However, Sessions added that he and other Republican senators are concerned over a remark Sotomayor made in 2001 at a conference on Hispanics in the judiciary. According to the Post, Sotomayor was discussing how her Puerto Rican heritage has influenced her role as a judge when she said, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would, more often than not, reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn"t lived that life." Sessions said the remark "goes against the heart of the great American heritage of an independent judge" (Barnes, Washington Post, 6/1). Judiciary Committee member John Cornyn (R-Texas), appearing on ABC"s "This Week," said that senators "need to know ... whether she"s going to be a justice for all of us or just a justice for a few of us" (Wallsten, Los Angeles Times, 6/1).Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) -- Sotomayor"s sponsor through the confirmation process -- said on "This Week" that she is "virtually filibuster-proof when people learn her record and her story." He added that Sotomayor is "legally excellent" and "not a far-left-wing judge" (Barnes, Washington Post, 6/1). White House Defends Sotomayor"s Comments White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that he thinks Sotomayor would "say that her word choice in 2001 was poor, that she was simply making the point that personal experiences are relevant to the process of judging." In an interview with NBC News that will air this week, President Obama also defended Sotomayor, saying that "if you look in the entire sweep of the essay that she wrote, what"s clear is that she was simply saying her life experiences will give her information about the struggles and hardships that people are going through" (Eggen/Kane, Washington Post, 5/30). Obama also stood by his decision to nominate Sotomayor in his weekly radio and Internet address on Saturday. Obama said that he is "certain that she is the right choice" and that her record as a federal judge "makes clear that she is fair, unbiased and dedicated to the rule of law." While he said he expects "rigorous evaluation" of Sotomayor, Obama said his "hope is that we can avoid the political posturing and ideological brinkmanship that has bogged down this process, and Congress, in the past" (AP/USA Today, 6/1). First Meetings With Senators Expected This WeekAccording to the AP/Chicago Tribune, Sotomayor is scheduled to hold her first meetings with senators this week, beginning on Tuesday with Sessions and Democratic Sens. Harry Reid (Nev.) and Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (Vt.). Gibbs said a meeting with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnnell (R-Ky.) also is possible, adding that he is hopeful there will be other meetings scheduled throughout the week (AP/Chicago Tribune, 5/31).The Wall Street Journal reports that the formal Senate confirmation hearings are not expected to begin for several weeks. The White House would like the Senate to confirm Sotomayor before the August recess so she will be on the bench for the court"s next term, which begins in October. Although some GOP senators say this might not be enough time to fully examine her record, Sotomayor is expected to be confirmed, the Journal reports (Bendavid, Wall Street Journal, 6/1).
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The Necessity Of Adrenalectomy At The Time Of Radical Nephrectomy: A Systematic Review
UroToday.com - To take the adrenal or not at the time of radical nephrectomy, that is the question. These researchers from New York University School of Medicine performed an extensive literature search to determine the role of adrenalectomy at radical nephrectomy and discovered that the incidence of solitary, synchronous, ipsilateral adrenal involvement, and therefore potentially curable tumor disease with ipsilateral adrenalectomy occurred extremely infrequently - in only 1% to 5% of cases.
Endocrinology

Sixteen States, DOJ Join Whistle-Blower Lawsuits Alleging Wyeth Defrauded Medicaid Programs

The U.S. Department of Justice and 16 states have joined two whistle-blower lawsuits filed in federal District Court in Massachusetts alleging that Wyeth defrauded the government by not offering the same discounts on two medications to Medicaid that it offered to hospitals, the Wall Street Journal reports. The lawsuits were initiated following a grand-jury investigation by the U.S. Attorney"s Office in Massachusetts (Johnson, Wall Street Journal, 5/19). The other states included in the lawsuits are California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, New York, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia (Barrett, AP/Austin American-Statesman, 5/18).According to the lawsuits, Wyeth from 2000 to 2006 sold hospitals a bundled package called the Protonix Performance Agreement, which included its acid-reflux drugs Protonix Oral and Protonix IV. The suits allege that Wyeth gave hospitals up to a 94% discount for the oral version under the deal, with the understanding that when patients were released from hospitals they would be switched from the intravenous version of the drug to the oral version. According to the complaint, Wyeth hoped to gain an edge in a competitive market for acid-reflux pills by taking advantage of its standing as the only company offering an IV acid-reflux drug. The Journal reports that Wyeth charged hospitals $20 per vial for the IV version of Protonix and $3 for the oral version.Medicaid rules stipulate that the program is entitled to the lowest price on prescription drugs, and drugmakers are required to pay states rebates if they offer discounts to any other entities. The lawsuits state that Wyeth avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars to state Medicaid programs because it did not offer the programs the same discounts or provide rebates (Wall Street Journal, 5/19).The lawsuits are seeking financial penalties against Wyeth of up to three times the amount lost by Medicaid. Assistant Attorney General Tony West said, "By offering massive discounts to hospitals, but then hiding that information from the Medicaid program, we believe Wyeth caused Medicaid programs throughout the country to pay much more for these drugs than they should have." Wyeth spokesperson Doug Petkus said that Wyeth "believes that its pricing calculations were correct and intends to defend itself vigorously in these actions" (AP/Austin American-Statesman, 5/18). Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. © 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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