Endocrinology
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.
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) respects and values PETA"s right to express an opinion and hold a peaceful demonstration at our 146th Annual Convention in Seattle. On the other hand, we disagree with their position on our use of fish during an educational and motivational presentation by the fishmongers of Pike Place Fish Market.
Eye experts based at Southampton General Hospital are trialling a drug that could repair vision without the need for surgery.
The Alabama Department of Public Health has proposed a $650 civil penalty against
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) announced CE Mark for its LATITUDE® Patient Management system. The LATITUDE system remotely monitors patients with implantable cardiac devices, gathering information on both the device and a patient"s heart health status. The system can also detect clinical events between scheduled physician visits and send relevant data directly to a patient"s physician. It will be launched in Europe in a phased approach beginning this week.
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
Summer is the peak time for people to be bitten by ticks and mosquitoes, which may carry diseases that can infect humans. The Department of Health tracks cases of these diseases and has noted a recent increase in human cases of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and ehrlichiosis, both of which are transmitted through tick bites. TDOH urges Tennesseans to follow commonsense precautions to protect themselves and help reduce the risk of illness.
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).
Even as our global population rises, our world is getting smaller. International travel by both people and animals from all corners of the world occurs every hour of every day, bringing both into contact with each other.
Alejandro Gutierrez, MD, is the third recipient of the ASH-AMFDP grant, an award designed to help increase the number of underrepresented minority scholars in the field of hematology, and will begin his research into the pathogenesis of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) this month. The award, the result of a partnership between the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and the Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program (AMFDP) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, provides four years of support, including an annual stipend of up to $75,000 and an annual grant of more than $29,000 for research activities.
A federal program targets Medicare fraud in the Houston area as news of three cases representing at least $35 million in false claims emerged within the past week. The Houston Chronicle reports on the three cases, noting: "These Houston-area scams alleged in two FBI complaints and one Montgomery County indictment were among six reported nationally in a single week - representing at least $285 million in false billings, records showed. "This is an astounding amount," said Houston"s FBI spokeswoman Pat Villafranca. The $285 million is more than four times the amount stolen during robberies of U.S. banks during all of 2008, she said. This month, Houston became the fourth metropolitan area - joining Miami, Los Angeles and Detroit - to create a ramped-up fraud strike force. It goes by the acronym "HEAT," Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team."
G8 and leaders from Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and the African Union on Friday announced an agreement to strengthen their partnership to improve access to water in Africa, Ennahar Online reports (Oudina, 7/10).
Twenty hematology and hematology/oncology fellows and junior faculty will begin a unique year-long education and mentoring program this summer as part of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Clinical Research Training Institute.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday the U.S. has agreed to put an addition $1 billion towards ingredients for the production of a vaccine that offers protection against the H1N1 (swine flu) virus, Reuters reports. "There"ll be another $1 billion worth of orders placed to get the bulk ingredients for an H1N1 vaccination. Congress has agreed with the president that this is the number one priority, keeping Americans safe and secure," Sebelius said (7/12).
House Democrats on Friday as part of a spending measure to fund the Departments of Labor and HHS for fiscal year 2010, "unveiled legislation to lift a ban on federal funding for needle-exchange programs, a shift to try to reduce [HIV infections] but one that will probably spark a fight," Reuters/Boston Globe reports (7/11). The ban has been included in the annual spending bill in previous years. House Appropriations Committee Chair David Obey (D-Wis.) said, "Scientific studies have documented that needle exchange programs, when implemented as part of a comprehensive prevention strategy, are an effective public health intervention for reducing [HIV] infections and do not promote drug use" (Reuters, Pelofsky, 7/10). "The move is in keeping with a pledge [President] Obama made during the primaries to remove the prohibition on such funding, although the ban was carried in his budget request this year," CQ Today reports (Wolfe, 7/10). However, "Republicans are girding for a fight over the ban and lawmakers could try to restore it as the legislation moves through the House during the next two weeks," according to Reuters (7/10). The bill also addresses sex education and "appears to continue Democrats" slow march away from funding abstinence-only sex education," CQ reports (7/10).
Cancer Research Technology (CRT), Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Cancer Research UK, Cardiff University and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) are set to begin a major new research collaboration for the first time. This will provide substantial investment in research on the WNT signalling pathway in the hope of finding new drug targets.
Researchers in the Heart Institute at Cincinnati Children"s Hospital Medical Center have discovered a novel gene responsible for heart muscle disease and chronic heart failure in some children and adults with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).
Individuals who have higher levels of education and who are more impaired by Parkinson"s disease appear to require treatment for their symptoms earlier than do other patients, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the September print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
In response to the publication of the story of heart transplant patient Hannah Clark in the Lancet , Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation (BHF), described the operation as "an exciting and important event".
The beta-carotene in so-called "Golden Rice" converts to vitamin A in humans, according to researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Tufts University in an article that appears in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
They"re called "fruit flies" for a reason, and it sure isn"t for lack of appetite. But like most animals, the pests typically lose their appetite when they get infected. We humans go them one better: Even when bug-free and hungry, some of us are tempted to do some serious fasting, in hopes of living longer, healthier lives.
What if you could test your risk for Alzheimer"s disease much like your cholesterol levels - through a simple blood test?
Researchers have invented computational tools to decode and rapidly determine whether natural compounds collected in oceans and forests are new - or if these pharmaceutically promising compounds have already been described and are therefore not patentable.
Results from two large studies using DHA, an omega 3 fatty acid, were
Elan Corporation, plc (NYSE: ELN) and Transition Therapeutics Inc. (TSX: TTH, NASDAQ: TTHI) today presented Phase 1 data demonstrating that treatment with ELND005 (scyllo-inositol formerly known as AZD-103), achieves desired concentrations in human brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid when given orally. Preclinical data also were presented showing that ELND005 administration is associated with preservation of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), reflecting preservation of nerve cells that are critical to memory function in the brain. ELND005 is an orally-administered drug candidate in Phase 2 trials for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer"s disease. These results were presented at the 2009 Alzheimer"s Association International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease (ICAD 2009) in Vienna, Austria.
A new research study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine and led by noted men"s health researcher Dr. Paul Turek has a powerful conclusion: that men diagnosed with infertility suffer intense negative sexual, personal and social strains that might be considered typical for other medical illnesses, including cancer.
Physician-scientists from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center believe that a heightened level a certain growth factor in the blood may explain why blacks have a greater prevalence of hypertension and kidney disease compared to whites. Results from a new study are the first to show that an elevated level of a protein, called transforming growth factor b1 (TGF-b1), raises the risk of hypertension and renal disease in humans.
A UQ Science researcher has received a prestigious honorary fellowship for her long-time work into understanding the underlying mechanisms of pain.
Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust is to host a national conference on combating infections.
The American Academy of Dermatology (Academy) recently issued an updated position statement on vitamin D after an updated review of the increasing body of scientific literature on this vitamin and its importance for optimal health.
The Alliance for Pharmaceutical Care will offer health screenings and present information on vital healthcare issues at "Pharmacist Central", the Alliance"s exhibition at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) 2009 Legislative Summit, July 20-24 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Health officials in Humboldt County, Calif., "will be watching closely" the debate expected to ensue over legislation introduced last week containing "a provision that would scrap the federal funding ban on needle exchange programs that has been in place for years," the Eureka Times-Standard reports. According to the Times-Standard, "This month, Open Door Community Health Centers" clinics in Arcata and Eureka quietly stopped administering the needle exchange program they have operated for almost a decade." Open Door Community Health Centers Chief Operating Officer Cheyenne Spetzler, said, "The footprint of the program just kept getting bigger." In addition, grant funding was often limited to covering the costs of the needles and not the costs of administering the programs, Spetzler said. County Department of Health and Human Services Programs Director Barbara LaHaie said the county is currently seeking alternatives to continue the program. However, "Without a reliable funding stream, that may prove difficult," the article states (Greenson, 7/13).
"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).
Counsellors from around the world will meet to discuss their role in helping people deal with social, cultural, economic and natural challenges at the 2009 International Association for Counselling (IAC) Counference organised by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
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.
In the July 15th issue of G and D, Dr. Suzanne Baker (St. Jude Children"s Research Hospital) and colleagues report on their surprising discovery of cell-type specificity of PI3K signaling in the mammalian brain. This finding highlights the complexity of this clinically significant cell signaling pathway, and its relevance to the design of small molecule PI3K pathway inhibitors, to both maximize efficacy and minimize side effects.
A new Mayo Clinic study found that the clinical criteria for mild cognitive impairment is better at predicting who will develop Alzheimer"s disease than a single memory test. This is one more piece of information to aid in the identification and early treatment of individuals most likely to develop Alzheimer"s disease. This study will be presented at the Alzheimer"s Association International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease on July 14 in Vienna.
Eating a "heart healthy" diet and maintaining or increasing participation in moderate physical activity may help preserve our memory and thinking abilities as we age, according to new research reported today at the Alzheimer"s Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease (ICAD 2009) in Vienna.
NYU and NYU School of Medicine received a $29.4 million, five-year Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish a University-wide Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI) in partnership with the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC). The funding is designed to train medical researchers, more rapidly advance science from the lab to the patient to the community and to allow researchers to explore mechanisms of health disparities and develop evidence-based approaches targeted at their reduction. With this grant, NYU, the NYU School of Medicine and HHC will become part of a network of 46 existing Clinical and Translational Science centers based at academic medical centers around the country.
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.
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.
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.
Sanofi-aventis (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY) announced the release of an Expert Statement by a multidisciplinary board of renowned international experts following an in-depth assessment of the recent publications of registry analyses with Lantus(R) (insulin glargine [rDNA] injection) in Diabetologia. This board of international specialists in the field of endocrinology, oncology and epidemiology came to the conclusion, that all four manuscripts have significant methodological limitations and shortcomings, and that they provide inconsistent and inconclusive results regarding a potential link between insulin glargine use and an increased risk of cancer.
Cocaine is one of the oldest drugs known to humans, and its abuse has become widespread since the end of the 19th century. At the same time, we know rather little about its effects on the human brain or the mechanisms that lead to cocaine addiction. The latest article by Dr. Marco Leyton, of the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McGill University and the McGill University Health Centre, which was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry on May 15, 2009, not only demonstrates a link between cocaine and the reward circuits in the brain but also associates the susceptibility to addiction with these mechanisms.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit on Tuesday lifted, an injunction blocking the enforcement of an Illinois law that requires parental notification 48 hours before minors can undergo abortion procedures, the AP/South Town Star reports. The Illinois Legislature originally passed the law in 1984 and revised it in 1995. In 2007, U.S. District Judge David Coar issued an injunction blocking enforcement of the law. On Tuesday, the appeals court said that the measure was "a permissible attempt to help a young woman make an informed choice about whether to have an abortion."The American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the law, argued that a provision that allows a notification of a judge, rather than a parent, would be unworkable in practice. In an opinion by Judge Richard Cudahy, the appeals court panel said, "We acknowledge that there might be practical problems with the procedure at issue here" and that "it may be intimidating for a minor to navigate the process of presenting her case to a judge, for instance." It continued, "But we fail to see a better alternative. Abortion, no matter how it is confronted, may present intimidating choices to the minor woman who faces it."The law will take effect within a few weeks unless opponents ask for a stay. Ed Yohnka, an ACLU spokesperson, said that it is unclear what the next step would be but that the appeals court could be asked to rehear the case (Robinson, AP/South Town Star, 7/15).
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."
Kaiser Veterans Affairs hospitals and outpatient clinics under review are not always complying fully with federal privacy requirements, often exposing women when they bathe or receive exams, according to government auditors, The Associated Press reports.
An overhaul of the U.S. health care system would probably help maintain improvements already made in Iowa, Gov. Chet Culver and other health advocates said Tuesday, according to the Des Moines Register.
Angel Medical Systems has announced that Dr. David Fischell, Chief Executive Officer,
Obama"s Policy Could Make U.S.-Africa Relations "Flower"
Pregnant women and newborns are at greatest risk in a flu epidemic, but more planning must be done to ensure that they receive priority treatment should an outbreak occur, according to a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and University of Pittsburgh study. The findings, published online in Emerging Health Threats Journal, raise concerns about the ability of hospitals to adequately treat this vulnerable population, particularly in light of the current H1N1 flu outbreak.
Two UCSF research papers this week are marking major breakthroughs in the effort to tackle schistosomiasis (bilharzia), a tropical disease that infects more than 200 million people worldwide and causes long-term debilitating illness and occasional paralysis or death.
Two international research teams have determined the complete genetic sequences of two species of parasitic flatworms that cause schistosomiasis, a debilitating condition also known as snail fever. Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma japonicum are the first sequenced genomes of any organism in the large group called Lophotrochozoa, which includes other free-living and parasitic flatworms as well as segmented roundworms, such as the earthworm.
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have shown that disclosing genetic risk information to adult children of patients with Alzheimer"s disease (AD) who request this information does not result in significant short-term psychological distress. The report from the REVEAL Study*, which appears in the July 16 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, is the first randomized trial to disclose to participants whether or not they carried the íµ4 variant of the APOE gene, a variant that has been found to increase the risk of developing AD. The study demonstrated that test-related distress was reduced among those who learned that they were APOE íµ4 negative, and was only transiently increased among those who learned they were APOE íµ4 positive. The study also showed that persons with high levels of emotional distress before undergoing genetic testing were more likely to have emotional difficulties after disclosure.
The Council for Quality Respiratory Care (CQRC), a coalition of leading home oxygen therapy providers and manufacturers who provide care and services to chronically ill home oxygen patients, expressed strong support for the Medicare Home Oxygen Therapy Act of 2009 (H.R. 3220), legislation that offers a thoughtful, comprehensive approach to reforming the Medicare home oxygen benefit and protects the care needs of the nation"s home oxygen beneficiaries.
Memory probably begins during the prenatal period, but little is known about the exact timing or for how long memory lasts. Now in a new study from the Netherlands, scientists have found fetal short-term memory in fetuses at 30 weeks.
Amid reports that swine flu viruses are developing the ability to shrug off existing antiviral drugs, scientists in Japan are reporting a first-of-its kind discovery that could foster a new genre of antivirals that sidestep resistance problems, according to an article scheduled for the July 23 issue of the ACS" Journal of the Medicinal Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication.
Ask middle-school students if they are popular or make friends easily, they likely will depend on social comparisons with their peers for an answer. Such reliance on the perceived opinions of others, or reflected self-appraisals, has long been assumed, but new evidence supporting this claim has now been found in the teen brain.
The American Public Health Association (APHA) applauds the recent progress made by Congress on comprehensive health reform legislation that includes important provisions to protect and improve health in our nation.
The NPHS influenza surveillance scheme, which records reports of diagnoses of flufrom more than 300 GP practices across Wales, shows low but increasing levels of influenza activity in all parts of Wales.
The Institute for OneWorld Health, the US-based non-profit pharmaceutical company that develops drugs for people with neglected infectious diseases in the developing world, today announced that it has launched a collaboration with global pharmaceutical leader Novartis to discover and develop a novel therapy for secretory diarrhea, a deadly disease that kills more than 1.6 million children in the developing world each year.
Approximately two-thirds of the 1.5 million Americans living with lupus will develop some type of skin disease. Lupus is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system is unbalanced causing it to become destructive to any organ and tissue in the body. Skin disease in lupus can cause rashes or sores (lesions), most of which will appear on sun-exposed areas, such as a person"s face, ears, neck, arms, and legs. In addition, 40-70 percent of people with systemic lupus will find that their disease is made worse by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from sunlight or artificial light. For this and other reasons, people with lupus are advised to take steps to protect themselves from exposure to UV light.
Cook Medical has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its newest balloon dilatation catheter, the Advance® 35LP. The device is intended for use in patients with lesions in the femoral, iliac and renal arteries and rounds out Cook"s complete line of low-profile PTA balloons.
Neurofeedback - also called EEG Biofeedback - is a method used to train brain activity in order to normalize Brain function and treat psychiatric disorders. This treatment method has gained interest over the last 10 years, however the question whether this treatment should be regarded as an Evidence-Based treatment was unanswered until now. Tomorrow a study will be published in the scientific journal "EEG and Clinical Neuroscience" demonstrating that Neurofeedback can indeed be regarded as an evidence-based treatment for Attention Deficit- / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Peter Campbell, 65, was struggling to find the words to communicate. When his wife asked what his name was and where he lived, he couldn"t think of the answers. Following a CT scan of his brain, he learned that an aggressive type of brain tumor was hindering his speech and language functions. The tumor was removed surgically, and as is standard for treating this type of brain tumor, Campbell began a seven-week course of radiotherapy that is targeting the area where the lesion was removed, in order to kill any cancer cells that might have been left behind.
Have you seen the commercial for in-office procedures that will make your face wrinkle-free or sculpt your stomach, with no downtime and no scars? Lifestyle Lift, Lunchtime Lift, Thread-Tox, and Smart-Lipo, are just a few of the brand-name surgical procedures being marketed to the public as a cosmetic quick fix with a clever name.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it is conducting a safety review of Xolair (omalizumab), a drug used to treat certain adults and adolescents with moderate-to-severe persistent asthma.
The Pig Veterinary Society"s revised 2009 edition of Casualty Pig, funded by the BVA Animal Welfare Foundation (BVA AWF) is now available.
Some people say they never forget a face, a claim now bolstered by psychologists at Harvard University who"ve discovered a group they call "super-recognizers": those who can easily recognize someone they met in passing, even many years later.
Experiences with relationship violence beyond the formative and developmental years of childhood and adolescence can have far-reaching effects on the health status of disadvantaged urban women, a new study shows.
AlphaVax, Inc. announced today that it has completed process development and preclinical immunogenicity studies of its H1N1 (swine) influenza vaccine and will manufacture clinical trial material by the end of the month. This vaccine has shown good production yields as well as excellent immunogenicity, even after just a single inoculation.
Rabies is a virus that occurs in mammals and infects the central nervous system; the disease can cause death in humans if it is not treated. Nearly 90 percent of cases occur in wild animals (raccoons, bats, foxes etc.); less than 10% of cases occur in domestic animals like dogs or cats. Humans usually become infected when they are bitten by an infected animal.
Harry and Louise, the fictional couple in an advertisement which helped sink health reform in the 1990s, are back in a new pro-reform ad, The New York Times reports.
When hospitals agreed to accept a $155 billion pay cut from the federal government to help Washington raise money for reform efforts earlier this month, it was "to the amazement of many," the Economist reports. "How can they justify giving away such a vast sum? There are several explanations, not all of them altruistic. Taken together, they show that the industry"s leaders are bracing themselves for a period of upheaval."
"As more medical students shun primary care for higher-paid specialties, experts warn of a severe imbalance that could cripple the nation"s health care system," CNN Money reports. Luis Manriquez, a first-year student at the University of Washington School of Medicine wants to become a family doctor, an increasingly rare ambition. He will "probably make one-fourth the salary of a specialist while trying to pay down $140,000 on average in medical school debt." Manriquez says that "primary care physicians are considered to not do as much as specialists. ò€¦ People have told me that generalists are less respected as doctors."
A proposed amendment to Washington, D.C."s federal appropriation for 2010 "would prohibit the city from using federal funds to distribute needles for the "injection of illegal drugs ò€¦ within 1,000 feet of a public or private day care center, elementary school, vocational school, secondary school, college, junior college, university, public swimming pool, park, playground, video arcade or youth center,"" the Washington Post reports. Local HIV/AIDS advocates "are concerned that [the] proposed amendment ò€¦ would drastically reduce public funding for needle exchange programs and take away a weapon in the fight against HIV and AIDS," according to the Post. A companion bill in the Senate does not contain language prohibiting the use of federal dollars for needle exchange programs. "Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) urged her colleagues to fight the amendment which is before the full House this afternoon," the article states. The district has provided $700,000 in the past year to four non-profit organizations for needle exchange programs (Fears, 7/16).
Springer, one of the leading publishers in the field of science, technology and medicine, has signed a cooperation agreement with the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) to publish The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology of India (JOGI).
The aloe vera plant has a long history of healing power. Its ability to heal burns and cuts and soothe pain has been documented as far back as the 10th century. Legend has it that Cleopatra used aloe vera to keep her skin soft. The modern use of aloe vera was first recognized the 1930s to heal radiation burns. Since then, it has been a common ingredient in ointments that heal sunburn, minor cuts, skin irritation, and many other ailments. Recently, aloe vera has gained some popularity as an active ingredient in tooth gel. Similar to its use on skin, the aloe vera in tooth gels is used to cleanse and soothe teeth and gums, and is as effective as toothpaste to fight cavities, according to the May/June 2009 issue of General Dentistry, the Academy of General Dentistry"s (AGD) clinical, peer-reviewed journal.
Researchers have warned people to beware of the damage that acidic beverages have on teeth. Yet, for some, the damage and problems associated with drinking sodas, citric juices or certain tea may have already begun to take effect. The question remains: What can be done to restore teeth already affected?
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.
THEY work in all corners of the hospital, carrying out a diverse range of jobs but these dedicated staff have one thing in common - they"re all Shining Stars.
PolyMedix, Inc., an emerging biotechnology company developing acute care products for infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular disorders based on biomimetics, announced that three posters relating to the Company"s heptagonist compounds were presented at the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis Conference. The posters were presented at the conference on July 16, 2009, by PolyMedix"s collaborators at Loyola University.
To improve access to highly specialized care and to further its commitment to patients suffering from spine-related disorders, Alvarado Hospital has opened the Advanced Spine Institute & Minimally Invasive Spine Center, a multi-specialty "one-stop" center dedicated to providing world-class care to patients with back, neck and complex spinal problems.
Genentech, Inc. announced that an international Phase III study demonstrated that oral Xeloda® plus oxaliplatin (XELOX) is superior to a commonly used intravenous chemotherapy, 5-FU/LV (infused 5-fluorouracil plus leucovorin), in increasing the time people with adjuvant colon cancer lived without their cancer returning when given immediately after surgery. The data show those who participated in the study and took XELOX immediately after surgery lived longer without their cancer being detectable than those who took intravenous 5U/LV. No new adverse events related to Xeloda were observed in the study.
Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: ZMH; SWX: ZMH) announced that data from a comparative clinical study conducted by researchers at the Mayo Clinic and the Joint Replacement Surgeons of the Indiana Research Foundation describes the low stiffness and osteoconductive properties of Zimmer"s Trabecular Metal Technology. The study, published in The Journal of Arthroplasty, found significant reductions in acetabular bone loss adjacent to the Trabecular Metal device compared to the titanium component, and a significant relative increase in bone mineral density (BMD) after total hip arthroplasty (THA) using implants made with Zimmer"s proprietary Trabecular Metal Technology.
Five organizations representing the nation"s experts in infectious diseases medicine, infection prevention in healthcare settings, and public health and disease prevention announced their support for a provision requiring national reporting of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) rates, which is contained within the healthcare reform bill introduced by leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives.
It is estimated that 1.4 billion people live in extreme poverty, on less than $2 a day. In 2000, 189 nations declared that they would "free all men, women, and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty". These nations signed up to Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to combat poverty by 2015. To help meet these complex challenges and "make poverty history" more knowledge and evidence is needed. A launch event Wednesday 22nd July 2009 at the Department for International Development (DFID) marks a new phase of research collaboration between the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and DFID which will provide more robust social science research to address poverty alleviation amongst the poorest countries and peoples of the world.
The development, which has taken five years to complete, is part of a ÷£500m PFI scheme, commissioned by Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT), and delivered in partnership with Catalyst Healthcare. The new Royal Manchester Children"s Hospital - a "super-hospital" for children - will be accompanied by The Manchester Royal Infirmary, Saint Mary"s Hospital and Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.
It is an amazing sight: What looks like a tiny beating heart is actually a piece of synthetic, gauze-like mesh, barely the size of a fingernail, floating in a Petri dish. And yet it keeps squeezing away, nice and rhythmically.