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LA BioMed to receive $9.7M federal grant for construction of new Chronic Disease Clinical Research Center

With a goal of creating jobs and enhancing chronic disease studies, the federal government is awarding a $9.7 million grant of stimulus funds to the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) for the construction of a new Chronic Disease Clinical Research Center on its campus, David I. Meyer, PhD, the institute's president and CEO, announced today.

9 Apr 2010

Democrats, Republicans using health reform votes to plot November strategies

The Associated Press: Vulnerable Democrats around the country are "tiptoeing" during the recess as they prepare for midterm elections. "Tough votes for Obama's health care plan have further complicated the re-election prospects of dozens of already vulnerable freshman and second-term Democrats. There's even a chance the party could lose control of one or both houses in the midterm elections."

9 Apr 2010

Mass. Judge says he will decide by Monday whether state erred in rejecting premium increases

A Suffolk Superior Court judge today "promised to make a decision by Monday afternoon in a high-stakes showdown between the [Gov. Deval] Patrick administration and the state's top health insurers" over proposed premium increases rejected by the state's Division of Insurance, the Boston Herald reports (McConville, 4/8).

9 Apr 2010

Triclosan antibacterial found in soap in the spotlight

If a chemical is banned in other countries and by the European Union, it does merit a study by the FDA, even if there is no existing study to suggest that it is harmful to humans. While there may be no current evidence available that triclosan is hazardous to humans, it has been linked to hormone alterations in animals.

9 Apr 2010

Linda Douglass leaving Obama's staff

The Hill reports that the "White House's top spokeswoman" on the health care issue is leaving.

9 Apr 2010

Abortion coverage debate moves to the states

The debate over insurance coverage for abortion is moving to the state level, with "lawmakers in at least six states" pushing for a ban on the coverage that goes beyond provisions in the new health law, The Wall Street Journal reports.

9 Apr 2010

Æterna Zentaris commences perifosine Phase 3 registration trial

Æterna Zentaris Inc., a late-stage drug development company specialized in oncology and endocrine therapy, today announced the initiation of a Phase 3 registration clinical trial with perifosine (KRX-0401) ), the Company's novel, potentially first-in-class, oral anti-cancer agent that inhibits Akt activation in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway, for the treatment of refractory advanced colorectal cancer.

9 Apr 2010

Bernanke warns: Trouble ahead for Medicare and Social Security

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke warned Wednesday that Americans may have to accept higher taxes or changes in cherished entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security if the nation is to avoid staggering budget deficits that threaten to choke off economic growth," The Washington Post reports. "'These choices are difficult, and it always seems easier to put them off -- until the day they cannot be put off anymore,' Bernanke said..."

9 Apr 2010

Tennessee removes about 100,000 people from Medicaid rolls

Anita Wadhwani reports for Kaiser Health News: "After losing the use of her arms and legs in a car accident five years ago, Jessica Pipkin received around-the-clock nursing care through Tennessee's Medicaid program.

9 Apr 2010

Kids who walk are on track to better health

Children who walk to school are more physically active in their day-to-day activities around their neighbourhood than those children who are driven to school, a new study finds.

8 Apr 2010

WTC FDNY Rescue Workers have not recovered normal lung function, yet

A study of nearly 13,000 rescue workers from the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) shows that the significant proportion who suffered acute lung damage after exposure to World Trade Center (WTC) dust have not recovered normal lung function in the years since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

8 Apr 2010

Whey Protein Isolate damages and accelerates hair loss

Dr. Larry Shapiro, a nationally recognized hair transplant surgeon and dermatologist in South Florida, announced today the results of a study that compared the Effects of Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC) to Whey Protein Isolate (WPI) on Hair, which suggests that WPI, an ingredient found in many popular weight loss, meal replacement and body building products, is contributing to hair loss.

8 Apr 2010

Political controversies surrounding healthcare reform law may continue

A comprehensive review of national opinion polls taken before and after Congressional voting and when President Obama signed into law a major healthcare reform bill last month has found that the law's signing did not lead the country to come together in support of this landmark legislation. Partisan differences are stark, according to researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) who analyzed 33 independent opinion polls in an effort to gauge public support for healthcare change.

8 Apr 2010

Crohn's disease: Remicade prescription to decrease, while Humira's increases

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that surveyed gastroenterologists estimate that (assuming no new data on adverse events emerge) they will treat fewer Crohn's disease patients with Centocor Ortho Biotech/Merck/Mitsubishi Tanabe's Remicade by the end of 2010, while the percentage of biologics-treated patients receiving Abbott/Eisai's Humira will increase to 36 percent.

8 Apr 2010

Combining antiangiogenic cancer therapy with oncolytic virotherapy leads to regression of tumors

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. announced today that a paper entitled "Antiangiogenic cancer therapy combined with oncolytic virotherapy leads to regression of established tumors in mice," co-senior authored by Dr. Richard Vile of the Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA, and Dr. Kevin Harrington of the Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK, was published in the online version of the Journal of Clinical Investigation on April 1, 2010.

8 Apr 2010

NHeLP launches the Campaign for Better Care

To ensure health reform works for those with the most at stake, the National Partnership for Women & Families, Community Catalyst and the National Health Law Program today launched the Campaign for Better Care, a multi-year initiative that will focus on improving health care quality, coordination and communication for older patients with multiple health problems and their family caregivers.

8 Apr 2010

Cubist Pharmaceuticals initiates dosing in Phase 2 trial with CB-183,315 for diarrhea due to CDAD

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading acute care therapeutics company, today announced the enrollment and dosing of the first subject in its Phase 2 trial with CB-183,315, an antibacterial drug candidate intended to treat patients with a severe and sometimes life-threatening diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficile known as C. difficile-associated diarrhea, or CDAD. The trial is expected to enroll more than 200 subjects at 28 sites in the United States and Canada.

8 Apr 2010