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Senate debate expected to turn to abortion

The issue that sharply divided the House during its consideration of health-care legislation is threatening to derail the Senate version of the bill, Bloomberg reports. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., has said he will help filibuster the bill unless Democrats adopt tougher language restricting federal funds from paying for abortions, and may offer an amendment to that effect.

4 Dec 2009

Health Policy Research Roundup

UCLA Center For Health Policy Research: Health Disparities Among California's Nearly Four Million Low-Income Nonelderly Adult Women - Using data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey, the authors of this policy brief compare low-income women, ages 18-64, to others. The report finds the low-income women are four times more likely to report fair or poor health and are more likely to report a health condition that interferes with basic physical activities, such as walking or climbing stairs.

4 Dec 2009

Democrats stress 'doughnut hole' provisions to woo senior support for reform

The Associated Press: "Lawmakers have wooed seniors skeptical of the health care overhaul by emphasizing the plan would close the 'doughnut hole' — a gap in Medicare drug coverage that can cost thousands of dollars a year. But getting support for the entire overhaul from this powerful voting bloc has been difficult, despite Democrats repeated town hall meetings, interviews and congressional hearings."

4 Dec 2009

Abnormal EEG waveforms in neurological disorder patients can now be better understood

The electroencephalogram (EEG) is widely used by physicians and scientists to study brain function and to diagnose neurological disorders. However, it has remained largely unknown whether the electrodes on the head give an exact view of what is happening inside the brain.

4 Dec 2009

Democrats debate public option: Publicly with GOP, and privately among themselves

Democrats are engaged in an urgent debate behind closed doors about a government-run health insurance plan, known as the public option, according to The Associated Press. "Our caucus is now in the process of negotiating with ourselves because we need all 60 of us to get this done," said Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., a moderate who has not yet embraced the public option concept.

4 Dec 2009

Today's opinions and editorials

In short, if the changes that are proposed for employer subsidies in the current Medicare Part D program are enacted, everyone will lose (Tom Scully, 12/3).

4 Dec 2009

Cosmetic surgery industry lobbies against the 'Botax' in Senate health bill

"Leading makers of antiwrinkle drugs, breast implants and other appearance-related products are trying to derail a proposed tax on elective cosmetic surgery in the Senate's health-overhaul bill," The Wall Street Journal reports. "The proposed 5% levy -- dubbed the 'Botax' after the antiwrinkle treatment product Botox -- would raise an estimated $5.8 billion over 10 years."

4 Dec 2009

Silicon to transport drugs in the human body: a novel drug delivery method under development

Several Finnish universities have joined forces to develop an innovative drug delivery method that utilises silicon to transport drugs in the human body. Among other advances, the project has been able to sustain the effect of peptides controlling appetite, which may facilitate the use of nanotechnology for dieting purposes. The research is being carried out as part of the Academy of Finland's Research Programme on Nanoscience (FinNano).

4 Dec 2009

Axsun Technologies reports successful testing of novel OCT imaging integrated light source architecture

Axsun Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volcano Corporation, today announced the initial development and successful testing of a novel integrated light source architecture for OCT imaging. Axsun believes this proprietary optical engine design raises the bar on imaging speed and overcomes fundamental limitations of laser-based designs for swept source OCT light sources.

4 Dec 2009

Surgeon General Benjamin: U.S. needs more minority doctors

The new U.S. Surgeon General called for an increased effort to recruit more minority doctors Thursday in a speech in Atlanta.

4 Dec 2009

Overview of the important research and treatments in ADHD

Worldwide longitudinal studies performed since the 1970s have clearly shown that ADHD persists into adulthood. These findings have stimulated researchers to develop the therapeutic approaches for adult patients, especially in European countries where scientific and clinical interest in ADHD has increased.

4 Dec 2009

Some Doctors' groups breaking with AMA to oppose health bill

Doctors are divided over health care reform with an increasing number of them expressing opposition.

4 Dec 2009

Senate's efforts on health care being slowed by other issues

The Wall Street Journal: "The Senate's slow-moving health bill is colliding with other legislative priorities on the economy, raising chances that Democrats won't meet their goal of pushing a health-care overhaul through the chamber this month." Though some forward progress was evidenced on Thursday when the chamber, for the first time since floor consideration of the health bill began, voted on amendments.

4 Dec 2009

Surgeon General calls for more minority doctors to join physician workforce

The new U.S. Surgeon General called for an increased effort to recruit more minority doctors Thursday in a speech in Atlanta.

4 Dec 2009

Fact checking lawmakers' claims about health bills

NPR began a series called "Is That So?": "As the debate about the health overhaul bill goes on (and on and on) you might find that sometimes what one Senator says seems to be the exact opposite of the next." In the first installment, NPR's Julie Rovner examined Sen. Christopher Dodd's statement: "On the day this bill is enacted, health insurance becomes a buyer's market, not a seller's market. And that's as American as apple pie," and found that "it may be so eventually, but definitely not on the day the bill is enacted."

4 Dec 2009

Pfizer to present study findings from its expanded breast cancer portfolio

Pfizer Oncology announced today that it will be presenting study findings evaluating several compounds including those from its newly expanded breast cancer portfolio following the recent acquisition of Wyeth, focusing on the needs of multiple breast cancer patient populations at the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) being held December 9 – 13.

4 Dec 2009

Preclinical data of Curis' HSP 90 inhibitor published

Curis, Inc., a drug development company seeking to develop next generation targeted small molecule drug candidates for cancer treatment, today announced that preclinical data related to CUDC-305, the company’s Heat Shock Protein (HSP) 90 inhibitor, was published online this week in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.

4 Dec 2009

IMF to stage presentation on multiple myeloma at ASH annual meeting

The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF)—supporting research and providing education, advocacy and support for myeloma patients, families, researchers and physicians—today said presentations at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) will cover all stages of multiple myeloma, a major milestone in treating this and related cancers.

4 Dec 2009

U.S. Court grants preliminary approval of $350M settlement in lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group

The American Medical Association (AMA) announced today that the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has granted preliminary approval of the previously disclosed $350 million settlement that would resolve a class-action lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group.

4 Dec 2009

Effective prevention of smoking among teenagers narrows racial disparity in lung cancer rates

Effective prevention of smoking among teenagers, particularly black teenagers, is narrowing the disparity in lung cancer rates between blacks and whites, according to a report published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. The December issue has a special focus on tobacco.

4 Dec 2009