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Leaders confident they have support for a public option in final House health bill

There are 256 Democrats in the House, but some moderates have balked at inclusion of a public plan, "especially one linked to Medicare rates," CQ Politics reports (10/21).

23 Oct 2009

Obama signs veterans' medical bill into law

President Barack Obama "signed a bill [on Thursday] designed to keep funding for veterans' medical care steady during future budget negotiations," the Associated Press reports. Obama said the bill will guarantee predictable funding for the Department of Veteran Affairs.

23 Oct 2009

Health care lobbyists spend big to win big, consumer groups fight industry deals

Health care lobbyists are on track to set new spending records this year, with some individual companies nearly doubling their investment compared to previous periods, USA Today reports. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spent almost as much by September as it did in the entire year in 2008. America's Health Insurance Plans has spent $1 million more so far this year than over the same period last year (Schouten, 10/21).

23 Oct 2009

ADA supports IOM’s proposal on school nutrition programs

The American Dietetic Association welcomes a report issued Wednesday, October 21, by the Institute of Medicine encouraging federal school meal programs to adopt standards that increase the nutrition content and limit the calories in meals served to schoolchildren.

23 Oct 2009

Acrongenomics participates in Molecular Vision's 2 million GBP funding round

Acrongenomics, Inc. are pleased to announce that they have continued their support to Molecular Vision, an emerging developer of quantitative point-of-care (POC) diagnostic devices, by participating in its 2 million GBP funding round. Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO, 'Imperial Innovations'), a leading technology commercialisation and investment company, led the £2 million funding round by committing £1.5 million.

23 Oct 2009

News outlets examine challenges with expanding global child immunization campaigns

Wednesday's release of the WHO, UNICEF and the World Bank joint report on childhood vaccines highlighted gains in recent global vaccination campaigns and also found that nearly 24 million infants worldwide don't get the recommended first-year vaccination.

23 Oct 2009

Also in global health news: Somali IDPS; MDR-TB elimination; Chagas; Zimbabwe disease, hunger

At the conclusion of a week-long visit to the region, Walter Kalin, a top U.N. human-rights official "says the international community is failing in its duty to internally displaced persons in Somalia. More than 1.5 million people in Somalia are believed to be IDPs," VOA News reports (Boswell, 10/21).

23 Oct 2009

ZyGEM and Phthisis Diagnostics to develop products for detecting infectious pathogens

ZyGEM Corp. Ltd. and Phthisis Diagnostics today announced that they have entered into an agreement to develop products enabling the detection of infectious pathogens in complex samples, such as stool, blood and water.

23 Oct 2009

Roche's xCELLigence RTCA SP Instrument used for in vitro testing of cells

The C-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA Polymerase II consists of multiple repeats of an evolutionary conserved motif of seven amino acids, forming a repetitive structure of 52 repeats in humans and 26 repeats in yeast. Twenty years after the first description of the RNA polymerase II C-terminal domain, its function is still unclear.

23 Oct 2009

House Committee votes to remove antitrust protection from insurance companies, Senate may follow

Bloomberg: "The U.S. House Judiciary Committee voted to repeal the insurance industry's federal antitrust exemption in a move aimed at spurring competition and controlling the cost of premiums. The panel, in a 20-9 vote, approved legislation to ban companies from engaging in price fixing, bid rigging and market allocation.

23 Oct 2009

House Republicans find many angles for opposition to health bills

"A coalition of pro-life groups, accompanied by several House Republicans outside the U.S. Capitol, delivered a petition signed by 137,000 Americans Wednesday voicing disapproval with current health care reform legislation," FOX News reports.

23 Oct 2009

NNu Skin Enterprises signs research agreements to develop next-generation skin care and nutritional products

Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. today announced that it has entered into research agreements with Stanford University and LifeGen Technologies, a genomics company based in Madison, Wis. LifeGen co-founders, Richard Weindruch, Ph.D., and Tomas Prolla, Ph.D., will also hold positions on the newly formed Nu Skin Anti-aging Scientific Advisory Board.

23 Oct 2009

Crossover vote or lost cause? Maine Sen. Collins reform vote examined

Sen. Susan Collins, Maine's junior senator, has a lot of people asking her which way she's leaning on supporting health care reform. And she's remaining mum.

23 Oct 2009

Ethiopia requests emergency food aid for 6.2m people

Ethiopian Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Mitiku Kassa on Thursday asked the international community for more than $121 million for emergency food aid for 6.2 million people, the Associated Press reports (10/22).

22 Oct 2009

Health reform changes could increase costs to states

Today's state news round-up includes the cost of health reform to New York, immigrants in California, a possible new mental health overhaul in Arizona and a delay in expanding the children's health program in Iowa.

22 Oct 2009

AFP examines recent HIV vaccine findings

Agence France-Presse examines how two recent studies have "boosted morale" among HIV vaccine researchers who have struggled for decades to develop a viable vaccine to protect people from the virus. "On September 3, researchers in the United States discovered two potent antibodies -- the frontline troops in the immune system -- that expose what may prove to be a viral Achilles' heel," the news service writes.

22 Oct 2009

NCI awards $2.8 million grant to Allegro Diagnostics

Allegro Diagnostics, a leader in the field of molecular diagnostics for lung cancer, has announced that its clinical study for BronchoGen(TM), a diagnostic test for patients suspected of having lung cancer, will receive up to $2.8 million in funding for a Phase I/II Fast Track Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

22 Oct 2009

Americans split on Obama's health care proposals, new poll finds

Americans are split evenly on President Barack Obama's proposals for health care reform, according to a new poll released Wednesday. Still, a "CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey indicates that a majority say (sic) it would be better to pass some sort of reform legislation than to leave the current health care system unchanged," CNN reports.

22 Oct 2009

Phase Forward releases IRT 5.0 Interactive Response Technology solution

Phase Forward, a leading provider of data management solutions for clinical trials and drug safety, today announced a major new release of its Interactive Response Technology (IRT) solution, Phase Forward™ IRT 5.0.

22 Oct 2009

Caregiving is a major public health issue in the U.S, says expert

The demand for at-home caregiving will increase dramatically in the United States in the years ahead, said Richard Schulz, Ph.D., an internationally known expert on caregiving from the University of Pittsburgh.

22 Oct 2009