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Mayo Clinic's views on how to get high-value health care

Mayo Clinic's perspective about how to get high-value health care is the focus of a Perspectives article in the New England Journal of Medicine, published online on Sept. 23, 2009, and in the print issue on Oct. 1, 2009.

25 Sep 2009

Senate Finance Panel rejects amendment to squeeze drug makers

"Senators rebuffed an attempt to squeeze more money from the drug industry Thursday after two Democrats warned it would undermine the fragile political coalition pushing a sweeping health care overhaul," The Associated Press reports.

25 Sep 2009

Results from COGENT clinical trial presented at TCT symposium

Results from a late breaking clinical trial called COGENT demonstrate that the combination of giving patients clopidogrel, a blood thinner commonly prescribed to patients with cardiovascular disease, and stomach medicines such as omeprazole, known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), did not lead to adverse events, as some prior studies had suggested.

25 Sep 2009

Divide deepens between Senate Finance Democrats and Republicans

"Senate Democrats swatted down Republican attempts to make fundamental changes in their health care legislation on Wednesday as the Finance Committee voted on a wide range of amendments that highlighted the deep partisan divide over the bill."

25 Sep 2009

Alcon's patent infringement suit against Synergetics USA stayed

Synergetics USA, Inc., a leading medical device company that designs, manufactures, and markets innovative microsurgical instruments and other devices, today announced that the lawsuit filed by Alcon Research, Ltd. against the Company in the Northern District of Texas, Case No. 4-08CV-609-Y has been stayed in its entirety until both of the patents at issue have completed re-examination in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”).

25 Sep 2009

New poll shows only 20 percent say health care is their biggest concern

A new poll shows only one in five respondents say health care is the biggest concern for their family. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: "Want to know why President Obama continues to have trouble gaining traction in the national debate about health-care reform? A Franklin & Marshall College poll to be released today offers a few key clues."

25 Sep 2009

Prevention and cure of Alzheimer's disease important to Americans

A new voter survey sponsored by the ACT-AD Coalition (Accelerate Cure/Treatments for Alzheimer's Disease) finds that three-quarters of Americans nationwide and across party lines say it is personally important to them to find a cure or to prevent Alzheimer's disease, while a similar proportion of the national electorate say they look to Congress to make it "a national priority" to speed up the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) review process in specific ways for therapies that slow, halt or reverse the disease.

25 Sep 2009

States worry over Medicaid expansion; Montana expands kids coverage

State officials continue to worry about additional costs that would stem from a Medicaid expansion. Meanwhile, Montana unveils a plan to expand health insurance for children and Iowa Republicans are touting their own alternative to a federal health care overhaul.

25 Sep 2009

PROSPECT clinical trial results announced

Abbott today announced primary results from its groundbreaking PROSPECT (Providing Regional Observations to Study Predictors of Events in the Coronary Tree) clinical trial.

25 Sep 2009

Collaboration for the evaluation of peptide copolymer technology

Peptimmune, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company announced today that it has formed a research and development collaboration with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) and the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), Silver Spring, MD to evaluate the Company's proprietary DEEP(TM) peptide copolymer technology for the potential development of dengue vaccines and point-of-care diagnostics.

25 Sep 2009

Heads of Indian Health Service, Hispanic doctors speak out on reform

NPR interviews Dr. Elana Rios, president of the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), on the one-third of Hispanics in the U.S. who are uninsured. She says the reasons are cultural as well as economic: "Hispanics have health beliefs that are unique, lots of traditional ways of taking care of disease with teas and herbs and other things.

25 Sep 2009

Senators urge the CMS to spare funding cuts for radiation oncology services

Cancer physicians and cancer care advocates applauded a bipartisan letter led by Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius yesterday urging that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) spare life-saving radiation oncology services from a major Medicare funding cut proposed for diagnostic imaging services. The 32 Senators signing the letter stated their unanimous concern that these funding cuts could force freestanding and community-based cancer centers to shut down, thereby limiting access to care for seniors - particularly in rural areas.

25 Sep 2009

Huachansu may slow cancer progression

Huachansu, a Chinese medicine that comes from the dried venom secreted by the skin glands of toads, has tolerable toxicity levels, even at doses eight times those normally administered, and may slow disease progression in some cancer patients, say researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

25 Sep 2009

Dems court Snowe for key 60th vote

Democrats are courting Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Me., the Republican most likely to provide the key 60th vote that Democrats need to pass a health care overhaul package without the use of budget reconciliation.

25 Sep 2009

NIDCD awards research grant to Mobius Therapeutics

Mobius Therapeutics, LLC ™ has been awarded a research grant from the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) to study its investigational procedure, selective Photodynamic Myringotomy (PDM).

25 Sep 2009

Moderately elevated levels of ROS positive in fruit flies

It has been known for decades that reactive oxygen species (ROS) - ions or very small molecules that include free radicals - damage cells. But much to their surprise, Jonsson Cancer Center researchers found that in Drosophila, the common fruit fly, moderately elevated levels of ROS are a good thing.

25 Sep 2009

Investment in preventative healthcare is vital during recession: Experts

In these economically challenging times, many experts say it is vital to invest in preventative healthcare. Better overall health means lower medical bills.

25 Sep 2009

Phase III clinical trial of investigational HIV vaccine regimen complete

Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases (“GSID”) announced today that a Phase III clinical trial of an investigational HIV vaccine regimen has been shown to be safe and modestly effective in preventing HIV infection. The double-blind, placebo controlled study was conducted in Thailand among more than 16,000 volunteers.

25 Sep 2009

Also in global health news: Urban malnutrition in CAR; U.S. HIV travel ban; East Africa hunger

"The global financial crisis has led to an alarming rate of urban malnutrition in the south of the Central African Republic, where diamond mines have closed as demand for the gems falls, the medical relief group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says," Reuters AlertNet reports (Fominyen, 9/24). In a related blog post, Reuters AlertNet writes that aid agencies are warning that without additional support from donors, the Central African Republic could "start sliding backwards after three years of progress at a time when humanitarian assistance was raised" (Fominyen [2], 9/24).

25 Sep 2009

Congressman Culberson's web site invites his constituents to debate the healthcare bill online

Congressman John Culberson, R-Texas, today announced that his office will post the current healthcare bill in the House of Representatives, “H.R.3200 - America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009,” on the congressman’s Web site and, using a new technology, invite his constituents to participate in, comment on and debate the pending bill.

25 Sep 2009