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First Edition: October 23, 2012

Today's headlines include various reports from the campaign trail as well as the latest news about current meningitis outbreak.

23 Oct 2012

Eisai receives FDA approval for Fycompa to treat partial onset seizures

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Fycompa (perampanel) tablets to treat partial onset seizures in patients with epilepsy ages 12 years and older.

23 Oct 2012

Implementation update: What health law changes will be evident in 2013

The Wall Street Journal reports on how the 2010 health law might impact consumers' health coverage in 2013. In addition, CQ HealthBeat examines what might become of insurance exchanges if GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney wins the election.

22 Oct 2012

Exercise is the first step to protect against negative impacts of stress

Any time life hands us a stressful situation, we have a decision to make: will we handle it with grace, or let it pile up on everything else? For women, stress sometimes feels like a never-ending occurrence, and University of Alabama at Birmingham experts say that, left unmanaged, stress can lead to health problems. But it can easily be curtailed.

20 Oct 2012

Brain Injury Research Center of Mount Sinai receives fund to research on TBI

The Brain Injury Research Center of Mount Sinai has received two prestigious grants totaling $6.65 million to fund research on traumatic brain injury over the next five years.

20 Oct 2012

NIH-funded study of weight loss in adults with type 2 diabetes finds no cardiovascular benefits

An intensive diet and exercise program resulting in weight loss does not reduce cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke in people with longstanding type 2 diabetes, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health.

20 Oct 2012

Issa pressing ahead in effort to obtain HHS materials on Medicare Advantage

The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is accusing HHS of not fully complying with repeated requests.

20 Oct 2012

Viewpoints: Medicare not exempt from sequestration's impact; Obama's plan to have board cut Medicare 'has little chance of success'

Fact: Congress must pass and the president must sign legislation by the end of this year that reduces federal spending by $109 billion -- or the first year of automatic across-the-board cuts in both domestic and defense programs will go into effect.

20 Oct 2012

Representatives of state boards gather to examine health care issues

Representatives of the state boards that oversee licensing of the nation's physicians, nurses and pharmacists have gathered in Washington, D.C. this week for the first-ever Tri-Regulator Symposium, an event that will examine a variety of health care issues.

20 Oct 2012

FDA expands approved indication for Sapien Transcatheter Heart Valve

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today expanded the approved indication for the Sapien Transcatheter Heart Valve (THV) to include patients with aortic valve stenosis who are eligible for surgery, but who are at high risk for serious surgical complications or death.

20 Oct 2012

Roundup: Va. health chief quits, citing new abortion clinic regulations; Texas will shutter women's health program if Planned Parenthood participates

Virginia Health Commissioner Karen Remley resigned Thursday over new GOP-backed regulations that could shutter most Virginia abortion providers as reproductive rights take center stage in pivotal Senate and presidential races.

20 Oct 2012

ThromboGenics receives FDA approval for Jetrea to treat symptomatic vitreomacular adhesion

On Oct. 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Jetrea (ocriplasmin), the first drug approved to treat an eye condition called symptomatic vitreomacular adhesion (VMA).

19 Oct 2012

Linezolid proves effective in treating drug-resistant TB

When tested in patients hospitalized with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) unresponsive to previous treatment, linezolid, an antibiotic used to treat severe bacterial infections, proved largely effective when added to the patients' ongoing TB treatment regimen.

19 Oct 2012

Lack of 'fiscal cliff' talk offers proof that the urgent issue is frozen until after election

The fact that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and President Barack Obama have not discussed looming automatic spending cuts leads this roundup of Capitol Hill news.

19 Oct 2012

Okla. lawsuit provides first test of legal arguments against health law's insurance exchanges

Some of the lawsuit's backers maintain that last summer's Supreme Court health law decision would not be the "law's last trip" to the high court.

19 Oct 2012

Kaiser Permanente creates new electronic Exercise Vital Sign initiative

Kaiser Permanente has created a new electronic Exercise Vital Sign initiative to systematically record patients' physical activity in their electronic health records.

19 Oct 2012

States officials wrestle with Medicaid expansion decisions, state reforms

Many are exploring whether expanding Medicaid eligibility under the health law would lead to savings or increased costs.

17 Oct 2012

Flagellin in house dust may worsen allergic responses to inhaled substances

A bacterial protein in common house dust may worsen allergic responses to indoor allergens, according to research conducted by the National Institutes of Health and Duke University. The finding is the first to document the presence of the protein flagellin in house dust, bolstering the link between allergic asthma and the environment.

16 Oct 2012

In V.P. debate redux, candidates' policies scrutinized

Coverage in the days after the vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan examines policy positions, claims, and accusations related to Medicare, Medicaid and other policy points.

16 Oct 2012

NIAID-funded study to evaluate PPSV23 and PCV13 in Phase Iib pneumococcal trial

Researchers plan to see if a higher dose of a pneumococcal vaccine will create a stronger immune response in older adults who received an earlier generation vaccine against pneumonia and other pneumococcal diseases.

16 Oct 2012