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Rett syndrome gene found to be full of surprises

A study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has transformed scientists' understanding of Rett syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes autistic behavior and other disabling symptoms. Until now, scientists thought that the gene behind Rett syndrome was an "off" switch, or repressor, for other genes. But the new study, published today in Science, shows that it is an "on" switch for a startlingly large number of genes.

29 May 2008

CQ's Carey discusses Medicare legislation, Medicaid regulations, bipartisan health care summit

Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, discusses Senate Democrats' plans to craft legislation that would stop a scheduled reduction in Medicare physician payments; a provision in a supplemental war spending bill that would block for one year new Medicaid regulations; and a bicameral, bipartisan health policy summit set for June in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ."

28 May 2008

Bureaucracy has delayed plans for three FDA offices in China

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Friday said that Chinese bureaucracy has delayed plans to establish FDA offices in three cities -- Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou -- that would monitor exports of food, medications, medical devices and other consumer products to the U.S., the Associated Press reports.

28 May 2008

Health Care Coalition pushes for e-prescribing legislation

The technical standards necessary to establish a national electronic prescribing system already have been adopted by physicians and pharmacy software companies, according to a letter to lawmakers from a coalition of health care providers, insurance companies, academics and pharmacies, CQ HealthBeat reports.

28 May 2008

Scientists identify a brain mechanism underlying persistent cocaine craving

Scientists have identified a mechanism in the brain that helps to explain why craving for cocaine, and the risk of relapse, seems to increase in the weeks and months after drug use is stopped. The research was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

28 May 2008

FDA will monitor medical records of Medicare beneficiaries to identify potential prescription drug, medical device safety problems

HHS on Thursday announced the creation of a new program that will allow FDA, state agencies and academic researchers to use medical record data to ensure drugs and medical devices are safe for consumers after they enter the market, the Washington Post reports (Stein, Washington Post, 5/23).

25 May 2008

Miami Herald examines spread of HIV among IDUs in Florida

The Miami Herald on Thursday examined the spread of HIV among injection drug users in Florida. According to the Herald, needle-exchange programs are banned in the state, so some health workers distribute sterilization equipment in an effort to curb the spread of HIV and other bloodborne diseases.

25 May 2008

Pharmaceutical, medical device industries have shifted campaign contributions to Democratic candidates

Pharmaceutical and medical device companies have contributed more to the campaigns of Democratic candidates than Republican candidates in the current election cycle, a "sharp reversal" from previous cycles and "one more sign of the campaign difficulties the GOP could face this November," the AP/Miami Herald reports.

22 May 2008

HHS receives more than thirty applications for electronic health records pilot program

HHS has received more than 30 applications from communities that seek to participate in a Medicare pilot program that uses electronic health records, CQ HealthBeat reports (CQ HealthBeat, 5/20).

22 May 2008

New efforts to improve medical products for patient safety

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced efforts underway at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that will complement each other to improve patient safety and the quality of medical care.

22 May 2008

NCI scientists visualize gene regulation in living cells

A research team led by scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has applied advanced imaging methods and computer simulations to be able to glance at the regulation of a cancer-related gene in a living cell. They found that the efficiency with which the components of the cell's gene reading machinery come together has an impact on gene expression, the process by which a gene translates its information into a new protein. The findings, published in the May 23, 2008 issue of Molecular Cell, shed new light on the means by which living cells regulate gene activity.

22 May 2008

Reducing blockage fails to improve access to the bloodstream for kidney dialysis

Reducing early blockages in bloodstream access for kidney failure treatment does not increase the likelihood that the access will function adequately for long-term treatments, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Results were published May 14, 2008, in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

22 May 2008

HIV/AIDS advocacy groups protest ruling in case regarding HIV-positive man, saliva

Several HIV/AIDS advocacy groups are saying that a recent ruling in a Dallas County, Texas, case that an HIV-positive man who spit into the mouth and eye of a Dallas police officer was using saliva as a deadly weapon was excessive, the Dallas Morning News reports.

20 May 2008

Primate model for autism

A primate model for autism using the U.S. children's immunization schedule was unveiled at the International Meeting For Autism Research (IMFAR) this weekend.

20 May 2008

NIH launches undiagnosed diseases program

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced a new clinical research program that will aim to provide answers to patients with mysterious conditions that have long eluded diagnosis. Called the Undiagnosed Diseases Program, the trans-NIH initiative will focus on the most puzzling medical cases referred to the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., by physicians across the nation.

19 May 2008

Senate leaders agree on privacy protections amendment to health care information technology bill

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on Wednesday announced that sponsors of a bill (HR 1693) that would promote the use of health care information technology have agreed to include an amendment Leahy proposed to help protect patient privacy, CQ HealthBeat reports. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and ranking member Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) introduced the legislation last October.

19 May 2008

NYT examines limited options for disabled children who reach age 18

The New York Times on Wednesday examined how as "medical advances have allowed patients who might have died as children to survive into adulthood, the patients are falling into a void in a health care system that has yet to develop institutions for the young and 'medically fragile.'"

19 May 2008

House Committee holds hearing on concerns about nursing home ownership, inspections

The House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee on Thursday held a hearing to examine the effects that the "increasingly veiled nature" of nursing home ownership and problems with inspections have had on the quality of care for elderly and disabled residents, CQ HealthBeat reports (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 5/15).

19 May 2008

Treating safety research like other clinical studies slows progress

Progress in patient safety research could slow to a crawl unless regulators work out a host of ethical issues, Johns Hopkins researchers assert in an upcoming opinion piece.

13 May 2008

Molecular pathway in muscle helps explain effectiveness of diabetes interventions

Scientists at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), demonstrate for the first time in a mouse model that skeletal muscle cells cultured in a low-calorie environment refrain from differentiating, an energy-demanding process by which cells mature and specialize.

12 May 2008

Health and Human Services News and Research

Rett syndrome gene found to be full of surprises

CQ's Carey discusses Medicare legislation, Medicaid regulations, bipartisan health care summit

Bureaucracy has delayed plans for three FDA offices in China

Health Care Coalition pushes for e-prescribing legislation

Scientists identify a brain mechanism underlying persistent cocaine craving

FDA will monitor medical records of Medicare beneficiaries to identify potential prescription drug, medical device safety problems

Miami Herald examines spread of HIV among IDUs in Florida

Pharmaceutical, medical device industries have shifted campaign contributions to Democratic candidates

HHS receives more than thirty applications for electronic health records pilot program

New efforts to improve medical products for patient safety

NCI scientists visualize gene regulation in living cells

Reducing blockage fails to improve access to the bloodstream for kidney dialysis

HIV/AIDS advocacy groups protest ruling in case regarding HIV-positive man, saliva

Primate model for autism

NIH launches undiagnosed diseases program

Senate leaders agree on privacy protections amendment to health care information technology bill

NYT examines limited options for disabled children who reach age 18

House Committee holds hearing on concerns about nursing home ownership, inspections

Treating safety research like other clinical studies slows progress

Molecular pathway in muscle helps explain effectiveness of diabetes interventions

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