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Viewpoints: Health law's latest day in court; Obama's "abdication" on Medicare; Blue Shield profits vs. premiums

Provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare, "may violate the constitution of Ayn Rand, but they do not violate the Constitution of the United States," acting solicitor general Neal Kumar Katyal told a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday. Conversely, attorney Paul Clement, representing Georgia and 25 other states, framed the issue of mandated purchase of health insurance as an issue of liberty.

10 Jun 2011

Smoking keeps weight off: Study finds out how

The researchers have found that nicotine activates a pathway in the brain that suppresses appetite. The study was published in the journal Science. The authors believe this discovery should lead to better diet drugs.

9 Jun 2011

New vaccines on the horizon

In a report published in The Lancet, researchers say there is the potential to develop 20 new or improved vaccines over the next decade. They emphasize that funding is crucial - but so is trust and confidence in vaccines. It is said that AIDS and malaria vaccines as the most important areas for research. Authors further suggest that neglected tropical diseases, such as leprosy, should also be investigated.

9 Jun 2011

Avvo.com, cites top 10 most popular medical specialty categories based on website's patient usage

Avvo (www.avvo.com), the world's largest online directory for doctors and lawyers that provides free rankings for 90% of the working physicians in the U.S., today revealed the most popular medical specialty categories based on Q1 2011 metrics quantifying patient participation in Avvo's online services that include searching Avvo's physician directory, asking health related questions in the Q&A forum, and submitting reviews on their doctors' Avvo profiles.

9 Jun 2011

European Bioinformatics Institute drives genomics research with GÉANT

The European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), which hosts the world’s largest public collection of molecular biology databases, is using the pan-European GÉANT research network and JANET, the UK research network, to help biologists share vital data across the globe.

9 Jun 2011

The ‘decade of vaccines’ has the potential to save lives, many challenges ahead

Vaccinating children around the world against infectious diseases has saved the lives of millions over the past several decades. Now new opportunities exist to overcome remaining challenges—and save another 6.4 million lives over the current decade, according articles in the June 2011 edition of Health Affairs. The issue was produced under the journal’s grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

9 Jun 2011

Hospitals seek help with costs of caring for illegal immigrants

The American Hospital Association is urging President Barack Obama to consider the costs hospitals incur for treating illegal immigrants—and to include provisions in his legislative recommendations to Congress that would sufficiently reimburse them for doing so (Zigmond, 6/9).

9 Jun 2011

Several state legislatures debate abortion restrictions

State legislatures around the country are looking at a variety of measures dealing with abortion.

9 Jun 2011

Abbott reports positive interim results from LCIG Phase III open-label study for advanced Parkinson's disease

Interim efficacy and safety results from a long-term, 54-week, Phase III open-label study of Abbott's investigational treatment for advanced Parkinson's disease showed that patients treated with levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) for 12 weeks reported a decrease in "off" time and an increase in "on" time without troublesome dyskinesias.

9 Jun 2011

Obama administration launches new program to spur health IT innovation

The initiative, announced Wednesday, uses prizes and challenges to encourage accelerated research and development activities in the health IT sector.

9 Jun 2011

Deadline extended for ACO pioneer program

The new deadline is Aug. 19. Meanwhile, in other policy-related news, the White House pushed back against study findings released earlier this week by McKinsey & Co. that as many as 30 percent of companies may stop offering health insurance to their employees and said the president's healthcare plan "will reduce costs overall."

9 Jun 2011

Promising results from VX-770 and VX-809 Phase 2 study for cystic fibrosis

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation today announced promising results from an ongoing Phase 2 study evaluating combinations of VX-770 and VX-809, potential medicines designed to treat the defective protein that causes cystic fibrosis.

9 Jun 2011

New vaccine leads to dramatic fall in meningitis A cases

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger report the lowest number of confirmed meningitis A cases ever recorded during an epidemic season this year following the successful introduction of a new vaccine that could eliminate the primary cause of the deadly disease from Africa's meningitis belt, announced the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP) today, which spearheaded development of the vaccine.

9 Jun 2011

University of Mississippi grants ChromaDex global rights to pterostilbene

ChromaDex Corp. and the University of Mississippi today announced the university has granted the natural products company the exclusive worldwide patent rights to a potential new therapeutic use for pterostilbene (tero-STILL-bean) as an anxiolytic or anti-anxiety agent. ChromaDex' pTeroPure® is an ultra-pure formulation of pterostilbene, a compound found in blueberries and demonstrated to have multiple health benefits.

9 Jun 2011

Lund researchers create nerve cells from human skin

A research breakthrough has proven that it is possible to reprogram mature cells from human skin directly into brain cells, without passing through the stem cell stage. The unexpectedly simple technique involves activating three genes in the skin cells; genes which are already known to be active in the formation of brain cells at the foetal stage.

9 Jun 2011

Synaptophysin controls replacement of vesicles

A University of Wisconsin-Madison research team has solved a 25-year mystery that may lead to better treatments for people with learning deficits and mental retardation.

9 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 9, 2011

Today's headlines include reports from yesterday's action in an Atlanta courtroom where oral arguments were held in an appeal related to the multi-state challenge to the health law.

9 Jun 2011

Celerion earns ANVISA certification to conduct clinical research operations in Belfast, Lincoln

Celerion, the premier provider of innovative early stage drug development solutions, is pleased to announce that its clinical research operations in Belfast, Northern Ireland UK, and its clinical research and bioanalytical services operations in Lincoln, Nebraska USA, have been certified by the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency.

9 Jun 2011

Vertex announces interim results from VX-770 and VX-809 Phase 2 study on cystic fibrosis

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced interim results from the first part of a Phase 2 study designed to evaluate multiple combination regimens of VX-770 and VX-809, Vertex's lead medicines in development that aim to treat the defective protein that causes cystic fibrosis.

9 Jun 2011