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Viewpoints: Girding for a 'beloved' Medicare fight; Two views about health law's employer mandate; Doctors fear 'SGR cliff'

It's a shame that Republicans are playing into Mr. Obama's hands, negotiating in public among themselves, ... Tennessee Senator Bob Corker made the case for this strategic retreat on "Fox News Sunday," arguing that if Republicans raise tax rates as Mr. Obama wants, "the focus then shifts to entitlements and maybe it puts us in a place where we actually can do something that really saves the nation."

10 Dec 2012

ATLAS holds up 10-year tamoxifen regime

Results from the ATLAS study indicate that women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer should consider taking tamoxifen for up to 10 years after diagnosis.

10 Dec 2012

New hope for leukemia patients

Nine of twelve leukemia patients who received infusions of their own T cells after the cells had been genetically engineered to attack the patients' tumors responded to the therapy, which was pioneered by scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

10 Dec 2012

Surgical patients with chronic psychological symptoms require psychotherapeutic treatment

In their study, the research group, headed by Privatdozent Dr. Henning Krampe, psychologist at the Charité Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Prof. Claudia Spies, Director of the Charité Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine and Prof. Elmar Brähler, Head of the Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology at the University of Leipzig, initially recorded how many patients faced by a forthcoming operation were interested in psychotherapy sessions and to what extent this interest was associated with the increased psychological distress occurring before the operation. Finally, the scientists examined whether changes in the psychological symptoms took place during the six months following the surgery.

10 Dec 2012

Nuron Biotech announces acquisition of Meningitec from Pfizer

Nuron Biotech Inc., a specialty biologics and vaccines company, today announced it has acquired from Pfizer Inc. Meningitec, which is a vaccine for the prevention of invasive disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C.

10 Dec 2012

Genzyme receives EC approval for Thyrogen product label expansion

Genzyme, a Sanofi company, today announced it has received European Commission approval of a product label expansion for the use of Thyrogen (thyrotropin alfa) with a wider irradiation dose range for postoperative thyroid remnant ablation.

10 Dec 2012

Delirium associated with higher mortality rates

A new meta-analysis has found that delirium, a condition developed by many patients in hospital intensive care units (ICU), is associated with higher mortality rates, more complications, longer stays in the ICU, and longer hospitalizations.

10 Dec 2012

GSK, MD Anderson partner to develop new therapeutic antibodies against cancer

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have signed a research collaboration and license agreement to develop new therapeutic antibodies that promote an immune system attack against cancer.

10 Dec 2012

Lancet examines Indonesia's efforts to reduce maternal mortality

The Lancet examines Indonesia's efforts to reduce maternal mortality, one of the Millennium Development Goals President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has identified as a national priority.

8 Dec 2012

Cost-benefit analysis of TasP compared with circumcision, ART

In a study published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Till Barnighausen, David Bloom, and Salal Humair of the Harvard School of Public Health examine "whether [HIV treatment as prevention (TasP)] is indeed a game changer or if comparable benefits are obtainable at similar or lower cost by increasing coverage of medical male circumcision (MMC) and antiretroviral treatment (ART)."

8 Dec 2012

Viewpoints: Considering baby boomers' future burden on Medicare; Holtz-Eakin endorses state exchanges; The value (or not) of mammograms

The Congressional Budget Office projects that if current policies continue, total federal spending will rise to 24 percent of gross domestic product in 2022. [Republicans and Washington deficit hawks'] proposed solution is a cap on government spending.

7 Dec 2012

Prosthetic joint infection guidelines released

The Infectious Diseases Society of American has released guidelines for the diagnosis and care of patients with a prosthetic joint infection.

7 Dec 2012

Pay for performance may have reduced UK mortality rates

The introduction in 2008 of a US-based “pay-for-performance” scheme into National Health Service hospitals in the northwest of the UK resulted in a significant decrease in mortality rates, particularly for pneumonia, study findings show.

7 Dec 2012

Bypass option for ‘unclippable’ giant cerebral aneurysms

Extracranial–intracranial bypass is a “durable” treatment option for giant middle cerebral artery aneurysms that cannot be clipped, say US researchers.

7 Dec 2012

Stopping TB requires dedication of international community

Noting that the WHO's Global Tuberculosis Report shows "that access to care and treatment for tuberculosis [TB] has expanded substantially in the past two decades," Deborah Derrick, president of Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, writes in an AlertNet opinion piece, "Not only is this good news for those countries that are most vulnerable to tuberculosis; it is also good news for the global community," as TB can be passed through the air.

7 Dec 2012

Study reveals increase in incidence of dialysis-requiring acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI), an abrupt or rapid decline in kidney function, is a serious and increasingly prevalent condition that can occur after major infections, major surgery, or exposure to certain medications.

7 Dec 2012

Bio-Path to initiate BP-100-1.01 Phase I trial for treatment of two types of breast cancer

Bio-Path Holdings, Inc., a biotechnology company developing a liposomal delivery technology for nucleic acid cancer drugs, today announced it is initiating development of its lead cancer drug BP-100-1.01 (Liposomal Grb-2) to treat triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), two cancers characterized by formation of aggressive tumors and relatively high mortality rates.

6 Dec 2012

Prescribing opioids lead to admissions for substance abuse treatment and deaths

A Viewpoint article published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that the clinical practice of prescribing amphetamines, opioids, and benzodiazepines to treat chronic pain may be contributing to the increase in fatal drug overdoses and the likelihood that those drugs will be diverted to the illegal market.

6 Dec 2012