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Consortium studies gene-drug relationship to determine optimal warfarin doses

If Julie Johnson had her way, doctors would check a patient's genes before writing a prescription. Everyone responds differently to medicines—one that works for you might not work for me, or it could even be harmful. These individual responses depend to an extent on our genetic make-up.

16 Apr 2010

Ongoing Medicare physician payment dilemma

"Because of Congress's inability to find answers to the ongoing Medicare physician payment dilemma, physicians across the country are unable to accept and treat new Medicare patients," Joseph W. Stubbs, MD, FACP, president of the American College of Physicians declared today as he considered the impending effects of the cut to the Sustainable Growth Rate.

16 Apr 2010

Expanding Canada Pension Plan will ensure adequate retirement incomes, says CCPA report

Expanding the Canada Pension Plan would be the most effective way to ensure all Canadian have adequate retirement incomes, says a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

16 Apr 2010

Low levels of vitamin D associated with lower lung function in children with asthma

Low levels of vitamin D are associated with lower lung function and greater medication use in children with asthma, according to researchers at National Jewish Health. In a paper published online this week in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, Daniel Searing, MD, and his colleagues also reported that vitamin D enhances the activity of corticosteroids, the most effective controller medication for asthma.

16 Apr 2010

Lawmaker cancels hearing on big corporations' tax deductions related to health reform

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., canceled a hearing set for next week that would have probed recent announcements by large firms that they are taking millions of dollars in health law-related write-downs, Kaiser Health News reports.

16 Apr 2010

European patent for XenoPort's investigational compound is valid

XenoPort, Inc. announced today that the European Patent Office (EPO) Opposition Division ruled that the European patent for the composition of matter of XP13512 (European Patent No. 1 404 324) is valid.

16 Apr 2010

Health reform affects high-risk patients, abortion and doctor practices

NPR: "Recent fights between anti-abortion groups could leave people with the impression that the new health overhaul law expands women's access to abortion. But abortion-rights groups vehemently disagree."

16 Apr 2010

Enrollment completed in Impax Pharmaceuticals' APEX-PD trial of IPX066

Impax Pharmaceuticals, the brand products division of Impax Laboratories, Inc., today announced that it has completed enrollment of its APEX-PD trial. APEX-PD is a multinational Phase III trial of its late-stage drug candidate IPX066 in subjects with early Parkinson's disease.

16 Apr 2010

New research on EKG signals could help heart patients in future

A physics major's passion for medicine led her into research that could help heart patients in the future.

16 Apr 2010

Volcanic ash falls across Europe

Flights were cancelled across Europe today thanks to volcanic ash drifting in to northern Europe from Iceland. More than 250 flights were grounded from London’s Gatwick and Heathrow airports alone, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. The ash is drifting in from a volcanic eruption in Iceland and the cloud is capable of damaging jet engines that travel through it.

16 Apr 2010

Obesity prejudice in medical community

Prejudice towards obese people is rife among trainee health professionals, but can be modified, new research has found.

16 Apr 2010

Community colleges to have new curriculum to educate HIT workers

Community colleges will soon have the capacity and ability to educate much-needed health information technology workers. Using a new six to 12 month informatics curriculum developed at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and deployed throughout the U.S., local colleges will have access to high-quality HIT educational programs, while helping their instructors supplement their own level of knowledge.

16 Apr 2010

Research may help develop simplified test for early detection of breast cancer

Researchers at the University of Arkansas are building a library of synthetically produced antibodies that can detect and rapidly validate proteins secreted by breast cancer cells. Their work will accelerate the process of developing a simple blood test for early detection of breast cancer.

16 Apr 2010

Vertex Pharmaceuticals announces results from Phase 1b clinical trial of VX-222

In conjunction with an oral presentation at the 45th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Vienna, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced results from a Phase 1b clinical trial of the investigational oral hepatitis C virus polymerase inhibitor, VX-222. In the trial, treatment with VX-222 for three days was well-tolerated, with all adverse events being mild to moderate in severity.

16 Apr 2010

Problems faced by epileptic patients

Physicians treating patients with epilepsy are in a difficult legal situation when they have to assess their patients' ability to drive. In the current edition of the Deutsches -rzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107[13]: 217-23), the occupational physician Monika Gube and her coauthors describe the problems, using an individual case as an example.

16 Apr 2010

Genocea Biosciences, NMRC sign CRADA to develop vaccine against malaria

Genocea Biosciences, a leading vaccine discovery and development company, today announced that it has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Naval Medical Research Center. NMRC will collaborate with Genocea to identify antigens that will be used in the development of a vaccine candidate against Plasmodium falciparum for the prevention of malaria.

16 Apr 2010

Congress sends Haiti Recovery Act to President Obama

The House of Representatives approved a measure by voice vote Wednesday that "instructs U.S. directors at the International Monetary Fund and other global development institutions to use their votes and influence to cancel Haiti's debt," CongressDaily reports (4/15).

16 Apr 2010

Bariatric surgery reduces breathing problems, medication costs

Another benefit of rapid weight loss after bariatric surgery is a 50 percent reduction in use of prescription breathing medications, according to a study published this month in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).

16 Apr 2010

Director of Mass. Health Connector Authority steps down

Jon Kingsdale, the executive director of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, the state agency that helps people in Massachusetts find health insurance, is leaving his job, Gov. Deval Patrick" announced Thursday, the Boston Herald reports.

16 Apr 2010

FDA publishes guidance to prevent Salmonella Enteritidis in shell eggs

On April 13, 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration published guidance for small egg producers to help them comply with a 2009 federal egg safety regulation designed to prevent Salmonella Enteritidis in shell eggs during production, transportation, and storage.

16 Apr 2010