May, 2008 |
| (05/05) Kidney Disease Substantially Worsens in a Fourth of African Americans despite Therapy for Hypertension |
The best available treatment for chronic kidney disease from high blood pressure did not keep the disease from substantially worsening in about a fourth of African-Americans studied, according to long-term results of a National Institutes of Health study published April 28, 2008, in the Archives of Internal Medicine ...(continued)
~National Institutes of Health - 05/05/2008 |
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| (05/05) New York Lawmakers, HIV/AIDS Advocates Working To Address HIV/AIDS Funds for Counties |
New York state lawmakers and HIV/AIDS advocates are working to address federal HIV/AIDS funding for Nassau and Suffolk counties following a recent ruling that HHS should restore more than $1 million in Ryan White Program funding, the New York Times reports (Saslow, New York Times, 5/4). The ruling was issued last month by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. It overturned a previous decision by the U.S. District Court, which agreed with the federal government that the counties no longer qualified for the annual amount of Ryan White funding they had received since 1990 ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 05/01/2008 |
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| (05/03) Medicare Spending by State of Residence |
New data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)'s Office of the Actuary on Medicare spending estimates by state of residence for 1995 through 2004 are now available for all states. These estimates are based on where individuals reside and include total Medicare spending, spending on hospital care, physician services, dental services, home health care, drugs, and nursing home care, total per enrollee spending, per enrollee spending by service type, and the average annual percent growth in Medicare spending from 1995 to 2004 ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 05/01/2008 |
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| (05/03) Deaths Due to HCV Increasing |
A new study titled ‘Changing Trends in Hepatitis C-Related Mortality in the United States, 1995-2004,” by M. Wise and colleagues, was released in March 2008. An analysis from the study found that there was a dramatic increase in the number of hepatitis C-related deaths in the period from 1995 to 2004 ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 05/01/2008 |
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| (05/02) Magic Johnson Calls for More HIV Testing Among Minorities in D.C. |
As part of his "I Stand With Magic" campaign, former National Basketball Association player Earvin "Magic" Johnson on Wednesday during a roundtable discussion at Howard University encouraged blacks residing in Washington, D.C., to be tested for HIV, WTOPnews.com reports ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 05/02/2008 |
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| (05/01) Researchers Find that a Small Molecule Can Activate an Important Cancer Suppressor Gene |
By activating a cancer suppressor gene, a small molecule called nutlin-3a can block cancer cell division, according to researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. This activation of the p53 gene leads to cellular senescence, a process by which cells lose their ability to grow and divide. An opportunity for new genetic mutations occurs each time a cell divides, so limiting the number of cell divisions in a cancer cell inhibits tumor progression. This study is published in the May 1, 2008, issue of Cancer Research ...(continued)
~National Institutes of Health - 05/01/2008 |
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| (05/01) Measles - United States, January 1--April 25, 2008 |
The number of reported measles cases in the United States has declined from 763,094 in 1958 to 29–116 during 2000–2007. However, during January 1–April 25, 2008, a total of 64 confirmed measles cases were reported to CDC, the most reported by this date for any year since 2001. Of the 64 cases, 54 were associated with importation of measles from other countries, and 63 patients were unvaccinated or had unknown or undocumented vaccination status ...(continued)
~Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - 05/1/2008 |
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April, 2008 |
| (04/30) SCIENTISTS FORM INTERNATIONAL CANCER GENOME CONSORTIUM |
Research organizations from around the world announced today they are launching the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), a collaboration designed to generate high-quality genomic data on up to 50 types of cancer through efforts projected to take up to a decade.
The ICGC will make its data rapidly and freely available to the global research community. It invites research organizations in all nations to participate.
"Cancer's complexity poses an enormous challenge. NIH is highly encouraged that the worldwide scientific community is joining to meet this challenge, and we are pleased to be a member of this ambitious international endeavor," said Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., director of the National Institutes of Health, which is the U.S. research organization taking part in the ICGC. "The consortium's commitment to making its data rapidly available in public databases will serve to accelerate research into the causes and control of cancer in the United States and throughout the world."
Each ICGC member intends to conduct a comprehensive, high-resolution analysis of the full range of genomic changes in at least one specific type or subtype of cancer, with studies built around common standards of data collection and analysis. Each project is expected to involve specimens from approximately 500 patients and have an estimated cost of $20 million.
As part of its coordination efforts, the ICGC will generate a list of approximately 50 cancer types and subtypes that are of clinical significance around the globe. ICGC members plan to assume responsibility for specific cancers, and one of the ICGC's roles should be to facilitate the exchange of information so participants' efforts do not duplicate each other.
Current ICGC members include:
-- AUSTRALIA: National Health and Medical Research Council (Observer Status)
-- CANADA: Genome Canada; Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
-- CHINA: Chinese Cancer Genome Consortium
-- EUROPE: European Commission (Observer Status)
-- FRANCE: Institute National du Cancer
-- INDIA: Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology
-- JAPAN: RIKEN; National Cancer Center
-- SINGAPORE: Genome Institute of Singapore
-- UNITED KINGDOM: The Wellcome Trust; Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
-- UNITED STATES: NIH
"Clearly, there is an urgent need to reduce cancer's terrible toll. To help meet that need, the consortium will use new genome analysis technologies to produce comprehensive catalogs of the genetic mutations involved in the world's major types of cancer," said Thomas Hudson, M.D., of the ICGC Secretariat, which is based at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Toronto. "Such catalogs will be valuable resources for all researchers working to develop new and better ways of diagnosing, treating and preventing cancer."
Worldwide, more than 7.5 million people died of cancer and more than 12 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed in 2007. Unless progress is made in understanding and controlling cancer, those numbers are expected to rise to 17.5 million deaths and 27 million new cases in 2050.
Once thought of as a single disease, cancer is now understood to consist of a large number of different conditions. In almost all forms, however, cancer changes the genetic blueprint, or genomes, of cells, and causes disruptions within normal biological pathways, leading to uncontrolled cell growth. Because genomic changes are often specific to a particular type or stage of cancer, systematically mapping the changes that occur in each cancer could provide the foundation for research to identify new therapies, diagnostics and preventive strategies.
The ICGC's main criteria for prioritizing cancer types include: impact, including incidence and mortality rates, availability of therapies and age of onset; scientific interest; and feasibility, which includes the ability to obtain enough high-quality samples to conduct a large-scale project.
To facilitate comparisons among different types of cancer, the ICGC guidelines list key factors for its members to consider in the production of genomic catalogs. Those factors include comprehensiveness, which involves detecting all cancer-related genetic mutations that occur in at least 3 percent of tumor samples; resolution, which involves generating data at the level of individual DNA bases; quality, which involves monitoring based on common standards for pathology and technology; and controls, which involves comparisons of data from matched, non-tumor tissue.
ICGC member nations plan to agree to common standards for informed consent and ethical oversight. While the informed consent process will necessarily differ according to each member country's requirements, the consortium's policies state that cancer patients enrolled in an ICGC-related study should be informed that their participation is voluntary, that their clinical care will not be affected by their participation and that data obtained from analyses using their samples will be made available to the international research community. ICGC members also should take steps to ensure that all samples will be coded and stored in ways that protect the identities of the participants in the study.
To maximize the public benefit from ICGC member research, data will be made rapidly available to qualified investigators. In addition, all consortium participants intend not to file any patent applications or make other intellectual property claims on primary data from ICGC projects.
The ICGC is open to all entities that accept its policies and guidelines. A white paper detailing those policies and guidelines is available on the consortium's Web site at .
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research Agency -- is comprised of 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit .
~National Institutes of Health - 04/29/2008 |
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| (04/30) RESEARCHERS PRODUCE FIRST SEQUENCE MAP OF LARGE-SCALE STRUCTURAL VARIATION IN HUMAN GENOME |
A nationwide team of researchers, funded in part by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has produced the first sequence-based map of large-scale structural variation across the human genome. The work, published today in the journal Nature, provides a starting point to examine how such DNA variation contributes to human health and disease ...(continued)
~National Institutes of Health - 04/30/2008 |
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| (04/30) RESEARCHERS FIND QUICK WAY TO MAKE HUMAN MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AGAINST FLU |
Human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) -- highly specific, identical, infection-fighting proteins produced in large quantities in the lab in cell lines that are derived from a single antibody-producing cell -- against influenza can be rapidly produced in the lab, according to a new report from scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Using cells drawn from volunteers inoculated with seasonal influenza vaccine, the investigators made influenza-specific mAbs in just a few weeks rather than the typical two to three months. The new technique could potentially be used to rapidly create mAbs for a range of uses, the team says ...(continued)
~National Institutes of Health - 04/30/2008
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| (04/30) RESEARCHERS FIND QUICK WAY TO MAKE HUMAN MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AGAINST FLU |
Human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) -- highly specific, identical, infection-fighting proteins produced in large quantities in the lab in cell lines that are derived from a single antibody-producing cell -- against influenza can be rapidly produced in the lab, according to a new report from scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Using cells drawn from volunteers inoculated with seasonal influenza vaccine, the investigators made influenza-specific mAbs in just a few weeks rather than the typical two to three months. The new technique could potentially be used to rapidly create mAbs for a range of uses, the team says ...(continued)
~National Institutes of Health - 04/30/2008 |
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| (04/29) Taking on the Two-Party Monopoly |
ATLANTA - "Politics in the U.S. is at a crisis level," Green Party presidential hopeful Cynthia McKinney told IPS during a rare sit-down interview. "Disillusionment, lack of participation, and establishment of false choice -- what is one to do? For me, I can't give up hope. I said yes when the Green Party said 'okay, now you want to do it?'." McKinney served as a Democratic Georgia State legislator from 1988 to 1992, and as a U.S. congressperson from Georgia from 1993 to 2003 and again from 2005 to 2007. Now she is the frontrunner for the U.S. Green Party nomination, although the candidate has yet to be formally decided ...(continued)
~IPS - 04/29/2008 |
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| (04/29) "Transgenic Seed Companies Lie and Bribe" |
MEXICO CITY - Biotech corporations that developed genetically modified seeds are bribing authorities and carrying out costly advertising campaigns "plagued with lies in order to create monsters that attack life," says Jesús León Santos, an indigenous man who is one of this year's winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize. "We showed them that the cultivation techniques of our ancestors are the best and that they represent life. We are on the right path," León Santos said in an interview with Tierramérica correspondent Diego Cevallos ...(continued)
~IPS - 04/24/2008 |
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| (04/28) CHAMP Developing Advocacy Campaigns to Confront Overlapping Epidemics: HIV and Mass Imprisonment |
At any given time in this country, about 25% of HIV positive people in the United States are under the control of the criminal justice system. This staggering number is perhaps less surprising in the context of new data from the Pew Center, showing that fully 1 in 100 people in the U.S. - more than 2.3 million people - are locked behind bars. It's not a coincidence that the communities most impacted by massive imprisonment (especially in urban areas and the Southern states) also have the highest rates of HIV infection in the nation. Nearly half of all prisoners are people of African descent, and more than two-thirds of the total prison population are people of color, reflecting - or perhaps contributing to - disparities in HIV infection rates in this country. Women are the fastest rising group to be imprisoned, and the rates of HIV in imprisoned women are even higher than in men ...(continued)
~CHAMP - April 2008 |
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| (04/28) Reid seeks $26 million for hepatitis scare |
Washington — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is seeking $26 million in emergency funds from Congress to help deal with the hepatitis C crisis in Southern Nevada, but the request will likely run into political resistance from President Bush and congressional Republicans who oppose tacking any extra spending onto a bill for the Iraq war ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 04/23/2008 |
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| (04/28) Los Angeles Times Examines 'Exodus' of Specialists From Southern California Emergency Departments |
Specialists in Southern California have "abandoned emergency [departments] in droves" -- a trend that has exacerbated backlogs in EDs and affects both insured and uninsured patients, the Los Angeles Times reports. Mark Langdorf, ED director at University of California-Irvine Medical Center, said that physicians can handle about 80% of patients who come to the ED for care but that about 20% must be treated by a specialist. According to the Times, "That can mean hours on the phone trying to find a specialist or arranging a transfer to a larger hospital." Jim Lott, executive vice president of the Hospital Association of Southern California, said, "If the state of California's licensing and certification division came into our hospitals to examine whether we had all the specialists we say we do, they would shut down over half of the hospitals in Los Angeles County because we don't have coverage" ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/28/2008 |
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| (04/28) Second Conference About HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe, Central Asia Scheduled for May in Moscow |
The second Eastern European and Central Asian AIDS Conference is scheduled for May 3 to May 5 in Moscow, UzReport.com reports. The conference -- which is being organized by the Russian government, UNAIDS and the International AIDS Society -- aims to address the HIV/AIDS situation in the region by sharing best practices and evidence, as well as mobilizing action ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/28/2008
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| (04/27) PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS: Insurer broadens hepatitis caution |
Although Southern Nevada Health District officials maintain there is no evidence that the unsafe injection practices they believe led to six people contracting hepatitis C at a Las Vegas endoscopy clinic took place before March 2004, at least one health insurance provider isn't taking any chances. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield plans to alert all members treated at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada at 700 Shadow Lane to speak with their physicians about having tests for blood-borne diseases regardless of procedure date ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 04/23/2008 |
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| (04/27) U.S., British HIV/AIDS Researchers Pessimistic About Prospects of Vaccine, Survey Finds |
Leading HIV/AIDS researchers in Britain and the U.S. are pessimistic about the prospects of developing an HIV vaccine following the recent failure of a Merck vaccine candidate, according to a survey conducted by London's Independent, the Independent reports (Connor/Green, Independent, 4/24). Merck in September 2007 announced it had halted a large-scale clinical trial of its experimental HIV vaccine after the drug failed to prevent HIV infection in participants or prove effective in delaying the progression of the virus to AIDS. The vaccine candidate also might have put some trial participants at an increased risk of HIV (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 3/26) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/25/2008 |
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| (04/25) When even scientists acknowledge that 25 years of research haven't born any fruit, it's time to stop searching for an AIDS vaccine |
The search for an AIDS vaccine has lost its scientific purpose and turned into a self-serving quest. How else to explain the remarks found in David Baltimore and Seth Berkley's "Keep funding the AIDS vaccine”? Saying simply that "AIDS vaccine development is hard" is not a credible response to recent criticism leveled at the ballooning U.S. budget for AIDS vaccine research and the meager results it has produced. The argument is particularly weak when you consider that nearly $1 billion in public funding is poured annually into this fruitless quest, while millions globally lack access to the revolutionary, life-saving AIDS treatment that was developed more than 12 years ago: antiretroviral medication ...(continued)
~AIDS Healthcare Foundation - 04/25/2008 |
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| (04/25) House Subcommittee Approves Bill To Reauthorize Program To Help Uninsured Obtain Care at Community Health Centers |
The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee on Wednesday by voice vote approved a bill (HR 1343) that would reauthorize a program designed to provide support to community health centers to care for uninsured U.S. residents, CQ HealthBeat reports. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas), would reauthorize the program through fiscal year 2012. In addition, the bill would allow limited liability protection for physicians who volunteer at community health centers and extend liability protections to employees who travel to provide emergency care. Subcommittee Chair Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said, "This program will strengthen our community health centers and help them fulfill the role they play in guaranteeing access to high-quality health care services." The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved similar legislation (S 901) in November 2007 (Nylen, CQ HealthBeat, 4/23).
~Kaiser Network - 04/24/2008 |
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| (04/25) Newark Star-Ledger Examines Effect of Wal-Mart Generic Drug Discount Program on Pharmaceutical Industry |
The Newark Star-Ledger on Tuesday examined how analysts say the "overall impact" of Wal-Mart Stores' generic prescription drug program on the pharmaceutical industry "has been relatively small" (Cohen/Fitzgerald, Newark Star-Ledger, 4/22). The program, which began in September 2006, offers discounts for 361 prescriptions that represent different formulations of 157 generic medications. Most of the generic medications cost $4 per 30-day prescription, although several family planning treatments cost $9 (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/18) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/24/2008 |
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| (04/24) Nearly 80,000 syringes handed out in Marin program, a drop from previous years |
Marin health aides last year handed out nearly 80,000 clean syringes, a decline in the number of needles in the free needle-exchange program that targets the spread of AIDS and hepatitis C among local drug users. The fiscal year total reflected the third consecutive annual drop since 2003-04, when the program swapped 95,477 used syringes for clean ones ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 04/23/2008 |
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| (04/24) Leavitt Calls On Successor To Continue Bush Administration's 'Four Cornerstones' Plan |
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Wednesday urged his successor to continue with the Bush administration's "four cornerstones" initiative that promotes collaborative efforts to improve the national health care system and reduce costs, CQ HealthBeat reports.
Leavitt, speaking at the World Health Care Congress in Washington, D.C., discussed the initiative, which calls for efforts to measure quality of care; better cost data; more use of interoperable electronic medical records; and developing incentives to promote better health care ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/24/2008 |
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| (04/23) HIV Promotes HCV Replication |
Beyond antiretroviral-related drug toxicity, it is not fully understood how HIV coinfection might accelerate disease progression due to hepatitis C, since HIV does not directly infect hepatocytes. In a laboratory study described in the March 2008 issue of Gastroenterology, W. Lin and colleagues assessed whether circulating HIV or specific HIV proteins might contribute to HCV pathogenesis ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 04/23/2008 |
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| (04/23) LIVER DISEASE: Partnership would teach, treat |
Three prestigious California medical centers are in serious discussions with the University of Nevada School of Medicine to provide sophisticated treatment of liver disease in Las Vegas. The timing of conversations with Loma Linda University, UCLA and California Pacific Medical Center, which already has a part-time presence in Southern Nevada, isn't coincidental. Six weeks ago, some 40,000 letters were sent to former patients of the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada by health care authorities urging them to get tested for blood- borne diseases including hepatitis C, an incurable, potentially fatal condition that attacks the liver ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 04/23/2008 |
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| (04/22) Candidate Advisers Discuss Strategies To Address Health Care Disparities Among Hispanics |
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, senior health care adviser to presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), said that health care is "America's biggest domestic policy problem" and that McCain would focus on making care more affordable. He said, "If we don't address the cost issue, any other victory ... will be short-lived." McCain would replace a tax break for employees who receive health insurance from employers with a refundable tax credit for the purchase of private coverage, as well as focus on preventive care and quality improvement, Holtz-Eakin said ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/22/2008 |
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| (04/21) MOUSE STUDIES IDENTIFY GENE THAT MAY INFLUENCE METASTASIS RISK IN BREAST CANCER |
Researchers have identified a pattern of gene activity in mice that may help to predict individual risk for breast cancer metastasis and survival in humans. A single gene, called bromodomain 4 (Brd4), regulates the expression of this pattern, also called a signature. The researchers found that one result of this Brd4 regulation is the suppression of tumor growth and metastasis in a mouse model of cancer. These findings, published by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), parts of the National Institutes of Health, appear in the April 29, 2008, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ...(continued)
~National Institutes of Health - 04/21/2008 |
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| (04/19) Links Between Sex-Related Expectations About Alcohol, Heavy Episodic Drinking and Sexual Risk Among Young Men in a Shantytown in Lima, Peru |
Alcohol use is frequently identified as a contributor to risky sexual behaviors; however, research results are mixed. Given the conflicting evidence, researchers have focused on other factors, such as expectations about alcohol's effects that might help explain the relationship of alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors ...(continued)
~International Family Planning Perspectives Volume 34, Number 1, March 2008 |
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| (04/18) Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health in Post-Socialist Georgia: Does Internal Displacement Matter? |
Persons displaced by armed conflicts, natural disasters or other events are at increased risk for health problems. The Republic of Georgia has a substantial population of internally displaced women who may face elevated risks of STIs and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) ...(continued)
~International Family Planning Perspectives Volume 34, Number 1, March 2008 |
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| (04/18) Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Among Service Members Will Cost U.S. up to $6.2B Over Two Years, According to Report |
Nearly one in five, or about 300,000, soldiers who has served in Iraq or Afghanistan has post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression -- illnesses that could cost the U.S. as much as $6.2 billion over two years in care, lost productivity and lost lives through suicide, according to a RAND report released on Thursday, the Washington Post reports (Scott Tyson, Washington Post, 4/18). The study was based on telephone interviews conducted from August 2007 to January with 1,965 soldiers who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, in some cases more than once. The soldiers interviewed live in 24 communities with high concentrations of service members, reservists and veterans. Researchers also conducted focus groups. About 1.6 million people have served in Iraq or Afghanistan in the past five years (Alvarez, New York Times, 4/18) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/18/2008 |
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| (04/18) Drug Company Coalition To Push for Looser Rules on Off-Label Marketing |
Representatives of pharmaceutical companies are expressing support for loosening rules regarding drug companies' ability to market medications for off-label uses, the Wall Street Journal reports (Mundy, Wall Street Journal, 4/18). According to the Journal, the drug industry has recently become concerned over a "potential regulatory backlash" stemming from recent issues with the marketing of Vioxx and Vytorin, growing criticism from the presidential candidates regarding drug pricing and ongoing investigations by three congressional committees into drug-industry marketing practices ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/18/2008
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| (04/16) AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSE ANESTHETISTS CONDEMNS UNSAFE |
In a response to recent incidents in Nevada and New York in which patients were infected with HCV allegedly through the reuse of needles and syringes, the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) called on healthcare professionals across the nation to exercise the utmost care and vigilance when performing or observing injections on patients ...(continued)
~Hep Express - 04/16/2008
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| (04/16) Los Angeles Times Examines Medical Coverage for Chronically Ill Undocumented Immigrants |
The Los Angeles Times on Sunday examined a "little known option" for undocumented immigrants in California with certain medical needs: if they notify U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that they are not U.S. citizens, they could be eligible for health care benefits through the state's Medicaid program, Medi-Cal. The Times profiled the case of 21-year-old Ana Puente, an undocumented immigrant with a liver disorder who has received three liver transplants and other care at UCLA Medical Center since she was an infant ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/14/2008 |
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| (04/16) Presumptive GOP Presidential Nominee McCain Proposes Means Testing for Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit |
Presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) on Tuesday during a speech at Carnegie Mellon University announced, as part of an economic package, a proposal that would require higher-income Medicare beneficiaries to pay higher monthly premiums for the prescription drug benefit, the Wall Street Journal reports (Meckler, Wall Street Journal, 4/16). Higher-income Medicare beneficiaries currently pay higher premiums for Part B, which covers physician visits and outpatient hospital care, but all beneficiaries pay the same premiums for the prescription drug benefit (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/15) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/16/2008 |
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| (04/15) Presumptive GOP Presidential Nominee McCain Proposes Higher Medicare Drug Benefit Premiums for Higher-Income Beneficiaries |
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) on Tuesday during a speech at Carnegie Mellon University plans to announce a proposal that would require higher-income Medicare beneficiaries to pay higher monthly premiums for the prescription drug benefit, the Washington Post reports (Shear/Weisman, Washington Post, 4/15). Higher-income Medicare beneficiaries currently pay higher premiums for Part B, which covers physician visits and outpatient hospital care, but all beneficiaries pay the same premiums for the prescription drug benefit ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/15/2008 |
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| (04/15) White House Threatens To Veto Tax Bill in Part Because of Provision on HSAs |
The White House on Monday threatened to veto a tax bill (HR 5719) because of a provision under which individuals with tax-free health savings accounts would have to provide evidence that they used funds in the accounts for medical purposes, CQ Today reports. Under the provision, individuals with HSAs after Dec. 31, 2010, would have to provide evidence that they used funds in the accounts for medical purposes ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/15/2008 |
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| (04/15) Health Care Industry Spent $445M on Federal Lobbying in 2007 |
Health care interests spent $445 million on federal lobbying in 2007 -- more than any other sector of the economy -- to finish as the top spender for the second consecutive year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, CQ HealthBeat reports. A more specific breakdown of 20 industries that spent the most on lobbying in 2007, pharmaceutical and medical products companies rank first with $227 million in spending, while health insurance companies spent the second-most at $138 million. Hospitals and nursing homes spent $91 million, ranking fifth; while health professionals spent $70 million, ranking 15th; and HMOs/health services spent $52 million, ranking 19th ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/15/2008 |
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| (04/15) HIV Might Spread More Quickly Within the Body Than Previously Thought, Monkey Study Indicates |
Each rhesus monkey cell infected with the simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV, produces at least 50,000 viruses over its life span, suggesting HIV spreads more rapidly than previously estimated, according to a study by researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratories, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports. Researcher Alan Perelson and colleagues created an SIV strain that could infect one cell and reproduce, but the offspring were unable to infect other cells. After infecting rhesus monkeys with the strain, researchers examined the monkeys and counted the number of viruses made from the one cell over its life span ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/15/2008 |
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| (04/14) New York Times Examines How Iraq War Funds Could Finance Health Care, Other Domestic Proposals of Presidential Candidates |
The New York Times on Monday examined how Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) during their campaigns have said that funds spent on the war in Iraq are "crowding out urgent national needs," such as an expansion of health insurance to more U.S. residents. ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/14/2008 |
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| (04/14) Health Insurance Industry Functions Similar to 'Mafia,' Opinion Piece States |
The health insurance industry is "closest to the parasitic relationship imposed by the Mafia," with companies "raking in hefty profits and bloating cost, without providing any benefit at all," Jonathan Kellerman, a clinical professor of pediatrics and psychology at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and a novelist, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. According to Kellerman, in any industry, the "middleman interposed between seller and buyer raises the price of a given service or product," and, although some "intermediaries justify this by providing benefits" or physical facilities, health insurers "provide nothing other than an ambiguous, shifty notion of 'protection" ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/14/2008< /small> |
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| (04/14) Obama, Clinton Call for Allocating More Resources To Fight Spread of HIV/AIDS |
Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) on Sunday both called for allocating more resources to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, AFP/Google.com reports (AFP/Google.com, 4/14). The Democratic presidential candidates' comments came during a forum at Messiah College that was sponsored by Faith in Public Life, the Hartford Courant reports (Buck, Hartford Courant, 4/14) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/14/2008 |
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| (04/14) Canadian Airport Security Guard Who Prevented HIV/AIDS Support Group From Boarding Plane Resigns |
A security guard employed by Garda World Security resigned on Thursday after allegedly saying members of an HIV/AIDS support group posed a health risk to other passengers at Prince George Airport in Prince George, Canada, Toronto's Globe and Mail reports (Atkinson, Globe and Mail, 4/11) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/14/2008 |
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| (04/12) MIDEAST: No Ambulance, Call the Radio |
GAZA CITY - "I am bleeding uncontrollably, I need an ambulance." That was not a call to emergency services, it was an appeal broadcast live on radio in Gaza City. Who knows whether there will ever be an ambulance or not. But this way the ambulance services still hear the appeal broadcast on Al-Iman FM Radio Station, one of few independent radio stations in Gaza. And if the emergency services cannot help, someone else who hears the appeal might ...(continued)
~IPS - 04/12/2008
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| (04/11) US/IRAQ: Stuck! |
WASHINGTON - "Tell me how this ends," Gen. David Petraeus, then commander of the 101st Airborne Division, asked a Washington Post reporter during the "liberation" of Iraq almost exactly five years ago. That neither Petraeus, now commander of all U.S. forces in Iraq, nor his civilian counterpart, Washington's ambassador to Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, was able to offer even the slightest clue as to "how this ends" in Congressional testimony this week added yet one more layer of irony to a war which has systematically defied every prediction of its architects ...(continued)
~IPS - 04/11/2008
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| (04/11) AP/Houston Chronicle Examines HIV Outbreak Among 72 Children, 16 Mothers in Kyrgyzstan |
An HIV outbreak among 72 children and 16 mothers at two hospitals in Kyrgyzstan has led to charges of negligence against 14 medical workers, who are believed to have accidentally infected the children through tainted blood and used needles, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports (Saralayeva, AP/Houston Chronicle, 4/9) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/11/2008 |
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| (04/11) Egyptian Court Convicts Suspected HIV-Positive Men on Charges of 'Debauchery' |
An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced five men to three years in prison on charges of "habitual practice of debauchery," which some human rights groups said is evidence of an "escalating crackdown" on HIV-positive Egyptians, Reuters reports. According to Human Rights Watch, the five men -- four of whom are allegedly living with HIV/AIDS -- are among 12 people arrested since October 2007 in a "spreading hunt for people suspected of being HIV-positive" (Johnston, Reuters, 4/9) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/11/2008 |
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| (04/10) Automated Detection and Reporting of Notifiable Diseases Using Electronic Medical Records Versus Passive Surveillance - Massachusetts, June 2006-July 2007 |
Boston researchers created and piloted a computer program that automatically analyzes electronic medical records to detect contagious illnesses and report them to public health departments. The "Electronic Medical Record Support for Public Health" system, or "ESP," improves speed and accuracy of reporting diseases like tuberculosis and viral hepatitis and can replace the traditional system of reporting that required clinicians to complete forms and send them to health authorities. The ESP was installed at Atrius Health, a large health care organization in Boston, in January, 2007. Since then, ESP increased the number of reported infections, reporting 40 percent more cases of Chlamydia and 50 percent more cases of gonorrhea. It improved reporting whether the infected patient was pregnant and prescribed correct antibiotics. ESP currently reports on active tuberculosis, acute hepatitis A, B, and C, Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and pelvic inflammatory disease. ESP was sponsored by the US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
~Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report - 04/10/2008 |
| |
| (04/10) World Health Day 2008: protecting health from climate change |
In 2008, World Health Day focuses on the need to protect health from the adverse effects of climate change. WHO selected this theme in recognition that climate change is posing ever growing threats to global public health security ...(continued)
~World Health Organization - 04/10/2008 |
| |
| (04/10) Elizabeth Edwards Says Clinton Plan Would Be 'More Successful' in Achieving Universal Coverage |
Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Democratic presidential candidate and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), on Wednesday said she prefers the health care plan proposed by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), the AP/Winston-Salem Journal reports. Edwards, in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America," said, "I do think that in order to ensure that we have universal coverage, we need to say that everybody has to join, so for that reason, the mandates that Sen. Clinton is talking about I think will actually be more successful in achieving the goal" (AP/Winston-Salem Journal, 4/10) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/10/2008 |
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| (04/09) Kyrgyz Babies Pass HIV to Mothers |
OSH, Kyrgyzstan -- Not long ago, she was a wife, mother and teacher. Now Dilfuza Mustafakulova is HIV-positive and has lost her husband and her job. Mustafakulova's baby son was among 72 children infected with the virus at two Kyrgyz hospitals. Sixteen mothers also have contracted it _ in some cases by breast-feeding their children. The scandal has led to charges of negligence against 14 medical workers in the impoverished former Soviet republic, where investigators suspect the children were infected by tainted blood and the reuse of needles ...(continued)
~Washington Post - 04/09/2008 |
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| (04/09) Former House Speaker Gingrich Says Democrats Will Not Overhaul Health Care |
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) on Tuesday said before an audience of hospital executives that Democrats in Congress will not be able to overhaul the U.S. health care system if they are successful in the fall elections, CQ HealthBeat reports. Gingrich is the founder of the Center for Health Transformation ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/09/2008 |
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| (04/09) Iowa Senate Passes Health Care Expansion Legislation Without Mandate |
The Iowa Senate on Monday voted 42-6 to approve a bill (HF 2539) that would expand Hawk-I coverage to tens of thousands more children, the Des Moines Register reports. Hawk-I is the state's version of SCHIP. The legislation would increase the income eligibility threshold from about $41,000 for a family of four to about $62,000. The expansion would cost an estimated $5 million next year and about $25 million annually by 2011. The bill also would allow young adult children to remain on their parents' health insurance, encourage the use of electronic health records and create a consumer advocate position in the Iowa Insurance Division. The measure does not include a mandate that all children have health coverage. Details of the expansion would be determined by a commission, and the state Legislature would consider the recommendations next year. The bill now moves back to the House, which approved similar legislation in March (Leys, Des Moines Register, 4/8).
~Kaiser Network - 04/09/2008 |
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| (04/08) Missouri House Republicans Propose Health Coverage Legislation To Replace Governor's Failed Proposal |
Missouri Republican House leaders have introduced legislation that would expand health coverage to low-income state residents and require beneficiaries to contribute money to savings accounts to use toward deductibles and copayments, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The proposal, called "Insure Missouri," is intended to replace a proposal of the same name by Gov. Matt Blunt (R). Blunt's proposal failed to garner enough support among lawmakers ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/08/2008 |
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| (04/07) Pediatricians Alerted to the Developmental Nature of Underage Drinking in Special Journal Supplement |
In a special supplement to Pediatrics, edited and sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), physicians will have access in one place to the reviews and analyses of current research on biological, behavioral, and environmental changes during childhood and adolescence that foster the initiation, maintenance, and acceleration of illegal use of alcohol by underage youth. This is a first time collection of where science is in our understanding of underage drinking as a developmental issue. NIAAA, one of the institutes of the National Institutes of Health, is committed to moving scientific discovery to strategic prevention and intervention strategies in order to decrease the toll that alcohol is taking on our youth — and as these youth grow — to our society ...(continued)
~National Institutes of Health - 04/07/2008 |
| |
| (04/06) Lawmakers, Administration Officials Discuss Medicaid Regulations at Hearing |
Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health on Thursday criticized new Medicaid regulations proposed by the Bush administration and said they would pass legislation to block the regulations from taking effect, CQ Today reports (Wayne, CQ Today, 4/3). The regulations, proposed by the Bush administration, would prohibit states from using federal Medicaid funds to help pay for physician training, place new limits on Medicaid payments to hospitals and nursing homes operated by state and local government, and limit coverage of rehabilitation services for people with disabilities, including those with mental illnesses (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/17) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/04/2008 |
| |
| (04/06) Hepatitis May Be Ally Against HIV |
A part of one of the proteins of the Hepatitis C virus shows anti-HIV activity in cell cultures. Podcast Transcript: The disease hepatitis C might provide a new tool in the fight against HIV/AIDS, say scientists at the Scripps Institute and in the Netherlands. The research was published March 31st online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 04/05/2008 |
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| (04/06) Riverside patient tests positive for hepatitis C |
NEWPORT NEWS - — One Riverside Regional Medical Center patient screened for hepatitis C has tested positive, a Riverside spokesman said. Riverside started screening patients last week, after officials learned that a nurse anesthetist who worked there last year was suspected of infecting up to 15 patients in Texas in 2004. Jon Dale Jones, 45, worked at Riverside from July 9 to Dec. 22 ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 04/05/2008 |
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| (04/05) Allmans scrap shows as singer fights hepatitis C |
LOS ANGELES - Veteran southern rock group the Allman Brothers Band said Thursday it postponed 15 shows scheduled for May at New York's Beacon Theatre while singer Gregg Allman recovers from treatment for hepatitis C ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 04/03/2008 |
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| (04/05) No Charges Filed Against Doctors Weeks After Hepatitis C Investigation |
It has been six weeks since the public learned of the mass hepatitis exposure at local Endoscopy centers. But no doctors are facing charges. A lot of patients are wondering what is being done. Action News reporter Kristine Harrington is live with the details. Patients worried about their health are now facing a fatal disease wonder if and when arrests will come ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 04/05/2008 |
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| (04/04) Scientists Link Chromatin Changes with Alcohol Withdrawal Anxiety |
Changes to genetic material in the brain may help induce the anxiety that is characteristic of alcohol withdrawal, according to a new study conducted in rats and supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The finding points to possible therapies to prevent withdrawal-related anxiety, a driving force behind alcohol use among dependent individuals ...(continued)
~National Institutes of Health - 04/02/2008 |
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| (04/04) High Earnings at Some Not-for-Profit Hospitals Draws Criticism of Tax-Exempt Status |
The Wall Street Journal on Friday examined how the "growing gap" between many not-for-profit hospitals' earnings and the amount of charity care they provide "is raising questions about the billions of dollars in tax exemptions they receive." Not-for-profit hospitals in exchange for tax exemptions are supposed "to provide a 'community benefit,' a loosely defined requirement whose most important component is charity care," according to the Journal. However, "many hospitals include other expenses in their community-benefit accounting to the Internal Revenue Service, including unpaid patient bills" and employee salaries, the Journal reports ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 04/04/2008 |
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| (04/04) More Conflicts and Clinic Violations in Hepatitis C Investigation |
As Nevada comes close to completing the inspection of 50 clinics for safety violations that may have put patients in danger—seven clinics have been found to have “major infection control problems, such as the reuse of single-dose vials” says Governor Jim Gibbons in a release from his office ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 04/03/2008 |
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| (04/04) Study: Dramatic rise in hepatitis C-related deaths in the United States |
Hepatitis C-related deaths in the United States increased by 123 percent from 1995 through 2004, the most recent year for which data are available. Mortality rates peaked in 2002, then declined slightly overall, while continuing to rise among people 55 to 64 years old. These findings appear in the April issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 04/03/2008 |
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| (04/04) Hundreds demand action from state legislators over hepatitis scare |
Hundreds of people packed into a Las Vegas hearing room Monday night to share their concerns over the Hepatitis C scare in Southern Nevada. More than a dozen others joined the meeting via teleconference from Carson City. Members of the public addressed the legislative committee on health care and Governor Jim Gibbons who joined the meeting on the phone from Carson City. Many demanded action, with some of them requesting that the doctors and nurses accused in the health scare be arrested and others asking for the Governor to be recalled ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 04/03/2008 |
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| (04/03) NIDA Researchers Identify Genetic Variant Linked to Nicotine Addiction and Lung Cancer |
Scientists have identified a genetic variant that not only makes smokers more susceptible to nicotine addiction but also increases their risk of developing two smoking-related diseases, lung cancer and peripheral arterial disease. The research was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) ...(continued)
~National Institutes of Health - 04/02/2008 |
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| (04/03) Senior Lookout: Hepatitis C becoming more common in elder population |
As Baby Boomers age, elder care professionals can expect to see a rise in the number of consumers who have viral diseases that may have been incurred as the result of activity such as intravenous drug use ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 04/03/2008 |
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| (04/03) State to be sued by hepatitis B carriers, who top 1 million |
In the wake of the recent ground-breaking out-of-court settlement with people who contracted hepatitis C from tainted blood products, the government will face a fresh legal battle waged by hepatitis B carriers ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 04/03/2008 |
| |
| (04/02) OraQuick Rapid HCV Test – Update |
In 2007 Orasure, the makers of the OraQuick Advance rapid HIV-1/2 antibody test, began clinical trials on its prototype OraQuick rapid HCV antibody test using the same technology that is used for their HIV antibody test. The pre-clinical study results reported mid-2007 found that the performance of the HCV antibody test was equivalent to or better than results obtained from finger-stick, whole blood, venous whole blood, and serum plasma samples. It was also found that the results had a sensitivity and specificity greater than 99% ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 04/02/2008 |
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| (04/02) HealthWise: Another April Fools’ Column |
In honor of April Fools’ Day, my monthly column usually focuses on some aspect of humor. I believe that laughter is beneficial to the body, mind and spirit. I am able to endure just about anything if I can find a reason to laugh. Naturally, there needs to be restraint. After the tragedy on Sept. 11, humor briefly disappeared while we grieved. A week later, David Letterman and Jon Stewart returned and our nation began to heal. Laughter enabled us to endure the tragedy ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 04/02/2008 |
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| (04/01) NEWLY AWARDED AUTISM CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE TO FURTHER AUTISM RESEARCH |
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on April 1, 2008, the latest recipients of the Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) program. These grants will support studies covering a broad range of autism research areas, including early brain development and functioning, social interactions in infants, rare genetic variants and mutations, associations between autism-related genes and physical traits, possible environmental risk factors and biomarkers, and a potential new medication treatment ...(continued
~National Institutes of Health - 04/01/2008 |
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| (04/01) STATE POLICIES IN BRIEF - Bans on “Partial-Birth” Abortion |
BACKGROUND: Beginning in the 1990s, states began enacting a dizzying array of laws aimed at prohibiting “partial-birth” abortion, defined in a variety of manners, in all but the rarest of circumstances. Almost all of these exceptions allow an otherwise banned procedure only when a woman’s life is in danger; some have an exception to avert major physical impairment while others have a broad health exception to protect the physical and mental health of the pregnant woman. Because of constitutional challenges, most of these laws have never been in effect. In its April 2007 decision in Gonzales v. Carhart, the Supreme Court upheld the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 and, in the process, set a major jurisprudential precedent. The federal law includes no health exception. Moreover, although the law does not include a precise medical definition of what is banned, the Court found the federal law’s definition sufficient to pass constitutional muster. The federal law is currently in effect and the Supreme Court precedent may bring consistency to state laws, which are still important as they allow for state and local law enforcement and, potentially, stiffer penalties ...(continued)
~Guttmacher Institute - 04/01/2008 |
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March, 2008 |
| (03/31) Sponsors Stand Behind 2008 azcentral.com Dining Out for Life |
Nearly 100 sponsors have lined up to help raise $200,000 for HIV and AIDS services and programs during the 2008 azcentral.com Dining Out For Life, a one-day event when restaurants and other businesses statewide donate a portion of their proceeds. Profits benefit Body Positive – an HIV and AIDS research and resource center – and Northland Cares, which provides services and programs for the northern region. Last year, more than 100 participating locations’ proceeds exceeded $150,000. Arizona ranked number one internationally for having the most 100 percent of their proceeds locations and Phoenix ranked seventh in the U.S. for total dollars raised ...(continued)
~Body Positive - 03/25/2008 |
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| (03/31) Treasury Secretary Paulson urges more power for Federal Reserve |
WASHINGTON -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson today unveiled a 218-page blueprint for regulatory reform that would represent the largest federal overhaul since the Great Depression. The blueprint, widely previewed before the secretary's remarks, would give the Federal Reserve more authority to oversee the markets and would create one superagency to oversee both investor protection and market stability, assuming many of the tasks of current agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Office of Thrift Supervision ...(continued)
~LA Times - 03/31/2008 |
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| (03/31) Older donated blood tied to heart surgery risk |
Patients undergoing heart surgery routinely receive blood that has sat on a refrigerator shelf for two weeks or longer, a practice that appears to heighten their risk of infection, kidney failure, and even death, according to a major new study ...(continued)
~The Boston Globe - 03/20/2008 |
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| (03/31) McCain Health Care Proposal Would Exclude U.S. Residents With Pre-Existing Medical Conditions, Elizabeth Edwards Says |
Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former Democratic presidential candidate and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), on Saturday said that the health care proposal announced by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) would not provide health insurance for U.S. residents with pre-existing medical conditions, the Los Angeles Times reports ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/31/2008 |
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| (03/31) Insurers Pay for Web-Based Physician Visits |
Health insurers Aetna and Cigna have announced that they will pay for online physician visits, and patients will be required to contribute a copayment for the visits, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Aetna on Jan. 1 expanded a pilot project in California, Florida and Washington state to the rest of the country, and Cigna said it would begin paying for online visits in January 2009. The insurers believe that members will like the service because it can improve efficiency and could prevent more costly problems, the Inquirer reports ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/31/2008 |
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| (03/31) Miami Herald Examines Interfaith Service Focusing on HIV/AIDS Awareness |
The Miami Herald on Tuesday examined an interfaith Passover service called Seder of Hope in Plantation, Fla., that focuses on HIV/AIDS awareness. The service, which is scheduled for Sunday at Ramat Shalom Synagogue in Plantation, was established by the Jewish AIDS Network and the Jewish Healing Center five years ago. The service has grown from 50 participants during its first year to about 150, according to Elaine Conrad, a JAN board member ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/26/2008 |
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| (03/29) "The Election Will Not Be Free and Fair" |
The widely-documented harassment and physical abuse of opposition supporters and rights activists in the months preceding the polls by government supporters and state forces -- and the lingering fear cast by even greater levels of intimidation during previous parliamentary elections in 2005 and 2000, and the presidential poll of 2002? ...(continued)
~IPS - 03/28/2008 |
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| (03/28) Management of Patients with Concurrent HBV and HCV Infection |
According to recent research from Taiwan, "Studies have shown that concurrent infection of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus may be associated with severe forms of chronic liver disease or with rapid progression. However, very little is known about the role and course of concurrent HBV and HCV infection in patients with acute viral hepatitis" ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 03/27/2008 |
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| (03/28) China's Hepatitis B carriers face gloomy future |
HONG KONG - Madam Yan and 11 other mothers in China turned to the All-China Women's Federation for help after their toddlers were denied places in kindergarten after testing positive for the Hepatitis B virus. "When I see other children going to school happily and mine is alone, my heart drips with blood," Yan wrote. Hepatitis B is preventable through vaccination and there are drugs to control the replication of the virus in carriers, such as Yan's child, who shows no symptoms ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 03/27/2008 |
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| (03/28) U.N. To Hold Meeting in June To Examine HIV/TB Coinfection Worldwide |
A United Nations meeting scheduled for June 9 will examine the relationship between HIV and tuberculosis worldwide with the goal of creating a strategy for the millions of people living with both diseases, Jorge Sampaio, the U.N. special envoy for TB, said in New York on Tuesday, Reuters reports ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/27/2008 |
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| (03/27) Lubbock health officials say Nev. hepatitis problem being averted here |
Local health officials say procedures in Las Vegas, Nev., that caused six hospital patients there to contract hepatitis C won't happen in Lubbock. The Southern Nevada Health District and Nevada Licensure and Certification Bureau investigated the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada after six new cases of hepatitis C were reported in January, according to the Las Vegas Sun. The common thread: all had colonoscopies at the endoscopy center ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 03/27/08 |
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| (03/27) Hepatitis B Foundation Testifies Before Congressional Appropriation Committee and Urges More Federal Funding for Hepatitis B |
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. - Hepatitis B Foundation President Dr. Timothy Block testified about the public health challenge of chronic hepatitis B before the Congressional Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services on March 13 in Washington, DC, at the request of Honorable David Obey, chairman, Committee on Appropriations. Dr. Block spoke about the urgent need to strengthen and increase funding for hepatitis B programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 03/27/2008 |
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| (03/27) New Method Disrupts Hepatitis C Virion Production |
ScienceDaily - HCV is a significant human pathogen, infecting more than three percent of the world's population. The incidence of infection in the United States has been estimated to be as high as 4 million cases. In the March issue of the journal PLoS Pathogens, Timothy Tellinghuisen, an assistant professor in the Department of Infectology at Scripps Florida, and his colleagues describe how they used mutations of the viral NS5A phosphoprotein to disrupt virus particle production at an early stage of assembly. NS5A has long been proposed as a regulator of events in the HCV life cycle, but exactly how it orchestrates these events has been unclear ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 03/27/2008 |
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| (03/26) California Pharmacy Board Delays Deadline for Drug Tracking Requirement |
The California Pharmacy Board on Tuesday voted unanimously to delay by two years the deadline for implementing an electronic drug tracking system that the state Legislature approved in 2004, the New York Times reports. The new deadline is Jan. 1, 2011 (Pollack, New York Times, 3/26). The tracking system, which was developed to address concerns about counterfeit pharmaceuticals, is the first law in the U.S. to require an "electronic pedigree" system that would allow drug shipments to be tracked from production through their sale to consumers. The California Legislature in 2006 moved the deadline for implementation from Jan. 1, 2007, to Jan. 1, 2009 (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/25) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/26/2008
|
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| (03/26) Arizona Trial Examines Efficacy of Merck's Antiretroviral Raltegravir |
The Tucson Citizen on Monday examined a worldwide trial of Merck's antiretroviral drug raltegravir based at the El Rio Community Health Center in Arizona. The trial, which is sponsored by Merck, includes participants who have become resistant to other treatments. According to the Citizen, the study includes 40 different clinics in the U.S., as well as clinics in South America and Europe. Each clinic participating in the trial has six participants in the study, the Citizen reports (Rowley, Tucson Citizen, 3/24) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/26/2008 |
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| (03/25) Ever been curious about your liver? |
The liver is the largest organ in the body. It is reddishbrown, weighs about three pounds (in the adult male) and is about the size of a football. It is located behind the ribcage on the upper right side of the abdomen. The liver is special in that it can regrow its own tissue. As much as three-quarters of the liver can be removed, and the organ can grow back in about a month. Because of this regrowth, livers for transplants can be taken from living donors ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 03/19/2008 |
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| (03/25) Trials of NIH HIV Vaccine Candidate Scaled Down After Failure of Merck Vaccine |
Trials of NIH's Vaccine Research Center's HIV vaccine candidate will be scaled down after the recent failure of a Merck HIV vaccine candidate, Bloomberg reports (Lauerman, Bloomberg, 3/24). Merck in September 2007 announced it had halted a large-scale clinical trial of its experimental HIV vaccine after the drug failed to prevent HIV infection in participants or prove effective in delaying the progression of the virus to AIDS. The vaccine candidate also might have put some trial participants at an increased risk of HIV (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 3/21) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/25/2008 |
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| (03/25) Houston Chronicle Examines U.S. HIV/AIDS-Related Travel Restrictions |
The Houston Chronicle on Sunday examined U.S. HIV/AIDS-related travel restrictions for visitors and immigrants. According to the Chronicle, the U.S. is one of 13 countries -- including Armenia, Iraq and Qatar -- that has such restrictions (Carroll, Houston Chronicle, 3/23). A regulation included in a 1993 amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act only permits HIV-positive foreigners to obtain visas to enter the U.S. under limited circumstances. The regulation also requires HIV-positive foreigners to obtain waivers from the Department of Homeland Security before they can receive visas ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/25/2008 |
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| (03/25) Alabama Advocates Urge Officials To Remove Work Release Restrictions for HIV-Positive Inmates |
Advocates in Alabama are calling on prison officials to remove work release restrictions for HIV-positive inmates, the AP/Alabama Live reports. According to the AP/Alabama Live, HIV-positive inmates in Alabama are eligible to participate in the Supervised Early Release Program, which allows them to live away from prisons near the end of their sentences. However, advocates say that Alabama is the only state with a prison system that bans HIV-positive people from participating in work release programs ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/25/2008 |
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| (03/24) NIH COUNCIL OF COUNCILS MEMBERS NAMED: First Official Meeting to be Held March 31-April 1, 2008 |
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announces the appointments to the NIH Council of Councils. The Council is made up of 27 members selected from the NIH Institute and Center (IC) advisory councils and advisory committees to the NIH Office of the Director. The Council will advise the NIH Director on cutting-edge trans-NIH priorities and matters related to the policies and activities of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, established by the NIH Reform Act 2006, and the Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives (OPASI). The Council also will act as an external advisory panel to the IC Directors during the concept approval stage of the review process for trans-NIH initiatives ...(continued)
~National Institutes of Health - 03/24/2008 |
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| (03/23) How do people get Hepatitis C? |
The Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) can harm your liver. HCV becomes chronic (long-term) in up to 80% of people who get the virus. This can sometimes lead to long-term liver problems. About 20% of people who are HCV positive will get liver cirrhosis (hardening or scarring of the liver). About 3 to 4 people out of 100 of people with chronic HCV get liver cancer. Experts say that at least four million Americans have chronic HCV. The number of new cases of HCV in the U.S. is going down, though. There are several things people can do to help keep from getting or giving HCV ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 03/19/2008 |
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| (03/22) Statement of Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., Director, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for National Kidney Month |
Kidney disease is common, serious and treatable. Yet, most of the 26 million Americans who have kidney problems still don't know it because they don't have symptoms, hampering efforts to prevent kidney failure. While World Kidney Day 2008 has passed and National Kidney Month is well under way, here at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, we continue to hear from people about kidney health. We remain strong in our commitment to support research and to raise awareness about important steps people can take to protect their kidneys ...(continued)
~National Institutes of Health - 03/21/2008 |
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| (03/21) U.S. Tuberculosis Rates at Lowest Ever; Foreign-Born, Minorities Most Likely To Be Infected, CDC Study Indicates |
The U.S. tuberculosis rate is at its lowest point ever, with foreign-born residents accounting for most of the cases, according to a CDC report released on Thursday, Reuters reports. According to the report, there were 13,293 TB cases reported in the U.S. in 2007, declining by 4.2% from the previous year to 4.4 cases per 100,000 individuals. Of the total TB cases reported in 2007, 60% were among residents born in other nations. More than 50% percent of cases among foreign-born residents were in individuals born in Mexico, the Philippines, India or Vietnam. Overall, the TB rate among foreign-born residents was 9.7 times higher than among those born in the U.S., according to the report (Dunham, Reuters, 3/20) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/21/2008 |
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| (03/20) Why Did the U.S. Invade Iraq? |
The official reasons -- the threat posed to the U.S. and its allies by Saddam Hussein's alleged programmes of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and the possibility that he would pass along those arms to al Qaeda -- have long since been discarded by the overwhelming weight of the evidence, or, more precisely, the lack of evidence that such a threat ever existed. Liberating Iraq from the tyranny of Hussein's particularly unforgiving and bloodthirsty version of Ba'athism and thus setting an irresistible precedent that would spread throughout the Arab world -- a theme pushed by the administration of President George W. Bush mostly after the invasion, as it became clear that the officials reasons could not be justified -- appears to have been the guiding obsession of really only one member of the Bush team, and not a particularly influential one at that: Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz ...(continued)
~IPS - 03/18/2008 |
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| (03/20) IRAQ: Five Years, And Counting |
WASHINGTON - Devastation on the ground and largely held Iraqi opinion contradicts claims by U.S. officials that the situation in Iraq has improved towards the fifth anniversary of the invasion Mar. 20. U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, during a surprise visit to Iraq on Monday declared the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq a "successful endeavour". According to the group Just Foreign Policy, more than a million Iraqis have died as a result of the invasion and occupation, now entering its sixth year. A survey by British polling agency ORB estimates the number of dead at more than 1.2 million. Nobel laureate and former chief World Bank economist Joseph Stiglitz recently published a book with co-author Linda Bilmes of Harvard University titled 'The Three Trillion Dollar War', a figure it considers a "conservative estimate" of the long-range price tag of the invasion and occupation of Iraq ...(continued)
~IPS - 03/18/2008
|
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| (03/20) Communities Nationwide Commemorate National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day |
Thursday marks the second annual National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, which seeks to increase education and reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS among American Indian, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native populations, Indian Country Today reports. Roughly 11 out of every 100,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives were diagnosed with HIV or AIDS in 2005, according to CDC data based on reports from 33 states. Eleven percent of Native Hawaiians have been diagnosed with AIDS, and the infection rate for the group has increased about 3% since 1995 ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/20/2008 |
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| (03/20) Advocates Request Support for HIV-Positive People Affected by Floods in Namibia |
The Solidarity Community Care Organization is requesting urgent support for HIV-positive people affected by recent flooding in northern areas of Namibia, the Namibian reports. The organization in a recent statement voiced concerns that HIV-positive people who require antiretroviral treatment might be forced to discontinue their medicines because health centers are inaccessible. SCCO Chair Hishiyukifa Mwandingi also said that flood damage has hindered access to checkups and treatment appointments at health facilities ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/20/2008 |
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| (03/20) HIV Among MSM in London Spreading in 'Bursts,' Study Finds |
HIV among men who have sex with men in London is spreading in "bursts," according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Edinburgh and London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and recently published in PLoS Medicine, BBC News reports (BBC News, 3/18). For the study, Andrew Brown of the university and colleagues compared the sequences of HIV genes of more than 2,000 HIV-positive people, primarily MSM, who received treatment at a London clinic between 1997 and 2003. The study found that 402 sequences closely matched at least one other sequence. In addition, the study found that the participants whose HIV sequence matched other sequences had formed six clusters of 10 or more people, as well as several smaller clusters (United Press International, 3/19) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/20/2008 |
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| (03/20) Wall Street Journal Examines Cost-Reducing Practice of Reusing Some Products |
The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday examined efforts by some U.S. hospitals to reduce health care costs by recycling certain medical devices that have been labeled for single use. According to the Journal, the practice is legal as long as hospitals follow FDA regulations for reprocessing devices, such as scissors, clinical scrubs and sharp blades used by surgeons to cut through bones ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/19/2008 |
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| (03/20) British Government To Provide $28M for HIV/AIDS Initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa |
The British government on Tuesday announced that it will provide 225 million rand, or about $28 million, over the next four years to fight HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, SAPA/iAfrica.com reports. According to Russ Dixon, a spokesperson for the British High Commission, the funding is a continuation of the government's support for Soul City initiatives ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/19/2008 |
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| (03/20) Hepatitis B Foundation Testifies Before Congressional Appropriation Committee and Urges More Federal Funding for Hepatitis B |
DOYLESTOWN, PA – Hepatitis B Foundation (HBF) President Dr. Timothy Block testified about the public health challenge of chronic hepatitis B before the Congressional Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services on March 13 in Washington, DC, at the request of Honorable David Obey, chairman, Committee on Appropriations. Dr. Block spoke about the urgent need to strengthen and increase funding for hepatitis B programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “The recent crisis in a Nevada clinic, where as many as 40,000 people were placed at risk for infection with HBV and HCV, is a problem that the CDC thinks might just be the tip of the iceberg” said Dr. Block. “This incident highlights critical deficiencies in our public health and research programs, and if we don’t act with urgency, more and more people will suffer" ...(continued)
~Hepatitis B Foundation - 03/19/2008 |
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| (03/19) U.K. Crown Prosecution Service Issues Guidelines To Clarify Law on Intentional, Reckless Transmission of HIV |
The United Kingdom's Crown Prosecution Service on Friday issued guidelines to clarify a law on intentionally or recklessly transmitting HIV, London's Daily Mail reports. According to the guidelines, cases of intentional or reckless HIV transmission will only be brought against people who transmit the virus to a series of sexual partners or against people who have transmitted the virus to a partner during a period of regular high-risk sex ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/18/2008 |
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| (03/19) Hurricane Katrina - Healthcare before and after |
Important tutorial about the poverty stricken area of New Orleans. Click title to view this important document.
~Kaiser Network - 03/18/2008 |
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| (03/19) Some Massachusetts Safety Net Hospitals Face Budget Problems Because of Health Insurance Law |
Many Massachusetts safety net hospitals in urban areas say they are facing budget shortfalls and have been forced to cut back on investing in new equipment because payments for charity care are being phased out under the state health insurance law, the Boston Globe reports. Ellen Murphy Meehan, executive director of the Alliance of Massachusetts Safety Net Hospitals, and other hospital officials say a large percentage of patients seeking care at safety net hospitals remain uninsured, and hospitals still must treat such patients, although they no longer receive funds to provide the care ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/19/2008
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| (03/19) CVS Agrees To Pay $37M To Settle Claims That It Fraudulently Billed Medicaid for More Costly Form of Heartburn Medication |
CVS Caremark on Tuesday agreed to pay $36.7 million to settle allegations that the company overbilled Medicaid for the antacid ranitidine, a generic version of Zantac, for more than six years, the Chicago Tribune reports (Sachdev, Chicago Tribune, 3/19).
According to federal prosecutors, CVS Caremark filled prescriptions for Medicaid beneficiaries with the capsule form of ranitidine, rather than the tablet form, from April 1, 1999, through Dec. 31, 2006 (AP/Baltimore Sun, 3/19). Medicaid establishes maximum reimbursement rates for the tablet form of ranitidine but not for the capsule form, which costs more and is prescribed less often. The switch to the capsule form of ranitidine allowed CVS Caremark to bill Medicaid for as much as 400% more than the amount they could have billed the program for the tablet form, according to federal prosecutors (Won Tesoriero/Armstrong, Wall Street Journal, 3/19). Under federal law, pharmacists cannot switch tablet and capsule forms of medications without permission from the physician who prescribed the treatments (Thomas, Chicago Sun-Times, 3/19) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/19/2008
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| (03/19) AP/Montgomery Advertiser Examines Debate Over Segregating HIV-Positive Inmates From General Prison Population |
The AP/Montgomery Advertiser on Monday examined issues surrounding the segregation of HIV-positive inmates from the general prison population. Regulations in two prisons in Alabama previously restricted HIV-positive inmates from participating in some activities -- such as eating, worshiping and visiting family members -- with other inmates. Prison officials in November 2007 announced that they planned to eliminate some of the restrictions ....(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/19/2008 |
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| (03/19) Communities Nationwide Commemorate National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day |
Thursday marks the second annual National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, which seeks to increase education and reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS among American Indian, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native populations, Indian Country Today reports. Roughly 11 out of every 100,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives were diagnosed with HIV or AIDS in 2005, according to CDC data based on reports from 33 states. Eleven percent of Native Hawaiians have been diagnosed with AIDS, and the infection rate for the group has increased about 3% since 1995 ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/19/2008 |
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| (03/18) Warning: Taking hepatitis B drug with interferon potentially dangerous: Health Canada |
OTTAWA - Health Canada is warning consumers being treated with Sebivo (telbivudine) for hepatitis B not to combine the medication with any interferon products because of potentially serious drug interactions. Taking both Sebivo (telbivudine) and interferon may increase the risk of peripheral neuropathy, a condition marked by weakness, numbness, tingling and burning sensations in the arms and-or legs ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 03/15/2008 |
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| (03/18) Senators Ask CMS To Reconsider Decision To Delay Second Phase of Disease Management Pilot Program |
Several senators in a letter last week asked CMS to reconsider a decision to delay implementation of the second phase of a pilot program that provides disease management services to Medicare beneficiaries with chronic conditions, CQ HealthBeat reports ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/18/2008 |
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| (03/18) Rwandan Religious Leaders Receive HIV Tests To Help Fight Stigma Associated With Virus |
Fifty religious leaders from across Rwanda gathered last weekend in the city of Nyandungu to publicly receive HIV tests in an effort to fight the stigma associated with the virus, Rwanda's New Times reports. According to the Times, the one-day event sought to highlight the role of faith leaders in the fight against HIV/AIDS and develop strategies to reduce HIV/AIDS-related stigma ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/18/2008 |
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| (03/18) U.N. Ambassador Pledges Support to Congolese NGO That Provides Food Security to People Living With HIV/AIDS |
Myriam Makeba, ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, recently vowed to support the efforts of Congolese charity Alpi, which provides food security and helps women living with HIV/AIDS reintegrate into society, AFP/Yahoo! News reports. Alpi, supported by FAO since 2003, currently provides support to 2,430 people living with HIV/AIDS ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/18/2008 |
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| (03/18) California Launches Campaign Aimed To Discourage MSM From Using Crystal Meth, Reduce High-Risk Sexual Activity |
California drug officials on Thursday launched an $11 million media campaign that aims to discourage men who have sex with men from using crystal methamphetamine, the Los Angeles Times reports. According to the Times, crystal meth has been linked to risky sexual behavior and the spread of HIV ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/17/2008 |
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| (03/16) 4.1 million in U.S. have hepatitis C |
Hepatitis C is the most common chronic blood-borne infection in the United State and is associated with a litany of physical symptoms -- weakness, stomach pain, jaundice and anemia. An estimated 4.1 million Americans have been infected, and 30,000 new cases are reported each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 03/15/2008 |
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| (03/16) Nurse accused of infecting Army patients with hepatitis |
EL PASO — A former Army hospital employee is accused of infecting at least three patients with hepatitis C, federal authorities said Monday. Jon Dale Jones, a 45-year-old former nurse anesthetist at William Beaumont Army Medical Center at Fort Bliss, was arrested Thursday in Miami. He was indicted last month on three counts each of assault, aggravated assault and possession of a controlled substance by fraud ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 03/15/2008 |
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| (03/16) HIV-positive gay men being infected with HCV soon after HIV; cases of HCV superinfection reported |
Many gay men are being infected with hepatitis C virus soon after they contract HIV, according to a study conducted in London and published in the March 12th edition of AIDS. The study, conducted at St Mary’s Hospital, found that 7% of gay men diagnosed with HIV at the hospital between 1999 and 2006 went on to become infected with hepatitis C virus through sex ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 03/15/2008 |
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| (03/15) Gibbons Opposed More Health Surveyor Hiring |
CARSON CITY, Nev. - Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, who wants an all-out effort to prevent clinic practices linked to a hepatitis C outbreak, would have more state staffers for that effort if he hadn't fought approval of additional medical surveyors last year. As part of his anti-new tax or fee policy, Gibbons cut 10 new surveyor positions from a proposed state Bureau of Licensure and Certification budget during the 2007 legislative session ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 03/15/08 |
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| (03/15) Liver patients offered hope |
CHARLOTTE, N.C. --At noon in Operating Room 4 at Carolinas Medical Center, Dr. David Iannitti starts his second liver operation of the day. The patient is sedated, and Iannitti slits the man's abdomen, making an incision that curves to the right like a hockey stick.
The surgeon and his assistant grip the man's ribs with a device that looks like something built with an Erector set ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 03/15/2008 |
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| (03/15) DA raids office of Dix Hills doc in Hep C probe |
The Nassau County district attorney's office raided Dr. Harvey Finkelstein's office yesterday as part of a probe into whether the Dix Hills physician caused two cases of hepatitis C and not one as state health authorities previously believed, according to court records, medical documents and interviews ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 03/15/2008 |
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| (03/15) MODIFIED VIRUS VACCINE SHOWS PROMISE IN MOUSE MODEL OF BREAST CANCER |
Researchers have shown that vaccinating mice with a modified form of a virus containing proteins from breast cancer cells can kill large breast cancer tumors and tumors that have spread to the lungs. The rodent model of cancer used in this study closely resembles a type of breast cancer seen in humans called HER2-positive. Although other cancer vaccines have shown activity in the treatment of very small tumors, their ability to influence large, established tumors, such as many HER2-positive breast cancers, has proven difficult. The study, led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, appeared in the March 15, 2008, issue of "Cancer Research" ...(continued)
~National Institutes of Health - 03/14/2008 |
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| (03/14) World Economic Forum's Global Health Initiative Releases Report About TB, Businesses Worldwide |
The World Economic Forum's Global Health Initiative on Wednesday in London released a report that highlights the threat tuberculosis poses to businesses worldwide and makes recommendations on how to address the disease in workplaces, The Hindu reports (Suroor, The Hindu, 3/13) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/13/2008 |
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| (03/14) HCV INFECTIONS TRACED TO NEVADA ENDOSCOPY CLINIC |
In January 2008, investigators from CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis and Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion responded to a request from the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) to help investigate three persons reported to the local surveillance program with acute HCV infection; all three persons had undergone procedures at a Las Vegas endoscopy clinic. Since beginning the investigation, CDC and SNHD have identified a total of six cases of HCV infection among patients who had undergone procedures at the clinic in the 35–90 days prior to onset of symptoms. These patients did not have other risks for HCV infection. Molecular diagnostic testing conducted by CDC confirmed the relatedness of several of these infections. On investigation of the clinic, CDC and SNHD observed practices that had the potential to transmit HCV. On the basis of these findings, SNHD is notifying 40,000 past patients who were potentially exposed to HCV and other infectious diseases. CDC is providing ongoing support to SNHD for this investigation.
~CDC - 03/13/2008 |
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| (03/14) Higher Syphilis Rates Among Blacks, MSM Propel Increase in Overall National Rate, CDC Says |
Increases in syphilis rates among blacks and men who have sex with men significantly contribute to the steady climb in the overall number of cases of the disease over the past several years, CDC researchers said on Wednesday, AP/New York Times reports (Tanner, AP/New York Times, 3/12). Hillard Weinstock of CDC's Division of STD Prevention presented the report via teleconference at the National 2008 STD Prevention Conference in Chicago. According to Weinstock, preliminary CDC data indicate that the rate of primary and secondary syphilis increased by 12% from 2006 to 2007. Primary and secondary syphilis are the most infectious stages of the disease. There were 11,181 cases reported last year, compared with 9,756 in 2006, he said, noting that rates have risen for seven consecutive years. MSM accounted for 64% of all syphilis cases in 2007, he said ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/13/2008 |
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| (03/13) Progress Toward Measles Mortality Reduction and Elimination - Eastern |
Countries in the EMR have met with success in reducing the estimated number of measles-related deaths by more than 75 percent since 2000; however much work remains to be done to achieve the goal of measles elimination in the region. Countries of the World Health Organization's Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) have adopted in 1997 the goal to eliminate indigenous measles by 2010. Measles immunization and surveillance strategies have been developed and implemented to help achieve that goal, as well as to reduce the measles-associated mortality in the region in accordance with the goal set by the World Health Assembly in 2005 to achieve a 90 percent reduction in global measles-associated mortality by 2010 compared to 2000. Despite facing significant challenges including armed conflicts and civil strife in several countries, the estimated number of measles-related deaths in the
Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) has decreased by more than 75 percent since 2000. To sustain measles mortality reduction and to achieve the regional measles elimination goal, all EMR countries will need to achieve a high coverage with the first dose of measles vaccine and with the second opportunity for measles immunization offered either as a routine second dose and / or provided through supplemental immunization activities (SIAs).
~Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report - 03/13/2008 |
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| (03/13) House, Senate To Vote on Budget Resolutions Without Proposed Spending Reductions for Medicare, Medicaid |
Debate on the House (H. Con. Res. 312) and Senate (S. Con. Res. 70) fiscal year 2009 budget resolutions began on Wednesday, as Democrats "trumpeted surplus-producing budget plans" and Republicans "seized on looming tax increases," the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/13/2008 |
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| (03/13) New York Times Examines Oregon Lottery To Fill Vacant Slots in Health Plan |
The New York Times on Thursday examined the lottery being conducted in Oregon to fill vacant slots in the Oregon Health Plan. The Oregon Health Plan, which is part of the state's Medicaid program, provides coverage for uninsured people who do not qualify for Medicaid or Medicare and cannot afford private insurance ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/13/2008 |
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| (03/13) RESEARCHERS FIND CAUSE OF SEVERE ALLERGIC REACTION TO CANCER DRUG |
Clinicians have been perplexed by the fact that some patients given the drug cetuximab -- an immune-based therapy commonly used to treat persons diagnosed with head and neck cancer, or colon cancer -- have a severe and rapid adverse reaction to the drug. Sometimes the reaction includes anaphylaxis, a life-threatening condition characterized by a drop in blood pressure, fainting, difficulty breathing, and wheezing. Now researchers funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have discovered that specific pre-existing antibodies cause the severe reaction to the drug. This discovery in turn has enabled them to explain the unusual geographic pattern of this reaction seen among individuals in the United States. The unusual findings of this investigation appear in a report published in the March 13 edition of the "New England Journal of Medicine" ...(continued)
~National Institutes of Health - 03/12/2008
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| (03/12) Republicans Unveil Budget Plan That Includes Cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, as House Prepares To Debate Legislation |
Republicans have unveiled a fiscal year 2009 budget plan that includes cuts to Medicare and Medicaid in response to the Democrats' $3 trillion budget proposal (H. Con. Res. 312) that would increase funding for many domestic programs, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. According to the AP/Chronicle, the "rival budget plans display the difficult trade-offs facing the next president, who must weigh tax cuts that expire at the end of 2010 with popular spending programs like education, highway construction and Medicare" ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/12/2008 |
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| (03/12) Democrats Call for Gradual Expansion of VA Health System |
Some Democratic lawmakers support a policy shift that would gradually allow middle- and higher-income veterans into the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system, CQ Today reports. Since 2003, so-called "Priority 8 veterans" -- veterans who were not disabled during their service and who have incomes greater than $27,790 -- cannot enroll in the VA health system. The income threshold is higher for veterans with dependents and for those living in areas with a high cost of living. The policy was put in place by then-VA Secretary Anthony Principi in an effort to reduce waiting lists and costs. Democratic lawmakers called for the enrollment of Priority 8 veterans in their "views and estimates" of President Bush's fiscal year 2009 budget request, but "it appears that some lawmakers have moderated their views," according to CQ Today ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/12/2008 |
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| (03/12) Comptroller General Walker Criticizes Congress for Failure To Address Financial Problems for Entitlement Programs |
Comptroller General David Walker on Monday "chided" Congress for "ignoring the long-term financial crisis" for entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, CongressDaily reports. In an interview with National Journal Group writers and editors, Walker, who will leave his post next week, said that Congress is "doing nothing about the $53 trillion hole" in funds for entitlement programs during the 21st century ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/12/2008 |
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| (03/12) Democratic Presidential Candidate Obama Wins Mississippi Primary; 21% of Voters Cite Health Care as Most Important Issue |
Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) on Tuesday defeated opponent Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) in the Mississippi primary, CNN.com reports. Obama received 61% of the vote, and Clinton received 37% (CNN.com, 3/12) ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/18/2008 |
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| (03/12) South China Morning Post Examines Efforts To Raise Awareness About HIV/AIDS Among Sex Workers in Bali, Indonesia |
The South China Morning Post on Tuesday examined efforts to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS among commercial sex workers in Bali, Indonesia. Official figures show that about 4,000 people were living with HIV/AIDS in Bali as of August 2007 and that at least 1,000 more will contract the virus this year. In addition, more than half of the new cases will be transmitted through sexual contact, according to the Kerti Praja Foundation, which is Bali's chapter of the National AIDS Commission ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/12/2008 |
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| (03/11) Sexual Behavior of Single Adult American Women |
Public policies promoting abstinence until marriage attempt to influence the sexual behavior of the more
than 18 million American women who are currently single. An analysis of these women’s behavior is needed to inform
policies that are responsive to their sexual and reproductive health needs. Click for full report.
~Guttmacher Institute - 03/10/2008 |
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| (03/11) New York Times Examines Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission in South Africa |
The New York Times on Sunday examined the South African government's adoption of a national treatment strategy to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission. The country's Department of Health announced in January that it will begin requiring the World Health Organization -recommended strategy, which includes zidovudine and nevirapine ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/11/2008 |
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| (03/11) Tracking Poll Finds Health Care, Economy Intertwined for Some Voters; Supplement Report Examines Problems With U.S. Health Care System |
According to the latest poll, the economy has eclipsed health care and the Iraq war on voters' priority list, but health care plays a role in voters' priorities in two ways: as an independent issue and as part of the growing concern about the economy. The poll finds that among registered voters, health care ranks third as the issue that they want presidential candidates to discuss during the campaign. Party differences exist, with health care ranking second for Democrats, third for independents and fourth for Republicans ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/10/2008 |
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| (03/10) Lottery To Fill Open Spots in Oregon Health Plan Draws 'Overwhelming Response' |
Oregon last week began drawing names in a statewide lottery to fill 3,000 open slots in the Oregon Health Plan, the Los Angeles Times reports. The program was closed to new applicants in 2004 because of budget constraints, but department officials reopened the program to new beneficiaries in February. The program's standard plan covers basic health care services and medications, as well as some dental, hospital and vision services. Individual premiums range from zero to $20 per month, and about 18,000 residents are enrolled in the program, the Times reports ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/10/2008 |
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| (03/09) Fast Food and ALT Levels |
Elevated liver enzymes are an indication that there is damage or inflammation occurring in the liver. The liver enzyme that is measured most commonly is alanine aminotransferase (ALT). The usual cause of elevated ALT levels is consumption of large quantities of alcohol, HCV infection and the presence of steatosis (fatty liver). However, after eliminating these risk factors, there are still many people who have elevated ALT levels with no known risk factor ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 03/01/2008 |
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| (03/09) Hepatitis C Danger In Your MD's Office? |
(CBS) During treatment for breast cancer in 2002, Evelyn McKnight was floored to learn that she would have to fight a second serious disease: Hepatitis C, CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay reports. "We were completely confounded," McKnight said. "We had no idea where I could have gotten that" ...(continued)
~HCV Advocate - 02/29/2008 |
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| (03/09) Miami Group Works To Address High Cervical Cancer Rate Among Haitian-American Women |
A group called Haitian Women of Miami is working to lower the rate of cervical cancer among Florida's Haitian-American population. Haitian-American women are three times more likely than other women to develop cervical cancer, according to the Florida Cancer Data System, the Miami Herald reports ...(continued)
~Kaiser Network - 03/07/2008 |
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| (03/08 |
