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Pfizer to give away 70 of its most widely prescribed drugs to those who lost jobs

Pfizer on Thursday announced a new program that would provide some of its existing customers access to more than 70 types of medications at no cost if they have recently been laid off or lost their prescription drug coverage, USA Today reports. The program -- called MAINTAIN, or Medicines Assistance for Those who Are in Need -- will begin July 1.

15 May 2009

House, Senate Committees approve bills that include influenza pandemic funds

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to approve a $91.3 billion defense and foreign aid spending bill that includes President Obama's request for $1.5 billion in emergency funds to fight a potential influenza pandemic, the AP/Winston-Salem Journal reports.

15 May 2009

Senate Finance Committee holds second closed-door meeting on health care reform; details of House Energy and Commerce Committee overhaul plan leaked

The Senate Finance Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday both worked on health care proposals aimed at overhauling the U.S. health care system, CQ Today reports.

15 May 2009

Obama campaign contributors being asked to donate to effort supporting health care reform

The Washington Times on Friday examined how President Obama's "former campaign apparatus is cranking up a full-tilt drive for passage of a health care overhaul this year" by "tapping his 13-million-strong e-mail list" for financial contributions to fund advertising efforts, hire staff and open election-style offices.

15 May 2009

Industry groups say White House overstated pledge to reduce health spending growth

Groups representing hospitals and insurers on Thursday said that President Obama considerably overstated their pledge to rein in health care spending, the New York Times reports.

15 May 2009

Sexual violence aimed at girls, women in Swaziland linked to high HIV/AIDS risk, other health issues

A new report commissioned by UNICEF and CDC and recently published in the journal Lancet found that one in three girls in Swaziland has experienced sexual violence by age 18, which can lead to serious health issues such as HIV, IRIN/PlusNews reports.

15 May 2009

Public hearing examines issues faced by children in Thailand, including HIV/AIDS, lack of sex education

Thailand's Office of Welfare Promotion, Protection and Empowerment of Vulnerable People earlier this week held a public hearing to discuss various risks facing the country's children, including HIV/AIDS, Thailand's The Nation reports. The office plans to present a draft report on the state of child rights in the country.

15 May 2009

Lambda Legal files suit against assisted-living facility for allegedly discriminating against HIV-positive resident

Lambda Legal, a group that represents HIV-positive people, on Tuesday filed a law suit against the Fox Ridge assisted-living facility in North Little Rock, Ark., for allegedly evicting a resident because he is HIV-positive, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.

15 May 2009

New Jersey Senator proposes plan to avert HIV/AIDS drug copayments

New Jersey state Sen. Joseph Vitale (D) -- chair of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee -- earlier this week proposed a plan to temporarily reduce rebate checks to senior citizens earning $100,000 to $150,000 in an effort to alleviate the effects of possible budget cuts on certain populations, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. Vitale's proposal also would avert planned $6 to $15 prescription drug copayments for people living with HIV/AIDS in the state (Livio, Newark Star-Ledger, 5/12).

15 May 2009

PIH founder Farmer discussing possible appointment to coordinate U.S. global health initiatives, Boston Globe reports

Paul Farmer -- founder of Partners in Health and vice chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School -- said he is in discussions with the State Department about a possible Obama administration appointment to coordinate U.S. global health initiatives, the Boston Globe reports. Farmer made the announcement Monday during a meeting with HMS faculty.

15 May 2009

Obama names New York City Health Commissioner Frieden next CDC Director, New York Times reports

President Obama on Friday named New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden as the next CDC director, the New York Times reports. It has long been expected that Obama would select Frieden, an infectious disease specialist, according to the Times.

15 May 2009

Tobacco control must be elevated as a public health priority

An Essay published this week in the open access journal PLoS Medicine calls for the President Obama to "make a strong public commitment" to tobacco control by mobilizing US Government departments and agencies to achieve a coherent policy after eight years of neglect.

15 May 2009

Genetic signature may predict patient response to GIST therapy

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center uncovered a genetic pattern that may help predict how gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) patients respond to the targeted therapy imatinib mesylate (Gleevec). Moreover, their findings point to genes that could be suppressed in order to make these tumors respond more readily to imatinib.

15 May 2009

Researchers unravel key mechanism in pathogenesis of osteoporosis

Osteoporosis, or bone loss, is a disease that is most common in the elderly population, affecting women more often than men. Until now, it was not clear exactly how the disease develops.

15 May 2009

A relationship found between cancer stem cells and prognosis in primary breast cancer

Breast cancer patients who received chemotherapy prior to surgery had heightened levels of cancer-initiating stem cells in their bone marrow, and the level of such cells correlated to a tumor's lymph node involvement, according to research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

15 May 2009

Chronic infection clearly linked to key immunity protein

The reason deadly infections like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C never go away is because these viruses disarm the body's defense system.

15 May 2009

Catheter ablation effective for atrial fibrillation

Treating a common heart rhythm disorder by burning heart tissue with a catheter works dramatically better than drug treatments, a major international study has found.

15 May 2009

Common gene variation explains why some women may find it more difficult to quit smoking during pregnancy

Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School and the University of Bristol, using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children and the Exeter Family Study of Childhood Health, have identified a common genetic variant that explains why some women may find it more difficult to quit smoking during pregnancy.

15 May 2009

Determining success or failure in cholesterol-controlling drugs

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that a complex network of interactions between drugs and the proteins with which they bind can explain adverse drug effects. Their findings suggest that adverse drug effects might be minimized by using single or multiple drug therapies in order to fine-tune multiple off-target interactions.

15 May 2009

Morphine patches create addiction

Morphine patches are supposed to reduce use of painkillers, and provide more control over their use in chronic pain conditions. But researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim have found otherwise.

15 May 2009

Medical News

Pfizer to give away 70 of its most widely prescribed drugs to those who lost jobs

House, Senate Committees approve bills that include influenza pandemic funds

Senate Finance Committee holds second closed-door meeting on health care reform; details of House Energy and Commerce Committee overhaul plan leaked

Obama campaign contributors being asked to donate to effort supporting health care reform

Industry groups say White House overstated pledge to reduce health spending growth

Sexual violence aimed at girls, women in Swaziland linked to high HIV/AIDS risk, other health issues

Public hearing examines issues faced by children in Thailand, including HIV/AIDS, lack of sex education

Lambda Legal files suit against assisted-living facility for allegedly discriminating against HIV-positive resident

New Jersey Senator proposes plan to avert HIV/AIDS drug copayments

PIH founder Farmer discussing possible appointment to coordinate U.S. global health initiatives, Boston Globe reports

Obama names New York City Health Commissioner Frieden next CDC Director, New York Times reports

Tobacco control must be elevated as a public health priority

Genetic signature may predict patient response to GIST therapy

Researchers unravel key mechanism in pathogenesis of osteoporosis

A relationship found between cancer stem cells and prognosis in primary breast cancer

Chronic infection clearly linked to key immunity protein

Catheter ablation effective for atrial fibrillation

Common gene variation explains why some women may find it more difficult to quit smoking during pregnancy

Determining success or failure in cholesterol-controlling drugs

Morphine patches create addiction

The future of automation: Machine learning–driven hepatocyte and organoid counting

From street to lab: Advancing controlled substance testing with handheld Raman and FTIR

Reimagining light scattering for biotherapeutics

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