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Cipla, Ranbaxy to cut pediatric antiretroviral drug prices

Indian pharmaceutical companies Cipla and Ranbaxy under an agreement with the Clinton Foundation will reduce the prices of 19 different pediatric antiretroviral drugs in 62 developing countries to an average of 45% less than what treatments currently cost in the countries, former President Clinton announced on Thursday ahead of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, the AP/Forbes reports.

2 Dec 2006

Thai Health Ministry to issue compulsory license for Merck's HIV/AIDS drug Efavirenz

Thailand's Ministry Of Public Health on Wednesday announced plans to issue a compulsory license to produce a lower-cost version of Merck's antiretroviral drug Efavirenz, Reuters reports.

2 Dec 2006

Some Christian conservatives calling on Congress to reduce funding for Global Fund because of condom promotion

Some leading Christian conservatives are calling on Congress to reduce U.S. funding allocations to the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, saying that the Global Fund does not allocate adequate resources to faith-based programs and that it promotes condom use, the Boston Globe reports.

2 Dec 2006

India's law criminalizing homosexuality is undermining the fight against HIV/AIDS

The law, enacted in 1861 and known as Section 377, makes "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with man, woman or animal" punishable by up to 10 years in prison and, when strictly interpreted, makes it illegal to distribute condoms to gay men and men in prison.

2 Dec 2006

Some institutional review board members have ties to Rx, medical device firms

About 15% of institutional review board members, who are charged with deciding whether proposed clinical trials are ethical and safe, in the past year were asked to judge at least one proposal involving a drug or medical device company in which they have a financial stake or involving one of those company's competitors, according to a survey published in the New England Journal of Medicine

2 Dec 2006

Medicare prescription drug benefit cost almost $13B less in 2006 than expected

The Medicare prescription drug benefit will cost $30 billion in 2006, a 30% decrease from a previous estimate of $43 billion, according to CMS, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports (Freking, AP/Houston Chronicle, 11/29).

2 Dec 2006

West Virginia pilot project would create incentive program for Medicaid beneficiaries to live healthier

The New York Times on Friday examined new revisions to the West Virginia Medicaid program that will "reward 'responsible' patients with significant extra benefits or -- as critics describe it -- punish those who do not join weight-loss or anti-smoking programs, or who miss too many appointments, by denying important services" to help reduce costs.

2 Dec 2006

Pataki and Spitzer endorse commission's recommendations to overhaul New York State health care system

New York Gov. George Pataki (R) and Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer (D) on Wednesday endorsed a report recommending nine hospital closures and the reconfiguration of 48 additional hospitals in the state, Long Island Newsday reports (Clancy, Long Island Newsday, 11/30).

2 Dec 2006

Half of consumer-directed health plan enrollees say they would be likely to switch plans if given the opportunity

Half of individuals enrolled in consumer-directed plans said they would switch out of the plans if given the opportunity, while about one-third of enrollees in more traditional employer-sponsored health plans said they would change their coverage if they had the chance, according to a survey released on Thursday.

2 Dec 2006

Government has overpaid private Medicare Advantage plans by billions of dollars

Incoming House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) on Thursday said that the federal government has overpaid private Medicare Advantage plans by billions of dollars, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

2 Dec 2006

Schizophrenia treatment with older, generic antipsychotics cheaper, as effective as treatment with newer drugs

Treating schizophrenia patients with older, less expensive antipsychotic drugs reduces overall treatment costs by up to 30% and produces no increase in side effects or decrease in effectiveness compared with newer, brand-name medications.

2 Dec 2006

Connecticut Judge orders HMOs to publicly release information on reimbursements for Medicaid beneficiaries' care

Three HMOs that administer managed care plans for Connecticut's Medicaid program must make public the rates they pay providers and other information, state Superior Court Judge George Levine ruled on Wednesday, the Hartford Courant reports.

2 Dec 2006

Patients often do not understand usage instructions on prescription drug labels

For the study, Terry Davis of Louisiana State University and colleagues presented five common prescription drug labels to 395 low-income adults in Chicago, Ill.; Shreveport, La.; and Jackson, Miss., and asked them, "How would you take this medicine?" All participants spoke English and had no vision or hearing problems.

2 Dec 2006

High dopamine transporter levels not linked to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Results from a brain-imaging study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory in collaboration with Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York indicate that levels of a brain protein proposed as a diagnostic marker for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are not positively correlated with the disease.

2 Dec 2006

Combination therapy shows improvement for breast cancer patients

Giving radiation therapy and chemotherapy at the same time after a lumpectomy helps keep breast cancer from returning locally, according to a study published in the December 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology-Biology-Physics, the official journal of ASTRO.

2 Dec 2006

Medical News

Cipla, Ranbaxy to cut pediatric antiretroviral drug prices

Thai Health Ministry to issue compulsory license for Merck's HIV/AIDS drug Efavirenz

Some Christian conservatives calling on Congress to reduce funding for Global Fund because of condom promotion

India's law criminalizing homosexuality is undermining the fight against HIV/AIDS

Some institutional review board members have ties to Rx, medical device firms

Medicare prescription drug benefit cost almost $13B less in 2006 than expected

West Virginia pilot project would create incentive program for Medicaid beneficiaries to live healthier

Pataki and Spitzer endorse commission's recommendations to overhaul New York State health care system

Half of consumer-directed health plan enrollees say they would be likely to switch plans if given the opportunity

Government has overpaid private Medicare Advantage plans by billions of dollars

Schizophrenia treatment with older, generic antipsychotics cheaper, as effective as treatment with newer drugs

Connecticut Judge orders HMOs to publicly release information on reimbursements for Medicaid beneficiaries' care

Patients often do not understand usage instructions on prescription drug labels

High dopamine transporter levels not linked to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Combination therapy shows improvement for breast cancer patients

Genetically engineered blood protein can be used to split water into oxygen and hydrogen

Drug for shingles relieves spinal cord injury pain

Old red wines best for a healthy heart

How to save a million lives a year

Canada says warnings needed on bird flu drug Tamiflu

Precision in every drop: Inside Hamilton’s syringe technology

Exploring the Future of Neuroscience Drug Discovery

Genomic conservation in Thailand's mangroves

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