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Increasing number of hospitals banning gift bags containing samples of infant formula

An increasing number of hospitals across the U.S. in an effort to promote breast-feeding are banning free gift bags that contain samples of infant formula, which often are given to women when they leave the hospital after delivery, the Wall Street Journal reports.

1 Mar 2007

Lawmakers should not make HPV vaccination mandatory, CDC advisory panel chair says

Jon Abramson, chair of CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, recently said that he does not support mandating human papillomavirus vaccination for school attendance, the Washington Times reports.

1 Mar 2007

About 26% of U.S. girls, women ages 14 to 59 have HPV

Of U.S. women and girls ages 14 to 59, about 24.9 million women, or 26.8%, have the human papillomavirus, and about 2% of women and girls in the age group have HPV strains 16 or 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases, according to a study published in the Feb. 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Wall Street Journal reports.

1 Mar 2007

Fertility rate in Chinese county exempt from one-child policy lower than national average

The Chinese county of Yicheng, which has been exempt for the last 21 years from the country's one-child-per-family policy, has been found to have a lower fertility rate than the national average, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

1 Mar 2007

Federal Appeals Court rules in favor of U.S. policy requiring groups that receive HIV/AIDS funding to condemn commercial sex work

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Tuesday ruled that a U.S. policy requiring recipients of federal HIV/AIDS service grants to pledge to oppose commercial sex work does not violate the groups' First Amendment right to free speech, the AP/International Herald Tribune reports.

1 Mar 2007

New York reverses HIV/AIDS housing rent increase

The recently appointed New York state commissioner of temporary and disability assistance, David Hansall, on Tuesday reversed a state-ordered rent increase for HIV-positive people living in subsidized housing in New York City, the New York Times reports (Chan, New York Times, 2/28).

1 Mar 2007

Zambian Government announces results of trials of HIV/AIDS herbal remedies

The Zambian government on Friday announced that clinical trials of three herbal HIV/AIDS remedies found that the treatments are not effective cures for the disease, AFP/Yahoo! News reports.

1 Mar 2007

Former FDA commissioner Lester Crawford gets three years probation and $90,000 fine

U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson on Tuesday sentenced former FDA commissioner Lester Crawford to three years of supervised probation and ordered him to pay fines of about $90,000 for false reporting and conflicts of interest related to ownership of stocks in companies regulated by the agency, the AP/Washington Times reports.

1 Mar 2007

Proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage plans would lead to higher costs, reduced coverage for beneficiaries

BlueCross BlueShield Association officials at a press briefing on Tuesday said that proposed federal cuts to the Medicare Advantage program could lead to sharp increases in beneficiaries' premiums, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

1 Mar 2007

California Senator Sheila Kuehl reintroduces single-payer health system legislation

California state Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D) on Tuesday for the third time introduced legislation (SB 840) that would eliminate health insurers and create a state-run, single-payer health insurance system, the Los Angeles Times reports.

1 Mar 2007

FDA reaches agreement with medical device lobby for user fees

The Advanced Medical Technology Association and FDA have reached an agreement in principle regarding reauthorization of the Medical Device User Fee and Modernization Act, according to AdvaMed President Steven Ubl, CQ HealthBeat reports.

1 Mar 2007

Democrats awaiting MedPAC report to begin discussing Medicare physician payment reform

Members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission on Thursday will testify before House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over Medicare about their annual report, which likely will include recommendations on revisions to the Medicare physician reimbursement formula, the Palm Beach Post reports.

1 Mar 2007

Researchers wake up viruses inside tumors to image and then destroy cancers

They say this strategy could offer a novel way of treating many cancers associated with Epstein-Barr, including at least four different types of lymphoma and nasopharyngeal and gastric cancers.

1 Mar 2007

Green tea and COX-2 inhibitors combine to slow growth of prostate cancer

Drinking a nice warm cup of green tea has long been touted for its healthful benefits, both real and anecdotal. But now researchers have found that a component of green tea, combined with low doses of a COX-2 inhibitor, could slow the spread of human prostate cancer.

1 Mar 2007

Final attack on the poliovirus

Today, governments, donors and international agencies leading the drive to eradicate polio fully supported the planned final attack on the poliovirus.

1 Mar 2007

Further study of past flu pandemics key to future preparedness

Scientists and public health officials, wary that the H5N1 avian influenza virus could trigger an influenza pandemic, have looked to past pandemics, including the 1918 "Spanish Flu," for insight into pandemic planning.

28 Feb 2007

Latest food scare in the U.S. hits Hollywood party scene

Hollywood's celebrities may have been exposed to the hepatitis A virus at one of 13 catered events, in particular a Sports Illustrated's swimsuit party.

28 Feb 2007

New Crohn's disease treatment Humira promises to reduce symptoms

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has given it's approval for the use of the drug Humira (adalimumab) to treat adults suffering from Crohn's disease.

28 Feb 2007

Scientists alter electrical properties of cells inducing regeneration

Scientists at Forsyth may have moved one step closer to regenerating human spinal cord tissue by artificially inducing a frog tadpole to re-grow its tail at a stage in its development when it is normally impossible. Using a variety of methods including a kind of gene therapy, the scientists altered the electrical properties of cells thus inducing regeneration.

28 Feb 2007

New terms for describing gene products involved in microbial-host interactions

An international group of scientists has announced a major expansion of a lingua franca used to describe the activities of genes in living organisms.

28 Feb 2007

Medical News

Increasing number of hospitals banning gift bags containing samples of infant formula

Lawmakers should not make HPV vaccination mandatory, CDC advisory panel chair says

About 26% of U.S. girls, women ages 14 to 59 have HPV

Fertility rate in Chinese county exempt from one-child policy lower than national average

Federal Appeals Court rules in favor of U.S. policy requiring groups that receive HIV/AIDS funding to condemn commercial sex work

New York reverses HIV/AIDS housing rent increase

Zambian Government announces results of trials of HIV/AIDS herbal remedies

Former FDA commissioner Lester Crawford gets three years probation and $90,000 fine

Proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage plans would lead to higher costs, reduced coverage for beneficiaries

California Senator Sheila Kuehl reintroduces single-payer health system legislation

FDA reaches agreement with medical device lobby for user fees

Democrats awaiting MedPAC report to begin discussing Medicare physician payment reform

Researchers wake up viruses inside tumors to image and then destroy cancers

Green tea and COX-2 inhibitors combine to slow growth of prostate cancer

Final attack on the poliovirus

Further study of past flu pandemics key to future preparedness

Latest food scare in the U.S. hits Hollywood party scene

New Crohn's disease treatment Humira promises to reduce symptoms

Scientists alter electrical properties of cells inducing regeneration

New terms for describing gene products involved in microbial-host interactions

The evolution of OCT for retinal imaging and disease intervention

Supercharging Next-Gen Antibody Discovery with AI and High-Throughput Experimentation

Prof. Dr. Kristina Kusche-Vihrog

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