Fiscal Footnote: Big Senate Gift to Drug Maker
[ New York Times] Just two weeks after pleading guilty in a major federal fraud case, Amgen, the world’s largest biotechnology firm, scored a largely unnoticed coup on Capitol Hill: Lawmakers inserted...
View ArticleKidney Donation Over Age 70? Desperate Patients Saying, ‘Yes, Please’
[Kaiser Health News] Robert Brown was healthy, willing and a good match: So why not give a kidney to his wife, who otherwise would need dialysis? There was just one potential obstacle: Brown was 74, an...
View ArticleStem cells in Texas: Cowboy culture
[Nature] Ann McFarlane is losing faith. In the first half of 2012, the Houston resident received four infusions of adult stem cells grown from her own fat. McFarlane has multiple sclerosis (MS), and...
View ArticleReport: Action Needed To Wipe Out Fake And Substandard Drugs
[NPR] A blue-ribbon panel is urging stronger regulation of pharmaceuticals around the world to combat the growing problem of fake and poor-quality medicines. The quality problems and fake medicines...
View ArticleSupreme Court weighs deals to delay generic drugs
[Los Angeles Times] A government attorney urged the Supreme Court to allow authorities to crack down on cash deals among prescription drug makers that delay the introduction of generic drugs and keep...
View ArticleDrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Knocks at Australia’s Door
[The New York Times] Australia’s first death from XDR-TB — extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, which is nearly incurable — has alarmed health officials and added new heat to a debate over how to...
View ArticleBMJ to ban research funded by the tobacco industry
[The Guardian] Last week, the BMJ announced that it was finally implementing a practice that it had been discussing since the mid 1990s. Research partly or fully funded by the tobacco industry will no...
View ArticlePrevention For Profit: Questions Raised About Some Health Screenings
[Kaiser Health News] Messiah United Methodist Church in Springfield, Va., is unusually busy for a Thursday morning. It’s not a typical time for worship, but parishioner Stacy Riggs and her husband have...
View ArticleMajor health insurer to test potential employees for nicotine
[Al Jazeera America] A major U.S. employer announced this week that it intends to screen potential employees for nicotine use and will reserve the right not to hire smokers. Cigna, one of the leading...
View ArticleFor the working poor, new health premiums can be a burden
[Los Angeles Times] For nearly two decades, Barbara Garnaus maintained a modest, delicate life balance: keeping her part-time Orange County school district job and juggling her bills and credit card...
View ArticleConcussion Cases Inspire New Course at George Washington’s Law School
[The New York Times] The revelations that hits to the head may lead to long-term brain damage have rocked the football world at all levels, alarming coaches, players and their parents and forcing the...
View ArticleAre we ready for a prenatal screening test for autism?
[The Guardian] Autism was formally described for the first time 71 years ago. The medical notes for “Case one”, a 10-year-old from Mississippi, US, referred to as Donald T, describe a perplexing...
View ArticleMinnesota to resume storing newborn blood samples
[Nature] Minnesota will once again allow blood spots to be kept and used for further research following routine newborn screening of genetic and congenital diseases, thanks to a bill signed into law by...
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