Uninsured RX

As Congress approaches the end of the legislative year, AARP Director of Government Relations David Sloane issued the following statement on efforts to pass a package of Medicare improvements. "Given the inability to find consensus on a broader Medicare improvement package, the short term package coming before the Senate this week is the path of least resistance and is woefully inadequate. [click link for full article]

Medicare beneficiaries who have chosen to change their health and drug coverage for 2008 should experience very few difficulties when getting their covered prescription drugs through Medicare Part D, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today. "A top priority throughout the fall open enrollment season has been to help beneficiaries prepare and compare their plan choices so that they could make informed decisions about switching plans. [click link for full article]

Attending general surgeons at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) will be required to prove basic motor skills outside an operating room before performing laparoscopic surgery on patients. CRICO/RMF, the Harvard medical community's professional liability insurer, will offer "Fundamentals in Laparoscopic Surgery" (FLS) as a refresher course in January 2008. [click link for full article]

A ten year follow up study carried out by researchers in Spain and Turkey on patients who had laser surgery to treat high myopia (short or near sightedness) found the treatment was safe and effective in the long term, with a retreatment rate of under 30 per cent. [click link for full article]

An initiative designed to place Europe at the forefront of medicines research and development has received strong backing from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) today. The Innovative Medicines Initiative is a public-private partnership between the European pharmaceutical industry and the European Union that will fund collaboration in certain stages of medicines development and remove bottlenecks in the R&D process. [click link for full article]

The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) supports confidential treatment programs for physicians with mental illness, including substance abuse, despite recent scrutiny. Mental illness is a chronic disease and all patients deserve the same privacy rights. To treat physicians differently is discriminatory. Such discriminatory treatment is perpetuated by stigma in society regarding persons with mental illness. [click link for full article]

Medical technology is an industry for the future in Sweden. However, to exploit the potential that exists, the industrial, academic and healthcare sectors will have to collaborate more closely on areas such as education and clinical research. This is the conclusion of a joint report commissioned by the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital. [click link for full article]

The Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of California, Irvine, dedicated to advancing patient care through education, evidence-based research and applied integrative medical therapies, today released findings that show acupuncture can help normalize blood pressure - lower pressure when it is elevated or raise pressure when it is too low - and complements treatments for cardiovascular patients. [click link for full article]

Serena M. Bordes, doctor of naturopathy, licensed acupuncturist and diplomate in acupuncture, has been recognized by Cambridge Who's Who for excellence in the practice of naturopathy and Oriental medicine. Bordes, an esteemed V.I.P. member of Cambridge Who's Who, is now organizing local seminars to enlighten community members about the many benefits of naturopathic treatment. [click link for full article]

VGX Pharmaceuticals announced today the successful completion of its first study to assess the tolerability of VGX's patented CELLECTRA? electroporation device in humans. Ten healthy adult volunteers were treated with CELLECTRA? device and were asked to report the level of discomfort they experienced immediately after electroporation and at various times thereafter. The procedure was generally well tolerated. [click link for full article]