Uninsured RX

Roche Diagnostics, in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, announced today that the Urgent Medical Device Correction issued for CoaguChek PT test strips (UMDC 06-266), used in anticoagulation monitoring, has been addressed and duplicate testing is no longer required for CoaguChek PT Test Strips, lot numbers 560A and higher (e.g., 561A, 562A, ...). [click link for full article]

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced enrollment of the first patient in the STRIDES (The SFA TReatment wIth Drug-Eluting Stents) trial, a first-in-human clinical trial in Europe designed to evaluate the use of an everolimus eluting, self-expanding stent system for patients with peripheral arterial disease in the superficial femoral artery. Marc Bosiers, M.D., at AZ Sint-Blasius Hospital in Dendermonde, Belgium, performed the first procedure. [click link for full article]

Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of [click link for full article]

Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) on Thursday introduced a bill (HR 2371) that would expand access to dental care for children in community health centers, CQ HealthBeat reports. [click link for full article]

The Salem Women's Clinic in Salem, Ore., earlier this month filed a federal antitrust lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Eugene, Ore., against Salem Hospital alleging that the hospital is using its monopoly in the local health care system to drive the clinic out of business, the [click link for full article]

The Texas Senate Committee on Finance last week voted 12-1 to approve a bill that would extend SCHIP coverage to beneficiaries for one year instead of requiring families to reapply to the program every six months, the [click link for full article]

In a move to improve global public health, Weill Cornell Medical College students have helped place a lifesaving heart disease drug onto the World Health Organization's (WHO) list of essential medicines. This list is a guideline for developing countries to choose which high-priority drugs should be supplied to their citizens inexpensively. Students from Weill Cornell's chapter of Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) answered the charge of Dr. [click link for full article]

The University of Leicester is launching a new one-year taught Masters degree in Cancer Chemistry. The degree is the first of its kind in the country, fulfilling a need to provide graduates with skills in the chemistry and biology of cancer, and direct experience of some of the very latest research in the field. [click link for full article]

A new report issued by the Center for Medicare Advocacy, on May 20, 2007, entitled Medicare Advantage Private Fee-for-Service (PFFS) Plans: A Primer for Advocates, describes the legal requirements that PFFS plans must meet and compares the requirements to other Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. [click link for full article]

Today, the EU Council of Ministers supported the Commission's Mid-Term Policy Review of the EU's Life Science and Biotechnology Strategy. The Commission communication says Europe must take full advantage of biotechnology and proposes a refocusing of the strategy to address the greatest needs among the biotech sector: better regulation and access to capital. Today the Competitiveness Council of Ministers endorsed the strategy collectively. [click link for full article]