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Obama Open To Using MedPAC To Set Medicare Payment Rates
As the administration searches for ways to pay for health care reform and restrain medical costs, President Obama suggested Wednesday that he would consider transferring the power to set Medicare reimbursement rates from Congress to the independent advisory agency known as MedPAC, MedPage Today reports. The move reflects legislation introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., last month that would move MedPAC into the executive branch as "a regulatory board similar to the Federal Reserve ... The move would transfer the power to set reimbursement rates from Congress -- and perhaps the interest groups that lobby it -- to an agency that critics say is better equipped to make nuanced medical payment decisions" (Walker 3/09). Don't forget to buy zoloft online no prescription.

Bevacizumab (Avastin(R)) Added To Common Chemotherapies Significantly Increases Tumour Shrinkage In HER2-negative Breast Cancer
Data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2009 meeting, in Orlando, Florida, show that bevacizumab (Avastin®) plus commonly used chemotherapies increases the chance of the patient living without the disease worsening by up to 36% compared to chemotherapies alone, in women receiving first-line therapy for advanced HER2-negative breast cancer. The Phase III RIBBON-1 study combined bevacizumab with chemotherapies, including capecitabine (Xeloda®), taxanes and anthracyclines and measured progression-free survival (PFS).1 No new safety signals for bevacizumab were observed in the study.

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Free Clinics Affected By Primary Care Physician Shortage
In the face of growing numbers of uninsured and low-income patients due to the economy, some free clinics are having difficulty meeting the increased demand, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Since March, the Parma Health Ministry, in Cleveland, "which has only two volunteer primary care physicians who see patients in the evenings, has had to turn people away." Nicole Lamoureux, executive director of the National Association of Free Clinics, said the number of people seeking care at free clinics had increased by 40 to 50 percent in recent months, and that many of the newcomers have recently lost insurance coverage.
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International Researchers Call On Rheumatologists To Help Their Patients Stay Fit For Work

Researchers, doctors and patient groups will today call on rheumatologists and related healthcare professionals to view their patients as productive workers and make their staying in work an important outcome in managing their condition. Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) in Europe account for 50% of all work-related disorders and 60% of permanent work incapacity in the EU. At a Symposium, entitled Fighting Musculoskeletal Diseases to keep the European population Fit for Work, and part of the 2009 congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Copenhagen, delegates will hear a range of evidence showing that early intervention and effective management of MSDs improves work ability and benefits individuals, society and the economies they live in. Indeed, in Western Europe, the majority of costs for lower back pain, ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis are in fact indirect costs, i.e. in measures such as lost work productivity. The Symposium is being hosted by The Work Foundation, an independent think tank, as part of a research project called Fit for Work. "The Fit for Work initiative acknowledges the therapeutic value of work for patients, and now, advances in therapies permit the ability for work to be used as a measurable outcome of treatment," said Paul Emery, Professor of Rheumatology, University of Leeds, UK, and a member of The Work Foundation"s Fit for Work advisory board. The session is chaired by Prof Ronald van Vollenhoven, chief of the Clinical Research Unit in the Department of Rheumatology at the Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden, and looks at clinical evidence for effective intervention in maintaining and restoring work ability. Stephen Bevan, Managing Director of The Work Foundation, presents initial European Fit for Work findings on labour market participation. A panel discussion follows, examining clinical work and its link to crucial changes in health policy needed to support patients as citizen-workers. Prof van Vollenhoven will then call for rheumatologists to take specific action to make Europe Fit for Work, urging delegates to: - Encourage patients to demand the right to early detection and treatment of their conditions so they can be Fit for Work - Partner with employers to think beyond "health and safety risks" to protect and promote the health and wellbeing of their workers - Engage with policymakers to align national and EU health and work agendas so that citizen/patients are healthy and can remain in work ...and perhaps most importantly... - Make patients" being Fit for Work an important clinical goal The panellists, from across Europe, include: - Dr Berit Schiottz Christensen, rheumatologist and President of the Danish Society of Rheumatology - John Church, CEO of Arthritis Ireland - Maarten de Wit, a Dutch national and Vice President of EULAR/PARE representing People with Arthritis/Rheumatism in Europe - Dr Tom Ling, Director of Evaluation and Audit, RAND Europe - Dr Tuulikki Sokka, rheumatologist, Jyvaskyla Central Hospital, Finland and one of the lead investigators on the QUEST-RA study. About Musculoskeletal Disorders Musculoskeletal disorders is an umbrella term covering over 200 conditions that affect the muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments, peripheral nerves and supporting blood vessels, causing pain and functional impairment to sufferers (Punnett et al, 2004). About The Work Foundation The Work Foundation is a UK not-for-profit organisation that through research, consultancy and advocacy aims to improve the quality of working life. Working with both public sector and private sector organisations, it offers a distinctive mix of practical consultancy, robust research and campaigning on policy issues. It also runs a major programme of research and consultancy around Health and Wellbeing issues. About the Fit for Work initiative The Work Foundation"s Fit for Work project is supported by a research grant from Abbott, the global, broad-based healthcare company. Fit for Work reports are produced independently by The Work Foundation, with full editorial control resting with The Work Foundation alone. The Work Foundation"s research, conducted with the support of RAND Europe and endorsed by the United Nation"s Bone and Joint Decade is examining four conditions and their impact on labour market participation in detail: - Back pain: a non-specific condition (no specific diagnosis) usually involving short episodes of pain. - Work-related upper limb disorders: Also non-specific and affecting people. - Rheumatoid arthritis: It is estimated that almost a quarter of sufferers stop work within five years of diagnosis. - Spondyloarthropathies: progressive and chronic rheumatic disorders mainly affecting the spine, but also other joints, tendons and ligaments. The Work Foundation


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