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Senate Finance Committee Discusses Funding For Health Reform In Final 'Walk Through' Meeting
The Senate Finance Committee met Wednesday to discuss potential funding mechanisms for health reform legislation but indicated that no concrete decisions had been reached, The Hill reports. The meeting was the third of three scheduled to "walk through" various aspects of health reform. Previous talks focused on the care delivery system and coverage. Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has said that he hopes for a bill to be approved for full Senate consideration by the end of July. He said of the talks so far, "We"ve got a lot of work ahead of us," adding, "Soon we have a mark up, soon we have a bill, and that realization is forcing us to make decisions." He also said, "Nothing"s pushed off the table. We"re looking at it all." Funding mechanisms discussed Wednesday included taxes on sugary and alcoholic beverages, as well as a limit on the tax-exempt status of employer-provided health insurance (Young, The Hill, 5/20). One proposal would raise the federal alcohol excise tax by 145% for beer, 233% for wine and 20% for hard liquor (Hurt, New York Post, 5/21). The committee also mulled a three-cent tax per 12-ounce container of sugary drinks, which would raise an estimated $50 billion over 10 years (Alonso-Zaldivar, AP/Houston Chronicle, 5/21). Baucus said he supports placing a cap on the employer coverage tax exemption based on income or the cost of premiums, or both. Congress estimates that about $194.2 billion in revenue is passed up each year by forgoing taxes on the insurance plans. The committee also discussed decreasing Medicare spending on home care, durable medical equipment, medical imaging and prescription drugs, as well as addressing regional disparities in health care costs (The Hill, 5/20). Members also brought up the possibility of charging higher-income seniors higher premiums for the Medicare prescription drug benefit (Wayne, CQ Today, 5/20). Members also discussed introducing new standards for not-for-profit hospitals that would require them to provide more no-cost care and serve more low-income patients in order to keep their tax-exempt status. In addition, they discussed cutting special Medicare payments to teaching hospitals, as well as requiring drugmakers to give larger discounts to state Medicaid programs (Pear, New York Times, 5/21).Baucus noted "convergence" on some issues, such as the need to include complete funding in a reform package, as well as the need to establish insurance exchanges that would facilitate the purchase of public or private insurance (The Hill, 5/20). Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said, "There was a greater understanding of the issues we have," but there are "a lot of members who still want some more understanding." Grassley also said, "There"s just a lot of questions; there are -- I wouldn"t say misunderstandings, but there"s got to be a lot of understanding about what you"re talking about" (CQ Today, 5/20). Chances of Bipartisan Bill
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Groundbreaking Artificial Heart Implanted At UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School And Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School jointly announce the successful implant of the AbioCor® Total Replacement Heart, the world"s first completely self-contained, fully implantable artificial heart, as well as the first internal artificial organ. The surgery was led by Mark Anderson, MD, associate professor of surgery at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and chief of the section of cardiac surgery at both the medical school and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, and assisted by Juan Plate, MD, assistant professor of surgery at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and an attending surgeon at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is one of only three centers nationwide approved to perform the surgery and the only one in the New York and Philadelphia areas. Dr. Anderson is one of a handful of physicians nationwide trained to perform this procedure. This is the first time the AbioCor has been implanted in a patient since the completion of clinical trials and approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
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Are Antiperspirants Linked To Current Prostate And Breast Cancer Rates?
UroToday.com - Prostate and breast cancer appear to be homologous cancer in males and females respectively. Both cancers share hormone etiologies and are treated with hormonal manipulation. The incidence of these two hormone-dependent cancers has steadily risen throughout the twentieth century. Both cancers have race-based links: there is a higher incidence of prostate cancer in African-American men than Caucasian men followed by Asian men and under the age of forty, breast cancer is more lethal in African-American women than Caucasian women and Asian women[1-2] . Beyond genetic and cultural explanations for these differences, an alternative environmental hormone disruptor may be at play as follows.
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Latest Replikins Data Predicts Continued High Level Of H1N1 (Swine Flu) Infectivity And Lethality

Biotech firm Replikins Ltd. released its analysis of the June and July genomic data that predicts the rates of infectivity and lethality of the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus. The quantitative analysis shows continued elevated levels in the Replikin Counts* of both Infectivity and Lethality genes, which indicate that the end of the current outbreak is not yet in sight. "The H1N1 virus continues to be increased in its lethality and infectivity according to our most recent data," explained Samuel Bogoch MD PhD, chairman of Replikins Ltd. "Compared to the SARS outbreak in 2003, where that virus"s Replikin Count rapidly decreased shortly after the outbreak, followed swiftly by clinical abatement, the Swine Flu does not show any sign of easing off." The current H1N1 outbreak in early 2009 was predicted by the company"s FluForecast® software in April 2008, when the Replikin Count reached 7 -- the same level achieved during the H1N1 1918 Pandemic. (See Figure). While most expected a summer pause, the Replikins Infectivity Gene data published in late May 2009 indicated that no respite was to be expected. Since then, the global spread of the virus has been so rapid that both the WHO and the CDC last week announced they have stopped counting cases. Specifically, the Replikin Count of the H1N1 Infectivity Gene, doubled from 2002 to 2008, increased an additional 43% in the first few months of 2009, and maintained that elevated level from May into July, while the Lethality Replikin Count, up 65% from May to June, remains elevated in July but at a slightly lower level -- still 40% above that of May. Changes in Replikin Count have been shown to precede the clinical reality by six to 12 months in all other influenza outbreaks of record. FluForecast® is the first data-driven service to assess the risks posed by all strains of influenza virus wherever genome sequence data is available. It demonstrated that all influenza pandemics and epidemics, and their cessation, over the last 90 years have been associated with statistically significant changes in the concentration (Replikin Count) of a particular group of genomic peptides of the virus associated with rapid replication (Replikins). It is the first and only such quantitative correlation of influenza epidemics with a virus"s structure. "The technology now exists to tackle one of the most vexing problems facing virologists and public health officials: how to correctly predict if, when, and where a particular strain of influenza virus will break out," added Dr. Bogoch. "We now have proprietary software that can analyze vast quantities of publicly available genomic data, specifically for the dynamics of rapid replication, which has led to the development of this new and unique tool for predicting these global health threats. Advance strain-specific warning permits time to respond with public health containment measures and for the development of "tailor-made" vaccines." This month, Replikins, Ltd. was contacted by and reached out to senior government health officials in dozens of countries to offer the FluForecast® service. Many plan to introduce the service to their public health surveillance programs both for early warning and for tracking epidemics. Replikins Companies


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