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New XEOMIN(R) Is Now Available For The Treatment Of Blepharospasm, Cervical Dystonia And Post-Stroke Spasticity
Merz Pharma Canada Ltd. announces new XEOMIN® (Botulinum neurotoxin type A) is now available for prescribing to patients with the following serious, debilitating neuromuscular conditions:
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Obama Administration Committed To Development Of A National HIV/AIDS Strategy, Official Says
"The President has made a strong commitment to developing a national HIV/AIDS strategy, which is a top priority for" the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP), Jeffrey Crowley, director of ONAP and senior advisor on disability policy, writes in a Windy City Times opinion piece. He adds, "As we work to craft a national strategy, we are prepared to engage the government and the public to ask tough questions to achieve the President"s goals of reducing HIV incidence, getting all people living with HIV/AIDS into care, and addressing health disparities." In addition, President Obama"s budget seeks to increase access to care and treatment for people living with HIV and calls for increased CDC funding that "will allow states and local health departments to expand evidence-based prevention interventions and test 600,000 additional persons with HIV and identify 6,000 new HIV infections per year," Crowley said (Crowley, Windy City Times, 6/3).
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Fertility Treatments Becoming More Common, Costly To Health Care System, CDC Says
The number of assisted reproduction procedures, such as in vitro fertilization, continues to increase at a rapid pace, with half of the 54,656 infants born in 2006 being twins, triplets or higher multiples, according to a series of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports, HealthLeaders Media reports. Since 2001, the number of live-birth deliveries -- which includes those in which at least one infant was born -- as the result of assisted reproductive technology increased by 41%, and the number of infants born as a result increased by 34%, according to CDC. ART services are offered at 483 medical centers, compared with 421 in 2001.According to CDC, ART procedures are more likely to result in multiple births, which produce higher rates of complication in the infants, such as prematurity, low birthweight and disability. CDC said that the cost of treating complications resulting from ART pregnancies totaled $1 billion in 2005, presenting an economic burden to hospitals and payers. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology recommend that doctors transfer one embryo in women younger than age 35, one or two in women ages 35 to 37, no more than three embryos in women ages 38 to 40 and up to five in older women and "extraordinary circumstances." However, CDC reported that about 16% of ART procedures since 2001 involved four or more embryos, and 5% involved five or more embryos, indicating that these guidelines were not widely followed. According to CDC, "In certain states, ART procedures are not covered by insurance carriers, and patients might feel pressured to maximize the opportunity for live-birth delivery by transferring multiple embryos." The report also noted that physicians might be implanting more embryos to increase the percentage of total live-birth deliveries by their patients. The report said that to "minimize the adverse maternal and child health effects associated with multiple pregnancies, ongoing efforts to limit the number of embryos transferred in each ART procedure should be continued and strengthened."Many hospitals consider ART a lucrative field because most patients undergoing the procedures have private insurance or pay out of pocket. However, health plans pass on the costs of complications to employers and the insured in the form of higher premiums, HealthLeaders Media reports. Thomas Moore, director of Obstetrical Services at the University of California-San Diego, said, "Even though private insurance pays a large percentage of the cost of caring for these newborns, it can be expensive for the health insurance industry overall," adding, "At $2,000 to $3,000 a day for intensive care, which can continue three and four months, that"s a cost that raises premiums across the board" (Clark, HealthLeaders Media, 6/12).
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Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Lobbying Campaign At 10 Downing Street, UK

On 16 June, boys living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, their families and supporters will be lobbying MPs and marching to No. 10 Downing Street to bring an end to the continuing serious under-funding for research into the condition. Results from recent clinical trials into the effectiveness of Exon Skipping as a gene therapy for the treatment of Duchenne have been very promising and scientists say that a cure is tantalisingly close, but more funding is needed. The lobby action is being organised by Action Duchenne, the only UK charity dedicated solely to raising awareness and raising funds for research into treatments and finding a cure, and providing support for families living with Duchenne. Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy currently has no cure. It is a severe muscle wasting disease that affects boys and young men, resulting in boys being in a wheelchair by aged 10 and without treatment, dying in their late teens or early twenties. Duchenne affects 2,500 people in the UK and about 40,000 people worldwide. The gene that causes Duchenne was discovered in 1986, and yet since then the Government has provided only ÷£2.2m of funding for research and clinical trials for treatments and a cure. Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated on 31 October 2007, "The Government fully accepts that everything possible needs to be done to bring an end to the tragic impact Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy has on individuals and their families." Since then there has been very little action from the Government. Following last year"s lobby, Action Duchenne will be calling on the Government to: - Redress the historically poor levels of research funding over the last 10 years by allocating ÷£30m of funding for new Duchenne research and clinical trials UK wide. To include further funding for the current UK MDEX* Exon Skipping trials. - Ensure that all people living with Duchenne are given immediate access to new drugs and treatments - Ensure that all people living with Duchenne are supported by a Centre of Excellence within 50 miles of their home (currently there are only two, one in Newcastle and one at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London), with access to multi-disciplinary teams trained in the treatment of Duchenne patients - Ensure that all people living with Duchenne receive medical care in accordance with the internationally agreed Standards of Care for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy - Significantly improve the care received by patients as they reach adulthood. People living with Duchenne will be travelling to London to take part in the lobby from all around the country. For many this will be a difficult journey due to the severe nature of the condition. Carl Tilson who is living with Duchenne and is an active campaigner for Action Duchenne based in Manchester said, "I will be attending the Lobby of parliament on 16th June in London. I have been living with Duchenne for 22 years and now it has got to the stage where I am paralysed and can"t walk or even feed myself. Everything has to be done for me. Many of my Duchenne friends have died. The worst thing is living with this death sentence on my head. They have made great breakthroughs in medical research but lack of government funding for clinical trials is holding back a cure or treatment." Carl continued, "I want to say to Gordon Brown that I was pleased to hear him say that he would do everything to help us. But so far, we have seen nothing. Gordon, Is there anything more important to your government than saving young people"s lives? We don"t want to be a burden on our parents and we don"t want handouts. We just want to live an independent life, going to college... We want to work and we want to contribute to society. Most of all we want our bodies to function properly to enjoy simple things like eating real food without the fear of choking or chest infections and being able to do things people can take for granted. We want to live without the fear of a bad cold turning to pneumonia and then to respiratory and heart failure. Give the research teams and clinicians the money to get on with the job of finding a cure and also do away with the unnecessary red tape which is keeping boys like me fighting for survival from seeing any improvements." Nick Catlin, CEO of Action Duchenne said, "Action Duchenne"s work through the Race Against Time Campaign was instrumental in bringing together scientists and researchers and two other charities, to raise awareness and funding for critical research. However, we need to do much, much more. The results of the clinical trials conducted by AVI BioPharma in conjunction with MDEX* consortium at the end of last year was extremely promising. We urgently need that crucial research to continue. For this we desperately need Government support and funding. The young people with Duchenne don"t have time on their side, we need this research to start as soon as possible so that it can really make a difference." Mr Catlin continued, "Action Duchenne has recently published its white paper "Time to Stop Wasting " An End to the Postcode Lottery". This is based on findings from our nationwide consultation process where we spoke to many families affected by Duchenne. The process confirmed that many, in fact, over a third of parents feel that their children are receiving sub-standard medical care. Duchenne is a complicated condition, where expert medical care can make an enormous difference to length and quality of life. Currently there are only two Centres of Excellence in the country. We are calling for more Centres so that families can receive the best medical care within 50 miles of their homes. This is the very least we should expect, but again we need Government support and funding to make this a reality." Action Duchenne has also arranged Lobbies to the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland National Assemblies. *About the MDEX Consortium The MDEX consortium led by Professor Muntoni, is a multi-disciplinary enterprise to promote translational research into muscular dystrophies, and is formed by the clinical groups of Professor Francesco Muntoni (Imperial College London and UCL Institute of Child Health) and Professor Kate Bushby and Professor Volker Straub (Newcastle University), and scientists from Imperial College London (Professor Dominic Wells), UCL Institute of Child Health (Dr Jennifer Morgan), Royal Holloway University of London (Professor George Dickson and Dr Ian Graham), Oxford University (Dr Matthew Wood) and University of Western Australia (Prof Steve Wilton). In addition, the charities Muscular Dystrophy Campaign (MDC), Action Duchenne and Duchenne Family Support Group also participate in the Consortium. For more information visit http://www.mdex.org.uk Action Duchenne


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