Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles
Stretch Mark

Opinion Pieces Discuss Criticisms Of Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor
Two opinion pieces recently responded to criticisms of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama"s nominee to the Supreme Court.~ Raina Kelley, Newsweek: The "discussions about whether ... Sotomayor was chosen just because she is a Hispanic woman drive me nuts," Newsweek columnist Kelley writes. She continues, "Yes, the fact that she"s a Latina makes a difference in what she brings to the bench, but let"s not overlook the fact that she"d be qualified for the job even if she were a white man." Citing Sotomayor"s experience as a Second Circuit Court of Appeals judge for more than a decade and her educational qualifications as a graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School, Kelley writes that "we can assume that she has at least some of the appropriate skills to be a Supreme Court justice." She adds, "But when she sits down for those hearings in front of the cameras and the country, the lingering question will still be, "Did she get into all those great schools just because of her race?"" Kelley writes, "It"s infuriating to me that a woman as competent as Sotomayor will have to prove she deserves her nomination while a white-male colleague with the same resume can skip that step and go straight to his judicial philosophy." According to Kelley, "It is time for our hallowed institutions to look like the country" they serve. She notes that "white males have gotten the jobs over at the Supreme Court 96% of the time," concluding that "the assumption that they"re naturally the best candidate for everything, and we"re doing anyone else a favor if we give them a desirable job, is a bit much" (Kelley, Newsweek, 5/29).~ Kathleen Parker, Washington Post: "Even without the help of all those foot soldiers who blast out late-night memos, any sentient being could have predicted the reaction" last week to the nomination of Sotomayor, syndicated columnist Parker writes. She adds, "Within minutes" of the announcement, "a dozen other e-mails tumbled through the hatch enumerating all the reasons Sotomayor was a terrible pick: affirmative action, identity politics, the Ricci [v. DeStefano] case, double standards, racism, sexism." She continues, "Although her judicial record has raised some legitimate concerns, Sotomayor isn"t so easily characterized as the radical liberal that some on the right have suggested. She has ruled favorably toward abortion protesters and unfavorably toward minority plaintiffs." In reference to Sotomayor"s 2001 comments that her experiences as a Hispanic woman might help her reach a ""better conclusion than a white male who hasn"t lived that life,"" Parker asks, "Could a white man get away with saying something comparable about a Latina? Of course not. After Latinas have run the world for 2,000 years, they won"t be able to say it ever again either." Parker continues, "For now, the hot winds of punditry could use a little chill," concluding, "Calling Sotomayor a sexist and racist, far from being fair, is an irrational rush to judgment unbecoming ladies, gentlemen, scoundrels and scholars" (Parker, Washington Post, 5/31).
generic viagra online
New House Bill Would Secure Health Care Affordability For America's Families
Today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Committee Chairmen Henry Waxman, Charlie Rangel, and George Miller introduced their unified health care reform bill. The following is the statement of Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA, about this development:
News of the day
Washington Post Examines Northern Virginia Clinic That Serves People Living With HIV/AIDS
The Washington Post examines one of INOVA Juniper Program"s six clinics serving those with HIV/AIDS located "[t]wo blocks down the road" from the old Whitman-Walker clinic, which "served the Northern Virginia HIV/AIDS community for more than a decade, [and] closed this year because of financial constraints." As of late last month the new Arlington, Va., clinic served 198 people, but Karen Berube, director of the program, said she expects to have 250 clients there by the end of the year. By comparison, the Whitman-Walker center treated 678 people at its Arlington clinic, according to the Post. Services are provided on a sliding-fee scale based on income, "but the majority of patients do not pay anything. Instead, they are funded by Medicaid, Medicare or private insurance, or they receive charity care through government and private donor grants," the article states (Caputo, 7/9).
Cardiovascular

Rib-X Pharmaceuticals Reports Positive Phase 2 Study Results For Radezolid In Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Rib-X" or the "Company"), a development-stage company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel antibiotics for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant infections, today announced positive results from a Phase 2 clinical trial of radezolid in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). In the double-blind study, radezolid was administered orally at three different doses: 300 mg once daily (QD), 450 mg QD and 450 mg twice daily (BID). This novel oxazolidinone showed comparable efficacy across all three doses, with clinical cure rates in the clinically evaluable population ranging from 78% to 92%. Radezolid also showed excellent activity against a number of key CAP pathogens including Streptococcus pneumoniae, methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae and atypical respiratory pathogens. Additionally, radezolid was well tolerated, with the most commonly reported adverse events being mild gastrointestinal upset. No hematological adverse events were reported in this study. "We are extremely encouraged by the positive results we"ve seen in this Phase 2 trial of radezolid in community-acquired pneumonia," said Susan Froshauer, PhD, President and CEO of Rib-X Pharmaceuticals. "Together with the previously reported positive results of the Phase 2 trial in uncomplicated skin infections, we are confident in the potential for radezolid to offer a safe therapeutic alternative for the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and other bacterial infections. Radezolid has been shown to be efficacious and appears to have a favorable safety profile compared to other oxazolidinone compounds. We are looking forward to progressing the development of radezolid with the intravenous formulation in a more complicated disease setting." CAP Phase 2 Trial Design This Phase 2 trial was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind study designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of radezolid in the treatment of adult patients with mild to moderate community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). The study assessed the efficacy of three doses of radezolid, administered either once or twice a day for seven to 10 days. It also evaluated the safety and tolerability of the three doses. The study enrolled approximately 160 patients at 40 study centers across the U.S., Canada, and Russia. The primary efficacy endpoint was clinical response at the test of cure (TOC) visit for the clinically evaluable population. About Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) can be caused by a variety of bacteria and viruses and is the seventh most common cause of death in the United States. Bacterial CAP is most often caused by pathogens such as S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae. CAP affects approximately 5.6 million patients in the United States each year and results in approximately 2 million hospitalizations annually. About Radezolid Radezolid is a novel oxazolidinone that was discovered using Rib-X"s proprietary discovery process and was designed to expand the bacterial spectrum and improve the utility of this class of antibiotics relative to the only other oxazolidinone marketed in the world, Zyvox(R) (linezolid). Rib-X is developing both oral and IV formulations for use in serious Gram-positive infections, including those caused by MRSA and linezolid- and vancomycin-resistant enterococci. Radezolid has also completed a Phase 2 trial in uncomplicated skin and skin structure infections (uSSSI). In in vitro studies, radezolid has demonstrated greater potency than linezolid against a variety of Gram-positive organisms; radezolid is also active against linezolid-resistant isolates. About Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a product-driven small molecule drug discovery and development company focused on the structure-based design of new classes of antibiotics. The Company"s underlying drug discovery engine capitalizes on its proprietary high-resolution crystal structure of the ribosome, which performs an essential role in protein synthesis. Many known, commercially valuable antibiotics exert their effects by binding to the bacterial ribosome. The Company"s integrated research strategy, which combines state-of-the-art, proprietary computational analysis, X-ray crystallography, medicinal chemistry, microbiology and biochemistry, allows it to rapidly synthesize new agents designed to avoid typical antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Rib-X"s iterative intelligent engine has yielded several distinctive new antibiotics, including radezolid that can be used for the treatment of either community- or hospital-acquired infections. The Company is also pursuing two other internal discovery programs, RX-04 and RX-02. The RX-04 discovery program is developing novel classes of antibiotics active against multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria and the RX-02 discovery program is focused on developing an IV/oral macrolide active against methicillin-resistant S. aureus, multidrug-resistant S. pneumoniae and S. pyogenes. In addition to these internally developed programs, Rib-X is also currently preparing to enter Phase 3 clinical trials with delafloxacin (RX-3341), a novel quinolone that is effective against quinolone-resistant Gram-positive infections. Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009