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

More Camden, N.J., Residents Using Needle Exchange Programs
A pilot needle exchange program in Camden, N.J., - one of four in the state - "was off to a slow start" when it began 18 months ago, but "now, 976 drug users have registered with the program - more people than those at the other pilot sites in Atlantic City, Newark or Paterson," the Cherry Hill Courier-Post reports. "In Camden, 854 people are living with HIV/AIDS, the eighth-highest number among New Jersey municipalities, according to the latest data from the state Department of Health and Senior Services. About a third of them were infected by dirty needles," the Courier-Post reports. Bob Baxter, who oversees Newark"s program, said needle exchanges provide "the most immediate benefit at the cheapest cost," in reducing the spread of blood-borne diseases. "While there"s no way to count the number of people who are no longer sharing needles because of the program, organizers say they hope to see their success correlate to lowered communicable disease rates," the article states (Hirsch, 7/20).
generic viagra online
Review Led By Leicester Psychiatrist Raises Concern Over Treatment Of Patients With Past Mental Health Issues
New research led by the University of Leicester and published this week in the British Journal of Psychiatry reveals that people with mental health problems are receiving inferior care for their medical needs.
News of the day
Calif. Senate Advances Bill To Ban Health Insurance 'Gender Rating'
The California Senate last week approved a bill (S.B. 54) that would prohibit health insurance companies from charging different rates for individual insurance policies based on gender, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Buchanan, San Francisco Chronicle, 5/15). The state Assembly last Monday voted 48-29 in favor of a similar measure (A.B. 119). Insurance companies maintain that the practice, known as gender rating, is justified because younger women typically seek health care services more frequently than men. According to a report by the National Women"s Law Center, women can pay up to 20% more than men for the same individual coverage. Federal law already prohibits employers that offer health plans from charging different rates based on gender, and ten states have similar laws that apply to individual plans. However, the remaining 40 states allow the practice.State Sen. Mark Leno (D) authored the Senate legislation after San Francisco filed a lawsuit against the state seeking to outlaw gender rating. The lawsuit is on hold pending the outcome of the two bills (Buchanan, San Francisco Chronicle, 5/14).
Nutrition

The Dawn Of A New Era In Cancer Treatment

A new article in Scrip World Pharmaceutical News highlights enormous change in cancer medicine with highly personalised treatments, patient top-up payments in some markets, response-related payments and even refunds when there is no response to a treatment, all driving the future of cancer care worldwide. The article - written by Karol Sikora, professor of cancer medicine at Imperial College, London - cites an increasingly informed and consumerist society as one of the key drivers in this critical and evolving competitive marketplace. "Denying the existence of innovative drugs is no longer acceptable to democracies where patients can access all the information they require. The internet is a great equaliser," explains Professor Sikora. "Patient knowledge and understanding in terms of what is available has led to the growing use of top-up payments to break access barriers to innovative cancer drugs." "An ethically-driven top-up system is the only sustainable solution for the current challenge of cancer care and carries the best chance of sustaining a high-quality core service for all," adds Professor Sikora. "It could drive a new, patient-led, competitive marketplace which will create greater efficiency throughout cancer care." At the same time - as in other therapy areas - cancer treatments will become much more personalised. "The days of marketing cancer drugs like a supermarket commodity are over," continues Professor Sikora. "This is the dawn of a new era of rational cancer drug use, where oncologists avidly seek logical ways to get the right drug to the right patient thanks to a personalised diagnostics programme." "All of this means that investment now - in diagnostics, new technologies, new delivery systems and, of course, in new drugs - is vital if pharma companies are to avoid financial meltdown and the tragedy of efficacious drugs falling by the wayside because organisations like the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) turn them down due to lack of companion diagnostics." "Within 20 years, cancer will be a chronic disease, joining conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and asthma. These conditions impact on the way people live and do not inexorably lead to death. The model of prostate cancer, where many men die with it rather than from it, will be common for most cancers. The greatest progress will be made in understanding the myriad causes of cancer, leading to new prevention strategies for which scientific advances will be able to provide effective risk reduction." Scrip World Pharmaceutical News


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

© Copyright 2009