Popular Articles

Early Combination Of Enbrel(R) (etanercept) And Methotrexate Halts Radiographic Progression In 90% Of Patients During Second Year Of The COMET Study
New data presented this week during the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Annual Meeting in Copenhagen demonstrated that sustained combination therapy (etanercept and methotrexate) was consistently superior to continuous methotrexate monotherapy in providing clinical remission and radiographic non-progression over two years in patients with early active rheumatoid arthritis.1 These new data add to the body of evidence supporting the benefits of early intervention with a biologic treatment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Thirteen Single-Payer Activists Settle Their Cases After Disrupting Hearing
Thirteen people charged with "disruption of Congress" for standing and shouting pro-single-payer system slogans during a health care reform committee hearing settled their cases, The Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune reports.
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Bill Would Allow Federal Funding For Needle Exchange Programs
House Democrats on Friday as part of a spending measure to fund the Departments of Labor and HHS for fiscal year 2010, "unveiled legislation to lift a ban on federal funding for needle-exchange programs, a shift to try to reduce [HIV infections] but one that will probably spark a fight," Reuters/Boston Globe reports (7/11). The ban has been included in the annual spending bill in previous years. House Appropriations Committee Chair David Obey (D-Wis.) said, "Scientific studies have documented that needle exchange programs, when implemented as part of a comprehensive prevention strategy, are an effective public health intervention for reducing [HIV] infections and do not promote drug use" (Reuters, Pelofsky, 7/10). "The move is in keeping with a pledge [President] Obama made during the primaries to remove the prohibition on such funding, although the ban was carried in his budget request this year," CQ Today reports (Wolfe, 7/10). However, "Republicans are girding for a fight over the ban and lawmakers could try to restore it as the legislation moves through the House during the next two weeks," according to Reuters (7/10). The bill also addresses sex education and "appears to continue Democrats" slow march away from funding abstinence-only sex education," CQ reports (7/10).
Health Insurance

Food Crisis And Global Health Workshop July 14-16

The worldwide economic downturn has exacerbated a global food crisis that started in 2007, leading to a significant increase in the number of people who are malnourished. The Institute of Medicine will convene top experts at a three-day workshop to explore the implications of the food crisis on nutrition and health. Participants will discuss the effects of the economic crisis and escalating food prices on nutrition, country and global responses, U.S. policies, and actions to mitigate food crises now and in the future. Speakers include representatives from the World Bank, World Food Program, UN Task Force on Global Food Security Crisis, academic health centers, and organizations from Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mexico, and other countries. DETAILS: The workshop will run from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on July 14 and 15 and from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on July 16 at the Barbara Jordan Conference Center of the Kaiser Family Foundation, 1330 G St., N.W., Washington, D.C. An agenda and registration are available at http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3783/62976/65148.aspx. Due to space limitations, advance registration is required. Christine Stencel National Academy of Sciences


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