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American Diabetes Association Launches My Health Advisor -- Online Calculator That Shows Risk For Diabetes, Heart Disease And Stroke
With an estimated 57 million Americans with pre-diabetes, the American Diabetes Association today launches My Health Advisor, an online tool that helps people understand their personal risk for developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. My Health Advisor is available at http://www.CheckUpAmerica.org/MHA.
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QuantRx Announces FluoroPharma To Present Phase I Study Results Of Novel Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Myocardial Perfusion Imaging (MPI) Tracer
QuantRx® Biomedical Corporation (OTCBB:QTXB), a broad-based diagnostic company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative diagnostic products, announced that its affiliate, FluoroPharma Inc., a company developing breakthrough PET molecular imaging agents, will present Phase I data relating to the safety, dosimetry, and pharmacokinetics in human subjects of BFPET, its novel 18-F labeled (PET) tracer for myocardial perfusion imaging, at the Society of Nuclear Medicine 2009 Annual Meeting in Toronto.
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Obama Announces Appeals Court Judge Sotomayor As Supreme Court Nominee
President Obama this morning announced Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals as his nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter, the New York Times" "The Caucus" reports. Sotomayor, if confirmed, would be the first Hispanic to serve on the court and, with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, bring the number of female justices currently on the court to two. White House officials said the president made his decision over the Memorial Day weekend after narrowing his list of candidates to four. s close to the selection process said the other candidates included Federal Appeals Judge Diane Wood, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Solicitor General Elena Kagan (Zeleny, "The Caucus," New York Times, 5/26). According to the Washington Post, Obama has set a deadline of having Sotomayor confirmed before the Senate"s five-week recess that begins Aug. 7 (Shear et al., Washington Post, 5/26). Sotomayor, a graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School, joined the federal district court in 1992 after being nominated by former President George H.W. Bush. Former President Clinton nominated her to the appeals court in 1997, and she was confirmed in 1998 (Baker/Zeleny, New York Times, 5/26). The Post reports that many analysts considered Sotomayor a likely pick to replace Souter, who announced his retirement earlier this month (Washington Post, 5/26). According to the Times, Sotomayor"s past statements that her ethnicity and gender are important factors in serving as a judge "could generate debate" during the nomination process. In a 2002 lecture, Sotomayor said, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn"t lived that life" (New York Times, 5/26). Both liberal and conservative advocates were quick to release statements on the selection after the announcement this morning. Doug Kendall, president of the liberal Constitution Accountability Center, said, "We already know that she is a brilliant lawyer who is committed to ruling based on the Constitution and the law, not on her own personal political views." Wendy Long, counsel to the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network, said in an e-mail to reporters that Sotomayor "is a liberal judicial activist of the first order who thinks her own personal political agenda is more important than the law as written. She thinks that judges should dictate policy, and that one"s sex, race and ethnicity ought to affect the decisions one renders from the bench" (Washington Post, 5/26). According to Politico, of the nominees Obama was considering, Sotomayor was the one that Republicans indicated "they would complain most loudly about." However, the Democratic control of the Senate makes it unlikely that Republicans could block her confirmation, Politico reports (Allen/Martin, Politico, 5/26). Over the weekend, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that senators from both parties "reserve the right to not only oppose a nomination, but also prevent the vote on a nomination" (Wilson, The Hill, 5/25). Kyl also said that although the GOP likely does not have enough votes for a filibuster, he would attempt to delay the nomination if Obama chose someone outside what he considers the mainstream. He said, "We will distinguish between a liberal judge on one side and one who doesn"t decide cases on the merits but, rather, on the basis of his or her preconceived ideas" (Washington Times, 5/25). Obama Discusses Nomination in C-SPAN InterviewIn an interview on Friday with C-SPAN, Obama said he would like to choose a Supreme Court justice who has "a little bit of a common touch" and a "practical sense of how the world works," the Post reports. Obama added that he "continue[s] to believe" that "empathy" is an important quality in a justice, despite Republican criticism that his emphasis on the quality means that he seeks a judge with an "activist" agenda, the Post reports
Diagnostics

National Public Reporting Of Health-Care-asociated Infections Supported By Experts

Five organizations representing the nation"s experts in infectious diseases medicine, infection prevention in healthcare settings, and public health and disease prevention announced their support for a provision requiring national reporting of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) rates, which is contained within the healthcare reform bill introduced by leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) and the Trust for America"s Health (TFAH) sent a joint letter to members of Congress who will be voting on the legislation (HR 3200, the America"s Affordable Health Choices Act) in the coming days. The bill would require hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers to report HAI data through an existing national reporting network managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a condition of participation in Medicare and Medicaid. "Overall -- this is a win for patients," said APIC 2009 President Christine J. Nutty, RN, MSN, CIC. "Public reporting of HAIs may drive further improvement in healthcare processes which will reduce infections, save lives, and preserve healthcare dollars. We are pleased that the House bill would also address the need for highly trained staff to effectively implement the system." In the U.S., HAIs claim 99,000 lives annually and incur more than $20 billion in excess healthcare costs. "This legislation will assure accountability and transparency as the nation moves to address this growing public health problem," said Jeffrey Levi, PhD, Executive Director of Trust for America"s Health. "Patients have a right to know how well they are protected from healthcare-associated infections and this level of openness will encourage healthcare facilities to improve their outcomes." The groups agreed that the public reporting provision found in HR 3200 is superior to approaches that have been put forth in other legislation. HR 3200 will establish a single national standard for HAI reporting, and it will ensure that public health scientists at CDC determine which infections are reported and how. By mandating reporting via CDC"s National Healthcare Safety Network, the bill will build on existing mechanisms and create the robust system we need to monitor, study, and ultimately prevent HAIs. "Using CDC"s network means that everyone will be looking for the same information in the same way," said Mark E. Rupp, MD, president of SHEA. "This approach for HAI reporting will be a more accurate way to compare local and national infection rates and trends. This will give us the science base we need to better prevent HAIs." One element missing from the bill, the organizations noted, was the lack of a much-needed, strengthened federal approach to deal with antimicrobial resistant organisms. "Overall, we applaud the approach taken on public reporting," said Anne Gershon, MD, FIDSA, president of IDSA. "However, we hope congressional leaders also will adopt new strategies to address drug-resistant pathogens, which are the cause of so many debilitating infections and patient deaths in healthcare facilities each year." To address antimicrobial resistant organisms, the groups have urged Congress to amend HR 3200 to include the Strategies to Address Antimicrobial Resistance (STAAR) Act, H.R. 2400, introduced earlier this year by Rep. Jim Matheson (R-UT), which will build up federal efforts on surveillance, research, and prevention and control of drug-resistant infections. Liz Garman Infectious Diseases Society of America


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