"Health & Medical News"

Washington — Down syndrome is a familiar condition, affecting about one in every 800 children born in the United States. Although it is the most frequent genetic cause of mild to moderate mental retardation and it is associated with numerous other medical problems, much about it remains unknown.

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Washington — What if researchers develop an effective vaccine but nobody uses it? That’s the fear of some in public health as disappointing data emerged from a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey indicating low immunization rates for some adult vaccines, particularly herpes zoster, or shingles.

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The infections that studies have associated with schizophrenia actually might cause this mental illness, and a better understanding of the phenomenon could lead to new therapies and ways to prevent its development, according to a pair of papers published last month in The American Journal of Psychiatry Read the rest of this entry »

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Landlords who rent to medical-marijuana dispensaries in California are being warned by the federal government that they could lose their property or be sent to prison, the Sacramento Bee reported Dec. 15.

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Sacramento and San Francisco offices recently sent warning letters to landlords, following in the footsteps of the agency’s Los Angeles office, which issued about 300 such warnings over the summer. Nathan Sands of the Sacramento-based Compassionate Coalition said the letters have “definitely caused a panic,” although he predicted that the tactic would cause a backlash against the DEA.

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Thirteen states this year have seen legislative proposals aimed at limiting financial relationships between physicians and drugmakers. Most bills failed to pass, due to heavy pressure from pharmaceutical lobbyists, experts said, but new efforts are afoot.

The latest proposals include a Michigan bill that would make that state the second in the nation after Minnesota to place a limit — $100 — on the total value of gifts a drugmaker can give a physician in a year. Michigan and Massachusetts are considering so-called sunshine laws requiring drug companies to publicly disclose any gifts, payments, subsidies or incentives worth more than $25.

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Washington — Community health centers, medical researchers and medical students would benefit from a fiscal 2008 Dept. of Health and Human Services budget passed by the Senate. But Congress must gather enough votes to override a threatened veto.

The Senate adopted a $479 billion HHS appropriations bill 75-19 on Oct. 23, easily achieving a two-thirds, veto-proof majority with the help of 29 Republicans. The House passed a similar $472 billion HHS budget in mid-July by a vote of 276-140 — short of a veto-proof level, despite the support of 53 Republicans.

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Target, the megastore that brought Proenza Schouler to the people is expanding its reach this week with the first “model-less” fashion show (that will, of course, be open to the public). Instead of real models or clothing, the retailer will stage the fashion show using holograms ??” two-dimensional moving images that give the illusion of having three dimensions.
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After landing a first-round federal court victory against a 2006 New Hampshire prescriber privacy law, data-gathering firms are targeting similar laws set to take effect next year in Maine and Vermont.

Legislators in those two states, wary of a similar legal upset, shied away from a New Hampshire-style ban on any marketing use of prescriber data. Instead, they crafted legislation allowing physicians and other prescribers to choose whether drugmakers can access their prescription data.

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