Scientists whose discoveries have led to fundamental advances in the science and treatment of cancer are the recipients of two prestigious international prizes offered by the Kirk A. and Dorothy P. Landon Foundation and the American Association for Cancer Research. The Kirk A. Landon-AACR Prize for Basic Cancer Research and Dorothy P. [click link for full article]

More than 21,000 physicians and other health care providers who participate in Medicare owe the federal government $1.3 billion in income and payroll taxes, according to a report scheduled for release on Tuesday by the Government Accountability Office, the New York Times reports. [click link for full article]

Hospice, a variable set of services for dying patients and their families, is underused, in part because it is difficult for physicians and their patients to talk about dying (Academia and Clinic, p. 443).Two experts suggest language that physicians can use to define the patient’s goals for care, identify care needs and introduce the concept of hospice. [click link for full article]

Cardium Therapeutics (OTCBB:CDTP) andits subsidiary InnerCool Therapies announced today the enrollment ofthe first patient in the RAPID MI-ICE study at Lund UniversityHospital in Sweden. The purpose of the study is to assess the safetyand potential medical utility of early and rapid cooling of patientswith myocardial infarction (MI or heart attack). [click link for full article]

FINDINGS: UCLA scientists have devised a novel way to correct abnormal gene splicing - a common mutation that often leads to disease. Splicing edits out the punctuation from a cell’s genetic blueprint, enabling its code to dictate protein production by the cell. Using new technology made by Gene Tools of Oregon, the researchers designed a custom mask to camouflage each abnormal splice. [click link for full article]

The Maryland House of Delegates on Friday voted 134-5 to approve a bill (HB 754) that would increase the state’s cigarette tax by $1 per pack to extend Medicaid coverage to 200,000 additional residents, the Washington Post reports. [click link for full article]

Here’s a great slide show on ways to battle your allergy symptoms this season. Learn some simple measures that you can follow to reduce your exposure to pollens, molds, dust…

Robert George, a professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University and member of the President’s Council on Bioethics, and Thomas Berg, executive director of the [click link for full article]

Senate Democrats are working on “competing” bills to reauthorize SCHIP, which will expire on Sept. 30 without congressional action, The Hill reports. The Senate Budget Committee last week approved a fiscal year 2008 budget [click link for full article]

A British study, involving 5,500 children and published in the latest issue of PLoS Medicine, used accurate methods to measure the ‘fat mass’ of the children and the amount of physical activity they were taking. The researchers, based at the University of Bristol, concluded that low levels of activity, particularly moderate and vigorous activity, play an important role in the development of obesity. [click link for full article]