The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals has issued a release to clarify that medical professionals who participate in the Greater New Orleans Health Service Corps program do not need to dedicate 30% of their practice to treating Medicaid, Medicare and uninsured patients, the [click link for full article]

Forty per cent of community pharmacists have dispensed an off-label drug to a child in the last month, according to research published in the July issue of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. [click link for full article]

Scientists at the University of Bonn, together with colleagues from Romania, have discovered a gene variant that significantly increases the risk of developing gallstones (Hepatology No. 46, 11 July 2007, DOI 10.1002/hep.21847). It is estimated that one in ten Europeans has this variant in their hereditary disposition. For those affected, the likelihood of developing a gallstone in the course of their life is two to three times higher. [click link for full article]

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) have developed a method to estimate sickle cell disease severity and predict the risk of death in people with this disease. The study appears online in the journal Blood.Sickle cell disease is caused by mutations in the beta-hemoglobin gene (HBB). [click link for full article]

A chemically-modified version of a mitochondrial toxin long used to control species of invasive fish in lakes has been found to selectively inhibit two “survival proteins” in cancer cells. The research is a first step toward developing a molecularly-targeted drug that could eliminate cellular-level resistance to multiple types of chemotherapy and radiation therapy found in many types of cancers. [click link for full article]

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine report a significant new advance in the search for an effective treatment for human liver cancer in the July issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. Using a newly available monoclonal antibody, they demonstrated significant reductions in tumor cell proliferation and survival in human and mouse hepatocellular cancer (HCC) cell lines. [click link for full article]

Bipartisan agreement has been reached on a reauthorization package that would cover an extra 3.3 uninsured children, Senate Finance Committee leaders announced on Friday. Children whose household incomes are up to 300% of the federal poverty line will be covered. The Senate Finance Committee said a 61 cent per pack tax on cigarettes would make sure the 6.6 million children who are currently covered would remain so. Extra taxes will also be levied on other tobacco products. [click link for full article]

Some people have a genetic variation that makes them more susceptible to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) if they smoke tobacco, according to new research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues.”The genetic variant we studied seemed harmless on its own,” said Alireza Sadeghnejad, M.D., Ph.D., lead author. “But when someone has this variant, there is more of an adverse effect of smoking on lung function. [click link for full article]

Anemia is one of the most frequent complications of hemodialysis, and its correction is an important factor in restoring a tolerable quality of life to dialysis-dependent patients. Treatment with drugs called erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs), which stimulate the bone marrow to produce red blood cells, have been a major advance in the treatment of the anemia (low levels of red blood cells or hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the blood) in chronic kidney disease (CKD). [click link for full article]

These days, it’s easy for people to get confused about exercise — how many minutes a day should they spend working out, for how long and at what exertion level. Conflicting facts and opinions abound, but one Mayo Clinic physician says the bottom line is this: walking is good, whether the outcome measurement is blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, joint problems or mental health.”Getting out there and taking a walk is what it’s all about,” says James Levine, M.D. [click link for full article]