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NYC Law Makes It Easier To Press Charges Against Antiabortion Protesters Outside Clinics
A New York City law that will go into effect in July could make it easier for antiabortion-rights protesters to be arrested for restricting access to abortion clinics or harassing people trying to enter the facilities, the New York Times reports. Current law allows authorities to make arrests only if the person directly affected, such as a woman entering a clinic, is willing to press charges. However, the new law would allow third parties, such as clinic workers, to press charges if they witnessed the activity, the Times reports. New York City"s Dr. Emily"s Women"s Health Center and NARAL Pro-Choice New York spearheaded efforts to pass the legislation in response to antiabortion-rights demonstrators who target women on their way to clinics and attempt to persuade them to carry their pregnancies to term. Clinic workers report that the protesters also have harassed women as they left the subway or surrounded them as they walked to the clinic. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed the law in April. Joan Malin, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of New York City, said the group is "not against people demonstrating. But there is a line between freedom of speech and harassment and bullying" (Bosman, New York Times, 6/6).
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Boston Globe Examines Hospital's Attempt To Reduce Emergency Department Visits, Hospital Stays Among Elderly
Efforts by Massachusetts General Hospital to reduce health spending could be indicative of the difficulty the health industry faces in trying to reduce spending growth, the Boston Globe reports. Industry groups last week pledged to seek a 1.5% overall reduction in health care spending over the next 10 years.Massachusetts General"s program, which began in 2006, aims to reduce hospitalizations among the elderly by 15% to 20%, as well as to improve the quality of care the elderly receive. A study looking at 35 efforts to improve elderly care found that only six, including Massachusetts General"s program, saved money or covered their costs, the Globe reports. Massachusetts General"s program relies on nurses in primary care practices to be in regular contact with patients and provide assistance with nonmedical services. The program also uses electronic health records to coordinate care. The hospital spent $8 million to $9 million over the first three years of the program to provide enhanced services to patients. Hospital readmissions fell by 19%, admissions decreased by 17% and ED visits dropped by 15% between 2007 and 2008, according to preliminary research. The program saved enough by reducing hospital admissions and emergency department visits to cover its costs and also to generate savings of $7 million to $10 million. The overall cost for the program was about 5% less than for a group of other patients treated in a more traditional way.According to Harvard University health care economist David Cutler, improving care and reducing costs among the elderly is a necessary component of health reform. He said, "If we can"t do this, it doesn"t bode well for health reform." Eric Weil, a primary care physician and medical director of the program at Massachusetts General, said, "Medicare is looking for any and every way to save money," adding, "This is a population of patients who are sick and will get sicker over time. Any opportunity to demonstrate savings in this group of patients is good, and 5% is very good" (Kowalczyk, Boston Globe, 5/17).
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10,000 Australians Demand Bowel Cancer Screening - New Research Shows Nine In Ten Can Survive Bowel Cancer If Found Early
A community-based Cancer Council advocacy campaign has motivated 10,000 Australians to call for expansion of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program, amid new research showing 93 per cent of bowel cancer patients can survive if diagnosed early.
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Achaogen Data Show Rapid Rise In Rates Of Resistance To Current Antibiotics

Achaogen, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company addressing the issue of multi-drug resistant bacterial infections through the discovery and development of innovative broad-spectrum antibiotics, announced today the presentation of research on aminoglycoside (AG) resistance trends and comparative AG toxicities at the 19th Annual European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), being held May 16-19, 2009 in Helsinki, Finland. In three separate sessions, Achaogen and its research collaborators, including the Jones Microbiology Institute Laboratories in Iowa and Paul M. Tulkens, M.D. of the Universitç© catholique de Louvaine, Belgium, are highlighting study results that underscore the critical need for well-tolerated, next-generation AGs to combat multi-drug resistant Gram-negative pathogens and address a growing public health concern. AGs have been part of the clinical infectious disease armamentarium for roughly half a century; however, as the Achaogen and JMI Laboratories research shows, rates of bacterial resistance to existing AGs, including such widely used agents as gentamicin and amikacin, are far higher in all parts of the world than was expected, suggesting a need for a next-generation AGs that can treat these resistant pathogens. "The data being presented at ECCMID demonstrate that global resistance to AGs is increasing more rapidly than previously thought, and shows that resistance mechanisms of various Gram-negative pathogens are limiting the utility of other currently marketed antibiotics across most, and possibly all known drug classes," stated Kevin Judice, Ph.D., chief executive officer and chief scientific officer of Achaogen. "Bacteria are constantly evolving and becoming more resistant, and these findings reinforce the urgent need for new therapies to combat these varied mechanisms of resistance." Achaogen"s novel aminoglycoside agents-neoglycosides-have shown broad-spectrum efficacy in vitro and in vivo against a wide range of multi-drug resistant Gram-negative organisms (including E. coli, K. Pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa, and Enterobacter spp.), as well as multi-drug resistant Gram-positive bacteria (including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus (VRSA). They also overcome known aminoglycoside resistance mechanisms. Achaogen"s most advanced neoglycoside, ACHN-490, is being studied in a Phase 1 trial and initial clinical data are expected later this year. Overview of Findings "Ten-year trend in aminoglycoside resistance from a worldwide collection of Gram-negative pathogens" (Saturday, May 16); Poster # 636 The study assessed resistance trends to aminoglycosides over a ten-year period, using a global sample of Gram-negative pathogens. This study determined the resistance rates of commonly prescribed AGs (gentamicin, tobramycin, amikacin) against over 20,000 bacterial strains from nine Gram-negative bacterial species gathered from medical centers around the world. In particular, resistance to AGs from E. coli, the most common Gram-negative pathogen isolated in the study, increased in all geographic regions. Notably, in regions outside of North America, more than 50% of Acinetobacter spp. and more than 20% of P. aeruginosa isolates collected during 1998-2007 were resistant to gentamicin. The highest rates of AG resistance were observed in the Latin America and Asia-Pacific regions. The study results underscore the global issue of bacterial resistance to available AGs, and the value of developing new therapies, such as Achaogen"s neoglycosides, to treat multi-drug resistant Gram-negative infections. "Surveying aminoglycoside resistance mechanisms: a tool for the development of neoglycosides" (Saturday, May 16); Poster #643 Surveying AG resistance mechanisms among selected clinical isolates allows researchers to determine the spectrum of activity required of new compounds to overcome bacterial resistance to existing agents. In this study, multi-drug resistance was defined by resistance to three drug classes: aminoglycosides, fluoroquinolones and cephalosporins. The results demonstrate that while the overall prevalence of resistance to AGs is increasing, the distribution of AG-resistant mechanisms amongst AG-resistant isolates worldwide has remained stable during the past 20 years, suggesting that new agents that evade these mechanisms, such as neoglycosides, should remain useful for a long period of time against today"s AG-resistant bacteria. In addition, a poster entitled "Quantitative comparison of aminoglycosides nephrotoxicity in rats for effective screening and evaluation of new derivatives, and dosing rationales that minimize toxicity," Poster #1979, will be presented on Tuesday, May 19 at the ECCMID. This poster reviews data from a newly refined rat toxicity model that effectively quantifies the comparative nephrotoxicity of various aminoglycosides. This model allows for effective preclinical screening of Achaogen"s neoglycosides, and has informed the company"s selection of optimal dosing for clinical studies. About ACHN-490 Achaogen"s novel aminoglycoside agents-neoglycosides-overcome known aminoglycoside resistance mechanisms. Leveraging modern chemistry and biology, as well as the extensive scientific and clinical knowledge gained from decades of aminoglycoside usage, Achaogen is poised to enhance the prominence and utility of this important class of antibacterials against 21st-century pathogens. Achaogen"s lead neoglycoside, ACHN-490, has displayed efficacy in research and nonclinical studies against systemic infections caused by multi-drug resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacteria (e.g., E. coli, K. pneumoniae, and P. aeruginosa) and MRSA. The company initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial in early 2009 and data from this trial are expected in the second half of 2009. Achaogen


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