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Phase III Data Showed Novartis Investigational Bronchodilator QAB149 Significantly Improved Lung Function In COPD Patients
The Novartis investigational bronchodilator QAB149 (indacaterol) met the primary efficacy endpoints of improved lung function compared to placebo at 12 weeks in three pivotal phase III studies in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. In secondary endpoints of these studies, QAB149 demonstrated clinically relevant lung function improvements within five minutes of the first dose, lasting for 24 hours in COPD patients.
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The Therapeutic Process Of Mother-Infant Psychotherapy
Psychotherapists who treat mothers suffering from postpartum depression and other mood disorders with their infants have developed a proven process that contributes to a greater positive experience with immediate insights for the mothers to develop healthy connections between their maternal experiences and their infants" behaviors.
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House Speaker Pelosi Works To Appease Concern Over Abortion Issues In Health Reform Bill
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday held a private meeting with antiabortion-rights Democratic Reps. Mike Doyle (Pa.) and Tim Ryan (Ohio) in an attempt to quell pressure to exclude abortion coverage from the House health reform bill (HR 3200), Roll Call reports. Joined by abortion-rights supporter Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) -- Pelosi"s "point person" on the Energy and Commerce Committee -- Pelosi attempted to broker areas of agreement on the issue, according to Roll Call. However, antiabortion-rights Democrats contend that, beyond Wednesday"s meeting, Pelosi has not responded to their concerns by making changes to the House bill (Bendery, Roll Call, 7/22).The House bill does not mention abortion, but antiabortion-rights critics of the measure say it could increase availability of the procedure by requiring health insurance plans to cover services and by providing government funding for subsidized plans, according to the Washington Post. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said this week that decisions on specific benefits like abortion services should be "left to medical experts in the field," such as a proposed advisory board that would make recommendations on minimum benefits that private insurers must offer. Ryan and a group of centrist Democrats have proposed an amendment that would neither require nor prohibit insurers from covering abortion services, as long as federal funding is not used. Their proposal also says that current state restrictions on insurance coverage of abortion services would remain in effect (Eggen/Stein, Washington Post, 7/23). Currently, private insurers are neither required nor forbidden to cover abortion services. The Hyde Amendment and other federal measures prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for abortion except in very limited cases. Some states use their own money to cover the procedure for low-income women (Stein, Washington Post, 7/23).Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich), co-chair of the Pro-Life Caucus, said abortion-rights supporters in the House "can continue to ignore us if they want, but at their peril." He added that the bill should maintain current restrictions on federal funding for abortion. Stupak was among a group of Democrats who sent a letter to Pelosi in June threatening to oppose any health reform bill that does not explicitly÷ forbid federal funding÷ from being used÷ for abortion services (Roll Call, 7/22). The Post reports that the health care reform debate has "reignited" claims from antiabortion-rights groups that President Obama"s efforts to find common ground on abortion-related policies are an attempt "to paper over ... support for abortion rights with policies that will do little" to reduce the number of abortions." Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, said that Obama "says he wants to reduce abortions" but that "the actual policies that this administration is promoting will result in massive public subsidies for abortion and result in a massive increase in the number of abortions." Abortion-rights opponents plan to hold a rally Thursday against the House health reform bill, and Americans United for Life has demanded a meeting with the president to discuss the issue of abortion coverage in health reform.Abortion-rights groups and Democratic leaders say opponents" allegations are exaggerated and an attempt to use the health reform debate to further restrict access to legal abortion services under private insurance plans. Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said, "This is the kind of divisiveness that the public has grown very tired of."The debate over covering abortion services comes as Ryan and abortion-rights supporter Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) prepare to introduce a bill that aims to reduce the need for abortion by encouraging pregnancy prevention and increasing government support for young women with children. The bill has generated "an unusual array of supporters" -- including the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, NARAL Pro-Choice America and evangeli
Public Health

In The Challenge Of Gene Patents, The Association For Molecular Pathology Joins ACLU

The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) has announced that it is working with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Public Patent Foundation to bring a lawsuit charging that patents on two human genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer are unconstitutional and should be invalidated. Individuals with certain mutations along these two genes, known as BRCA1 and BRCA2, are at a significantly higher risk for developing hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. The lawsuit, Association for Molecular Pathology, et al. v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, et al., was filed May 12 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) and Myriad Genetics and the University of Utah Research Foundation, which hold the patents on the BRCA genes. The plaintiffs include organizations representing over 150,000 researchers and pathologists, breast cancer and women"s health groups, and individual women. "After careful deliberation, AMP decided to join this suit as a plaintiff and was the first professional association to do so," said Jan A. Nowak, MD, PhD, the president of AMP. "We have done this for a number of reasons, the most compelling of which is that the principle being argued in the case is consistent with our desire to support public policies that we believe are in the best interests of our profession and the patients we serve." In 2008, AMP adopted a revised Policy Statement on gene patenting and the licensing of intellectual property that urged an end to the practice of granting patents on single genes, sequences of the genome or correlations between genetic variations and biological states. AMP also encouraged groups that currently hold gene patents, including higher educational and research institutions, not to grant exclusive licenses to access those patents. "This suit is not intended to allege that Myriad is an unethical company. Rather the intent with both the revised Policy Statement and the lawsuit is to address the larger implications of gene patents. We want to prompt changes to the patent system that will resolve what we see as increasingly narrowing options for manufacturers and laboratories to access gene sequence data to develop the tests needed to make molecular medicine a reality," said Dr. Nowak. The lawsuit charges that gene patents interfere with the free flow of information and knowledge (among researchers, doctors, patients) in violation of the First Amendment, and that patents on human genes are illegal under patent law because genes are "products of nature" and the PTO never should have granted patents on them. The PTO has granted thousands of patents on human genes - in fact, estimates are that about 20 percent of the human genome is under patent. A gene patent holder has the right to prevent anyone from studying, testing or even looking at a gene or to greatly limit those who can access the gene through the use of exclusive licensing agreement. As a result, scientific research has been delayed, limited or even shut down due to concerns about gene patents. In the case of the BRCA genes, Myriad"s lab is the only place in the country that performs full sequencing of the genes for diagnostic purposes. "AMP believes gene patents can serve as a disincentive to innovation in molecular testing because they deny access to a vital baseline of genomic information that cannot be invented around," said Dr. Nowak. "Moreover, threat of enforcement from a patent holder and ensuing litigation costs lead to a chilling effect as clinical laboratories and manufacturers are reluctant to develop new tests that could directly benefit patients. That"s why this suit is so important." Rachel Myers Association for Molecular Pathology


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