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Baucus: 'Effectiveness' Part Of Health-Care Bill, Could Reduce Health Costs
"Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said Tuesday he expects Senate health-care legislation will include provisions encouraging doctors to compare drugs and therapies for their effectiveness," Dow Jones Newswires reports. At a conference at the Brookings Institution, "Baucus said he plans to re-introduce legislation with Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., that further boosts" comparative effectiveness research. The research, which "saw $1.1 billion from the federal stimulus package earlier this year," lets "doctors and patients to utilize publicly-available information on medical treatments, has emerged as something of a political lightning rod this year. Some conservative Republicans are suggesting it would result in rationing of health care." But Baucus "sought to dispel that notion Tuesday, saying that the research would not be used solely to cut costs" (Yoest, 6/9).
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Statistics Show Drop In Births, Lower Demand For Infertility Services During Recession
More people in the Atlanta area and across the U.S. are delaying pregnancy in a possible reaction to the current economic recession, leading to a decline in the number of couples seeking infertility treatments, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. According to the Journal-Constitution, 13 states saw a decrease in the number of recorded births in 2008 compared with 2007. The Georgia Hospital Association reports that there were 5,352 fewer recorded births in Georgia in 2008 than in 2007. Mark Perloe of Georgia Reproductive Specialists said there has been a 20% decline in the number of people seeking infertility services. To retain business during the economic downturn, Perloe said Georgia Reproductive Specialists is offering a discount on select services of as much as 70%.Elisabeth Burgess, a Georgia State University sociology professor who focuses on families, said, "In times of economic downturns, different people react in different ways." For some people, "[f]amily becomes more important, so you might decide to have a child." The Journal-Constitution reports that one cycle of treatment can cost $15,000 or more, which some people pay for through credit, retirement savings or home equity loans. Evelina Sterling, co-author of a book on budgeting finances for infertility treatments, said that 70% of infertility patients cover the costs of the treatments completely out of pocket. She added that some older infertility patients "can"t wait on" the economy to recover to start a family.Carol Hogue, a professor of maternal and child health at Emory University, said there has been a "very predictable" pattern of reduced births during periods of economic recessions dating back to the Great Depression. The Journal-Constitution reports that some people delay planned pregnancy because of concerns over job security, health insurance, income and the cost of raising a child. Statistics from USDA show that the average middle-class family will pay $11,000 to raise a child in the first year, with the largest portion of that cost going to child care. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported in 2007 -- the latest year for which data are available -- that prenatal care and routine delivery costs about $7,600 after insurance (Cash, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/24).
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PROLOR Biotech Awarded Two U.S. Patents For Its Longer-Acting Human Growth Hormone And Longer-Acting Erythropoietin
PROLOR Biotech, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: PBTH), formerly Modigene Inc., announced that the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has issued two new patents for the company"s long-acting CTP-enhanced human growth hormone (hGH-CTP) and human erythropoietin (EPO-CTP). The patents cover the composition of PROLOR"s proprietary pharmaceutical compounds as well as certain associated methods. PROLOR"s CTP technology is based on a short amino acid sequence, the Carboxyl Terminal Peptide that occurs naturally in humans. When attached to a therapeutic protein, CTP extends the time that the protein is active in the body.
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HSE Warns Employers About The Safety Of Equipment After Worker's Hand Is Damaged By Rotating Blades, UK

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning employers to ensure they assess the safety of equipment and ensure that it is sufficiently guarded after an employee"s left hand was severely damaged by the rotating blades of a valve that forms part of the extraction system in a metal recycling process. HSE prosecuted JBM International Ltd, of Kingsilver Refinery, Hixon, Staffordshire, for its failure to make a suitable risk assessment of the safety of those operating the part of the process using the rotary valves of the dust extraction unit. The company was also charged with not ensuring that effective measures were taken to prevent access to dangerous parts of the machinery which had been in use for more than a decade. JBM was fined a total of ÷£5,000 and ordered to pay costs of ÷£2,614 by Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates" Court (on 19th May, 2009) after the company pleaded guilty to the two charges of breaching health and safety legislation. HSE brought charges against the company under Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 following its investigation into an incident that occurred, on 27th September 2008, on the company"s premises. A 34-year-old employee was investigating a possible blockage to the dust extraction unit by removing the collection bag and reaching up with his left hand to the exit opening of the extraction unit"s rotary valve when his hand was severely damaged by the blades. Speaking after the case, HSE investigating inspector Ian Williamson, said: "Being able to easily access moving parts of the machine represented an obvious danger which meant that it was reasonably foreseeable that an injury could occur whilst reaching into the opening. The machine had been in operation for 10-15 years yet it had evidently not been subjected to a suitable risk assessment because it had not been engineered in any way to protect operatives. ""It is important for companies to ensure that they have fully considered all the risks their employees may face when using any equipment and the injuries could have been much worse." Notes 1. Regulation 11 (1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 states: "Every employer shall ensure that measures are taken which are effective - (a) to prevent access to any dangerous part of machinery or to any rotating stock-bar; or (b) to stop the movement of any dangerous part of machinery or rotating stock-bar before any part of a person enters a danger zone." 1. Regulation 3(1) (a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 states: "Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of - the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work;" 2. Approved Code of Practice and Guidance "Safe Use of Work Equipment - Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998" ISBN 978-0-7176-6295-1 obtainable from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 2WA Tel: 01787 881165 Fax: 01787 313995 Website: http://www.hsebooks.co.uk 3. Further information on risk assessments can be found on HSE"s website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/index.htm HSE


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