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Australian Medical Association: Put Increased Tobacco Tax Into Health
The AMA welcomed a proposed increase in tobacco tax. The AMA has always supported increased tax and price signals on products that are bad for your health in order to reduce consumption. This is an opportunity to make health gains for individuals, and the revenue could support essential health care for the increasing unemployed.

New Post-Hoc Analyses Show Januvia™ (sitagliptin) Provided Significant Blood Sugar Lowering Sustained Over Two Years
New post-hoc analyses, presented at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) 69th Annual Scientific Sessions, of data pooled from studies of 104 weeks in duration showed "Januvia" (sitagliptin), when taken alone* (2 studies) or in combination with metformin (2 studies), provided significant blood sugar lowering, which was sustained over two years.[i]
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Coverage Of Abortion Services In Federal Health Plan Remains Controversial
Advocates on both sides of the abortion-rights debate are "preparing for a renewed battle" over insurance coverage of abortion services in health care reform efforts, the AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Abortion-rights opponents say that current restrictions on federal funding for abortion services should carry over to any insurance sold under new health insurance exchanges proposed under reform legislation. However, abortion-rights supporters say that carrying over the restrictions would deny abortion coverage to millions of women who currently have it through employer-sponsored coverage and are likely to join the exchanges.A variation in how the questions were asked yielded different results but significant proportions of private plans were found to cover abortion services. A Guttmacher Institute study found that 87% of typical employer-sponsored health plans covered abortion services in 2002, and a 2003 Kaiser Family Foundation study found that 46% of workers covered by employer-sponsored plans had coverage for abortion services.A Congressionally imposed provision of law known as the Hyde Amendment currently prevents the use of federal Medicaid funds for abortion services except in cases of rape, incest or life endangerment. States that choose to cover abortion services for low-income women through Medicaid must use their own funding to do so. Other Congressionally imposed restrictions prohibit abortion coverage for federal employees, women in the military and other women who rely on the federal government for their health care coverage. An overhaul of the health care system would "create a stream of federal funding not covered by the restrictions," including federal subsidies to offset the cost of health insurance for low- and middle-income people purchasing public or private health insurance though an exchange, the AP/Journal-Constitution reports.Congressional Proposals The plan passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is "still largely silent" on the issue of coverage for abortion services, the AP/Journal-Constitution reports. Both the House and Senate bills leave the decision on whether the public plan would include abortion coverage to the HHS secretary.In the House Energy and Commerce Committee, members approved an amendment that would allow the public plan to cover abortion services through the use of beneficiary premiums but not federal funds. In addition, the amendment says that private plans in the insurance exchanges could choose whether to cover abortion services, but no federal subsidies could be used to pay for the procedure. The amendment -- proposed by Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.), who supports abortion rights -- also would allow plans that do not cover abortions under any circumstances to be offered through insurance exchanges. Capps said that her amendment aims to appease both sides of the abortion-rights debate, adding, "Our country allows for both sides, and our health plan should reflect that as well."Comments Abortion-rights opponents say that they cannot accept a public insurance plan that would cover abortion services and that private plans in insurance exchanges should offer coverage for abortion services as a separate option, the AP/Journal-Constitution reports. Richard Doerflinger, associate director of antiabortion activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the group "want[s] to see people who have no health insurance get it," but coverage for abortion is "a sticking point." He said that there can be a "result where nobody has to pay for other people"s abortions," adding, "We don"t want health care reform to be the vehicle for mandating abortion."However, abortion-rights supporters argue that prohibiting coverage for abortion services would deny health care to women who have abortion services coverage through their private plans. Heidi Hartmann, president of the Institute for Women"s Policy Research, said that applying current restrictions for low-income women and federal employees to a program meant for the middle cla
Public Health

Argos Therapeutics Presents Positive Transplantation And Immunosuppression Data For Soluble CD83 At The American Transplant Congress

Argos Therapeutics announced the presentation of new information on its soluble CD83 (sCD83) protein program in a poster session at the 2009 American Transplant Congress, held May 30-June 3 in Boston. The poster presentation, to be made on June 2 at 5:30pm by Argos" collaborating scientists from the University of Western Ontario, demonstrates that combination therapy with sCD83 can prolong kidney allograft survival in an animal model of transplantation, and that sCD83 attenuates pathological changes in kidney allografts, induces generation of T regulatory cells and inhibits dendritic cell maturation, all of which may contribute to immunosuppression and allograft tolerance. In the study, researchers tested the safety and immunosuppressive efficacy of sCD83 alone and in combination with rapamycin in a preclinical allograft model. Kidney allografts were transplanted with sCD83-only treatment, rapamycin-only treatment, or both agents in combination. While sCD83 monotherapy did not significantly prolong allograft survival and grafts treated with rapamycin monotherapy were rejected with median survival of 16 days, the combination therapy of sCD83 and rapamycin markedly prolonged kidney allograft survival to 30-45 days. The combination therapy further decreased intragraft deposition of IgG, IgM, CD4, CD8 and CD20, all of which are typically associated with heightened immune response, which can negatively impact allograft survival. Additionally, both sCD83 monotherapy and the combination therapy induced a significant increase in circulating T regulatory cells in all recipients. "This study builds upon our prior studies of sCD83 as a monotherapy and in combination with other therapies and demonstrates that sCD83-based combination therapy may help prolong kidney allograft survival, potentially broadening its therapeutic relevance," said Charles Nicolette, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and Vice President of Research and Development at Argos Therapeutics. "We believe that sCD83 may have significant applications for future clinical development in transplantation and other immune-mediated disorders, particularly considering its favorable safety profile demonstrated thus far with no organ toxicity observed. As such, we are continuing our preclinical development of this program to prepare it for future clinical trials." Argos also announced that two additional abstracts were accepted for oral presentations at the conference. These abstracts, which were also presented at a prior scientific meeting, are detailed below. The abstract titled "Modulation of Dendritic Cells by Soluble CD83 Induces Kidney Allograft Tolerance," was selected to receive a Young Investigator Award. According to the abstract, treatment with sCD83 in an animal model of kidney transplantation effectively prevented rejection and achieved long-term graft tolerance, significantly improved survival, and inhibited development of anti-donor antibodies when compared to untreated kidney graft recipients. Additionally, DCs from tolerant sCD83 recipients exhibited significantly decreased expression levels of MHC II, CD40, CD80 and intracellular IL-12, all of which are important to triggering an immune response. These data suggest that sCD83 is multifunctional, and may function via direct mechanisms involving B and T cells and indirectly through DC attenuation. The third abstract was titled "Soluble CD83 Mediated Suppression of B-cell Activation and Differentiation Prolongs Murine Cardiac Allograft Survival." In a heart transplantation animal model, allograft recipients treated with sCD83 exhibited markedly decreased intragraft B cell infiltration, reduced Immunoglobulins M and G deposition, and significantly lower circulating anti-donor antibody levels. Treatment with sCD83 alone was capable of controlling antibody-mediated rejection and prolonging survival of cardiac allografts by twofold when compared to untreated controls. The first abstract was authored by ML Baroja, J Arp, Weihua Liu, G Strejan, S Brand, C Nicolette, W Wall, B Garcia, DM Rothstein, AM Jevnikar, and H Wang. The second abstract was authored by: Zhu Lan, Wei Ge, Miren L. Baroja, Jacqueline Arp, Jifu Jiang, Weihua Liu, Stephen Brand, Charles Nicolette, Bertha Garcia and Hao Wang. The third abstract was authored by: Wei Ge, Siobhan I. Ramcharran, Jacqueline Arp, Miren L. Baroja, Zhu Lan, Jifu Jiang, Weihua Liu, Anthony Jevnikar, Stephen Brand, Charles Nicolette, Bertha Gardia and Hao Wang. About Soluble CD83 CD83 is a glycoprotein expressed on the cell surface of mature dendritic cells (DCs), the most potent stimulators of immune responses. The strong up-regulation of this protein during DC maturation suggests that it plays an important functional role in the induction of immune responses. Experimental data demonstrate that soluble CD83 can potently down-regulate immune responses, indicating that it can be developed to treat transplantation rejection and variety of autoimmune disorders. Importantly, data from animal models demonstrate that soluble CD83 exerts its effects without a requirement for chronic administration and does not leave the subject globally immunosuppressed. The development of CD83 is part of Argos" research and development collaboration with its Canadian partner, DC Bio. Argos Therapeutics, Inc.


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