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A Painless Way To Hold Down Health Costs?
NPR reports on a way to reduce national health care costs: "Getting doctors and hospitals in the parts of the country that spend the most on medical care now to bring that spending more in line with that of lower-spending regions." Researchers at The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care "have found two key points. First, it"s clear that patients who live in the lower spending areas do just as well as those where spending is higher. But just as important, more is not always better: Sometimes more spending can lead to worse outcomes." In lower-spending areas, "more care tends to be provided by primary care physicians, and patients in those areas are much less likely to spend time in the hospital for care that could be provided elsewhere." But "Patients in those higher spending communities are twice as likely to have 10 or more different physicians involved in their care. ò€¦ And it"s really hard for physicians to maintain effective communication when there are so many more of them involved in a patient"s care," says Elliott Fisher, principal investigator for the Dartmouth Atlas.
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Franken To Be Seated As Minn. Senator, Will Serve On HELP, Judiciary Committees
The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously voted to uphold Al Franken"s (D) win in the 2008 U.S. Senate election in Minnesota, effectively clearing the way for Franken to become the state"s newest senator, the Wall Street Journal reports. His election gives Democrats in the Senate a 60-vote supermajority, which could help the party pass health care reform legislation, according to the Journal. Following the ruling, opponent Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) conceded the election, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) said that he would certify the result Tuesday.Franken is expected to be seated next week. He will join the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he will vote on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which is completing its draft of health care reform legislation (Bendavid/Hitt, Wall Street Journal, 7/1).
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Health-Care Reform Must Respect Patient Autonomy
As President Obama and Congress weigh changes in the nation"s health care system they must avoid creating a system where physicians are financially motivated to pressure patients into mandated treatments that conflict with their values and needs, two Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center physicians warn.
Medical Devices

AGTC And National Neurovision Research Institute Collaborate, Funding Research In Two Genetic Retinal Diseases

Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation (AGTC), a privately-held, clinical stage biotechnology company developing novel systems to deliver human therapeutics, announces that AGTC has entered into an agreement with the National Neurovision Research Institute (NNRI), the clinical trial support organization for the Foundation Fighting Blindness(FFB), to collaborate in experiments using the AAV delivery system in the treatment of two genetic retinal diseases known to cause blindness at an early age. The research will be coordinated by AGTC and will be conducted at The University of Florida, Oregon Health & Science University, The University of Pennsylvania, and The University of British Columbia. The collaboration will focus on development of treatments for two of the more common genetic retinal diseases that cause blindness at a very early age: X-Linked Retinoschisis (XLRS) and Achromatopsia. "We are delighted to expand our strong relationship with the FFB and the NNRI through this collaboration," said Sue Washer, President and CEO of AGTC. "We continue to be encouraged by the data supporting the AAV vector system"s ability to provide sustained delivery and expression of therapeutic levels of many different biologics in the eye with minimal observable toxicity to date in either animal or human testing. There are hundreds of thousands of patients suffering from retinal diseases who currently have no treatment options and this research collaboration is another step towards using the AAV delivery system to address this unmet need and improve the patients" quality of life." "This collaboration is a tremendous boost for the development of gene therapy products for retinal degenerative diseases and NNRI"s partnership with AGTC accelerates these emerging treatments into and through the clinical trial process," said Stephen Rose, Ph.D., Chief Research Officer, Foundation Fighting Blindness. "It affirms the great potential for science guided foundations and academic researchers to work in partnership with commercial firms like AGTC that have the commitment and experience to bring these promising treatments directly to patients." XLRS is an inherited form of retinal degeneration affecting young boys. Patients present with poor vision either in infancy or at school age. Visual acuity usually worsens during the teenage years and then stabilizes until complicated by vitreous hemorrhage or retinal detachment during adulthood. There is no treatment available for the retinal degeneration in XLRS, which affects approximately 34,000 patients in the US and Europe. Previous research has shown promising signs of efficacy in mouse models and this collaboration will explore safety and efficacy in primates. Achromatopsia is an inherited condition that presents at birth with impaired visual acuity, lack of color discrimination and extreme light sensitivity resulting in daytime blindness. There is no specific treatment for Achromatopsia, although deep red tinted spectacles or contact lenses can reduce symptoms of light sensitivity. Approximately 22,000 patients in the US and Europe suffer from this disease. Previous research has shown promising signs of efficacy in dog models and this collaboration will enable expanded safety and efficacy studies. About AGTC AGTC is focused on the research and development of novel therapeutics for patients with unmet medical needs utilizing AGTC"s proprietary, non-pathogenic adeno-associated virus (AAV) delivery system. AGTC has demonstrated that this system can be used to deliver a normal form of a gene in both animals and humans thus allowing their own body to produce sustained therapeutic levels of important biologics. The Company"s most advanced programs in development are treatments for Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a disease causing a progressive loss of lung function, and Leber"s Congenital Amaurosis, an inherited condition causing early blindness. Both utilize AGTC"s proprietary AAV system and production methods. AGTC has licensed a significant portion of its intellectual property from the University of Florida where researchers originated this ground-breaking work and has received significant financing from some of the world"s leading venture capital firms: InterWest Partners, Intersouth Partners and MedImmune Ventures. For more information see http://www.agtc.com. Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) National Neurovision Research Institute


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