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Lobbyists Play Ball, Flex Muscles On Health Care Reform
The Associated Press reports on lobbying around biotechnology legislation. A letter urging the protection of biotech drug makers from generics from "the private National Health Council, sent to House leaders drafting health overhaul legislation, said the plea was on behalf of "the more than 133 million Americans living with chronic diseases and disabilities and their family caregivers." It urged lawmakers to protect the makers of high-technology biological medicines against early competition from lower-cost generic copycats. The letter did not mention that nearly $1.2 million of the council"s $2.3 million budget in 2007 came from the pharmaceutical industry"s chief trade group and 16 companies that sell or are developing the brand-name biotech drugs."
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New British Veterinary Association Animal Welfare Foundation Funded Booklet For Pig Farmers
The Pig Veterinary Society"s revised 2009 edition of Casualty Pig, funded by the BVA Animal Welfare Foundation (BVA AWF) is now available.
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Application Of Innovative Laser Research Could Lead To Earlier Bone Disorder Diagnosis
A new laser technique that could lead to bone disorders being diagnosed earlier is to be tested in a hospital for the first time. The study, which it"s hoped will pave the way for future clinical trials, will apply a revolutionary approach known as SORS (Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy), to examine specific substances in non see-through surfaces deeper than has previously been possible, without damaging the surface. The research team hope ultimately that the method can be used both to detect and screen for early signs of diseases such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.
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Critics Escalate Attacks On Health Care Overhaul

Tensions are showing as health reform continues to be center stage on the President"s and Congress" domestic policy agenda. The Associated Press reports that "President Barack Obama has learned the lessons of Bill Clinton"s failed bid to overhaul the nation"s health care system. Too well, in fact, say fellow Democrats angry over [Obama"s] refusal to intervene while a conservative proposal advances in the Senate," feel Obama has "over-learned the lessons of 1993 and is bending over too far to attract GOP support in the Senate." Obama supports a public option for health insurance, but "wants to avoid issuing nonnegotiable demands early in the legislative process," say White House aides. "Insurance companies oppose the public option proposal. Their cause was hurt this week when congressional investigators said two-thirds of the U.S. health insurance industry used a faulty database that overcharged patients for seeing doctors outside their insurance network, costing Americans billions of dollars in inflated medical bills" (Babington, 6/26). In addition, "Thousands of grassroots activists and labor workers from across the country flooded Capitol Hill Thursday for a high-volume rally for health care reform," Politico reports. "Health Care for America Now, an organization that is mounting an aggressive public lobbying effort in support the president"s plan, organized the event, in which supporters vowed "not to back down." But there were also "reminders that the health care reform effort has its detractors. While [Sen. Charles] Schumer [D-N.Y.] spoke, one protester grabbed a bullhorn and yelled his support for a single-payer health care option - nearly drowning out Schumer." Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, told supporters "The private health care industry will not hijack this process. We"re counting on youò€¦to persuade, to cajole, to do whatever you do to get a public option" (Isenstadt, 6/25). Meanwhile, "The type of advertising war that helped doom the last effort to overhaul the nation"s health care system is heating up," USA Today reports. "Business groups opposed to health care bills floated by House and Senate Democrats launched print ads this week. The Republican National Committee ran its own TV ad as well." The increase in advertising "comes as Congress begins to move on Democratic legislation," and as legislators head back to their districts for the July Fourth recess. While the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The National Federation of Independent Business, and the GOP are running adds, "so far, insurers have kept their money on the sidelines" (Wolf, 6/26). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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