PJTV - Hurting Heroes on Hold: Is Obama Responsible for VA Health Care Scandal?
Join Trifecta for its three part series on the scandal unfolding at the Veterans Administration. Veterans died waiting for VA health care, and even more were stuck in waiting-list hell, sitting...
By: PJ Media
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PJTV - Hurting Heroes on Hold: Is Obama Responsible for VA Health Care Scandal? - Video
Your Vote 2014: Health Care
From the workers on the frontlines to the politicians who want your vote, The Agenda will examine the Liberal record on health care, the party platforms, bending the health care cost curve...
By: The Agenda with Steve Paikin
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Supplemental Health Care CEO Janet Elkin talks to Bloomberg
Supplemental Health Care CEO Janet Elkin and BNP Paribas #39; Bricklin Dwyer discuss the April U.S. jobs report and hiring activity in the health care industry with Pimm Fox on Bloomberg Television #39;s...
By: Supplemental Health Care
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Supplemental Health Care CEO Janet Elkin talks to Bloomberg - Video
Inova Live Chat: Concussion Care for Your Child
Watch Dr. Leon Moores, Medical Director Pediatric Neurosciences, and Julie O #39;Brien, Nurse Navigator, Inova Concussion Program for a 30-minute live chat about concussion care for your child...
By: Inova Health System
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President Obama Speaks on Veterans Health Care
President Obama makes a statement on issues related to veterans health care, May 21, 2014.
By: The White House
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Fairness and Factions in Health
In this panel discussion, University of Washington faculty examine how issues of access, culture, trade, finance and regulation affect health care to world citizens. Panel members share research...
By: UWTV
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Politics Defining the Kennedy Health Care Legacy nytimes
By: Joie Fogler
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Politics Defining the Kennedy Health Care Legacy nytimes - Video
The multi-union Facilities Bargaining Association (FBA) representing 47,000 health care workers has reached a tentative settlement with B.C.s health employers.
The five-year agreement was reached with the assistance of mediator Vince Ready.
The FBA bargaining committee is unanimously recommending the agreement to its constituent unions, and the provincial executive of the Hospital Employees Union (HEU) voted today to recommend ratification to its members. HEU represents a majority of the workers covered by the collective agreement.
The settlement includes 5.5 per cent in general wage increases over the life of the agreement, limits contracting out, expands employment options and protects benefits.
It also includes provisions that enhance the ability of paramedics to work within a community paramedicine model, and addresses outstanding issues around paramedics pay scales.
Details of the agreement were distributed to union members this week.
HEU secretary-business manager Bonnie Pearson says the 96 per cent strike mandate delivered by union members two weeks ago helped secure the tentative deal.
Health care workers signaled clearly that they were determined to protect jobs and improve working and caring conditions, Pearson said. This agreement meets those conditions and provides a measure of stability and certainty in a health care system that is under considerable stress.
The collective agreement includes workers in hospitals, residential care facilities, emergency health services, and logistics and supply operations. Its the largest bargaining unit in B.C.s public sector.
The 43,600 health-care workers covered by this tentative agreement play a crucial role in keeping our health system functioning, and this agreement will ensure British Columbians who need medical care receive it in a timely and effective manner in a safe environment, added Health Minister Terry Lake.
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On a recent Tuesday evening in Richmond, Marta waited to see a doctor. In recent months, she had developed a rash that covered her body, and her entire face had been swollen.
Marta, whom the Express agreed to not identify fully because she is an undocumented immigrant, was seeing a doctor at a free clinic for the uninsured that is open just once a week. Unlike most health-care facilities, this clinic is staffed by volunteer doctors, nurses, receptionists, and medical interpreters. Volunteers believe many of those seeking care at RotaCare Richmond Free Medical Clinic at Brighter Beginnings, one of a dozen volunteer-run clinics founded by Rotarians in the Bay Area, are undocumented like Marta, although they do not ask patients about their immigration status.
"Most of the patients we see are working, and most of them are in low-paying jobs," said Dr. Pate Thomson, a medical director at the clinic and a retired cardiologist.
Despite the successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act and the expansion of Medi-Cal in California this year, about three million state residents remain uninsured. Of those, about one million are undocumented and thus are not eligible to enroll under Obamacare. Prior to this year's rollout of the Affordable Care Act, undocumented residents made up 20 percent of the uninsured population in the state. They now represent about 30 percent of the remaining uninsured, according to a report by the Health Access Foundation.
But that could change later this year. The state legislature is currently considering Senate Bill 1005, dubbed the "Health for All" act. Authored by Senator Ricardo Lara, D-Long Beach, the bill would allow undocumented people to sign up for Obamacare and Medi-Cal through Covered California, the state's health insurance exchange.
"I know from my own personal experience and other immigrant families that we knew that there are many difficult struggles that immigrants face as it is, and basic health needs should not be one of them," said state Assemblymember Rob Bonta, a co-author of the bill whose district includes Oakland, Alameda, and San Leandro. Assemblymember Nancy Skinner, whose district includes Berkeley, North Oakland, and Richmond, is also a co-author.
An estimated 2.6 million undocumented people meaning those who came here illegally or who came here legally but then lost their legal status live in California. About 124,000 reside in Alameda County and 79,000 in Contra Costa County, according to estimates by the Public Policy Institute of California. Undocumented people make up about 10 percent of the state's workforce.
Undocumented Californians also paid about $2.7 billion in taxes, including property, sales, and income taxes, in 2010, according to the most recent annual estimate available from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. "There's this misconception that undocumented people are 'takers' that they're benefiting from public benefits but not contributing," said Daniel Zingale, senior vice president of The California Endowment, which has embarked on a multimillion-dollar campaign also named "Health for All" to raise awareness about undocumented people and their inability to access health care.
Currently, 29 percent of undocumented adults nationwide receive health insurance through their job or have private insurance, according to the Migration Policy Institute. But the others may never see a regular physician. They use home remedies when they're sick or injured, or they end up in the emergency room when their health deteriorates significantly. Some seek help from places like RotaCare or other safety net providers in the area, including clinics such as La Clnica de La Raza and Asian Health Services in Oakland.
SB 1005's proponents, who include traditional health advocates and immigrant rights activists, say the legislation will decrease the amount the state will have to pay for emergency treatment of undocumented residents.It's unclear, however, exactly how much the state would save. A recent study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research found that undocumented Californians currently show up at the ER at about half the rate of US-born residents. But undocumented people may be avoiding the ER because of their fear of being deported.
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PHILADELPHIA The Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation will fund three new initiatives in the second round of its Innovation Grant Program. The program encourages Penn employees and students to submit their ideas for advancing health and health care delivery. Winners receive funding and support from the Center for Health Care Innovation to facilitate the rapid translation of ideas into action and measurable outcomes over six months.
Fifty-six different ideas were submitted for review this spring. The winners include a cloud-based platform for ICU EEG monitoring and visualization of test results, a telemedicine effort to improve access to genetic testing and counseling services, and technology to improve prenatal services. Each winner will receive design support and between $5,000 and $75,000 in funding to further develop and test their idea.
The innovation grant program allows us to help thought leaders across Penn Medicine accelerate programs and practices with the potential to make a meaningful difference in health care delivery, said David Asch, MD, MBA, professor of medicine and executive director of the Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation. We were excited by the level of interest from our colleagues, and we are eager to begin work in June.
Cloud-based platform for ICU EEG monitoring and visualizing results A team led by Brian Litt, MD, a professor in Neurology & Bioengineering, will build an automated, cloud-based platform for Intensive Care Unit (ICU) electroencephalogram (EEG) interpretation. Patients are monitored continuously with EEGs in ICUs worldwide. Recent studies show a large percentage of ICU patients have seizures, brain ischemia, encephalopathy, or other conditions that can be detected early on an EEG, allowing therapy to be initiated promptly.
However, continuous long-term EEG monitoring currently presents two major problems: it must be interpreted manually by physicians, delaying the delivery of results to the caregivers, and those caregivers rely on written reports from these studies, thus inhibiting the ability to view trends over time or forecast when a patients condition may deteriorate. The project aims to build an automated, cloud-based system for interpreting long-term ICU EEG data to speed response to changes in patients conditions and improve patient outcomes.
Telemedicine to improve access to genetic services Angela R. Bradbury, MD, an assistant professor of Hematology-Oncology in the Abramson Cancer Center, will use telemedicine to increase access to genetic testing and counseling services.
Genetic testing for cancer susceptibility is now an essential component of oncology care, increasing the need for genetic counseling specialists to assist in care of patients and their families. Testing is typically available only at large, academic facilities, leaving many providers and patients without access to genetic counseling locally. Genetic testing should always be conducted in conjunction with proper pre- and post- test counseling to contextualize the test and outline what the results may mean. As genomic applications in oncology expand, the demand for genetic expertise will increase and gaps in delivery will worsen. Through an NIH study, Bradbury and her team showed telemedicine can be an effective way to expand genetic services to populations with limited or no access to care. The new project seeks to transition the teams research-supported telemedicine program to a sustainable clinical model.
Technology to Improve Prenatal Services Spearheaded by Ian Bennett, MD, PhD, an associate professor of Family Medicine & Community Health, this initiative uses text messages to engage and educate patients, enabling early interventions to reduce poor pregnancy outcomes.
Low income women have high rates of poor pregnancy outcomes, including low birth weight, preterm birth, and preeclampsia. While signs of these conditions and associated risk factors can be identified in the course of prenatal care and targeted by interventions, the effectiveness of prenatal visits can be limited by patient literacy and engagement, as well as limited time to educate them. Delays in the identification of these disorders can result in poor perinatal outcomes.
Penn Medicines Helen O. Dickens Center for Women serves more than 3,000 low income patients each year, primarily African American women who are at increased risk for these outcomes. The project will create an application to deliver information regarding signs and symptoms of adverse pregnancy conditions to at risk women via text message. Fundamental to this project is the belief that an informed and engaged patient will increase the effectiveness of monitoring for pregnancy disorders.
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Penn Medicine's Innovation Grant Program Announces Second Round Winners
Illlustration by Vasava
Douglass Turnbull spends much of his time seeing patients who have untreatable, often fatal, diseases. But the neurologist has rarely felt more helpless than when he met Sharon Bernardi and her young son Edward.
Bernardi had lost three children within hours of birth, owing to a mysterious build-up of acid in their blood. So it was a huge relief when Edward seemed to develop normally. He did all his milestones: he sat up, he crawled and started to walk at 14 months, Bernardi recalls. But when he was about two years old, he began to fall over after taking a few steps; he eventually started having seizures. In 1994, when Edward was four, he was diagnosed with Leigh's disease, a condition that affects the central nervous system. Doctors told Sharon that her son would be lucky to reach his fifth birthday.
Turnbull, who works at Newcastle University, UK, remembers despairing that whatever we do, we're never going to be able to help families like that. His frustration sparked a quest to develop assisted-reproduction techniques to prevent disorders such as Leigh's disease, which are caused when children inherit devastating mutations in their mitochondria, the cell's energy-making structures.
The procedures sometimes called three-person in vitro fertilization (IVF) involve transferring nuclear genetic material from the egg of a woman with mutant mitochondria into another woman's healthy egg. Turnbull and others have tested the techniques in mice, monkeys and human egg cells in culture; now, they say, it is time to try them in people. The UK Parliament is set to vote on the issue later this year; if legislation passes, the country would be the first to allow this kind of genetic modification of unborn children.
Ewen Callaway talks to researchers and a patient about the techniques that replace faulty DNA in egg cells
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But some scientists have raised concerns over the safety of the procedures, and an increasingly vocal coalition of activists, ethicists and politicians argues that a 'yes' vote will lead down a slippery slope to designer babies. US regulators and scientists are closely watching the debate as they consider allowing similar procedures. I admire what they've done in Britain, says Dieter Egli, a stem-cell scientist at the New York Stem Cell Foundation, a non-profit research institute. I think they are far ahead in discussion of this, compared to the US.
The mitochondrion, according to one popular theory, was once a free-living bacterium that became trapped in a host cell, where it boosted the cell's capacity to generate the energy-carrying molecule ATP. As a result, each mitochondrion has its own genome but it no longer has all the genes it needs to function independently (the human mitochondrial genome, for example, has a paltry 37 genes).
Unlike the genome in the cell nucleus, which includes chromosomes from both parents, all of a person's mitochondria derive from the thousands contained in the mother's egg. For reasons still being studied, the mitochondrial genome is much less stable than the nuclear genome, accruing random DNA mutations about 1,000 times faster. As many as 1 in 5,000 children are born with diseases caused by these mutations, which affect power-hungry cells such as those in the brain and muscles. The severity of the conditions depends on the proportion of diseased mitochondria a mother passes on to her children.
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Locals Radio-Dr Thierry Vrain-Genetic Engineer speaks on the horrors of GMO #39;s and Roundup
Dr. Thierry Vrain, former genetic engineer and soil biologist with Agriculture Canada, spoke with us today about his concerns with genetically engineered crops (GMOs) and more importantly,...
By: Kevin Proteau
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Locals Radio-Dr Thierry Vrain-Genetic Engineer speaks on the horrors of GMO's and Roundup - Video
Genetic Engineering And Cloning
By: Android Tablet
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LW Genetic Engineering
By: Liz Wigdahl
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In one of the biggest advances against leukemia and other blood cancers in many years, doctors are reporting unprecedented success by using gene therapy to transform patients blood cells into soldiers that seek and destroy cancer.
A few patients with one type of leukemia were given this one-time, experimental therapy several years ago, and some remain cancer-free today. Now, at least six research groups have treated more than 120 patients with many types of blood and bone marrow cancers, with stunning results.
Its really exciting, said Dr. Janis Abkowitz, blood diseases chief at the University of Washington in Seattle and president of the American Society of Hematology. You can take a cell that belongs to a patient and engineer it to be an attack cell.
In one study, all five adults and 19 of 22 children with acute lymphocytic leukemia, commonly known as ALL, had a complete remission, meaning no cancer could be found after treatment, although a few have relapsed since then.
These were gravely ill patients out of options. Some had tried multiple bone marrow transplants and up to 10 types of chemotherapy or other treatments.
Cancer was so advanced in Emily Whitehead, now 8, of Philipsburg, Pa., that doctors said her major organs would fail within days. She was the first child given the gene therapy; now almost two years later, she shows no sign of cancer.
The regimen also can be used to treat myeloma, lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, commonly known as CLL.
This has the potential to become the first gene therapy approved in the United States and the first for cancer worldwide, doctors said. Only one gene therapy is approved in Europe, for a rare metabolic disease.
The treatment involves filtering patients blood to remove millions of white blood cells called T-cells, altering them in the lab to contain a gene that targets cancer, and returning them to the patient in infusions over three days.
What we are giving essentially is a living drug permanently altered cells that multiply in the body into an army to fight the cancer, said Dr. David Porter, a University of Pennsylvania scientist who led one study.
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
21-May-2014
Contact: Kathryn Ruehle kruehle@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News
New Rochelle, NY, May 21, 2014A targeted gene silencing strategy blocks production of the dysfunctional huntingtin (Htt) protein, the cause of Huntington's disease, a fatal, inherited neurodegenerative disorder. The effectiveness of this RNA interference (RNAi) approach in reducing levels of mutant Htt protein and disease symptoms in a mouse model of the disease is described in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Human Gene Therapy website.
Lisa Stanek and coauthors from Genzyme (Framingham, MA) used an adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector to deliver a targeted nucleic acid sequence called a small interfering RNA (siRNA) into the cells of affected mice. The siRNA selectively binds to the mutated gene, blocking disease-causing Htt production. The authors present data demonstrating the ability to deliver the therapeutic RNAi into the cells, reduce mutant Htt levels, and impact behavioral deficits in the mice without causing any noticeable neurotoxicity, in their article "Silencing Mutant Huntingtin by Adeno-Associated Virus-Mediated RNA Interference Ameliorates Disease Manifestations in the YAC128 Mouse Model of Huntington's Disease."
"The Genzyme group uses state-of-the-art delivery technology and a gene silencing approach to generate very promising preclinical data for Huntington's disease," says James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Human Gene Therapy, and Director of the Gene Therapy Program, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia.
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About the Journal
Human Gene Therapy, the official journal of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, British Society for Gene and Cell Therapy, French Society of Cell and Gene Therapy, German Society of Gene Therapy, and five other gene therapy societies, is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly in print and online. Human Gene Therapy presents reports on the transfer and expression of genes in mammals, including humans. Related topics include improvements in vector development, delivery systems, and animal models, particularly in the areas of cancer, heart disease, viral disease, genetic disease, and neurological disease, as well as ethical, legal, and regulatory issues related to the gene transfer in humans. Its sister journals, Human Gene Therapy Methods, published bimonthly, focuses on the application of gene therapy to product testing and development, and Human Gene Therapy Clinical Development, published quarterly, features data relevant to the regulatory review and commercial development of cell and gene therapy products. Tables of content for all three publications and a free sample issue may be viewed on the Human Gene Therapy website.
About the Publisher
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Novel RNAi therapy silences mutated Huntington's disease gene and reduces symptoms
Alliance Manage Like a Futurist Promo
Manage Like a Futurist is not a sit-and-listen event. It is a highly interactive workshop where you and your team will learn and apply the tools and methods ...
By: Alliance4Innovation
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Nashville, TN (PRWEB) May 22, 2014
Verizon Wireless is making waves with their Connected Technology Tour--crossing the nation with informative seminars that are showing people how to transform their businesses and agencies with Machine-to-Machine (M2M) solutions. And they are utilizing futurist Jack Uldrich's expertise as a keynote speaker to engage their clients and prepare them for the tides of tomorrow's change.
Selected as a keynote speaker for twelve of Verizon's Tour events, Uldrich is traveling across the U.S. delivering his address entitled, "How the Internet of Things will Transform Business."
Uldrich says, "A common and popular vision of the Internet of Things,"which he loosely defines as the connection of billions of physical objects to the Internet through the use of low-cost sensors"is the example of an alarm clock smart enough to read your daily schedule, review the latest traffic and weather reports and then communicate this information to your coffee maker in such a way that youll be able to maximize your sleep while still getting to work on time with a piping hot cup of java in your hands."
While Uldrich states that this vision of the future is entirely possible, he also says it sells short the true potential of the Internet of Things (IoT)." Hence Uldrich's passion for speaking on the subject and helping his audiences to embrace the immense change coming our way. For more of Uldrich's ideas on the Internet of Things, check out this article.
Uldrich regularly addresses thought leaders in all industries-- utilities, agriculture, manufacturing, finance, insurance, retail, hospitality, healthcare and government, to name a few. Recent engagements include the PMA Tech Knowledge Symposium in San Diego, the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company in Marana, Arizona, and the Utility Supply Management Association in Nashville.
Parties interested in learning more about him, his books, his daily blog or his speaking availability are encouraged to visit his website. Media wishing to know more about either the event or interviewing Jack as a futurist or trend expert can contact Amy Tomczyk at (651) 343.0660.
Uldrich is a renowned global futurist, best-selling author, editor of the monthly newsletter, The Exponential Executive, and host of the award-winning website, http://www.jumpthecurve.net.
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Her office is situated right down the hall from her Coca-Cola and Lowe's counterparts on the university's campus; the bulk of their days are spent brainstorming with the best and brightest in the valley. It's an attempt to sniff out what exactly perdisruptors in technology are doing, so that their company doesn't get disrupted.
Hershey maintains that it's on track for a 5 percent to 7 percent growth in sales this year, despite the fact that first-quarter earnings fell short of expectations. The confectionery giant's biggest competitor, Mondelez, is nipping at its heels as it continues to have success with growth in emerging markets. So it's no surprise that Hershey is taking an aggressive approach when it comes to innovation.
The company has begun testing 3-D printing for the production of its chocolate line, recently partnering with 3D Systems. The 3-D printing leader has an official partnership with Singularity University.
But Hershey is thinking outside the box, going beyond new methods of manufacturingsuch as looking into the rapid growth of wearable biometric technology.
The chocolate giant is exploring what the relationship between food and body will look like in the future. Yang sees our view of food consumption radically changing, and it's prompting her to figure out how Hershey can best operate in a world where individuals will monitor everything going into their bodies.
This is the type of innovation and brainstorming that the other companies at Singularity's campus are also likely to be doing.
Read More3-D printed Hershey chocolate is coming
This new experiment of big business flirting with Silicon Valley likely means that at some point the bulk of Fortune 500 companies will soon follow suit, in order to stay ahead of disruptive changes. Yang predicts, "Every organization is going to be affected by exponential technology. It's a matter of, Do you want to play with it so you can make an opportunity of it, or do you want to be playing catch-up and reacting to it," she said.
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hide captionSun Ra's music sounds like it was intercepted from another world.
Sun Ra's music sounds like it was intercepted from another world.
Records show that 100 years ago today, a boy named Herman Poole Blount was born in Birmingham, Ala. Between that moment and his passing in 1993, the man nicknamed "Sonny" developed huge musical talent, synthesized an all-encompassing Afro-futurist worldview and grew into the name Le Sony'r Ra Sun Ra for short. And he lives on as a cultural hero at the intersection of flamboyant outsider and self-made genius.
For a man for whom outer space was a guiding metaphor, he was a lot of different things on Earth. Here's a short list:
Behind his esoteric parables, contradictions and mythologies, there's at least one constant. Sun Ra was often recognized as one of the hardest-working musicians anywhere he went and surely one of the most original.
His is a huge oeuvre that people spend lifetimes exploring. In fact, the Sun Ra Archives are re-releasing 21 major albums remastered for iTunes for his centennial arrival date just a fraction of a discography which some historians estimate at over 180 records. Here's a quick introduction to that catalog in five essential tracks.
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