With 1 week until deadline, local health care groups offering free signup help for Affordable Care A – Video

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With 1 week until deadline, local health care groups offering free signup help for Affordable Care A
With 1 week until deadline, local health care groups offering free signup help for Affordable Care Act.

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With 1 week until deadline, local health care groups offering free signup help for Affordable Care A - Video

Obama administration extends health care enrollment deadline

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The Obama administration will grant extra time to Americans who say they are unable to enroll in health care plans through the federal insurance marketplace by the deadline set for the end of March, Fox News confirmed Tuesday.

All consumers who have begun to apply for coverage on HealthCare.gov, but who do not finish by Monday, will have until about mid-April to ask for an extension, federal officials told the Washington Post.

The Washington Post reported that users will have a chance to check a box on the website indicating they tried to enroll before the deadline, though the government will not try to determine whether the person actually made an effort to sign up.

"This is probably the first of many (extensions)," Chris Stirewalt told Megyn Kelly Tuesday on "The Kelly File."

"This is the first nod to a dire political situation," Stirewalt added.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus pounced on the extension, calling it another delay for a "failed health care law."

Another day, another ObamaCare delay from the same Obama administration that wont work with Republicans to help Americans suffering from the unintended consequences of the Democrats failed health care law," Priebus said in a statement. "Democrats in leadership may say they are doubling down on ObamaCare but you have to wonder how many more unilateral delays their candidates running in 2014 can withstand.

Many states and the federal government experienced technical problems with the enrollment websites, but implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act has been a relative disaster in Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Vermont.

Rather than focusing on meeting enrollment targets, officials in those states find themselves consumed with replacing top officials, cancelling contracts with software companies, dealing with state or federal investigations, and spending tens of millions of dollars on fixes and new contractors. The core of the problem has been the difficulty in building an online health insurance marketplace that syncs up with myriad state and federal databases.

Early projections for those five states were to sign up a combined 800,000 Americans for private health insurance coverage by March 31, 11 percent of the Obama administration's original target for national enrollment. Yet with just days to go before the six-month enrollment period ends, achieving 25 percent of that target would be considered a success.

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Obama administration extends health care enrollment deadline

Bungling mars health care deadline in some states, including Nevada

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CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) As supporters of the federal health care reforms push for final signups, a handful of states are trying to press the reset button.

They have botched their handling of the process so badly that they already are looking beyond Mondays enrollment deadline to the next enrollment period starting in the fall.

Many states and the federal government experienced technical problems with the enrollment websites, but implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act has been a relative disaster in Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Vermont.

Rather than focusing on meeting enrollment targets, officials in those states find themselves consumed with replacing top officials, cancelling contracts with software companies, dealing with state or federal investigations, and spending tens of millions of dollars on fixes and new contractors. The core of the problem has been the difficulty in building an online health insurance marketplace that syncs up with myriad state and federal databases.

Early projections for those five states were to sign up a combined 800,000 Americans for private health insurance coverage by March 31, 11 percent of the Obama administrations original target for national enrollment. Yet with just days to go before the six-month enrollment period ends, achieving 25 percent of that target would be considered a success.

Overseers of Nevada Health Link have called that states program a full failure and a catastrophe. Some officials have suggested dumping Xerox, which was awarded a $75 million contract to develop the system.

While Xerox remains on the job, a state board earlier this month approved up to $1.5 million to hire another tech firm, Deloitte Consulting, to assess the Xerox system and recommend fixes.

Last month Nevada officials cut their target enrollment from 118,000 to 50,000 and conceded that meeting even the lower goal would be a challenge. That drew the ire of board members, who lashed out about the thousands of people who will remain uninsured after Mondays deadline.

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These are not numbers. These are people throughout the state who dont have health insurance, said Lynn Etkins, an attorney and vice chairwoman of the board overseeing the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange.

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Bungling mars health care deadline in some states, including Nevada

Health Care Sign-Up Fairs In Lakeland

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Published: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 at 11:54 p.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 at 11:54 p.m.

The Lakeland Housing Authority is hosting a series of Affordable Health Care Community Sign-Up Fairs today through Monday.

These are open to the general public as well as to residents of Lakeland Housing Authority properties.

Times and locations are:

Today, 10 a.m.-noon at Emma Turner Community Center, 1500 N. New York Ave., and 1-3 p.m. at Dakota Park Apartments Community Center, 1411 Kettles Ave.

Thursday, 10 a.m.-noon at Colton Meadow, 1919 W. 10th St., and 1-3 p.m. at Villas at Lake Bonnet, 303 N. Brunnell Parkway.

Friday, 10 a.m.-noon at West Lake Homes Computer Lab, 501 Hartsell Ave., and 1-3 p.m. at John Wright Homes, 2130 Elizabeth St.

Monday, 10 a.m.-noon at Lake Ridge Community Center, 325 W. Second St.

LHA is doing the sign-up events in conjunction with We Care Services Inc. For more information, call Cynthia Zorn-Shaw, LHS services coordinator, at 863-413-3394, Ext. 308.

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Health Care Sign-Up Fairs In Lakeland

Implications of Patient Genomic Sequencing at ACMG

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Released: 3/25/2014 4:05 PM EDT Source Newsroom: Mayo Clinic Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/implications-of-patient-genomic-sequencing-at-acmg

Newswise ROCHESTER, Minn. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine will present results of three different studies evaluating implications and feasibility of genome sequencing at the ACMG Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting this week in Nashville, Tenn. Presenters are available for interviews at the conference or remote interviews by telephone. To schedule an interview, please contact Sam Smith, Mayo Clinic public affairs specialist, at 507-284-5005 or newsbureau@mayo.edu.

Richard Sharp, Ph.D., director of the Bioethics Program in the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine, also will participate on Saturday, March 30, in a panel discussion entitled Duty to Recontact in the Genomics Era: Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Open Forum. Duty to Recontact addresses providers obligations to patients who have undergone previous genetic testing, given the growing complexities of genetic/genomic medicine and the potential for new findings in old tests. Dr. Sharp is an advisor to the National Institutes of Health, the Institute of Medicine and the Environmental Protection Agency. He can discuss the ethical, legal and social implications of integrating genomics technologies into patient care.

The Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine presentations include:

Patients Views on Incidental Findings from Clinical Exome Sequencing (platform oral presentation) The Individualized Medicine Clinic offers whole exome sequencing for patients with advanced cancers and difficult diagnoses. Among the difficult questions clinicians and patients wrestle with is, How much information is too much? Researchers interviewed 44 patients of the Individualized Medicine Clinic about what they would and wouldnt want to know from next-generation sequencing. Findings demonstrate that patient perspectives of risks and benefits of knowing genomic information are personal and contextual. As one participant stated, I think this is the Individual Medicine program for a reason. Everything has to be on a case-by-case basis. Whole Exome Sequencing of Ten Scientists: Evaluation of Process and Outcomes (poster presentation) As genome sequencing technologies advance at a breakneck pace, patients will increasingly expect to have their whole exome and eventually their whole genome embedded in their records, just like family histories and medication lists. In an attempt to understand the difficulties and limitations of whole exome sequencing in routine care, 10 genetics scientists underwent sequencing and genomic counseling. Pharmacogenomic Information in the EMR: Perspectives of Biobank Participants Invited to Participate in a Proof of Concept PGx Study (poster presentation) The debate is just getting started over who will have access to genomic information and how that information will (or wont) be protected. Researchers asked 900 participants in a pilot pharmacogenomics study their understanding and concerns about a pilot program embedding their personal genomic information into patient electronic medical records. From this sampling of participants in the Mayo Clinic Biobank, the largest concern was whether insurance companies could have access to genomic information.

About Mayo Clinic Recognizing 150 years of serving humanity in 2014, Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit 150years.mayoclinic.org, http://www.mayoclinic.org and newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org.

About the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine The Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine is home to the Individualized Medicine Clinic, which uses patients own genetic codes to provide new hope for people with advanced cancers and difficult diagnoses. The center discovers and integrates the latest in genomic, molecular and clinical sciences into personalized care for each Mayo Clinic patient. Visit http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/center-for-individualized-medicine for more information.

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Implications of Patient Genomic Sequencing at ACMG

Can virtual reality-based therapy help veterans overcome posttraumatic stress disorder?

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

25-Mar-2014

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, March 25, 2014Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common among military veterans and together with the often-related anxiety, depression, and psychological and emotional impairment can dramatically affect quality of life. A type of virtual reality (VR) treatment called Graded Exposure Therapy (GET) can improve PTSD symptoms and may also have a positive impact on these associated disorders, as described in an article in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website.

VR-GET helps sufferers of PTSD face their trauma-related fears rather than avoid them by exposing them to simulated stress-inducing events in a controlled, virtual reality environment, monitoring their physiologic responses, and providing training to develop coping skills.

The article "Effect of Virtual Reality PTSD Treatment on Mood and Neurocognitive Outcomes" is coauthored by a team of specialists led by Robert McLay, Naval Medical Center, San Diego, CA, including Editor-in-Chief of Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN and colleagues from the Interactive Media Institute, Naval Center for Combat & Operational Stress Control, and Virtual Reality Medical Center, San Diego, and the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery National Centers for PTSD, Honolulu, HI.

"Our results indicate improvement of PTSD with VR-GET based on three different measures: neuropsychological, self-report, and clinician-administered scales," says Dr. Wiederhold.

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About the Journal

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is a peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options and in print that explores the psychological and social issues surrounding the Internet and interactive technologies, plus cybertherapy and rehabilitation. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website.

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Can virtual reality-based therapy help veterans overcome posttraumatic stress disorder?

Defending a Convicted Husband, Evidence Tampering and Sheriff’s Misconduct with Kathy Anderson – Video

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Defending a Convicted Husband, Evidence Tampering and Sheriff #39;s Misconduct with Kathy Anderson
Dr. W. French Anderson, a pioneer of gene therapy, was convicted of sexual abuse against a minor and is now serving a 14 year jail sentence for his crimes. W...

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Defending a Convicted Husband, Evidence Tampering and Sheriff's Misconduct with Kathy Anderson - Video

Biotech company Spark Therapeutics, Irish firm to partner on blindness drug

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Spark Therapeutics L.L.C., a Philadelphia company developing gene-based medicines for debilitating diseases, has signed a collaborative partnership with a gene-therapy firm in Ireland to develop a product to treat a rare form of blindness, the companies announced Tuesday.

Spark, a biotechnology company spun out of research at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said Dublin-based Genable Technologies Ltd. will license certain patents from Spark, which will be the exclusive manufacturer and provide development expertise for a potential treatment for blindness caused by inherited retinal dystrophy.

Spark will receive milestone payments and royalties on future sales, as well as revenue from the manufacturing and supply of the product. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Children's Hospital has committed to investing up to $50 million in Spark, which seeks to be the nation's first commercial provider of gene therapy.

Genable's therapeutic strategy "knocks down" or suppresses the "over-expression of one gene" causing a disease, while at the same time "replacing something else that is missing in the patient," Marrazzo said in an interview.

Spark is developing two potential products to treat inherited retinal disease. One is in a late-stage, or Phase 3, clinical trial, "which is likely to be the first approved gene therapy in the United States," Marrazzo said.

A second drug candidate for retinal disease will begin clinical trials shortly. "We haven't announced the specifics of that program yet," he said.

Initial results on its lead drug candidate in late-stage testing have been promising, Spark said: Once-blind patients could recognize faces and were moved out of Braille classrooms. They were no longer considered legally blind, and some were able to drive a car.

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Biotech company Spark Therapeutics, Irish firm to partner on blindness drug

Gene therapy company Spark Therapeutics inks licensing deal for a retinitis pigmentosa gene therapy

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Retinitis pigmentosa is the most common inherited eye disease. Mutations in the gene for rhodopsin, the pigment for photoreceptor cells in the retina responsible for the perception of light, account for 15 percent of retinitis pigmentosa cases. CHOP spinout Spark Therapeutics, which has a late stage retinitis pigmentosa gene therapy treatment under development, is collaborating with Ireland-based biopharma company Genable Technologies, according to a company statement.

The deal will focus on Genables lead therapeutic to treat rhodopsin-linked autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa, called GT038. Under the deal terms, Genable will license certain manufacturing patents from Spark. Philadelphia-based Spark will be the exclusive manufacturer of the product and provide development advice and expertise to Genable to help in its development of GT038. In exchange, Spark received an initial payment and will receive subsequent milestone payments and royalties on future sales of GT038, and near-term revenue from the manufacture and supply of the product, according to the statement.

In response to emailed questions a spokeswoman for Spark Therapeutics said: Generally, the company recognizes that there are a significant number of severe genetic diseases without effective treatments in therapeutic areas where it has significant expertise (for example, inherited blindness, hematologic disorders, neurodegenerative diseases), and if Spark can play a role in expanding the number of products that get to market through partnerships, the team will certainly entertain those possibilities.

Rhodopsin-linked autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa affects roughly 30,000 people worldwide and there are currently no drugs to treat it. Genables retinitis pigmentosa gene therapy is designed to suppresses the expression of faulty and normal copies of the rhodopsin gene and restores normal gene expression.

Its treatment has been given Orphan Drug Designation in both the U.S. and Europe which extends the exclusivity for the treatment, if its approved, and gives the company certain tax credits. Genable has the rights to market its treatment globally, if it succeeds in getting the treatment approved.

Spark Therapeutics has a few gene therapies under development. One is for patients with inherited Lebers congenital amaurosis and retinitis pigmentosa. Another is for Hemophilia B in Phase 1/2 development. Earlier this year CEO Jeff Marrazzo said the company expects to have data from a Phase 3 open-label, randomized control trial for its treatment for blindness caused by mutations of the RPE65 gene available in the first half of next year.

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Gene therapy company Spark Therapeutics inks licensing deal for a retinitis pigmentosa gene therapy