World Bank and IMF Polices Behind the Inadequate Health Infrastructure to Quell Ebola – Video

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World Bank and IMF Polices Behind the Inadequate Health Infrastructure to Quell Ebola
The World Bank #39;s response to the Ebola crisis is inadequate since it is responsible for the weakening health care systems in the region says policy analyst and activist, Nii Akuetteh.

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World Bank and IMF Polices Behind the Inadequate Health Infrastructure to Quell Ebola - Video

Supreme Court to hear challenge to health care subsidies

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Certified nurse practitioner Myra Tilson conducts a check-up on a patient at a Community Clinic Inc. health center in Takoma Park, Maryland, U.S., on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013, the same day health insurance exchanges opened their doors across the nation. Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear a new challenge to President Barack Obamas health care law.

The justices said they will decide whether the law authorizes subsidies that help millions of low- and middle-income people afford their health insurance premiums.

A federal appeals court upheld Internal Revenue Service regulations that allow health-insurance tax credits under the Affordable Care Act for consumers in all 50 states. Opponents argue that most of the subsidies are illegal.

The long-running political and legal campaign to overturn or limit the 2010 health overhaul will be making its second appearance at the Supreme Court.

The justices upheld the heart of the law in a 5-4 decision in 2012 in which Chief Justice John Roberts provided the decisive vote.

In the appeal accepted Friday, opponents of the subsidies argued that the court should resolve the issue now because it involves billions of dollars in public money.

The court rarely steps into a case when there is no disagreement among federal appellate courts, unless a law or regulation has been ruled invalid.

But at least four justices, needed to grant review, apparently agreed with the challengers that the issue is important enough to decide now.

In July, a Richmond, Virginia-based appeals court upheld Internal Revenue Service regulations that allow health-insurance tax credits under the Affordable Care Act for consumers in all 50 states.

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Supreme Court to hear challenge to health care subsidies

Supreme Court Agrees To Hear New Health Law Challenge

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A counselor for the health care law speaks with taxi driver David Bilewu, a 39-year-old Nigerian immigrant in Chicago. Illinois set up its exchange through a federal partnership. M. Spencer Green/AP hide caption

A counselor for the health care law speaks with taxi driver David Bilewu, a 39-year-old Nigerian immigrant in Chicago. Illinois set up its exchange through a federal partnership.

In a rare and unexpected move, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a new challenge to the Obama health care overhaul, dealing the White House yet another blow this week. Health care experts say an adverse ruling would be catastrophic for the health insurance program that the president has fought to enact and preserve.

The case centers on what some opponents of the law once called a "glitch." They have seized on that glitch to dismantle the heart of the health care law the tax credits and subsidies that make health insurance affordable for millions of low- and middle-income Americans.

What's more, Friday's action by the Supreme Court would appear to signal that at least four justices think the law's opponents have a reasonable case.

Under the health care law, each state is to set up its own health care exchange, and if it does not do so, the federal government steps in. As things have turned out, 36 states, more than two-thirds, have deferred to the federal government, most because of opposition from state Republicans, and a few because of state problems in setting up exchanges on their own.

The problem is that one subsection of the health care law says that the tax credits and health insurance subsidies that are at the heart of the law can only be paid out by "state-run exchanges." Opponents of the law contend this language means that low- and middle-income people buying insurance from the federally run exchanges are ineligible for the subsidies and tax credits. The federal government counters that under the explicit terms of the statute, a federally run exchange is a state exchange.

At the White House on Friday, spokesman Josh Earnest expressed confidence that the administration would prevail. "The congressional intent here is quite clear. They intended for customers who signed up for health insurance through the marketplace to be eligible to receive assistance from the government to make their premiums more affordable. That is, after all, one of the principal goals of the Affordable Care Act," said Earnest.

But the Supreme Court's decision to step into the case now is an ominous sign for the administration. The court rarely intervenes in a controversy when there is no disagreement in the lower courts, the exception being if a federal law or regulation has been struck down. And so far, only one federal appeals court has ruled on this challenge, dismissing it and upholding the current system. A 2-to-1 decision by an appeals court panel in Washington, D.C., was voided when the full 11-judge court voted to review the case. Oral arguments in that case were set for December.

Nonetheless, Obamacare opponents have pressed the Supreme Court to step in now.

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Supreme Court Agrees To Hear New Health Law Challenge

Supreme Court takes case on health care law subsidies

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WASHINGTON The Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear a new challenge to President Barack Obama's health care law a case that threatens subsidies that help millions of low- and middle-income people afford their health insurance premiums.

The justices said they will review a federal appeals court ruling that upheld IRS regulations that allow health-insurance tax credits under the Affordable Care Act for consumers in all 50 states. Opponents argue that most of the subsidies are illegal.

The long-running political and legal campaign to overturn or limit the 2010 health overhaul will be making its second appearance at the Supreme Court. The justices upheld the heart of the law in a 5-4 decision in 2012 in which Chief Justice John Roberts provided the decisive vote.

The case probably will be argued the first week in March, with a decision expected by late June.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest promised a vigorous defense before the high court.

"This lawsuit reflects just another partisan attempt to undermine the Affordable Care Act and to strip millions of American families of tax credits that Congress intended for them to have," Earnest said.

In the appeal accepted Friday, opponents of the subsidies argue that the court should resolve the issue soon because it involves billions of dollars in public money.

"The need for a quick and final resolution of this question is undeniable. This 'subsidies-for-everyone' rule affects nearly every person across the country, health insurance policyholders, workers and employers, taxpayers, and state and local governments," said Sam Kazman, general counsel of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which is paying for the legal challenges to the health care law.

The health care law provides taxpayer-subsidized private health insurance for people who don't have access to coverage on the job. More than 7 million people are enrolled and most are getting help, which is keyed to household income and the cost of a benchmark plan.

The issue at the Supreme Court is whether the wording of the law limits insurance tax credits only to consumers who live in states that have set up their own insurance markets, known as exchanges.

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Supreme Court takes case on health care law subsidies

Google set to store genetic information for $25 per person in bid to boost personalised medicine

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Search giant hopes service will be popular with drug firms and researchers Can use Google's vast servers tocompareinformation National Cancer Institute moved its Cancer Genome Atlas onto service

By Mark Prigg for MailOnline

Published: 14:42 EST, 7 November 2014 | Updated: 15:00 EST, 7 November 2014

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Google already offers storage for your emails, photos and documents.

Now, it wants to take things a step further - and store your genetic information online.

The firm hopes its Google Genome project will lead to personalised drugs -and will charge just 25 per person to store data on its servers.

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Google set to store genetic information for $25 per person in bid to boost personalised medicine

Bridging the Gap in Precision Medicine

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For entertainment giants such as Netflix and HBO, theres an oft-cited concept known as the last mile.

It refers to the performance bottleneck that can arise in the short, final stretch of cable that links their vast, sophisticated server farms to the humble jack on a subscribers wall.

More than a decade after the immense promise unleashed by the completion of Human Genome Project, precision medicine has struggled with its own last mile. Despite major leaps in the field as a whole, the technical work needed to integrate a patients genomic information into the day-to-day practice of medicine has lagged far behind.

This month, UCSF is unveiling its bridge across that persistent gap.

Kristen McCaleb, PhD, program manager for the UCSF Genomic Medicine Initiative, and Jonathan Hirsch, founder of Syapse. Photo by Elisabeth Fall

Robert Nussbaum, MD, leads the UCSF Genomic Medicine Initiative. Photo by Cindy Chew

Through its Genomic Medicine Initiative (GMI), UCSF has integrated data from a comprehensive cancer genetic testing program into the electronic medical records of patients at the UCSF Medical Center. Not only does it allow for continuity of care with all testing and treatment results tied to the same electronic record, but it also allows physicians and researchers to identify larger patterns in the data that can lead to the development of better treatments which is known as precision medicine.

Many major medical institutions, including UCSF, have long had the science and the technology to generate genomic test results, said Kristen McCaleb, PhD, program manager for the GMI who partnered with the Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center on the project. The problem weve had is a lack of IT infrastructure to return those results to the clinicians who order the tests in a clearly actionable, doctor-friendly format.

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Bridging the Gap in Precision Medicine

Saving Eliza: Family raising money for Sanfilippo Syndrome drug $530K away from goal

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When Glenn ONeill and his wife, Cara, learned about a gene therapy treatment that could save their daughters life, they started a foundation and set off to raise the $2.3 million it would take to fund the manufacturing and clinical trial costs for the drug.

Today, thanks to about 26,000 donors from 70 different countries, theyre just $530,000 away from their goal.

Their daughter, 4-year-old Eliza ONeill, suffers from Sanfilippo Syndrome-Type A, a disease that causes children to lack an enzyme necessary for normal cellular function. The disease eventually causes a lethal buildup of a toxic material called heparin sulfate, leading to learning disabilities and behavioral problems. The disease is seen in 1 in 70,000 births, and most children born with with Sanfillipo Syndrome-Type A die by the time they are teenagers.

While there is currently no cure or treatment for the disease, researchers at Nationwide Childrens Hospital in Columbus, Ohio have found a potential gene therapy that, in a study, successfully rid mice of heparin sulfate buildup.

When Cara spoke to lead researcher Dr. Haiyan Fu, principal investigator at the Center for Gene Therapy at Nationwide, and learned about the potential treatment, the family began raising money to fund it.

That was the first glimmer of hope that I got in all of this, Cara ONeill told FoxNews.com.

A couple of months after the diagnosis in July 2013, they began a slew of traditional fundraising efforts, from bake sales and 5Ks, to parties and a golf tournament. At the end of 2013, they started the Cure Sanfilippo Foundation and have launched SavingEliza.com through the fundraising site GoFundMe.com. In April 2014, a videographer made a free video for the family that went viral, and the family started a social media campaign called Sing Two Lines, similar to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, where people would challenge others to sing two lines of their favorite song. Actress Andie MacDowell and members of the band Gloriana participated.

The ONeills have raised $1.7 million since December and have been able to fund the manufacturing costs of the drug as well as some of the preclinical work. Their goal is to meet the $2.3 million mark by Elizas fifth birthday, Nov. 16.

Weve made it a point not to ask previous donors to donate again, Glenn ONeill told FoxNews.com, but at some point we knew it was going to come to crunch time. At this point, with [Elizas] birthday coming up, we really need to spend more time with Eliza, and focusing on her and keeping her learning at the top of the game.

Researchers at Nationwide have proposed what they feel is a sufficient toxicology plan to move forward with the clinical trial, and they are currently waiting for the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) comments.

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Saving Eliza: Family raising money for Sanfilippo Syndrome drug $530K away from goal

Interview: Christopher Nolan talks on his 'Interstellar' challenge and tackling final frontier post 'Dark Knight'

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After recasting the superhero genre with a dark realism in the "Dark Knight" Batman trilogy and dissecting dream manipulation in "Inception," director Christopher Nolan is tackling the final frontier.

"Interstellar," out in U.S. theaters on Friday, has taken Nolan into what he described as the furthest exploration of space in film. The movie balances an intimate father-daughter relationship within the backdrop of an intergalactic journey to save mankind.

Nolan, 44, talked to Reuters about casting Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey as his leading man, the challenges of constructing "Interstellar" and the effect of "Gravity."

Film review:Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' is compelling but too cheesy

Q: What does Matthew McConaughey embody as Cooper?

A: He has the right stuff. Cooper, he's a pilot, and the great thing about the American iconic figure of the pilot, the Chuck Yeager, (is that) there's a little of the cowboy about him. And I think Matthew embodies that wonderful, earthy sense of an everyman who has great integrity and is extremely competent, somebody you trust to guide you through this story and take you through this journey.

Q: What was your biggest challenge in balancing an intimate family story with an intergalactic journey?

A: The biggest challenge in that respect is creating a reality on set so that the actors, who are very much the human element of that - they're the intimate, emotional element of that - so that they can actually connect with the larger scale of the film, they can see it, touch it, taste it.

So we tried to build our sets not so much like sets, more like simulators, so the actors could look out of the windows and see the real views of what would be going on there, they could experience the ship shaking and reacting as they flew it.

Q: Why did you choose to set 'Interstellar' in a future that bears close resemblance to the present world?

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Interview: Christopher Nolan talks on his 'Interstellar' challenge and tackling final frontier post 'Dark Knight'

5 Big Reasons Why 'Interstellar' Will Not Disappoint You

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[Warning: Small spoilers and plot details, like descriptions of settings, are mentioned.]

1. Full Scale and Miniature Model Spacecrafts Were Used, Not Special Effects The connecting theme of Nolan's work is his devotion to creating movies that feel real. In Interstellar, the director carried that notion into the design process of the space station and shuttles used in the film."For me, the starting point of the movie is a familiar Earth. We didn't put a lot of futurism in the designs," says Nolan. "I wanted to carry that tone into the spacecraft, not jump too far in the future." Nolan and his production designer, Nathan Crowley, constructed detailed models, like in Star Wars, for some exteriors and they even built full scale versions of the ships for landing sequences. Along with Star Wars, Nolan has cited 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien, and Blade Runner as inspirations.

The shuttle and space station used in Interstellar. (Paramount Pictures)

4. Nolan Created a Virtual Reality for His Actors

Nolan also created the film's visual effects in advance of shooting so he could project those images for the actors. When they looked outside their spacecrafts, they saw the dark of space instead of a green screen. Anne Hathaway, who plays astronaut Amelia Brand, told USA Today, "...When you see us looking out the window at a celestial body, there is a celestial body projected onto a screen outside a practical window. I don't know of any other filmmaker who can inspire people to do that."

Nolan and McConaughey talk Interstellar on set. (Paramount Pictures)5. Hoyte Van Hoytema For the first time in his career, Nolan used a Director of Photography not named Wally Pfister (who was busy directing Transcendence). Enter Hoyte van Hoytema, the eye behind Tomas Alfredson's Let the Right One In, as well as The Fighter and Her. In short, Van Hoytema's work is awe-inspiring. The shots of the celestial bodies (especially Saturn) will take you there, and the cinematographer did it with old fashioned ingenuity. Under the careful eye of Nolan, who used more IMAX shots in this movie than any of his others, Van Hoytema modified an existing IMAX cam to make it handheld for certain interiors. He also installed an IMAX cam in the nose cone of a Learjet for some of the space sequences.

Nolan on the set of Interstellar. (Paramount Pictures)

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5 Big Reasons Why 'Interstellar' Will Not Disappoint You