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Fanconi Anemia: Genetically Corrected Blood Cells Obtained From Patients' Skin Cells
Collaboration research carried out by the teams of Jordi Surrallés, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB); Juan Carlos IzpisÃôa-Belmonte and Angel Raya, Centre for Regenerative Medicine of Barcelona (CMRB); and Juan Antonio Bueren, Centre for Energetic, Environmental and Technological Research (CIEMAT), has resulted in the generation of blood cells from skin cells of patients with a genetic disease known as Fanconi anemia. The process is based on gene therapy and cell reprogramming techniques in which cells similar to embryonic stem cells known as induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can be generated. The research article was published in this week"s digital version of Nature.
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Insured Immigrants Have Lower Medical Costs Than U.S.-Born Citizens, Study Finds
Insured immigrants have lower medical expenses than insured U.S.-born citizens after taking into account their health status and other characteristics, according to a study released on Thursday and published in the American Journal of Public Health, Reuters Health reports. For the study, Leighton Ku, a health policy researcher at George Washington University, and colleagues examined data on adults ages 19 to 64 from the 2003 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, and found that about 44% of recent immigrants and 63% of established immigrants were insured.After controlling for possible contributing factors, researchers found that medical costs averaged about 14% to 20% less than those who were born in the U.S. The finding was the same even after taking into account lower insurance levels among immigrants. Ku said, "When you control for their health status and all sorts of characteristics like age, they actually have medical expenditures that are far below those of U.S. citizens." According to the study, "Being a recent immigrant or an established immigrant was independently associated with both a reduced likelihood of using any medical care in the year and with lower total medical expenditure levels, compared with U.S.-born adults" (Reuters Health, 5/14).
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Nexavar Approved In Japan For The Treatment Of Advanced Liver Cancer
Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ONXX) announced that the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) in Japan has approved Nexavar(R) (sorafenib) tablets for the treatment of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a type of liver cancer that accounts for 95 percent of all liver cancer cases in Japan(1). Nexavar is also currently available in Japan as an approved treatment for unresectable or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
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Opinion Piece Examines Efficacy Of Foreign Aid

"President Obama signaled recently a major shift in the way the United States tries to help poor countries," Philip Stevens, policy director at the International Policy Network, writes in a Providence Journal opinion piece, adding, "Whereas the Bush presidency pushed to spend enormous sums on individual high-profile diseases such as AIDS, Obama says he will broaden U.S. aid to improve health more generally." However, Stevens writes that the "$63 billion question remains (for that is the sum proposed by Obama): Is it likely to help improve health over the long term?" He adds, "Because far more people in poor countries die of preventable diseases like pneumonia than AIDS, the plan makes some sense. But, heartless as it seems, health care programs funded by foreign aid rarely if ever live up to the soaring rhetoric with which they are launched by politicians." According to Stevens, "[s]tudy after study shows that health aid makes almost no difference to mortality rates and health outcomes, despite the expenditure of billions." He adds, "In happier economic times, indefinitely financing state health care in Africa may have imparted a warm humanitarian glow to U.S. taxpayers. Now that times are harder, and it is clear such transfers rarely work, maybe it"s time to pare them right back." Stevens writes, "When governments become dependent on foreign s to maintain their activities, it drives a wedge between them and their citizens and allows corrupt and repressive governments to remain in power." It also "discourages governments from enacting the politically difficult reforms needed to promote economic development strengthening the rule of law, establishing property rights and opening markets," Stevens writes, adding, "Without improving prosperity, you can"t improve health care."He concludes, "Fortunately, the recession has accelerated recent declines in foreign aid. Congress still has to approve the funds so it has a chance to end subsidies to corrupt governments and being a new chapter for the world"s poorest people" (Stevens, Providence Journal, 5/17). Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. © 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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