April 11, 2006

What we are reading today...

  • In End Run Around Legal Challenge, California Gives Out Stem Cell Research Grants
    California's program to study embryonic stem cells awarded its first round of grants Monday, drawing on money put up by state business leaders trying to move the program forward despite legal challenges.

  • Saying No Is a Patient's Choice, However Risky
    Over the last several years, researchers have begun to study how patients balance the risks and benefits of proposed interventions.

  • Drug Firms Accused of Turning Healthy People into Patients
    Eleven new studies, published in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine, accuse the pharmaceutical industry of "disease mongering" - a practice in which the market for a drug is inflated by convincing people they are sick and in need of medical treatment.

  • Rule Demands Proof of Citizenship for Healthcare
    Almost all of Massachusetts' poorest residents will have to show proof of US citizenship to continue getting medical care by July 1, under a little-noticed federal law that could endanger coverage for many, as the state is trying to expand access to healthcare.

  • Science or Sizzle?
    A dietary supplement-maker is aiming distinct product lines at blacks, whites and Hispanics, saying their products target race-based biological differences. Some experts say it's only a marketing gimmick.

  • Regrow Your Own
    Stem cell therapy has long captured the limelight as a way to the goal of regenerative medicine, that of repairing the body with its own natural systems. But a few scientists, working in a relatively obscure field, believe another path to regenerative medicine may be as likely to succeed.

  • Top Government Stem-Cell Scientist Quits
    Thanks to restrictive stem-cell regulations, one of the United State's top medical researchers is leaving for a job with a private biotech company.

  • 'Uppers' Affect Men More Powerfully
    Amphetamines have a stronger effect on men, a finding that may help explain patterns of addiction and why Parkinson's and Tourette's strike them more often

  • Abortion Pill Ruled Out in One Woman's Death
    ealth officials said Monday they have ruled out the abortion pill RU-486 in one of two deaths in women who had taken the drug. The second remains under investigation.

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