Health

Swissmedic approval allows Novartis to begin shipments of Celtura to Switzerland, providing supplies of A(H1N1) vaccine immediately

Basel, November 13, 2009 - Novartis announced today that Celtura®, the company's adjuvanted cell culture-based Influenza A(H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine, has received approval in Switzerland from Swissmedic, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products.

This is the second marketing approval for the cell-culture based A(H1N1) pandemic vaccine in Europe. Celtura was approved in Germany earlier in November 2009. The company also has submitted a registration for Celtura in Japan, and will seek approval in a number of other countries.    » read more »

November 13, 2009 -- Genzyme Corp. (Nasdaq: GENZ) announced today that it has issued letters to U.S. healthcare providers regarding its enzyme replacement products Cerezyme® (imiglucerase for injection), Fabrazyme® (agalsidase beta), Myozyme® (alglucosidase alfa), Aldurazyme® (laronidase), as well as Thyrogen® (thyrotropin alfa for injection), filled at its Allston Landing manufacturing facility. The letters remind providers of the U.S. product labeling recommendations advising both visual inspection of vials and in-line filtration of enzyme replacement products to address the potential presence of foreign particles.    » read more »

November 13, 2009 -- Rep. Louise Slaughter (NY-28) joined members of the community to explain that they would receive better health care, more choices and lowered costs thanks to the Affordable Health Care Act passed by the House last Saturday.

Slaughter was joined by members of the labor and faith communities, health care professionals, seniors and students as she emphasized the benefits for all Americans in the historic health care legislation.    » read more »

11/12/09 -- U.S. Representative Nick J. Rahall (W.Va.- 03) issued the following statement regarding the healthcare reform bill, The Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962), which was passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 220 to 215 on November 7th, 2009.

“I have been a pro-life Member of Congress since I was first elected in 1976. I believe in the sanctity of life for those of all ages -- young and old, and I believe that every life deserves to be saved, which is why I voted in favor of H.R., 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act.”    » read more »

November 13, 2009 -- Washington, DC -- Congressman Paul Hodes announced today that the Open Enrollment period for Medicare beneficiaries begins Sunday, November 15th and ends on December 31st. Seniors can use this time to make sure they have the best health care coverage to meet their needs. The Open Enrollment period is the one time each year when Medicare beneficiaries can review their coverage and make any necessary changes to ensure that their coverage meets their needs.    » read more »

November 13, 2009 -- (Washington, DC) - Congressman Baron Hill issued the following statement addressing false claims circulating about how the Affordable Health Care for America Act would impact seniors:

“This week, I have heard from several Southern Indiana seniors who are justifiably concerned by what they’re hearing from a group outside Indiana regarding how Medicare would be affected by the health care reform bill. This group is being disingenuous, scaring folks with alarming and false claims, and as such, I’d like to set the record straight.    » read more »

November 12, 2009 -- Washington, DC -- Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva today announced his determination to fight against any upcoming health care legislation that further damages an already weakened public health insurance option.

Grijalva said that as the Senate takes up a final reform bill, a public plan should be offered without conditions to Americans in every state similar to the version approved in the House on Saturday.

“The House vote was a significant step, but much more work remains to be done,” said Grijalva, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “Now the fight becomes about what kind of public option will survive. It will be very difficult for me to support a product that puts too many roadblocks in the way of broad public participation.”    » read more »

Reminds Seniors About Medicare Enrollment Period

November 13, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - Rep. Brad Ellsworth is reminding 8th District seniors and their families to take advantage of the upcoming Medicare Part D Open Enrollment period beginning November 15th. The annual Open Enrollment period allows seniors to sign-up for a drug plan or make changes to their current coverage.

Seniors can enroll by contacting their chosen plan directly or contacting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or by visiting: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/center/openenrollment.asp. The Open Enrollment period begins on November 15th and continues through December 31st of this year.    » read more »

Asks IG to investigate scientific merits and potential shortcomings of industry testing method adopted by FSIS

November 12, 2009 -- Washington, DC – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT) today, in light of the recent E. coli outbreak involving ground beef, sent a letter to the USDA Office of the Inspector General (IG) calling for an investigation into the scientific merits and potential shortcoming of the N-60 testing protocol, which is a beef testing protocol promoted by the meat industry and relied upon by USDA. The N-60 testing protocol is used by most of the largest beef trim manufacturers to verify that product is free from E. coli.    » read more »

November 13, 2009 -- AFL-CIO President Robert Haynes, on behalf of the AFL-CIO members, thanked Congressman Michael E. Capuano for his historic vote in favor of the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) in a letter dated November 10, 2009.

The letter states, "you and the other nine members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation who took a stand... are showing the rest of our nation how to lead on this important moral and economic issue." It goes on to say, "...working families will remember who fulfilled the promises they were elected to keep."    » read more »

11/13/09 -- Washington, DC -- Yesterday, Congressman Tim Bishop (NY-1) and members of the New York Congressional Delegation sent a bipartisan letter to federal, state and city officials expressing outrage over reports that over a dozen Wall Street firms were approved to receive some of the limited H1N1 vaccines available to the public. According to BusinessWeek, these private companies have received as many as 1200 units each in recent weeks as colleges, nursing homes and schools face severe shortages.    » read more »

Kerry Proposal Builds on Successful Best Practices in Massachusetts Health Care Reform

11/13/2009 --
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), a senior member of the Finance Committee, has written Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) requesting Kerry’s proposal to provide affordable insurance plans for the middle class be included in the health reform legislation that comes to the senate floor.

Kerry’s plan, often referred to as “prudent purchasing,” would allow state-run health insurance marketplaces to negotiate with private insurance companies to select the best, most affordable options for consumers.    » read more »

Will Require New Approaches in Designing, Adopting Strategies

November 11, 2009 -- Slowing the growth in U.S. health care spending will most likely require adoption of an array of strategies as well as an improved approach to moving promising strategies into widespread use, according to a new analysis by the RAND Corporation.

The most-promising option for curbing health care spending is changing the way doctors and hospitals are paid to provide care, but implementing such a system must overcome significant obstacles in order to be successful, according to the study published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.    » read more »

Pre-Market Testing Was Flawed, Public Citizen says

Nov. 11, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Medicare should deny reimbursement for a medical device for depression that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved despite unconvincing test results, Public Citizen said today in a letter sent to Medicare officials.

“The scant evidence presented for approval of this device does not come close to matching the type of data typically required for approval of anti-depressant drugs” said Dr. Peter Lurie, deputy director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group. “Medicare should not approve coverage of this unproven device because it could divert patients from more effective therapies.”    » read more »

“Nearly four million calls to action were sent to AARP members”

November 12, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- After an historic vote in the House of Representatives this past Saturday, AARP and its nearly 40 million members remain hard at work, fighting for comprehensive health reform. As the health care reform debate moves to the Senate, AARP members are continuing to engage their friends and families in sending a message to Members of Congress that the time to fix the problems with our health care system is now.    » read more »