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Also In Global Health News: Health Allocations In Pakistan; Uganda Gets Malaria Drugs, Malnutrition Examined; Clean Water In Dominican Republic
Pakistan "s Allocations For Public Health MDG Lagging
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IFX Anti-TNF Therapy Associated With Clinical Benefit Over 5 Years In Patients With Active AS
After five years of receiving infliximab (IFX) anti-TNF therapy, 61.8% of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) showed substantial clinical benefit (ASAS40, ASsessment in AS, 40-response) and 27.6% achieved ASAS partial remission.
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Republicans Playing 'Abortion Card' On Health Reform, American Prospect Opinion Piece States
The "religious right and its Republican enablers" are "playing the abortion card" with health care reform legislation by contending that "federal government dollars will pay directly for abortions," according to an American Prospect opinion piece by Dana Goldstein, an associate editor for the magazine. It is "unlikely" that federal money would be used this way, but the groups "want grassroots conservatives to believe it will, hoping the resulting outcry will scuttle attempts to reform our expensive health care system," Goldstein continues. She writes, "This rhetoric is beyond hyperbolic -- it is downright deceptive."Goldstein quotes Adam Sonfield, a senior policy associate at the Guttmacher Institute, who said discussion of family planning in federal law ""never includes abortion."" She adds, "In actuality, "family planning" language refers exclusively to contraceptive services, in part because of the Hyde Amendment," which bars the use of federal Medicaid dollars for abortion. She also notes that reproductive health issues are "so politicized ... that even to offer birth control to poor women who do not meet Medicaid"s strict eligibility requirements, individual states must apply for a waiver from the federal government." About half of states have done so, she says. In "choosing what services to cover under any potential public insurance plan," the HHS secretary "will likely be bound by all of the existing laws that prevent the federal government from financing abortion," according to Goldstein. She adds, "None of these restrictions would be explicitly overturned by any of the health reform proposals currently being considered in Congress."Antiabortion-rights Senate Republicans have said they will oppose any health reform bill "that subsidizes abortion coverage or even includes, in the proposed health insurance exchanges, private insurers that cover abortion," Goldstein writes. She adds that 87% of existing health plans include some abortion coverage, meaning that most women would lose coverage under the Republicans" demands. "The result would be a near-blanket restriction on women"s access to insurance-subsidized abortion, one far more radical than the Hyde Amendment," Goldstein says. Meanwhile, women"s health advocates have said that overturning the Hyde Amendment is not currently their top priority because "they are simply too busy playing defense on health reform" and do not have the votes, Goldstein writes.According to Goldstein, by "playing the abortion card, the real goal of anti-choicers is not only to maintain existing restrictions on abortion access, but to use health reform as a vehicle to expand them to the majority of American women." She writes, "If such efforts lead to legislative impasse, many conservatives will be delighted." She concludes, "After all, they"ve never really put any political muscle behind fixing our inadequate health care system" (Goldstein, American Prospect, 7/14).
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Democrat Bill, FTC Examine Ways To Drive Down Health Care Costs

A bill introduced Wednesday in the House would create an artificial joints database to root out bad practices and unnecessary surgeries, The New York Times reports. "The bill, co-sponsored by (Democrats) Bill Pascrell Jr. of New Jersey and Lloyd Doggett of Texas, would establish a government-backed registry to track patients" results over time and help detect ineffective surgical practices and faulty devices. Patient registries, in areas like orthopedics, are expected to play an important role in "comparative effectiveness" reviews that the Obama administration hopes will help identify which medical procedures and products work best." Surgeons" associations and makers of the joints say they support the idea of a registry, but would like to create one outside the scope of government, arguing it would be more effective. Advocates of registries say hundreds of millions of dollars are wasted on unnecessary surgeries. Device manufacturers have declined to finance the registries, stalling earlier attempts to create an independent registry by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. The group has recently acquired funds to start up the registry but has yet to secure long-term financing. "Pascrell said he believed that patients had waited long enough for the group to act. He also said that it was important for the government to be involved, given deferred prosecution agreements reached a few years ago between the Justice Department and makers of artificial hips and knees after investigations of illegal kickbacks to surgeons to use their products" (Meier, 6/10). Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission said Thursday that protecting biotech drugs from generic versions for 12 to 14 years is unnecessary and that adding generic versions would drive down the cost of health care in the U.S., Reuters reports. "(A)n FTC report found "the 12- to 14-year regulatory exclusivity period is too long to promote innovation," particularly since brand-name companies "likely will retain substantial market share" after generic competitors are approved. The FTC report found that competitors would likely enter the market only for drugs that had more than $250 million in annual sales, and only two to three generic entrants would be expected" (6/10). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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