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Almost Half UK Hospitals Not Equipped To Deal With Critical Out Of Hours Care
The British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) is hosting a meeting at Number 11, Downing Street today to raise awareness of how more than half of Britain"s hospitals are providing patients with inadequate services. A UK-wide audit shows that 60% of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding episodes occurred out of "normal" working hours yet 45% of hospitals do not provide out of hours endoscopy.
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One Of ASCO's Sleeper Hits: OGX-011 Cuts Provenge's Death Rate In Half
OGX-011 survival benefit: an even better Hazard Ratio.
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Supreme Court Nominees Should Disclose Views On Constitutional Issues, USA Today Opinion Piece States
One thing that "has been conspicuously absent" from the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is "substance," Jonathan Turley, the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, writes in a USA Today opinion piece. According to Turley, "The vast majority of questions and answers remained on a shallow and predictable level where Sotomayor did little more than describe current doctrines and case law -- avoiding disclosures of her own views." He continues, "What is most striking is how Sotomayor"s statements were virtually identical to both her conservative and liberal predecessors," including her comments that Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey are "the precedent of the court."Turley writes, "The content-light character in these hearings is largely the product of the "Ginsburg rule" -- named after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who refused to answer questions in her 1993 confirmation hearing about any case or matter upon which she might later vote." According to Turley, "Later nominees for both parties have relied on the Ginsburg rule to turn the hearings into prolonged photo-ops for senators, who largely ask wafer-thin questions to solicit largely scripted answers." The rule "allows nominees to get by with meaningless sound bites that promise to respect precedent, the Framers [of the Constitution] and collegiality in general," he adds. Furthermore, it "tells the public nothing about a nominee"s philosophy or purpose before giving her life tenure on the world"s most powerful court," Turley writes.According to Turley, there is a "simple solution to returning substance to the confirmation process: End the Ginsburg rule by insisting that nominees answer questions about their specific views on constitutional rights." Although "the current system works well for presidents, nominees and senators," it "does little for the public or the system of justice," he writes (Turley, USA Today, 7/16).
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Is Paperwork Suffocating British Clinical Research?

Concerns are being raised by a growing number of British academics that bureaucratic overload is stifling their ability to undertake clinical research, compromising the future of this activity in the UK, and ultimately doing patients a disservice. The issues are discussed in a Special Report in the August edition of The Lancet Oncology, written by freelance journalist Adrian Burton. The implantation of European Clinical Trials Directive (ECTD), in 2004, has left researchers complaining that UK interpretation of the ECTD has led to the requirement of a detailed protocol (which might reach 100 pages in length) and the answering of over 40 questions on a form spanning 28 pages. Michele Saunders (University College London, UK) complains that she has been trying for over 2 years to start a trial already well-established at another major hospital, but has been unsuccessful to date with no end in sight. "All was well before the European Directive came into action", she says. "The regulations are law in some cases and this has made those with responsibility nervous, there"s so much documentation for everything. The culture of blame in this society does not help." However, the chief executive of the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Ken Woods says that the UK did not "add" to the ECTD in interpreting it; and adds that UK researchers faced an increasing administrative burden due to the NHS research governance framework launched in 2001. And the Director of the National Research Ethics Service, Janet Wisely, says that the use of one form which can be sent to all appropriate regulatory bodies has streamlined research administration. Such is the concern over delays that a group known as the Sensible Guidelines for Clinical Trials Working Group will hold its second meeting at St Anne"s College, Oxford, UK; Sept 5-6, 2009. Organised by the Clinical Trials Service Unit at Oxford University, in conjunction with Duke University (USA) and McMaster University (Canada)-showing that UK academics are not alone in their concerns-the meeting will discuss the main areas preventing the efficient initiation and conduct of randomised trials, and discuss ways of overcoming these problems. Burton concludes: "Clearly, approval authorities and researchers are only trying to do their jobs-some on a volunteer basis. But if clinical research is being delayed and there is a real danger of its future being compromised, then researchers, approval bodies, and policymakers need to foster better partnerships to develop more effective and efficient integrated solutions as soon as possible." Link to Special Report The Lancet Oncology


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