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Dutch Ambulance Service First To Purchase ZOLL Integrated Automated Compression-Defibrillation System
ZOLL Medical Corporation (Nasdaq GS: ZOLL), a manufacturer of resuscitation devices and related software solutions, announced that the ambulance service, RAV Gooi en Vechtstreek in Hilversum, The Netherlands, is the first EMS organization to equip its ambulances with a revolutionary new system that allows rescuers to defibrillate a heart without the need to stop chest compressions.
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Appeals Court Panel Says Pharmacists Must Distribute Emergency Contraception Under Washington State Regulation
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on Wednesday unanimously ruled to lift an injunction blocking Washington state officials from penalizing pharmacists who refused to dispense the emergency contraception pill Plan B, the Los Angeles Times reports (Williams, Los Angeles Times, 7/9). The panel said the district court judge who issued the injunction refused to consider women"s need for EC (Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 7/9). The panel"s ruling is part of a larger case before the district court involving the constitutionality of a 2007 state regulation requiring pharmacies to stock and dispense EC. Joyce Roper, an assistant attorney general for Washington state, said the appeals court ruling means that the 2007 regulation will take immediate effect.The plaintiffs in the case, Stromans -- a supermarket pharmacy owner -- and two pharmacists employed elsewhere, argued that the state regulation requiring pharmacists to stock and dispense EC violated their First Amendment right to freedom of religion (Los Angeles Times, 7/9). The regulation said that pharmacies must stock and fill legally prescribed prescriptions but allowed individual pharmacists to object on moral or religious grounds if another pharmacist was available, in person or by telephone, to fill the order (San Francisco Chronicle, 7/9). The plaintiffs argued that the regulation would force them to choose between following their religious beliefs and keeping their jobs. They contended that EC prevents implantation of a fertilized egg, which they equated with abortion. The U.S. District Court in Seattle awarded the plaintiffs the temporary injunction in November 2007, pending trial on the constitutionality of the regulation (Los Angeles Times, 7/9). Plan B contains a high dose of a drug found in most birth control pills that generally prevents ovulation or the fertilization of an egg. Recent research suggests that it does not prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus (Woodward, AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 7/8). FDA in April lowered the age limit for nonprescription purchase of Plan B from 18 to 17 (San Francisco Chronicle, 7/9). Appeals Panel Returns Case to District CourtThe appeals court panel ruled that the freedom to exercise one"s religion "does not relieve an individual of the obligation to comply with a valid and neutral law of general applicability." The panel added, "Any refusal to dispense -- regardless of whether it is motivated by religion, morals, conscience, ethics, discriminatory prejudices or personal distaste for a patient -- violates the rules" (Los Angeles Times, 7/9). The panel ordered the district judge to reconsider the 2007 regulation under Supreme Court standards that allow states to pass neutral laws that may affect religious practices. According to the panel, the regulation does not aim to interfere with religious practices or beliefs and is intended to promote patients" health. In addition, the panel said the district court judge did not consider how the injunction would affect "sexually active women of childbearing age who will be denied reasonable access to Plan B" (San Francisco Chronicle, 7/9). According to the Times, the panel"s ruling could foretell future judgments in the case, including that a patient"s right to timely medication surpasses a pharmacist"s personal beliefs (Los Angeles Times, 7/9).
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Iran Reports First Confirmed Case Of H1N1 Swine Flu
The Ministry of Health in Iran has reported the country"s first confirmed case of H1N1 swine flu, in a 16 year-old Iranian boy who lives in the US
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Biochemical Signals Identified That Help Immune Cells Remember How To Fight Infection

Immunology researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered how two biochemical signals play unique roles in promoting the development of a group of immune cells employed as tactical assassins. In their initial response, these immune cells, known as cytotoxic T lymphocytes, or CTLs, kill cells infected with pathogens. They also provide long-term protection against pathogens by "remembering" which proteins the pathogen makes. Targeting the ability of these CTLs to remember the pathogen is one way vaccines protect against infection. "Until now, no innate signals have been identified that regulate the development of memory cells," said Dr. David Farrar, assistant professor of immunology at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study appearing online and in a future edition of Blood. "Our study is the first to identify the signals that promote the development of these memory cells when you first get infected." The researchers previously showed that two molecules - interferon alpha and another signaling protein, cytokine, or IL-12 - are needed to induce the creation of memory cells. They also found that interferon plays a key role in "teaching" the immune system how to fight off repeated infections of the same virus. Dr. Farrar said the findings suggest that in order to be most effective, a vaccine should induce the secretion of both of these innate cytokines. The immune system consists of two components - the innate system, which provides immediate defense against infection, and the adaptive system, whose memory cells are called into action to fight off subsequent infections. The human immune system churns out both IL-12 and interferon alpha in large quantities in response to a viral infection. "The concept in the field has been that these cytokines perform the same function, but our new findings suggest that they actually have very distinct roles," said Hilario Ramos, student research assistant in immunology and the study"s lead author. "It turns out that the IL-12 signal is really important in driving that immediate, or effector, immune response while interferon drives the development of long-term memory." Past UT Southwestern studies have shown that the two cytokines work together in CD4+ T-cells to generate memory cells; the new research suggests that these molecules perform distinct roles in another type of immune cell called CD8+ T lymphocytes. For these cells, whether they become killers or long-term memory cells depends upon which cytokine they respond to. Those that receive the IL-12 become killers while those that receive interferon alpha turn into long-term memory cells. "Regardless of the precise mechanism, what we know now is that you can develop both long-term and immediate memory cells at the same time," Dr. Farrar said. The next step, he said, is to identify pools of memory cells that "remember" specific pathogens in humans. "There are some vaccines that are extremely effective, while others are only moderately effective," Dr. Farrar said. "If we can isolate pools of antigen-specific memory cells, we should be able to determine what it is about those pools of memory cells that is different between an extremely effective vaccine and one that"s not so effective. "If we can figure that out, then we can start to think about altering our approach to vaccinating based on the different type of microorganism that we"re trying to vaccinate against," he said. Other UT Southwestern researchers involved in the study were Ann Davis, former student research assistant in immunology; Alexander Cole, undergraduate research fellow; Dr. John Schatzle, associate professor of pathology; and Dr. James Forman, professor of immunology. The National Institutes of Health supported the research. Kristen Holland Shear UT Southwestern Medical Center


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