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ACLU Illinois Offering No-Cost Legal Advice Regarding Parental Notification Law
The American Civil Liberties Union has launched an effort to offer no-cost legal advice about an Illinois law requiring providers to notify an unmarried minor"s parents prior to performing an abortion, the AP/KWQC reports. The law, which took effect on Tuesday, was enacted in 1995. However, enforcement of the law was delayed by a series of court challenges. It requires that either a parent, grandparent, stepparent living in the home or a legal guardian be notified prior to a minor obtaining an abortion, although judges are permitted to grant exceptions. Abortion-rights opponents claim the law will ensure that parents are consulted so their children "aren"t forced into abortions," according to the AP/KWQC.In response to the law, ACLU has created a toll-free phone line and a Web site to assist girls seeking information about the judicial bypass process. Lorie Chaiten of the Illinois ACLU said the group also has been training lawyers to assist minors (AP/KWQC, 8/4).
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Prostate Cancer Screening Has Yet To Prove Its Worth
The recent release of two large randomized trials suggests that if there is a benefit of screening, it is, at best, small, says a new report in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. Authored by Otis W. Brawley, M.D. of the American Cancer Society and Donna Ankerst, Ph.D. and Ian M. Thompson, M.D. of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the review says because prostate cancer is virtually ubiquitous in men as they age, it is clear that a goal of "finding more cancers" is not acceptable. Instead, public health principles demand that screening must reduce the risk of death from prostate cancer, reduce the suffering from prostate cancer, or reduce health care costs when compared with a non-screening scenario. The authors suggest prostate cancer screening has yet to reach one of these standards to date.
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H1N1 Death Toll Doubles Over Last Month; First Vaccine Trial Begins
The worldwide death toll from the H1N1 (swine flu) virus has doubled in the past month, reaching over 700, the WHO announced Tuesday, the AP/Google.com reports. "WHO did not give a breakdown of the deaths Tuesday. But as of last week, the U.S. reported 263 deaths, Canada reported 45 deaths and Britain had 29. According to WHO"s last update on July 6, there were 119 deaths in Mexico," the news service writes. "Yet even Tuesday"s figure of 700 deaths may seriously underestimate the true toll, experts say, because not all swine flu cases are being picked up due to testing limitations" (Jordans, 7/21).
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Boston Scientific Announces European Approval For Its Latitude(R) Patient Management System

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) announced CE Mark for its LATITUDE® Patient Management system. The LATITUDE system remotely monitors patients with implantable cardiac devices, gathering information on both the device and a patient"s heart health status. The system can also detect clinical events between scheduled physician visits and send relevant data directly to a patient"s physician. It will be launched in Europe in a phased approach beginning this week. "The wireless LATITUDE system will enable me to more closely monitor my patients while helping manage hospital workflow," said Konstantin M. Heinroth, M.D., Department of Medicine, Martin Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany. "I hope to provide my patients added convenience and the peace of mind that comes from knowing both their device and heart health status can be monitored." "Boston Scientific has enrolled more than 130,000 patients on the LATITUDE system since its introduction in the U.S. in 2006, making it the most rapidly adopted remote cardiac device monitoring system in the industry[1]," said Fred Colen, President, Boston Scientific Cardiac Rhythm Management. "We expect continued success as we introduce the demonstrated benefits of our LATITUDE system to patients and physicians in Europe. Remote monitoring technology provides a significant opportunity to further improve patient care." The LATITUDE system provides physicians actionable information that enables them to see changes in their patient"s cardiac health sooner than regularly scheduled follow-up visits. LATITUDE is the only remote cardiac device monitoring system with an optional wireless weight scale and blood pressure monitor, both of which are recommended by the European Society of Cardiology for the management of Class I heart failure patients. The international version of the LATITUDE system is compatible with the Company"s wireless TELIGEN® implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and COGNIS® cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D), the world"s smallest and thinnest high-energy devices. The first enrollments of European patients onto the LATITUDE system were performed by Dr. J.H. Ruiter at Medisch Centrum Hospital, Alkmaar, Netherlands and Dr. Peter Mortensen, Skejby University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark. [1] Data based on number of patients at three years post-launch. Data on file. Boston Scientific


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