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House, Senate Committees Approve Bills That Include Influenza Pandemic Funds
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to approve a $91.3 billion defense and foreign aid spending bill that includes President Obama"s request for $1.5 billion in emergency funds to fight a potential influenza pandemic, the AP/Winston-Salem Journal reports. The House version of the bill, approved Thursday in a 368-60 vote, adds $500 million to the pandemic preparedness funds (AP/Winston-Salem Journal, 5/15). Last month, the public health emergency involving the H1N1 influenza virus spurred congressional lawmakers to rethink the elimination of $870 million from the economic stimulus package that would have been used to combat an influenza pandemic. Democratic legislators eliminated the funds in order to garner support from congressional Republicans to pass the stimulus package (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/28).
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Second U.S. Independent Laboratory Confirms That Oculus Innovative Sciences' Microcyn(R) Technology Effective At Inactivating H1N1 Swine Flu
Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCLS), a healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a family of products based upon the Microcyn® Technology platform, which includes new formulations intended to reduce the use of antibiotics by preventing or treating infections including those caused by bacteria and viruses, has confirmed the effectiveness of Microcyn® Technology at inactivating the H1NI Swine Influenza A. In a virucidal time-kill suspension test conducted by an independent laboratory, BioScience Laboratories, Inc., the specific Microcyn Technology formulation reduced infectivity of the swine flu virus by 4.00log10 (99.99%) reduction after just 30-seconds exposure. BioScience Laboratories, working in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, received formal approval to acquire, house and evaluate the specific swine influenza virus in April 2009.
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Microscopic "Beads" Could Help Create "Designer" Immune Cells That Ignore Transplanted Organs
The future of organ transplantation could include microscopic beads that create "designer" immune cells to help patients tolerate their new organ, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.
Public Health

GM Files For Bankruptcy, Union Health Plan Changes

The United Auto Workers" benefits plan is expected to receive a nearly 20 percent ownership stake in General Motors as a result of the automaker"s bankruptcy filing today and proposed restructuring, the Washington Post reports (Whoriskey, 6/1). The bankruptcy will cause drastic changes in UAW retirees health benefits, Time reports. The GM stock awarded to the VEBA, or Voluntary Employees Benefit Association, is near worthless, and the those who depend on the benefits are uneasy, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger told Time. GM"s VEBA has $9.4 billion in assets, only enough for three years of the 377,000 retirees" benefits. "In less than four years, blue-collar retirees have gone from modest co-pay and deductibles to footing 25 percent of the their bill for health. The new UAW contracts also include reductions in benefits: dental and vision coverage will be dropped, effective July 1" (Szczesny, 5/31). Agreements between GM, the White House and the union have resulted in restructured payment schedule for the benefit plans, Business Week reports. "The union agreed to take 17.5% equity in the new GM, stock warrants for an additional 2.5 % of the company, plus $2.5 billion in cash and $6.5 billion in preferred stock that pays a $585 million annual dividend-all in place of the $20 billion GM had pledged to the UAW to start a Voluntary Employee Benefits Assn., or VEBA" (Welch, 5/31). Also, bondholders agreed Saturday to take up to a 25 percent stake in GM, clearing the last hurdle to GM"s bankruptcy, the Washington Post reported over the weekend. But as they do so, some bondholders are upset that they"ve been given less guarantee on their investment than the UAW"s VEBA: "The "Main Street Bondholders," representing some of those individuals, said the deal unfairly gave the United Auto Workers" retiree health-care trust fund 66 cents on the dollar, while offering bondholders 13 cents on the dollar, assuming the new GM is worth $25 billion. This group of bondholders vowed to fight back using a section of the bankruptcy code, which could give them their own standing" (Marr, 5/31). 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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