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Bone From Blood: Circulating Cells Form Bone Outside The Normal Skeleton
The accepted dogma has been that bone-forming cells, derived from the body"s connective tissue, are the only cells able to form the skeleton. However, new research shows that specialized cells in the blood share a common origin with white blood cells derived from the bone marrow and that these bloodstream cells are capable of forming bone at sites distant from the original skeleton. This work, published online this month in the journal Stem Cells, represents the first example of how circulating cells may contribute to abnormal bone formation.
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Old Diabetes Drug Teaches Experts New Tricks
Research from the Johns Hopkins Children"s Center reveals that the drug most commonly used in type 2 diabetics who don"t need insulin works on a much more basic level than once thought, treating persistently elevated blood sugar - the hallmark of type 2 diabetes - by regulating the genes that control its production.
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Sens. Continue To Press Sotomayor On Abortion Rights On Third Day Of Confirmation Hearings
In her third day of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor deflected lawmakers" attempts to elicit specific answers on how she would rule on abortion-rights cases and other contentious issues, the Washington Post reports (Goldstein et al., Washington Post, 7/16). As she entered what likely will be the final day of testimony on Thursday, Sotomayor"s confirmation "seemed on track," and Republicans appeared to be "conceding that they had not built the momentum necessary to derail the nomination," according to the New York Times, (Stolberg/Lewis, New York Times, 7/16). Cornyn Questions Abortion-Rights ViewsSen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) asked Sotomayor whether reports that Obama administration officials had sought to elicit her views on abortion were accurate. She responded that she "was asked no question by anyone including the president about my views on any specific legal issue" (Espo/Sherman, AP/Houston Chronicle, 7/15). Cornyn cited comments from George Pavia -- the senior partner at the New York law firm where Sotomayor previously worked -- who stated that he could "guarantee" that she would "be for abortion rights." Sotomayor said, "I have no idea why he"s drawing that conclusion," adding, "If he was talking about the fact that I served on a particular board that promoted equal opportunity for people, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, then you could talk about that being a liberal instinct, in the sense that I promote equal opportunity in America and the attempts to ensure that." She continued, "But he has not read my jurisprudence for 17 years, I can assure you. He"s a corporate litigator. And my experience with corporate litigators is that they only look at the law when it affects the case before them" (Washington Post, 7/16). Sotomayor added that she "know[s] for a fact that I never spoke to [Pavia] on my views on abortion or my views on any social issue" (Bendavid, "Washington Wire," Wall Street Journal, 7/15). Sotomayor noted that she once ruled to uphold the "global gag rule," also known as the "Mexico City" policy, which barred federal funding of international family planning groups that provide abortion information or services (New York Times, 7/16).Coburn Presses on Hypothetical CasesDuring his questioning, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) asked Sotomayor about hypothetical cases related to abortion-rights issues, including if it would be legal if a woman sought an abortion at 38 weeks" gestation if the fetus had spina bifida. Sotomayor said, "I can"t answer that question in the abstract, because I would have to look at what the state of the state"s law was on that question and what the state said with respect to that issue." She continued, "The question is, is the state regulation regulating what a woman does an undue burden? And so I can"t answer your hypothetical, because I can"t look at it as an abstract without knowing what state laws exist on this issue or not. And even if I knew that, I probably couldn"t opine, because I"m sure that situation might well arise before the court" (Holman, "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," PBS, 7/15). Sotomayor also said that the Supreme Court"s 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey "reaffirmed the core holding of Roe v. Wade that a woman has a constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy in certain cases" (Hirschfeld Davis, AP/Boston Globe, 7/16). She added that the ruling said the court should consider whether any state regulation "has an undue burden on the woman"s constitutional right" (Sherman, AP/Sacramento Bee, 7/15). Coburn also asked whether medical advancements that help premature infants survive might "have any bearing on how we look at" Roe (Savage/Oliphant, Chicago Tribune, 7/16). She said, "I can"t answer that in the abstract," adding, "The question as it would come before me wouldn"t be in the way that you form it as a citizen, it would come to me as a judge" (AP/Houston Chronicle, 7/15).Specter Seeks Clarification on RoeDuring question
Endocrinology

New Report Offers Policy Recommendations For Including Long-Term Care Services In Health Care Reform

The SCAN Foundation released a policy report by Georgetown University researchers presenting four distinct policy options for including long-term care support and services in health care reform. The report comes on the heels of a National Omnibus Survey on Long-Term Care released last week, also from The SCAN Foundation, showing that nearly 80 percent of Americans would be more likely to support a health care reform package that includes improved coverage for long-term care services. The Georgetown report, entitled Long-Term Care in Health Care Reform: Policy Options to Improve Both, was developed by a team of highly regarded researchers including Harriet L. Komisar and Judy Feder from Georgetown University, Anne Tumlinson from Avalere Health, LLC, and Sheila Burke from Harvard University"s John F. Kennedy School of Government. The report, which builds upon the Georgetown long-term care policy research of 2007, explores how to improve access to long-term care for people of low-income and limited financial res and ways to strengthen long-term care protections for the broader population. With Medicaid budgets soaring and nursing home and assisted living costs rising sharply over the past five years, home-based care costs have remained relatively flat. The policy options contained in this report offer ways to not only maintain the quality of life and independence for seniors and younger people with disabling conditions, but how to improve cost-effectiveness of health and long-term care services by improving coverage for long-term care services that can be provided at home rather than through more costly nursing home care, and by better coordinating the delivery of medical and long-term care services. Just last week, the Obama Administration threw its support behind bipartisan efforts to include long-term care in a health reform package. The Senate package being developed now includes a provision of the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act (CLASS Act) that would create a voluntary insurance program offering a daily stipend to help Americans pay for basic long-term care services at home. The findings of both the National Omnibus Survey on Long-Term Care and the Georgetown policy report merit serious consideration as President Obama and policymakers in Washington D.C. aim to complete health care reform legislation by the end of this month. "With recent polling data indicating widespread public support for long-term care reform, the options presented in the Georgetown report provide federal policymakers a succinct guidebook for enacting meaningful reform that will benefit the growing population of people aged 65 and older," said Dr. Bruce Chernof, President & CEO of The SCAN Foundation. The following is a summary of the policy recommendations presented in the Georgetown policy report: The first two options would improve long-term care for people with low incomes and limited financial res. These options would modernize Medicaid in important ways, tailoring services better to individual needs and using res more effectively. The third and fourth options aim to strengthen long-term care protections for the broader population; one with better coordination of medical and long-term care for Medicare enrollees; the other by establishing insurance protection for people of all ages and incomes. Proposals to Improve Long-Term Care in Medicaid - Expand Medicaid support for home and community-based services - Improve coordination of medical and long-term care for Medicare-Medicaid "dual eligibles" Proposals to Improve Long-Term Care for the Broader Population - Improve coordination of medical and long-term care for Medicare enrollees with chronic conditions - Establish public insurance protection for long-term care for the broad population "All four proposals could be enacted together. We selected proposals that we think make sense right now - they would enable more people to obtain the vital long-term care supports and services they need and at the same time enhance major health and economic policy goals by improving the health and well-being of American families and the cost-effectiveness of health care delivery," said Harriet L. Komisar, Georgetown University. The SCAN Foundation


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