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Burdock Root

Willingness By Patients To Trade Hands-On Medical Care For Computer Consultations
As President Barack Obama calls for streamlining heath care by fully converting to electronic medical records and as Congress prepares to debate issues of patient privacy, one question has largely gone unasked: What do patients want?
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Dysport(R) Cosmetic Injection - For Erasing Wrinkles - Receives U.S. FDA Approval
A new wrinkle-smoother will be arriving in doctors" offices in July: the U.S. FDA has approved the cosmetic injectable Dysport®. Dysport®, approved in the European Union, Brazil, Argentina and more than 26 countries worldwide is a form of botulinum type A, similar to the protein found in Botox® Cosmetic, approved for fighting wrinkles in the U.S. since 2004. Dysport® and Botox® are both cosmetic injections that temporarily relax the muscles in the face that create expressions, such as frown lines between the brows, that over time result in visible facial lines and deeper creases. "Although their action is similar, Dysport® and Botox® Cosmetic are two different drugs," said oculoplastic surgeon Dr. Brian Biesman, Coalition leader and Assistant Clinical Professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. "Both temporarily modify the action of facial muscles, smoothing out undesirable lines between the brows, across the forehead or crow"s feet to restore a more youthful, less stressed appearance. But they are not interchangeable, they have distinct dosing differences."
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Genome Sequencing Of Schistosomiasis Parasites Could Promote Drug Development
Researchers have sequenced the genomes of two parasites that cause bilharzia or schistosomiasis - a disease transmitted by water-borne snails that affects more than 200 million people worldwide - "revealing potential weaknesses that could be exploited by drug developers," Nature reports (Smith, 7/15).
Health Insurance

Abortion Could Prove Divisive For Health Reform, Too

An ultimatum against using federal money for abortion procedures could reopen the politically treacherous rift over the issue, creating yet another obstacle for congressional Democrats to overcome if they are to achieve their health reform goals, Time reports. "While current versions of the [health reform] legislation do not address the abortion issue at all, late last month 19 anti-abortion Democrats in the House sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, warning "we cannot support any health care reform proposal unless it explicitly excludes abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan."" Congress banned spending federal Medicaid dollars on abortions in 1976, and all but 17 states banned paying for the procedures with state Medicaid funds, too. However, as many as 90 percent of private insurers do pay for abortions and the restrictions the legislators are demanding could compromise those benefits. Under one proposal, individuals earning up to $43,000 a year who get subsidies to buy insurance could not purchase a policy that has abortion coverage. "And it would raise all sorts of other questions if insurers were allowed to discriminate among their customers based on whether or not they are using federal dollars to pay for their policies," Time reports. "Abortion rights advocacy groups are pushing back. On Monday, the National Women"s Law Center released a poll of 1,000 likely voters conducted by the Mellman Group indicating that 71% favor including reproductive services such as birth control and abortion as part of health reform," Time reports. "The poll also found that 75% believe an independent commission should determine what medical services are covered among the basic benefits offered under health reform" (Tumulty, 7/8). 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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