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Inovio Biomedical H1N1 Influenza DNA Vaccines Demonstrate 100% Responses Against Swine Flu In Vaccinated Pigs
Inovio Biomedical Corporation (NYSE Amex:INO), a leader in DNA vaccine design, development and delivery, announced today that the company"s SynCon™ H1N1 influenza DNA vaccines achieved protective antibody responses against H1N1 swine influenza virus (A/Swine/Iowa/35233/1999) in 100% of pigs immunized with a two-dose vaccine regimen.

CMS Proposes Payment, Policy Changes For Physicians Services To Medicare Beneficiaries In 2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today proposed changes to policies and payment rates for services to be furnished during calendar year (CY 2010) by over 1 million physicians and nonphysician practitioners who are paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). The MPFS sets payment rates for more than 7,000 types of services in physician offices, hospitals, and other settings.
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Kansas Becomes Central Battleground In Abortion-Rights Debate
Kansas has become "perhaps the fiercest battleground" in the abortion-rights debate with mass protests, prosecutions, lawsuits and the recent murder of abortion provider George Tiller, the AP/Washington Post reports. Kansas State University political scientist Joe Aistrup said, "There"s a very prominent vein in Kansas politics that tends toward moral righteousness." He said that this contributes to that unending debate and has produced extremists on both sides of the issue in the state.Peter Brownlie, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said that the majority of those who maintain the intense debate on abortion rights are political leaders. "There is a very clear and growing gap between the general public and the political leaders who are committed to this being such a constant and volatile issue," he said. Brownlie added that on issues relating to abortion, sex education and family planning, "Kansans" views are not markedly different from most Americans, but there are political forces at work, some of them well beyond the state borders."The Post reports that Kansas is different than most states where either supporters or foes of abortion rights dominate. According to the AP/Post, Kansas often sways between having key lawmakers who support abortion rights and those who oppose them. For example, a Republican-dominated Legislature over the past six years passed several bills to restrict abortion access, but much of the legislation was vetoed by former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D). The result has triggered frustration in groups opposing abortion rights, and they continue to feed widespread opposition to abortion in the state, the AP/Post reports.According to Burdett Loomis, a University of Kansas political science professor, there even is a split among Kansas Republicans in regard to abortion rights, as some Republicans in the state are evangelical Christians who oppose abortion rights, while others are moderates who support such rights. He said the split "might pop out in gun laws, home schooling, evolution, but it starts and stops with abortion" (Crary/Hanna, AP/Washington Post, 6/3).Wall Street Journal Examines Abortions Later in PregnancyIn related news, the Wall Street Journal on Thursday examined how Tiller"s clinic in Kansas became a battleground in the abortion-rights debate particularly because some of his patients were in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. According to the Journal, even though the subject of abortion later in pregnancy is the of "a deep cultural divide," both sides agree that it is "anguishing." Fewer than 1% of all abortions in the U.S. are performed in the second or third trimesters, and most states prohibit abortions late in pregnancy but include exceptions for the woman"s life and health.The Journal reports that abortion procedures performed later in pregnancy often carry increased health risks, are more expensive and are emotional. The Guttmacher Institute reports that 8.9 maternal deaths occur during every 100,000 abortions performed later in pregnancy, compared with 7.1 deaths per 100,000 births. The article also profiled women who chose to undergo abortions later in pregnancy at Tiller"s clinic, as well as arguments from abortion-rights opponents (Simon, Wall Street Journal, 6/4).
Nutrition

Senate Will Vote On Tobacco Bill Today

The Senate is to vote on an extensive tobacco control bill expected to gain approval today. The bill would "give the Food and Drug Administration legal authority to regulate the sale, manufacturing and marketing of tobacco products" and "give the federal government broad new powers to monitor and change a toxic substance that contributes to some 400,000 deaths every year," according to the Associated Press. "Supporters hailed it as a milestone in efforts to reduce smoking," the AP notes. The House has already passed a similar bill. If the Senate measure is approved, a final version--after resolution of relatively minor differences between it and the House bill--would be sent to President Barack Obama. The AP reports that "Congress has been trying to exert government controls over tobacco, one of the few consumable products not regulated by the FDA, for well more than a decade. That effort became more imperative after the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling in 2000, ruled that the FDA did not have the authority to oversee tobacco products under current law." The AP reports that "the bill would allow the FDA to require changes to nicotine yields and other chemicals in cigarettes and other tobacco products, although it could not ban nicotine. It would require tobacco companies to provide detailed lists of ingredients and any changes in those ingredients. The bill would ban the use of expressions such as "light" and "mild" that might mislead people into thinking there was less health risk in the product. The FDA would also have the power to restrict tobacco marketing; require pre-market approval of all new tobacco products; ban candied or flavored tobacco products that anti-smoking groups see as a way to entice young people into smoking; limit ads in publications with significant teen readership; and impose stronger warning labels on cigarette packages." "The new FDA office would be financed through a user fee paid by tobacco companies, based on their share of the market. Earlier this year, Congress raised the federal cigarette tax, by 62 cents to $1.01, to help pay for expansion of a federal health program for children....Lawmakers portrayed the bill as a major first step in bringing down health care costs, an essential goal of the health care overhaul legislation that is the top priority of the Obama administration this year" (Abrams, 6/11). NPR also reported on the legislation, describing the 10-year struggle to regulate tobacco products. It noted tobacco manufacturers" displeasure and cited a statement they produced: "Congress should not be burdening the FDA with a new responsibility over a multibillion-dollar industry when it is failing presently to preserve its core mission" (Silberner, 6/10). 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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