Monthly Archives: July 2012

New efforts to tackle jail drugs

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

18 July 2012 Last updated at 01:05 ET By Vincent Kearney BBC NI home affairs correspondent The new head of the Northern Ireland prison service has rejected claims that illegal drugs are an inevitable part of prison life. Recent reports by the prisoner ombudsman has linked drugs to the deaths of two prisoners in Maghaberry and accused the prison authorities of tolerating the problem. However, Sue McAllister, who has just taken over as director general of the prison service insisted this was not the case. She said measures would be introduced to tackle the drugs problem. Ms McAllister started her new job quietly at the start of this month and has spent the time since meeting prison staff and some of the prisoners held in Northern Ireland's three jails. She is the first woman to hold the post of director general of the NI prison service. The 51-year-old mother of two knows more than most about the problems and challenges it faces. She was part of a review team appointed after the death of Colin Bell, who hanged himself in his cell in Maghaberry while on suicide watch in July 2008. In a highly critical report published three years ago, … Continue reading →

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AIDS Deaths Drop as Global Access to HIV Drugs Expand

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

By Shannon Pettypiece and Robert Langreth - 2012-07-18T14:30:00Z Deaths from AIDS continued to decline last year as the number of people on HIV drugs worldwide surged 21 percent from 2010, according to a report that found poor and middle income countries spent more on treatment. Deaths dropped 5.6 percent to 1.7 million in 2011 from the previous year as 8 million people in developing regions gained access to medicines that fight the infection, according to a report today from UNAIDS, the United Nations program to treat and prevent the illness. In Sub-Sahara Africa, where 69 percent of people with HIV live, the number on therapy jumped to 6.2 million from 100,000 in 2003. There is still a huge gap from where we should be, but the world is doing better, said Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention, in a telephone interview. The big story is no longer about the science; it is about the money and politics. The two biggest questions now are where is the money coming from and where is it going to go. About 7 million people infected with HIV in low income countries still need drugs and dont get them, the … Continue reading →

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Multiple Sclerosis Drugs May Not Delay Disability

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

Interferon Beta Treatment Did Not Slow Progression of Disability in Study July 17, 2012 -- Disease-modifying drugs have been game-changers for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The drugs help prevent relapses, but now new research questions whether they slow progression of disability from the disease. In a study of patients with relapsing-remitting MS, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, use of the most widely prescribed disease-modifying drugs, interferon beta, was not associated with a delay in disability progression. Patients treated with interferon beta were no less likely than untreated patients to progress to the point where they required a cane to walk, which is a benchmark measure of disease progression. "Treatment with beta interferon was not associated with a delay in progression to disability," says researcher Helen Tremlett, PhD, of the University of British Columbia. "It may be that in subgroups of patients these drugs do slow disease progression, but we were not able to show this." As many as 2.5 million people worldwide and 350,000 people in the U.S. have multiple sclerosis, a progressive disease of the central nervous system that leaves most patients functionally disabled within a decade or two of diagnosis. In 1993, the … Continue reading →

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Pharmacy dean to step down in September 2013

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

Jeanette Roberts, dean of the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy, says the public policy and political sides of health care have always interested her. After a 10-year run as the head of the UW Systems only pharmacy school, Roberts plans to step aside next year to pursue that passion. Roberts Roberts announced this week that she will step down as dean effective Sept. 1, 2013. Roberts was named pharmacy schools dean in June 2003 after spending 15 years as an academic administrator and professor at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy. Provost Paul M. DeLuca Jr. praised Roberts for her leadership and vision. Under the guidance of Dean Roberts, the School of Pharmacy has continued to build on its reputation as a premier institution on a global scale, and a critical component of the health care system in the state of Wisconsin, DeLuca says. The most recent U.S. News rankings of pharmacy programs put UWMadisons fifth among more than 100, up from ninth the previous year and ahead of programs at Ohio State University and the University of Michigan. In addition, the World Education Congress recently named the school Best Educational Institute in Pharmacy in the world. The school would … Continue reading →

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Research and Markets: Pharmacy Retailing in the UK: A Must-Read Report Exploring Market Trends, Opportunities And …

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ndd9f8/pharmacy_retailing) has announced the addition of the "Pharmacy Retailing in the UK | Verdict Market Report" report to their offering. With an ageing population, significant changes in government policy and consolidation in the market, Pharmacy is an ever-changing sector. Learn where the opportunities and threats are in the market and how to manage these most effectively for your business.Reduce the impact of changes in government policy on your business by being prepared and understanding where the greatest threats will come from.Use the data, forecasts to 2015, and insight on the market, including NHS receipts and OTC, to help form an effective growth strategy. Understand the impact on pharmacy retailing of the Boots/Walgreens merger and how the investment will increase competitiveness in the sector.Identify the opportunities to grow business in this sector by comparing strategies of the key players in the market and their performance metrics.In 2011, the government announced plans for changes in the control of entry rules that would end the 100 hours exemption and this has prompted a rush of opening applications which we forecast will dilute profitability. 250 new pharmacies opened in the first four months of 2012.Furthermore price deflation is making … Continue reading →

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Guardian Pharmacy CEO and Founder, Fred Burke, Named Regional Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® 2012

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Guardian Pharmacy, LLC, one of the largest long-term care pharmacy companies in the U.S., announced that Fred Burke, CEO and co-founder, received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 Alabama/Georgia/Tennessee Award in the Healthcare category. This highly coveted and prestigious award recognizes entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in areas such as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Id like to thank Ernst & Young for highlighting and honoring the profession of entrepreneurship, which means a lot to those of us who consider this our chosen profession, said Burke. We are especially pleased to be honored because our business model serves as an incubator for local entrepreneurs, and its success is the result of the diligence and vision of the entire Guardian team. Founded in 2004 by Fred Burke, Kendall Forbes and David Morris, Guardian Pharmacy LLC has grown from 70 to more than 800 professionals. The company recently completed a record-breaking 2011 adding five new pharmacies and boosting revenue 35 percent over 2010. The combined Guardian entity serves more than 40,000 long-term care patients nationally through 20 pharmacies across 12 states. Additionally, the company has been recognized as one … Continue reading →

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Targeted Medical Pharma Issues Letter to Shareholders

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Targeted Medical Pharma, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company that develops and distributes prescription medical foods to physicians, pharmacies and skilled nursing facilities, today issued the following letter to shareholders from its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer, William Shell, M.D. Dear Fellow Shareholders: If one word can best characterize the past year for me and for Targeted Medical Pharma, that word would be change. It has been a fast-paced journey for all of us, marked by substantial growth that places our company on the cusp of formidable transformation. There was great progress positioning us for the introduction of promising new products, having filed multiple new patents, completing clinical trials of a treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and developing an advanced obesity management system. As we enter the second half of 2012, our team is excited about the research that is now well underway on a technology, believed to be the first of its kind, for stem cell stimulation via an oral administration. As of this writing, our employee count has grown to 68 full time employees, with more than 40 direct and indirect sales representatives in our own sales force and those of … Continue reading →

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Researchers turn skin cells into brain cells, a promising path to better Parkinson's treatment

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

ScienceDaily (July 17, 2012) Using adult stem cells, Johns Hopkins researchers and a consortium of colleagues nationwide say they have generated the type of human neuron specifically damaged by Parkinson's disease (PD) and used various drugs to stop the damage. Their experiments on cells in the laboratory, reported in the July 4 issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine, could speed the search for new drugs to treat the incurable neurodegenerative disease, but also, they say, may lead them back to better ways of using medications that previously failed in clinical trials. "Our study suggests that some failed drugs should actually work if they were used earlier, and especially if we could diagnose PD before tremors and other symptoms first appear," says one of the study's leaders, Ted M. Dawson, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dawson and his colleagues, working as part of a National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke consortium, created three lines of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells derived from the skin cells of adults with PD. Two of the cell lines had the mutated LRKK2 gene, a hallmark of the most common genetic cause of PD. Induced … Continue reading →

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StemCells, Inc. Announces Its Human Neural Stem Cells Restore Memory in Models of Alzheimer's Disease

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

NEWARK, Calif., July 17, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StemCells, Inc. (STEM), today announced preclinical data demonstrating that its proprietary human neural stem cells restored memory and enhanced synaptic function in two animal models relevant to Alzheimer's disease (AD). The data was presented today at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2012 in Vancouver, Canada. The study results showed that transplanting the cells into a specific region of the brain, the hippocampus, statistically increased memory in two different animal models. The hippocampus is critically important to the control of memory and is severely impacted by the pathology of AD. Specifically, hippocampal synaptic density is reduced in AD and correlates with memory loss. The researchers observed increased synaptic density and improved memory post transplantation. Importantly, these results did not require reduction in beta amyloid or tau that accumulate in the brains of patients with AD and account for the pathological hallmarks of the disease. The research was conducted in collaboration with a world-renowned leader in AD, Frank LaFerla, Ph.D., Director of the University of California, Irvine (UCI) Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (UCI MIND), and Chancellor's Professor, Neurobiology and Behavior in the School of Biological Sciences at UCI. Matthew Blurton-Jones, Ph.D., … Continue reading →

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Stem-cell discovery: reversing Alzheimer's?

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

Human neural stem cells. Courtesy UC Irvine radiation oncology professor Charles Limoli. Human neural stem cells restored memory in mice with brain symptoms similar to Alzheimers disease, UC Irvine scientists reported Tuesday, opening the door to eventual treatment for human sufferers. The announcement, made at an Alzheimers science conference in Vancouver, involves versatile though still largely mysterious neural stem cells grown in the lab by StemCells Inc., of Newark, Ca. The cells, researchers at UCI and elsewhere have shown, can become many types of cells once injected into the body restoring limb movement in mice with crushed spines, halting blindness in rats and, now, improving memory and brain function in mice bred to exhibit the kinds of impairment seen in Alzheimers. Youve probably heard about the God particle scientists have been working on, said Martin McGlynn, president and CEO of StemCells Inc. This isnt quite the God cell, but its an incredibly fascinating biological agent. Over the past 12 to 18 months, scientists including Frank LaFerla, director of UCI MIND, worked on a treatment involving injection of the human neural stem cells into the brains of two kinds of mouse models those bred to model the effects of Alzheimers, and … Continue reading →

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