FDA seeks $4.9 billion for FY 2016; Commissioner Hamburg Reflects on FDA's Accomplishments Over the Past Year
Dr. Margaret Hamburg will step down from her post as Commissioner of the FDA next month. Hamburg and the FDA were busy in the few days before the announcement of her resignation, however. The Agency released a budget request for FY 2016, and Hamburg wrote a recap of the FDA's past year. Below is a summary of both.
FDA's Budget for FY 2016
In FDA's budget request, Hamburg stated that the agency is requesting a total of $4.9 billion, including a $148 million budget authority to: increase focus on improved oversight of imported foods, combat the growing threat of antibiotic resistance, promote the dev...
Source: Policy and Medicine - February 6, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
TWiV 322: Postcards from the edge of the membrane
On episode #322 of the science show This Week in Virology, the TWiVodes answer listener email about hantaviruses, antivirals, H1N1 vaccine and narcolepsy, credibility of peer review, Bourbon virus, influenza vaccine, careers in virology, and much more.
You can find TWiV #322 at www.twiv.tv. (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - February 1, 2015 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology antiviral Bourbon virus careers in virology crispr Dengue H1N1 hantavirus hepatitis C virus herpes simplex virus influenza vaccine influenza virus measles mumps narcolepsy NHL opossum patent peer r Source Type: blogs
Bemoaning the Anti-Vaxers; Welcome to my World
Surprise! (NOT) There’s a new measles epidemic centered on California’s Disneyland, primarily because of non-vaccinated children. What is not so much surprising as it is interesting (and gratifying) is the way the mass media has by and large come down against the antivaccine movement responsible for the carnage.
More amusing is listening to long-time med bloggers sound off:
I do not have personal experience with the anti-vaxxers. My colleagues in other states tell me that many of these fools are well-educated. Obviously they are anti-science. I believe that many such vaccine deniers believe that diet and supple...
Source: Musings of a Dinosaur - January 26, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: notdeaddinosaur Tags: Medical Source Type: blogs
Reconsidering Pauly And Coauthors’ ‘Economic Framework For Preventive Care Advice’
In the November issue of Health Affairs, Mark Pauly and coauthors criticize the lack of cost-effectiveness considerations in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which mandates that health plans include preventive care free at the point of use. The bodies critiqued, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, convene health experts to develop recommendations for immunizations and other preventive services.
According to the authors, the task entrusted to these bodies by the ACA, of offering sound advice on preventive care without considering its cost-effectiveness, is “im...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - January 12, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Claudia Chaufan and Greg Harris Tags: All Categories Health Care Costs Policy Prevention Public Health Research Spending Source Type: blogs
This is Why You Should Not Blindly Follow Your Doctor’s Advice to Vaccinate
Conclusion
Most of us have been trained to believe that vaccines are safe and prevent disease. It is very confusing to first realize that this may not be true.
Tremendous pressures exist from physicians, hospitals, family and the public school systems to vaccinate ourselves and our children. Physicians are taught to recommend vaccinations as a first-line defense against disease, while they are not taught the serious health damages created by vaccines.
Physicians often blindly follow the recommendations of their professional organizations to vaccinate, without doing any independent research. Those few physicians and nurses ...
Source: vactruth.com - January 2, 2015 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Michelle Goldstein Tags: Logical Michelle Goldstein Top Stories American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) American Medical Association (AMA) Hepatitis B vaccine Vaccine Exemption Source Type: blogs
Vaccine-Injured Child Stolen by the State and Her Caring Mother Accused of Child Abuse
Conclusion
For many years, I have been writing about such cases. There are now a growing number of parents who have been falsely accused of harming their vaccine-damaged children. Sadly, this case is yet another example.
Loving, caring parents are having their children taken away from them because the majority of health care professionals and social workers are burying their heads in the sand and choosing to ignore the fact that no vaccine or medication is one hundred percent safe. All vaccines have the potential to cause adverse reactions.
When you have such groups as the AAPS stating, “And yet, children under the age o...
Source: vactruth.com - November 22, 2014 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Christina England Tags: Christina England Top Stories Child Protective Services (CPS) Hepatitis B vaccine Kathryn Hughes medical kidnapping Michael Belkin seizure Source Type: blogs
Vaccine-Injured Child Kidnapped from Family by Child Protective Services
Vaccine injury and medical kidnapping stories are becoming commonplace. They are often connected. One mother never thought for a second that vaccinating her child would tear her family apart.
Rebekah McClain wants parents to learn what her family is almost unbelievably dealing with because they chose to vaccinate. No child deserves to suffer through this pain. This is her true story.
One Family’s Heartbreak
“I have a son named Kacer Lee Harris. He was born on December 25, 2013. He is my Christmas miracle. I have been praying for years to have a child on Christmas Day. It’s all I’ve ever wanted. W...
Source: vactruth.com - November 15, 2014 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Augustina Ursino Tags: Augustina Ursino Top Stories medical kidnapping Rebekah McClain Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) truth about vaccines Source Type: blogs
Governor-elect Charlie Baker on healthcare policy
Charlie Baker (R), Governor-elect of Massachusetts
https://healthbb.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/hbdew0005-david-e-williams-interviews-charlie-baker-republican-for-governor-of-massachusetts.mp3
Early in 2014 I interviewed Massachusetts Governor-elect Charlie Baker (and all the other candidates) about healthcare policy. Now that he’s won the election I have re-posted the interview. I hope to interview him again in the coming months.
Baker has tremendous, relevant experience in healthcare. He was CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Secretary of Health and Human Services before that. Healthcare is a huge issue for M...
Source: Health Business Blog - November 12, 2014 Category: Health Managers Authors: dewe67 Tags: Podcast Policy and politics Charlie Baker Harvard Pilgrim Health Care healthcare Massachusetts Source Type: blogs
Treating hepatitis C with Sovaldi: Is it worth it?
One catch phrase in health care reform is cost-effectiveness. To paraphrase, this label means that a medical treatment is worth the price. For example, influenza vaccine, or flu shot, is effective in reducing the risk of influenza infection. If the price of each vaccine were $1,000, it would still be medically effective, but it would no longer be cost-effective considering that over 100 million Americans need the vaccine.
Continue reading ...
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - October 22, 2014 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Michael Kirsch, MD Tags: Meds GI Medications Source Type: blogs
Boy Gets Diagnosed with Autism After 32 Shots
Conclusion: Leaving You with Words from Natalie
“As a woman of faith I must speak the truth in love, and sometimes it can come across harsh. Not everyone who sees Autism really understands what Autism is. Yes, our children look normal on the outside and occasionally we can get a great picture of them making eye contact and smiling into the camera, but that is not easily done. When someone says that their child is blessed with Autism, and that God made him/her that way… maybe your child really doesn’t have Autism, just enough symptoms for them to be placed on the spectrum?
Autism is not a curse; it is a damage...
Source: vactruth.com - October 2, 2014 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Augustina Ursino Tags: Augustina Ursino Top Stories adverse reactions autism MMR vaccine National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) truth about vaccines VAERS Varicella vaccine Source Type: blogs
Vaccine Injury Stories: the Sacred Cows of the Internet?
When I first started looking into vaccines, I had no idea that an anti-vaccine movement even existed. I came across claims that the vaccines were toxic and dangerous; the diseases, it was claimed, were not. I have some background in science, so I was able to dismiss those claims as inaccurate, but I couldn’t help but be drawn in by tragic, angry and deeply personal stories from parents who claimed their children were harmed by vaccines.
I dared not question them, but I still couldn’t understand…
If vaccine injuries were occurring on a scale like this, why wasn’t anybody doing anything about it? And why wasn’t...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - September 19, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Access Advocacy Publc Health Source Type: blogs
What we are not afraid to say about Ebola virus
In a recent New York Times OpEd entitled What We’re Afraid to Say About Ebola, Michael Osterholm wonders whether Ebola virus could go airborne:
You can now get Ebola only through direct contact with bodily fluids. If certain mutations occurred, it would mean that just breathing would put one at risk of contracting Ebola. Infections could spread quickly to every part of the globe, as the H1N1 influenza virus did in 2009, after its birth in Mexico.
Is there any truth to what Osterholm is saying?
Let’s start with his discussion of Ebola virus mutation:
But viruses like Ebola are notoriously sloppy in replicating, me...
Source: virology blog - September 19, 2014 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information aerosol transmission airborne transmission ebola virus evolution hemorrhagic fever Michael Osterholm mutation viral Source Type: blogs
2014 PhRMA Research and Hope Awards Celebrate Groundbreaking Achievements in HIV/AIDS, While Recognizing the Continued Work Needed for a Cure
Last night, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) honored individuals and organizations for their work in the field of HIV/AIDS at the 2014 PhRMA Research and Hope Awards. The event served as both a celebration of groundbreaking achievements as well as a call to continue the hard work that is still required to put an end to HIV/AIDS.
The evening featured a conversation with President George W. Bush and PhRMA president and CEO, John Castellani. During President Bush’s time in office he launched an initiative to combat AIDS in Africa called the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ...
Source: Policy and Medicine - September 11, 2014 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
This Is the Way One Father Told His Pediatrician “No” to Vaccines
What does an informed parent look like? We’ll show you.
Below is a letter written by Bob O’kane, a concerned parent, to his pediatrician about vaccines and the danger they pose to his child. This letter is one great example of how to approach your doctor, especially if you have looked into the matter further and are uncomfortable with their stance on the topic.
The name of the doctor has been intentionally omitted.
Doctor XXX,
My wife and I would like to say it was an absolute pleasure to meet you. We thank you for taking the time with us the other day to discuss our beautiful little daughter Rylan.
I was wo...
Source: vactruth.com - September 7, 2014 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Jeffry John Aufderheide Tags: Jeffry John Aufderheide Top Stories Aluminum Adjuvant Informed Parent Vaccine Exemptions Source Type: blogs
Can Gingko and Turmeric Help Stop Ebola?
Summary
There is no known pharmaceutical currently available that specifically treats Ebola disease.
One treatment modality that should be considered is the use of herbal medicines, which have both centuries old anecdotal success as well as recent modern biochemical and formal research rationales for their use.
Five areas of action that could be addressed by the herbal medicines as it relates to Ebola would be:
VP24/immune system evasion
GP protein/replicatio;
herbal strategies effective against similar hemorrhagic disease
beneficial modulation of patient immune and inflammatory response systems
prophylactic use for heal...
Source: Inside Surgery - August 1, 2014 Category: Surgery Authors: Editor Tags: Infectious Disease ayurvedic baicalen cathepsin b dengue Ebola gingko herb Quercetin resveratrol rosemary sage st johns work turmeric Source Type: blogs
