U.S. House Votes to Provide Health Coverage for Millions of Uninsured Kids
In a 225 to 204 vote Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a major expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program that would provide coverage for four million uninsured children in low-income families.
The program currently covers 6.6 million children. Money for the expanded program would come from increased tobacco taxes and reductions in subsidies to private Medicare plans for older Americans, The New York Times reported.
The bill, which was supported by 220 Democrats and five Republicans and opposed by 194 Republicans and 10 Democrats, would also eliminate co-payments for more preventive care provided to Medicare recipients and increase assistance to low-income Medicare recipients.
President Bush has said he'll veto the bill, which was developed entirely by Democrats. A more modest bipartisan bill is expected to be approved by the Senate this week, but Bush has said he will veto it as well, The Times reported.
At current levels, the federal government would spend $25 billion on the Children's Health Insurance Program over the next five years. The House bill would provide a total of $75 billion over the same period, while the Senate bill would provide $60 billion.
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Accutane Rules Need More Flexibility: FDA Panel
There needs to be slightly more flexibility in rules designed to prevent pregnancies among women taking the acne drug Accutane, advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. Accutane can cause birth defects.
Even though some women taking the drug are still getting pregnant, the advisers recommended minor rule changes that would make it easier for women to access Accutane without increasing the number of pregnancies among women taking the drug, the Associated Press reported.
Under a program called iPledge, women taking Accutane must pledge not to become pregnant. The program is supposed to cover every user of the drug, every doctor who prescribes it, and every pharmacy that sells it.
But administrators of the privately-run program told the FDA advisory panel that there were 122 pregnancies in the first year of iPledge, and another 37 pregnancies in the first four months of the program's second year, the AP reported.
Many of those women had abortions or miscarriages, while the program lost track of 35 women. The one child known to have been born so far did not have any birth defects. Officials are monitoring 15 continuing pregnancies.
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Senate Panel OKs FDA Authority Over Tobacco
A bill giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority over tobacco products was approved Wednesday by a Senate committee, the Associated Press reported.
The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 13-8 to approve the bill requiring the FDA to regulate tobacco advertising, warning labels, and the ingredients used in tobacco products. The agency maintains similar authority over drugs and certain foods.
More than 50 senators from both parties have co-sponsored the bill. It's similar to one the Senate passed in 2004 that was later blocked in the House of Representatives.
The bill would allow the FDA to regulate the amount of nicotine in cigarettes, but it would take a vote from Congress to ban their sale outright, the wire service reported.
The measure approved Wednesday includes a controversial amendment to ban clove cigarettes, the AP said.
"This is an enormous step forward," said Matt Meyers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "This could end up being the signature public health action this Congress takes."
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Full Moon Doesn't Increase Accident Risk
Contrary to popular belief, there is no link between a full moon and increased risk of accidental injury, according to a study by Austrian government researchers, who analyzed data on 500,000 industrial accidents in that country between 2000 and 2004.
There were an average of 415 workplace accidents a day. When there was a full moon, the average actually decreased to 385, but the difference was not statistically significant, the Associated Press reported.
The researchers decided to study the issue because of the persistence of the theory that a full moon somehow increases accident risk. Some studies have suggested that a full moon may affect people by exerting a subtle influence on "biological tides."
This new study also found no statistically significant increase in workplace accidents on days when the moon orbited closest to the Earth, the AP reported.
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Eye Cells May Help Restore Vision
Certain cells found in the eye (Muller glial cells) have stem cell properties and it may be possible to use them to regrow damaged or diseased retinas and restore vision, notes a British study in the journal Stem Cells.
Researchers extracted Muller glial cells from deceased humans and, in the laboratory, cultured the cells into all the types of neurons found in the retina, CBC News reported. After they were injected into rats with diseased retinas, the cells migrated to the rats' retinas and adopted the characteristics of surrounding neurons.
"Muller cells with stem cell properties could potentially restore sight to someone who is losing or has lost their sight due to disease or damaged retina," said study leader Dr. Astrid Limb.
Retinal disease is one of the leading causes of blindness.
Eventually, it may be possible to extract a person's Muller glial cells, grow them in the laboratory, and inject them back into the same person's eyes in order to regrow damaged or diseased retinas, CBC News reported.
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