WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans appear determined to block legislation letting the government negotiate directly with drug companies for lower drug prices under Medicare, the latest obstacle for a proposal Democrats once trumpeted as a surefire money-saver. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the GOP leader, said Monday that many members of his rank and file believe the new Medicare prescription drug program is ‘working beautifully, with remarkable coverage,’ and doesn’t need fixing. He stopped short of flatly saying Republicans would try to block the bill when Democrats attempt to bring it up for passage later in the week - but just barely. Noting that Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt will meet with GOP senators on Tuesday, he said, ‘There is substantial opposition to proceeding to that measure.’ President Bush opposes the bill, as he did a stronger House-passed measure that requires the government to negotiate for better prices. Supporters would need 60 votes to overcome a Republican filibuster, and so far, appear to be short. Even if the Senate bill passes, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently predicted it would have only a ‘negligible effect’ on the government’s cost of buying drugs under Medicare. As […]
The Copyright Review Board dealt a serious blow to Internet Radio today, when it denied a request to reconsider its March ruling that would greatly increase fees broadcasters pay to copyright holders. The original ruling called for a serious escalation of fees, to the point where most small, medium, and even large Internet radio broadcasters would not be able to afford to continue broadcasting. Most Internet radio experts I talked to back in March believed that this initial ruling was just a starting point–that sure, the CRB had basically adopted a fee structure proposed by SoundExchange (a.k.a. the people who would be collecting the fees), and that while that was unfortunate, things would work themselves out in the appeal process. This wasn’t the first time Internet Radio had been declared dead, and this type of ‘negotiation’ was just part of the process. Maybe not, though. Today’s decision means that process will take a lot longer, if it happens at all. According to the Radio and Internet Newsletter, the final decision must be published in the Federal Register within 60 days, at which point it can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. And here’s […]
SEATTLE — Druggists who believe ‘morning-after’ birth control pills are tantamount to abortion can’t stand in the way of a patient’s right to the drugs, state regulators have decided. In a unanimous vote Thursday, the state Board of Pharmacy ruled that drug stores have a duty to fill lawful prescriptions despite an individual pharmacist’s personal objections to any particular medication. Pharmacists or drug stores that violate the rules could face discipline from the board, which has the power to revoke state licenses. The Washington State Catholic Conference and Human Life Washington, an anti-abortion group, predicted a court challenge, saying the rule wrongly forces pharmacists to administer medical treatments they consider immoral. ‘I don’t think pharmacists who adhere to traditional moral precepts are going to allow their conscience to be overrun by the Board of Pharmacy,’ said Dan Kennedy, Human Life’s chief executive. Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Amy Luftig said the ruling ‘ensures that men and women will have access to their health care.’ ‘It also respects a pharmacist’s personal beliefs, so long as that doesn’t come before a patient’s needs,’ she said. Sold as Plan B, emergency contraception is a high dose of the […]
It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world’s harvests fail. They are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world – the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. Late last week, some bee-keepers claimed that the phenomenon – which started in the US, then spread to continental Europe – was beginning to hit Britain as well. The theory is that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees’ navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from finding their way back to their hives. Improbable as it may seem, there is now evidence to back this up. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) occurs when a hive’s inhabitants suddenly disappear, leaving only queens, eggs and a few immature workers, like so many apian Mary Celestes. The vanished bees are never found, but thought to die singly far from home. The parasites, wildlife and other bees that normally raid the honey and pollen […]
Federal health officials are warning that antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases, is increasingly prolific across the United States. New data from 26 U.S. cities show the number of resistant gonorrhea cases is rising dramatically, jumping from less than 1 percent of all gonorrhea cases to more than 13 percent in less than five years, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The new data released in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report also shows that fluoroquinolone-resistant gonorrhea is now widespread in the United States among heterosexuals and men who have sex with men. According to the report, the proportion of drug-resistant cases among heterosexuals has risen above the recognized threshold of 5 percent for changing treatment recommendations. CDC had recommended fluoroquinolones no longer be used to treat gonorrhea in men who have sex with men when this threshold was crossed in earlier years. The CDC advised doctors treating gonorrhea to immediately stop using ciprofloxacin, marketed as Cipro, and other antibiotics in its class, which have been the first line of defense against the disease, and resort to an older class of drugs to ensure patients are cured and do […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
