Health News and Scoops

WASHINGTON |
Mon Oct 31, 2011 3:14pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain on Sunday said he was not promoting smoking in an ad that showed his chief of staff puffing on a cigarette.

The ad stirred much debate over what message it was trying to convey. Cain, a non-smoker, appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation” and said there was no subliminal signal intended.

“One of the themes within this campaign is let Herman be Herman. Mark Block is a smoker and we say let Mark be Mark,” Cain said, referring to his chief of staff. “That’s all we’re trying to say because we believe let people be people. He doesn’t deny that he’s a smoker.”

Cain, a former pizza executive, said the ad was not intended to glamorize smoking or offend anyone.

“We weren’t trying to say it’s cool to smoke,” he said.

A Reuters/Ipsos online poll of registered Republicans released on Friday found that more than a quarter thought the ad communicated that Cain endorses smoking.

Republicans were divided over whether they loved or hated the ad. Six in 10 of those who strongly identify with the conservative Tea Party movement said they loved or liked the ad, while an almost equal percentage of those who identify as mainstream Republicans said they disliked or hated it.

“Face the Nation” host Bob Schieffer, a cancer survivor like Cain, in an unusual airing of his own opinion during the interview told Cain it did not serve the country to show someone smoking a cigarette.

“And you’re the front-runner now. And it seems to me, as front-runner, you would have a responsibility not to take that kind of a tone in this campaign,” Schieffer said. “I would suggest that perhaps, as the front-runner, you’d want to raise the level of the campaign.”

Schieffer suggested Cain tell young people not to smoke and the candidate obliged.

“Young people of America, all people, do not smoke,” Cain said. “It is hazardous and it’s dangerous to your health. Don’t smoke. I’ve never smoked and I have encouraged people not to smoke.”

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WASHINGTON |
Mon Oct 31, 2011 3:14pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain on Sunday said he was not promoting smoking in an ad that showed his chief of staff puffing on a cigarette.

The ad stirred much debate over what message it was trying to convey. Cain, a non-smoker, appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation” and said there was no subliminal signal intended.

“One of the themes within this campaign is let Herman be Herman. Mark Block is a smoker and we say let Mark be Mark,” Cain said, referring to his chief of staff. “That’s all we’re trying to say because we believe let people be people. He doesn’t deny that he’s a smoker.”

Cain, a former pizza executive, said the ad was not intended to glamorize smoking or offend anyone.

“We weren’t trying to say it’s cool to smoke,” he said.

A Reuters/Ipsos online poll of registered Republicans released on Friday found that more than a quarter thought the ad communicated that Cain endorses smoking.

Republicans were divided over whether they loved or hated the ad. Six in 10 of those who strongly identify with the conservative Tea Party movement said they loved or liked the ad, while an almost equal percentage of those who identify as mainstream Republicans said they disliked or hated it.

“Face the Nation” host Bob Schieffer, a cancer survivor like Cain, in an unusual airing of his own opinion during the interview told Cain it did not serve the country to show someone smoking a cigarette.

“And you’re the front-runner now. And it seems to me, as front-runner, you would have a responsibility not to take that kind of a tone in this campaign,” Schieffer said. “I would suggest that perhaps, as the front-runner, you’d want to raise the level of the campaign.”

Schieffer suggested Cain tell young people not to smoke and the candidate obliged.

“Young people of America, all people, do not smoke,” Cain said. “It is hazardous and it’s dangerous to your health. Don’t smoke. I’ve never smoked and I have encouraged people not to smoke.”

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By Anna Yukhananov and Deborah Charles

WASHINGTON |
Mon Oct 31, 2011 5:08pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Monday to address an escalating shortage of life-saving medicines, his newest effort to advance social and economic measures that have stalled in Congress.

It was the fifth in a series of unilateral steps by Obama over the past week to seize the initiative from Republican foes and show voters he is serious about tackling the country’s problems ahead of a tough 2012 reelection campaign.

Obama instructed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to get better advance warning of impending supply problems and speed up its review of applications from companies that want to change or ramp up production to address shortages.

The order reflects a proposed law on the shortages that has stalled in Congress, despite bipartisan support. In the meantime, doctors and patient advocates say drugs, such as some chemotherapy treatments, have become even scarcer, forcing providers to postpone care or use second-best or costly alternatives.

“Congress has been trying since February to do something about this. It has not yet been able to get it done. It is the belief of this administration that … we can’t wait,” Obama said during an Oval Office ceremony to sign the order.

“I still urge Congress to move forward and build on this executive order.”

Since Republicans in Congress sidestepped his $447 billion jobs plan, Obama has also invoked his executive powers to help homeowners, students, veterans.

With his public approval ratings languishing near the 40-percent range over his economic stewardship and his re-election in jeopardy, Obama is trying to show voters he is ready to act on his own if Congress will not take action.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the latest order would not be able to prevent all future drug shortages. “But we can make a really meaningful difference by expanding our net of early warnings.”

FDA officials have been investigating the problem but have had trouble identifying a root cause and coming up with a solution.

There are over 200 scarce medicines this year alone, up from 56 in 2006, according to the FDA. Most of them are cheaper generic drugs that have been around for years, and yield low profit margins for their manufacturers.

PREVENTIVE MEDICINE

The executive order also requires the agency to give the Department of Justice information about possible price gouging in the so-called “gray market,” where distributors are suspected of exploiting the situation to peddle drugs at hundred-fold markups.

It allows FDA to hire six more staff to deal with the issue, up from five people currently working in its office of drug shortages.

The FDA has said early notification allowed it to prevent 137 shortages in the past two years by working with other companies to plug the gap with ramped-up production.

“The executive order does not grant us new authority beyond what the legislation on the books has already done,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told reporters on a conference call. “What it does do from the presidential level is commit increased attention on this, and a multi-department focus.”

Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute said Obama’s use of executive powers may also signal a significant change in the administration’s approach to governing.

He said the White House may instruct all cabinet departments and agencies to find issues of public need that could be addressed in similar fashion.

“Executive action doesn’t always have the force of law and lacks the power of the purse that come unambiguously with congressional action,” he said. “(But) it’s been clear since November 2010 that getting much out of Congress – even in areas where there’s a broad consensus – would be like pulling impacted wisdom teeth.

“So your choice is to turn to executive action. The only thing surprising is that it took him as long as it did,” said Ornstein.

The FDA and the broader HHS department on Monday released separate reports on the drug shortage problem.

“There is no single or simple solution that can resolve the medical product shortage problem,” the FDA report said.

The reports encouraged companies to boost their drug production. Some of the drugmakers have already pledged to build new facilities and increase production, but the “new capacity is unlikely to come on line for at least another 18 months,” the FDA said.

Dan Rosenberg, spokesman for specialty drug maker Hospira Inc, said the company supports the order to broaden reporting of shortages and address gouging.

“Hospira has agreements in place with distributors to actively police any of our products from getting into the gray market,” he said. Hospira is one of several manufacturers that have had manufacturing issues in the last few years, shuttering production on multiple drug lines. (Additional reporting by Caren Bohan, Matt Spetalnick, Alina Selyukh and David Morgan; Editing by Dave Zimmerman, Gunna Dickson and Tim Dobbyn)

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By Anna Yukhananov and Deborah Charles

WASHINGTON |
Mon Oct 31, 2011 5:08pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Monday to address an escalating shortage of life-saving medicines, his newest effort to advance social and economic measures that have stalled in Congress.

It was the fifth in a series of unilateral steps by Obama over the past week to seize the initiative from Republican foes and show voters he is serious about tackling the country’s problems ahead of a tough 2012 reelection campaign.

Obama instructed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to get better advance warning of impending supply problems and speed up its review of applications from companies that want to change or ramp up production to address shortages.

The order reflects a proposed law on the shortages that has stalled in Congress, despite bipartisan support. In the meantime, doctors and patient advocates say drugs, such as some chemotherapy treatments, have become even scarcer, forcing providers to postpone care or use second-best or costly alternatives.

“Congress has been trying since February to do something about this. It has not yet been able to get it done. It is the belief of this administration that … we can’t wait,” Obama said during an Oval Office ceremony to sign the order.

“I still urge Congress to move forward and build on this executive order.”

Since Republicans in Congress sidestepped his $447 billion jobs plan, Obama has also invoked his executive powers to help homeowners, students, veterans.

With his public approval ratings languishing near the 40-percent range over his economic stewardship and his re-election in jeopardy, Obama is trying to show voters he is ready to act on his own if Congress will not take action.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the latest order would not be able to prevent all future drug shortages. “But we can make a really meaningful difference by expanding our net of early warnings.”

FDA officials have been investigating the problem but have had trouble identifying a root cause and coming up with a solution.

There are over 200 scarce medicines this year alone, up from 56 in 2006, according to the FDA. Most of them are cheaper generic drugs that have been around for years, and yield low profit margins for their manufacturers.

PREVENTIVE MEDICINE

The executive order also requires the agency to give the Department of Justice information about possible price gouging in the so-called “gray market,” where distributors are suspected of exploiting the situation to peddle drugs at hundred-fold markups.

It allows FDA to hire six more staff to deal with the issue, up from five people currently working in its office of drug shortages.

The FDA has said early notification allowed it to prevent 137 shortages in the past two years by working with other companies to plug the gap with ramped-up production.

“The executive order does not grant us new authority beyond what the legislation on the books has already done,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told reporters on a conference call. “What it does do from the presidential level is commit increased attention on this, and a multi-department focus.”

Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute said Obama’s use of executive powers may also signal a significant change in the administration’s approach to governing.

He said the White House may instruct all cabinet departments and agencies to find issues of public need that could be addressed in similar fashion.

“Executive action doesn’t always have the force of law and lacks the power of the purse that come unambiguously with congressional action,” he said. “(But) it’s been clear since November 2010 that getting much out of Congress – even in areas where there’s a broad consensus – would be like pulling impacted wisdom teeth.

“So your choice is to turn to executive action. The only thing surprising is that it took him as long as it did,” said Ornstein.

The FDA and the broader HHS department on Monday released separate reports on the drug shortage problem.

“There is no single or simple solution that can resolve the medical product shortage problem,” the FDA report said.

The reports encouraged companies to boost their drug production. Some of the drugmakers have already pledged to build new facilities and increase production, but the “new capacity is unlikely to come on line for at least another 18 months,” the FDA said.

Dan Rosenberg, spokesman for specialty drug maker Hospira Inc, said the company supports the order to broaden reporting of shortages and address gouging.

“Hospira has agreements in place with distributors to actively police any of our products from getting into the gray market,” he said. Hospira is one of several manufacturers that have had manufacturing issues in the last few years, shuttering production on multiple drug lines. (Additional reporting by Caren Bohan, Matt Spetalnick, Alina Selyukh and David Morgan; Editing by Dave Zimmerman, Gunna Dickson and Tim Dobbyn)

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By Pawan Kumar

Mon Oct 31, 2011 5:04pm EDT

LUCKNOW, Oct 31 (AlertNet) – Wrapped in a white blanket, Nargis Yadav lies in the arms of her mother in a small rural clinic in north India — one of half a million babies born around the world on Monday that will push the global population to the milestone of seven billion.

The U.N.-declared landmark underscores the challenges faced by many countries in providing for the growing numbers of people on an already over stretched and crowded planet.

Nargis was born in the populous state of Uttar Pradesh, one of the poorest regions in India, a country that could soon overtake China as the world’s most populated nation.

Her parents, poor villagers who earn just over $100 a month, say they want her to go to school and be successful in life, but aid workers say this will be an uphill struggle, not only for her but others like her in the developing world.

“The child will face a lot of challenges,” said Sona Sharma, director for advocacy and communications at the Population Foundation of India.

“Getting proper nutritional food, clean drinking water and even basics such as medical care such as immunizations to help her survive the first few years will be challenging.”

With the world’s population more than doubling over the last half century, basics like food and water are under more strain than ever, say experts, and providing for an additional 2-3 billion people in the next 50 years is a serious worry.

Water usage is set to increase by 50 percent between 2007 and 2025 in developing nations, while food security remains a challenge with 925 million people going hungry.

To feed the two billion more mouths predicted by 2050, food production will have to increase by 70 percent, the U.N.’s Food and Agricultural Organization says. But climate change may be the greatest impediment to meeting this target, say experts.

Growing numbers of people on earth is also resulting in rapid urbanization, placing serious strains on towns and cities as migrants move from poor rural areas to richer urban centers.

“The issue of population cannot be seen divorced from the aspect of resource or energy footprint,” said Parvinder Singh, head of communications for ActionAid India.

“The largest drain continues to be in the West which have traditionally consumed, and continue to, massive volumes of resources because of a life-style and purchasing power that far exceeds that of so-called high population poorer countries.”

Demographers however point out that in richer nations, fertility rates have nosedived, resulting in declining numbers of people and an imbalance between the working population and retirees who need expensive social safety nets.

Experts say policies geared to population challenges need to be more targeted.

“Where population is shrinking, we need family friendly policies. Where numbers are growing, we need policies to ensure women have access to family planning,” said Babatunde Osotimehin, head of the U.N. Population Fund, adding 215 million women want reproductive health services but do not have it.

“If governments do not act, we will put further strains on the resources that we have.” (AlertNet is a global humanitarian news service run by Thomson Reuters Foundation. Visit www.trust.org/alertnet)

(Writing by Nita Bhalla; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

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