Goya Foods, Inc. of Secaucus, NJ, is recalling its 14 ounce packages of Frozen Mamey Pulp, due to a potential health risk from Salmonella. No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with Goya brand Mamey Pulp.

Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.

The recalled Goya brand Mamey Pulp was distributed in the states of AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, NM, NV, OR, TX, UT, and WA through retail stores.

The product comes in a 14 ounce plastic package and is not marked with a lot number or expiration date. The UPC is 041331090803.

Consumers who have purchased Goya brand Mamey Pulp are urged to discard the product and contact Goya Foods, Inc.’s Consumer Affairs for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company Monday through Friday between the hours of 8AM to 5PM, Eastern Daylight Time at 1-800-275-4692.

Goya Foods, Inc. has issued this precautionary recall notification because a sample from one package of Goya brand Mamey Pulp collected in Las Vegas, NV and tested by the FDA yielded a positive result for Salmonella.

Goya Foods, Inc. is coordinating closely with regulatory officials. Upon learning about the positive test result, Goya Foods, Inc. conducted a traceability assessment and a review of the manufacturer’s food safety documentation, all of which were found to be in compliance and were negative for the presence of Salmonella.

Source:
FDA Continue reading →

Two University of Southern California (USC) neuroscientists have been awarded nearly $9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to map how genes are expressed in different regions of the human brain throughout development.

The two-year grant, part of the Grand Opportunities grant program, funded through the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH), will allow researchers to use cutting-edge DNA sequencing and profiling technologies to create an atlas of when and where thousands of genes are expressed during key periods of development. The findings will be freely accessible to scientists worldwide and provide a foundation for discovering the origins of mental disorders.

James A. Knowles, M.D., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and Pat Levitt, Ph.D., director of the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute at the Keck School of Medicine, will lead the project in collaboration with researchers at Yale University and the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, Wash.

“This project will allow us to document which individual genes and sets of genes are turned on and off in different brain regions through the whole developmental time period,” said Knowles, the principal investigator on the project. “This information is essential for understanding normal and abnormal brain development.”

Mental disorders such as autism and schizophrenia are increasingly recognized as brain disorders that have their origins during development. However, relatively little is currently known about how specific genes regulate human brain development, Knowles noted.

“Breaking through the mysteries of the developing human brain and the origins of mental illnesses requires a very large, collaborative effort,” co-principal investigator Levitt said. “We are so pleased to be part of an esteemed group of scientists that will produce more information on the human brain than ever before. This will lead to new breakthroughs in determining disease risk and prevention.”

Researchers at USC and partner institutions will sequence the genomes from hundreds of brain samples in order to create a three-dimensional, Web-based model that can be used by scientists all over the world as a basis for future neuroscience research.

“This will provide investigators with a fantastically rich resource for future research,” Knowles said.

The purpose of the NIH Research and Research Infrastructure Grand Opportunities (GO grants) program is to support high impact ideas that lay the foundation for new fields of investigation. The initiative is one of several being offered by NIMH to help fulfill the goals of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to help stimulate the economy through support of biomedical and behavioral research.

Source:
Meghan Lewit

University of Southern California Continue reading →

Neuroeconomic research at the University of Pennsylvania has conclusively identified a part of the brain that is necessary for making everyday decisions about value. Previous functional magnetic imaging studies, during which researchers use a powerful magnet to determine which parts of a subjects brain are most active while doing a task, have suggested that the ventromedial frontal cortex, or VMF, plays an evaluative role during decision making.

Now, Joseph Kable, an assistant professor of psychology in Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences, has demonstrated the causal relationship between the VMF and such decisions.

“When you’re doing functional imaging and looking at the relationship between brain activity and a decision,” Kable said, “you don’t know that the brain activity is causally important in that decision. They could be correlated for different reasons.”

Kable and his colleagues, which included Penn undergraduate Khoi Vo and researchers from McGill University, addressed the limitations of imaging studies by recruiting experimental subjects who had suffered damage to that part of their brains, often from strokes, aneurysms or brain tumors.

“People with damage to their ventromedial frontal cortex should be less able to choose things that are most valuable and they should be less consistent in their choices,” Kable said.

“That’s exactly what we found.” Their research was published in The Journal of Neuroscience.

Kable’s experiment involved a simple questionnaire, where people with and without VMF damage were asked to pick between groupings of juice boxes and chocolate bars, based on which they liked more.

The subjects were sequentially given 11 sheets of paper, which listed two or more groups they could choose. As an incentive for them to pick the one they truly wanted more, the researchers promised to give each subject one of the 11 groups he or she selected at the end of the experiment. The subjects were also able to pick what kind of juice and chocolate they preferred before the experiment began.

While there were no price tags on any of the items, the grouped items on each sheet had a fixed value relative to one another and the total amount that could be spent. A subject could pick between a group with six juice boxes and two chocolate bars, a group with three juice boxes and three chocolate bars and a group with no juice boxes and four chocolate bars, implying that the chocolate was three times as expensive as the juice.

Crucially, the relative values and amount that could be spent changed between each of the 11 sheets. By choosing in the different contexts and being given an opportunity to review and change their previous selections, the subjects revealed how much they preferred one item to another.

“We wanted to give people the best chance possible to be consistent,” Kable said. “But on the flip side we didn’t want to make it obvious how you would be consistent.”

Consistency was key. If subjects made selections that contradicted their previously revealed preference, it indicated they couldn’t properly assign a value to the items they were presented with. For example, a subject who chose no juices and two chocolates rather than six juices and no chocolates should not then choose two juices and no chocolates over no juices and six chocolates.

“Most of the control group didn’t make any inconsistent choices, and all but one of the people who have VMF damage made at least one,” Kable said. Many of the subjects with VMF damage made multiple inconsistent choices.

The strength of the findings of this kind of neuroeconomic experiment opens the door to more complex experiments dealing with real monetary value and to investigations into other parts of the brain that are associated with economic decision making.

Notes:

In addition to Kable and Vo, the research was conducted by Nathalie Camille, Cathryn A. Griffiths and Lesley K. Fellows of the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill.

The research was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the National Institutes of Health.

Source:
Evan Lerner
University of Pennsylvania Continue reading →

The Stanford University School of Medicine will no longer accept support from pharmaceutical or device companies for specific programs in continuing medical education, as industry-directed funding may compromise the integrity of these education programs for practicing physicians, officials said.

The action on CME builds on a 2006 policy that banned gifts, including free meals, and industry marketing at the Stanford University Medical Center.

Stanford is one of the few U.S. medical schools to enact such restrictions, which go into effect Sept. 1. The policy is being implemented as part of the school’s ongoing review, begun in 2005, of its interactions with industry in the educational and clinical arenas.

Continuing medical education programs are designed to help physicians stay current in their fields and are legally required for them to remain licensed to practice medicine. Under the new guidelines, the school may accept commercial support for CME only if it is provided for broad areas, such as medical, pediatric and surgical specialties; diagnostic and imaging technologies; and health policy and disease prevention. Funding must not be linked to a specific course, topic or program. In addition, commercial exhibits will no longer be permitted at Stanford-sponsored CME activities on or off campus.

In announcing the latest decision, Dean Philip Pizzo, MD, said he believes CME programs can be true to the School of Medicine’s goal of improving quality and clinical outcomes only if they are free of commercial influence.

“I want to be able to honor the public trust,” Pizzo said. “We want CME to be unbiased and science-driven, and we don’t want it to be influenced by marketing. We want our educational activities for whomever we are serving-whether it’s our own faculty or our colleagues in the community, locally or globally-to be true to the science and the evidence, and not be influenced by any kind of financial industry support.”

In recent years, the pharmaceutical and medical-device industries have been a growing source of funding for CME programs. Between 1998 and 2006, industry funding for CME activities nationwide rose from $302 million to $1.2 billion, according to the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education.

Some find this to be a worrisome trend. In June, the American Medical Association’s Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs issued a report urging individual doctors and medical institutions not to accept industry support for CME, saying it could “threaten the integrity of medicine’s educational function.” A conference of medical professionals convened in 2007 by the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation similarly concluded that because of industry’s involvement in CME activities, “Bias, either by appearance or reality, has become woven into the very fabric of continuing education” for physicians. Industry funding of CME activities also has been called into question by Congress, with two Senate committees reviewing the issue.

“Under the present system, in many circumstances a CME course will be held only if a commercial company is willing to sponsor it,”‘ said Robert Jackler, MD, the medical school’s associate dean for CME. “While for-profit enterprises may occasionally engage in philanthropy, it should not be surprising that the core motivation of pharmaceutical and medical-device industries in supporting CME is to market their products and services.

“This leads to a CME curriculum which is, at least in part, designed to address market needs rather than being entirely focused upon improving performance of practicing physicians,” added Jackler, who is also the Edward C. and Amy H. Sewall Professor in Otorhinolaryngology and chair of otolaryngology. “Clearly it would be preferable for Stanford faculty to design our CME curriculum solely based upon the needs of our learners as they seek to address the health-care needs of their patients.”

Stanford’s medical school first took up the issue in 2007, when Pizzo appointed a 16-member task force, comprised of a diverse group of faculty and staff, to consider future options for CME. In fiscal 2006-07, about 38 percent of the school’s budget for CME, or $1.87 million, came from industry sources. Task force members gathered detailed financial data, reviewed the literature, interviewed industry representatives and engaged in spirited debates.

“We all agreed it is inappropriate for industry to influence content,” said Harry Greenberg, MD, the school’s senior associate dean for research and chair of the CME task force. He said the group sought to determine whether companies who wished to provide CME funding could do so without controlling the content.

“If industry really wants to enhance the education of clinicians, they should be given the opportunity to do so,” Greenberg said. “But we wanted to create a situation in which they had no effect on the choice of topics or their content. So we’re happy to have industry support as long as it is provided without strings or expectations about the course content.”

Any funds received will be channeled through the school’s CME office, which will work with the faculty to determine how best to use the money to meet the needs of physician-learners. The new process “really brings control of CME curricula back to academic medical centers,” Greenberg said.

Jackler said the decision will dramatically change the way the medical school conducts its CME programs. Rather than organizing symposia at hotels or resorts, he said Stanford’s offerings, which draw physicians from around the world, will try to make use of campus facilities. “One of my hopes is to make Stanford a destination so we can hold CME programs here, leveraging the wonderful cultural attractions on campus,” he said. He said the school may seek funds from private foundations to help support the new CME approach.

The medical school also plans to modernize the format of future programs, relying less upon traditional lectures and making greater use of innovative educational technologies. These include Stanford’s well-known programs in simulated and immersive learning, as well as other technologies that will become available with the opening of the Li Ka Shing Center for Learning and Knowledge in 2010. The new CME program also will place greater emphasis on identifying interventions that promote quality care and health-outcomes improvements as opposed to the more traditional CME focus on knowledge acquisition.

Pizzo said he hopes Stanford’s new approach to physician education will serve as a model for other medical schools around the country.

“I think right now industry is under a lot of pressure in its use of marketing for education. They’re re-examining their role in CME as well,” Pizzo said. “As we take this step, my hope is that other institutions will start to follow suit. I think the climate will change dramatically to enforce that. If institutions do not take greater responsibility, there is going to be a mandate, whether it’s one that we initiate or one that is imposed, that frees up these intertwined interactions of academia and industry around medical education.”

Stanford University Medical Center integrates research, medical education and patient care at its three institutions – Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. For more information, please visit the Web site of the medical center’s Office of Communication & Public Affairs at mednews.stanford.edu.

Stanford University Medical Center Continue reading →

HHS Office of Inspector General on Monday announced a move to exclude Alvarado Hospital Medical Center, a Tenet Healthcare hospital in San Diego, from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health care programs, the Wall Street Journal reports. HHS OIG announced the move based on allegations that Alvarado paid illegal kickbacks to physicians, despite the failure of two federal juries to convict the hospital on criminal charges filed by U.S. Attorney Carol Lam in San Diego (Rundle, Wall Street Journal, 5/9). In the trials, federal prosecutors alleged that Tenet HealthSystem, a Tenet subsidiary, Alvarado and former Alvarado CEO Barry Weinbaum paid more than $10 million in illegal kickbacks to physicians through relocation agreements in exchange for patient referrals. Under Medicare anti-kickback laws for federal health care programs, hospitals cannot directly pay physicians for patient referrals. The first trial ended in a mistrial in February 2005, and the second trial ended in a mistrial in April (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/5). According to the Los Angeles Times, the move to exclude Alvarado from federal health care programs could force Tenet to sell the “profitable” hospital “at a fire-sale price” because the loss of revenue from Medicare “can undermine a hospital’s viability.” Tenet has 30 days to submit evidence and would have the right to appeal the exclusion of Alvarado from participation in federal health care programs.

Reaction
In a statement, Tenet said the exclusion of Alvarado from participation in federal health care programs “would be unfair and unwarranted,” adding, “It could ultimately force Alvarado Hospital Medical Center to close, thus eliminating the jobs of hundreds of healthcare workers and reducing needed access to care” (Girion, Los Angeles Times, 5/9). According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, a potential link between the two mistrials and the move by HHS OIG to exclude Alvarado from participation in federal health care programs “wasn’t clear.” HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson said in a statement that the two mistrials had no involvement in the move. However, attorney Mike Attanasio, a former federal prosecutor, said, “You would have to believe in incredible coincidence to assume that the move by the inspector general is not at least a reflection of the recent turn of events in the criminal prosecution.” Patrick Hall, a criminal defense attorney in San Diego, added that the move “may be an alternative means to seek the same kind of (punishment that prosecutors) were seeking all along” (Darce, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5/9).

“Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved. Continue reading →

Despite the fact that folic acid can prevent some of the most common birth defects, young women aren’t getting enough of it. Only one in three women ages 18-24 takes a daily supplement containing folic acid, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga. This age group accounts for roughly 30 percent of all births in the United States.

“Everyone needs folic acid, but it is especially important for women of childbearing age,” explains Heather Hamner, MS, MPH, a nutritional epidemiologist for the CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities Prevention Research Team. “Folic acid has been found to reduce a woman’s risk of having a baby born with a serious birth defect of the brain and spine by 50-70 percent if taken before and during the first three months of pregnancy.”

Because many of these brain and spinal defects occur early in the first trimester, before many women are aware they are pregnant, it is important that all women of childbearing years take folic acid regardless of whether or not they are pregnant.

Folate is a water-soluble B-vitamin that occurs naturally in foods including leafy-green vegetables, certain fruits, dried beans and peas. Folic acid is a synthetic form of folate that is found in fortified foods and supplements.

The Recommended Dietary Allowance for folate is 400 micrograms per day for everyone age 14 and older. For pregnant women, the recommendation is 600 micrograms; for women who are breastfeeding, it is 500 micrograms. Despite these recommendations from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, it seems the message just isn’t getting out.

“Many women have heard of folic acid, but they don’t know that it can help prevent serious birth defects of the brain and spine,” Hamner said. “In 2007, only 12 percent of women ages 18-45 knew that folic acid can help prevent birth defects.” The numbers were even lower for women ages 18-24.

According to the CDC, folic acid consumption is an area of special concern for Hispanic women. Hispanic women are less likely to have heard about folic acid, to know it can prevent birth defects, or take vitamins containing folic acid before pregnancy. As a result, Hispanic women have lower blood folate levels and their children are 1.5 to three times more likely to have a neural tube birth defect, such as spinal bifida, than the children of non-Hispanic white women.

Here are a few tips from Hamner for women to make sure they get all the folic acid they need:

– Include fortified foods in your diet (breads, pastas, breakfast cereals with folic acid).

– Try some new recipes that include folate-rich foods (orange juice, beans, dark leafy green vegetables, such as spinach).

– Make taking a supplement containing folic acid a habit.

– Tell a friend how important it is to take folic acid, especially if she may become pregnant some day.

In addition to folic acid, women of childbearing age should consume adequate amounts of calcium with vitamin D and DHA omega-3, an essential fatty acid and building block of infant nutrition that may promote a healthy pregnancy and prevent late preterm birth.

The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends that pregnant and nursing women consume 1,000 milligrams of calcium per day and between 400 and 800 international units of vitamin D per day. Vitamin D helps the body absorb and retain calcium. Pregnant and nursing women should consume at least 200 milligrams per day of DHA omega-3, which is the same recommendation for the general population.

Soccer star and new mom Mia Hamm has teamed up with the Society for Women’s Health Research to provide women with information about these nutrients. Hamm is featured in a series of television and radio public service announcements, which began airing nationwide in February. A Web site, TheBig3, provides more information on the nutrients.

Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR)
1025 Connecticut Ave. NW, Ste. 701
Washington, DC 20036
United States
womenshealthresearch Continue reading →

StatSure Diagnostic
Systems, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: SSUR.OB) announced that the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), through its Center for Devices and
Radiological Health, has approved a waiver under the Clinical Laboratory
Improvements Amendments of 1988 (“CLIA”) for an HIV 1/2 Rapid Test
employing the Company’s patented “barrel” technology. The HIV 1/2 product
is marketed and distributed worldwide by Inverness Medical Innovations
(Amex: IMA) under its Clearview(R) brand as “Clearview COMPLETE HIV 1/2.”

Specifically, the test has been waived for use in detecting HIV-1 and
HIV-2 antibodies in human whole blood, serum, and plasma and demonstrates a
sensitivity of 99.7% and a specificity of 99.9% in clinical trials. With
this waiver, the CLEARVIEW (R) HIV-1/2 test can be used by more than
189,000 sites in the United States, including outreach clinics,
community-based organizations and physicians’ offices. StatSure’s patented
“barrel” technology is designed to maximize safety, convenience,
performance and shelf-life and minimize exposure to infectious agents.

Steve Peltzman, CEO of StatSure, stated: “We are very excited about
this achievement and the underlying markets that now may commercially be
pursued.” StatSure hopes to leverage this proprietary “barrel” format to
develop and commercialize additional point-of-care rapid screening tests
for other infectious disease.

ABOUT STATSURE

StatSure Diagnostic Systems, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: SSUR – News) is
engaged in the development, manufacture and marketing of rapid immunoassay
tests for the detection of sexually transmitted and other infectious
diseases; in addition, the Company has developed and is marketing a product
line of patented, oral- fluid collection devices. The Company’s proprietary
platforms provide significant customer benefits and competitive advantages
as compared to similar products that are currently available. Improved
accuracy, operator convenience, and reduced risk of infection from
collecting and handling specimens, have been engineered into SDS products.
All of the company’s diagnostic tests are based on the same easy-to-use
technology platform, thus facilitating the development of future products.
Certain of these products are sold in the United States as well as
internationally to various distributors for use in clinical laboratories,
hospitals, clinics, community-based organizations and other public health
organizations. Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc. (Amex: IMA), StatSure
Diagnostic Systems, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: SSUR) and Chembio
Diagnostics, Inc. announced in October of 2006 agreements that provide
Inverness with exclusive worldwide marketing rights to Chembio’s
FDA-cleared, point of care, rapid test for the detection of antibodies to
HIV. The test utilizes Inverness’ proprietary lateral flow technology as
well as StatSure’s patented “barrel” technology designed to maximize ease
of use and minimize exposure to infectious agents.

Please visit our website at StatSure

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release may contain
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities
laws. These statements reflect StatSure’s current views with respect to
future events and are based on management’s current assumptions and
information currently available. Actual results may differ materially due
to numerous factors, including without limitation, the future demand for
HIV testing products; our ability to successfully commercialize the
products; the intensely competitive environment in the relevant markets and
the risks and uncertainties described in periodic reports filed by StatSure
with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the federal securities
laws, including periodic reports on Form 10-Q or Form 10-QSB, as
applicable, for the period ended June 30, 2007. StatSure undertakes no
obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein.

StatSure Diagnostic Systems, Inc.
StatSure Continue reading →

To mark World Health Day, the takeaway food that has become a regular component of our diets is the focus of a conference coordinated by heart health charity Heart of Mersey and held in Liverpool today.

As a nation we are eating more takeaway food than ever before; nationally one in six meals are now eaten out of home amounting to more than ??10 billion each year being spent on sandwiches, chips, burgers, curries and similar food from small independent outlets. This is five times more than the Government spends on providing food for public institutions such as schools, hospitals and prisons.

Meals and snacks eaten outside the home tend to be higher in saturated fat, sugar and salt which poses a significant health risk to everyone, but is particularly the case in areas where there are high numbers of takeaway outlets.

Simon Capewell, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Liverpool and Heart of Mersey trustee says:

“We can see that where there are clusters of fast food outlets, it becomes more difficult for healthier choices to be the easier choice. Of particular concern is the finding that where there are a large number of fast food outlets in an area there is a link with increased obesity in children.”

Nearly a third of children under three eat a takeaway meal at least once a week and nationally children spend more than ??549 million per year on fast food on the way to and home from school.

Speaking at the conference, Jack Winkler, professor of nutrition policy and director of Nutrition Policy Unit said: “All our energetic and expensive efforts to improve school meals will fail unless we deal with the powerful competition from takeaways that surround schools. They are winning – serving more food to more pupils than school canteens. We must engage proactively with food shops on the school fringe. Local action and support is required from schools, fringe shops, local councillors, local NHS, environmental health and others working together to improve food provision.’

Robin Ireland, chief executive of Heart of Mersey said “An unhealthy diet is a major factor in the unacceptably high levels of heart disease and stroke affecting our most vulnerable and socially disadvantaged communities. We need to take action now to slow or reverse this trend. We hope that today’s conference helps us to understand how we can work together at local and national levels to have the biggest impact on our health and the health of our children.”

Source
Heart of Mersey Continue reading →

Even though we do not realize it, our sense of smell is as keen as those of animals, – it seems our ability to follow a scent is not that much different to that of a dog’s, say researchers from the University of California Berkeley, USA.

You can read about this new study in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Scientists asked 32 blindfolded volunteers, male and female, to follow 10-meter scent trails in a field from one end to the other. The trails were scented with chocolate oil. As well as not being able to see, the volunteers had to wear gloves and earplugs – making them dependent on their sense of smell. Two-thirds of the participants accurately followed the scent trails. The volunteers could be seen crawling on their hands and knees with their noses close to the ground.

To make sure it really was their sense of smell that was guiding them, the scientists made them try to follow a trail again, but this time with their noses plugged (blocked up) – everyone failed.

Everyone who succeeded was slower than animals. However, after a bit of practice all the humans improved significantly. The scientists also found that both nostrils are needed in order to follow the directions of a trail – “scent-tracking is aided by inter-nostril comparisons.”

The scientists say that humans are capable of much more than they realize; adding that with proper training, we should be able to do the work currently just done by animals. The researchers noticed that that as people got better with practice, they sniffed much more frequently and faster.

Lead Author, Jess Porter, said that the scientists found people can sniff their way accurately around a spatial context. It seems our two nostrils work together to triangulate a scent path. When asked to follow a scent trail with one nostril plugged, only one third of the volunteers succeeded, compared to two thirds when both nostril are used.

As we rely on our other senses, especially our eyesight, we have underestimated just how much we can achieve with our sense of smell.

Comment by Editor of blog

If Elvis were alive today he may have said “You have something of a hounddog!”

“Mechanisms of scent-tracking in humans”
Jess Porter, Brent Craven, Rehan M Khan, Shao-Ju Chang, Irene Kang, Benjamin Judkewicz, Jason Volpe, Gary Settles & Noam Sobel
Nature Neuroscience doi:10.1038/nn1819
Click here to view abstract online

Continue reading →

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a legal challenge brought by AARP concerning an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruling that employers can reduce benefits for retirees who reach age 65 and become eligible for Medicare, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports (AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/25).

The EEOC ruling, published in the Federal Register, allows employers to create two classes of retirees — those younger than age 65 and those older than 65 — and offer different benefits to each group. In addition, the ruling allows employers to eliminate or reduce benefits provided to spouses or dependents of retirees older than 65 (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 1/2).

AARP argued that the EEOC ruling violated age discrimination laws (Lipman, Cox/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3/25). Supporters of the EEOC rule say it encourages companies to maintain benefits for their retirees, because without the ability to reduce benefits for some, employers could eliminate all retiree benefits.

Reaction
Rae Vann, general counsel for EEOC, said, “This is good news because it clears up the lingering doubts about the law,” adding, “From a practical point of view, it is also good for retiree health benefits. It means more employers will continue to provide these benefits.”

AARP in a statement said it was “deeply disappointed” by the court’s decision, which it believes “clears the way for employers to discriminate by reducing or terminating benefits for older retirees simply because they’ve turned 65″ (Savage, Los Angeles Times, 3/25).

David Certner, AARP’s legislative policy director, said, “This double standard — one tier of coverage for those under 65, and another, lower tier for those 65 and over — is especially troubling because it comes from the EEOC, the federal government agency created to enforce anti-discrimination policies.” Certner added, “The timing of this new rule couldn’t be worse. Due to rising costs and fixed incomes, many retirees are already forgoing needed services that have simply become unaffordable” (Cox/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3/25).

Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved. Continue reading →