Medicare Doc Fix Update: 19-Month Relief Flops in Senate

clipped from www.wallstreetjournal.com Medicare Doc Fix Update: 19-Month Relief Flops in Senate When we last checked in on the looming 21% Medicare payment cuts for doctors, the AMA had unveiled a multi-million dollar ad campaign chiding senators for heading out of town over Memorial Day rather than staying behind to fix the payment formula for good. And not even a Band Aid has been applied to the problem since — yesterday the Senate effectively rejected a spending bill that included a 19-month fix for Medicare payments. The WSJ reports that a vote on a scaled-back bill with shorter-term relief for doctors might be up for a final vote by the end of the week. The Associated Press says that the latest version of the bill would include only a six-month fix. Politico reports the fix could be six or …

FDA: 'Female Viagra' falls short

Keep your fingers crossed

clipped from www.google.com WASHINGTON — A pink pill designed to boost sex drive in women — the latest attempt by the drug industry to find a female equivalent to Viagra — fell short in two studies, federal health regulators said Wednesday. The Food and Drug Administration is considering Boehringer Ingelheim's drug flibanserin for premenopausal women who report a lack of sexual desire, a market that drugmakers have been targeting for more than a decade since the blockbuster success of Viagra in men. The search for so-called "female Viagra," has proved elusive though, with many drugs abandoned after showing lackluster results. On Friday the FDA will ask a panel of experts to weigh in on the safety and effectiveness of Boehringer's drug. The agency is not required to follow the group's advice, though it often does.

Global Heat warmest since thorough record keeping began in 1880

clipped from dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com The National Climatic Data Center has released its  summary of global climate conditions so far this year and finds that the month of May, as well as the period from January through May, were the warmest since thorough record keeping began in 1880. Here’s the way he summarizes the warming-downpour connection: We cannot say that any of this year’s flooding disasters were definitely due to global warming, and part of the reason for this year’s numerous U.S. flooding disasters is simply bad luck. However, higher temperatures do cause an increased chance of heavy precipitation events, and it is likely that the flooding in some of this year’s U.S. flooding disasters were significantly enhanced by the presence of more water vapor in the air due to global warming. We can expect a large increase in flooding disasters in the U.S. and worldwide if the climate continues to warm as expected.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ramping Up Efforts to Ensure Safety of Gulf of Mexico Seafood

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are taking additional steps to enhance inspection measures designed to ensure that seafood from the Gulf of Mexico reaching America’s tables is safe to eat.

The federal government, in conjunction with Gulf States’ regulatory agencies, is playing an active role in ensuring the safety of seafood harvested from federal and state waters. The federal government, led by FDA and NOAA, is taking a multi-pronged approach to ensure that seafood from Gulf waters is not contaminated by oil. The strategy includes precautionary closures, increased seafood testing inspections and a re-opening protocol.

Discovery of a Roman Gladiator Graveyard in England

clipped from www.lep.co.uk Experts to preserve gladiator graveyard A team of experts from Preston’s university is helping to shed light on what is thought to be the world’s only well-preserved Roman gladiator cemetery.

Oil Could Reach Atlantic Coasts

clipped from www.youtube.com clipped from dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com For weeks there have been discussions about the potential for the spreading Gulf of Mexico oil slick to slip around Florida and flow up the East Coast. Now a suite of simulations, run by an international team of ocean and climate scientists, shows this is a likely outcome should the flow remain unabated this summer. The researchers stress there are caveats and uncertainties, most notably related to the state of the gulf’s  highly variable loop current in coming weeks. (The Department of Energy put out its own fact sheet stressing that  the simulations are highly uncertain.)

After ‘Top Kill,’ Few Options to Cap Well

clipped from dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com The “top kill” procedure for choking off the gushing seabed well in the Gulf of Mexico was not quite the last best chance, but close. Now that it has failed, BP, with authorization from the Obama administration, is moving to cut away the tangle of pipe from the well and install a small containment cap, called the “lower marine riser package.” Statement by the President on the Latest Efforts to Contain the BP Oil Spill | The White House whitehouse.gov Today, I’ve spoken with National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen, as well as Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, and senior White House advisors John Brennan and Carol Browner regarding the ongoing efforts to stop the BP oil spill...