Archive for November 16th, 2007

BETTING AN ESTATE ON INHALED INSULIN

Friday, November 16th, 2007

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For those individuals suffering with diabetes, the hope of dealing with it without injections of insulin is enormous. An inhaled insulin delivery system would be an important improvement.

“Pfizer, the world’s biggest drug company, flopped miserably with a seemingly can’t-miss idea. Pfizer’s failure was a form of insulin that people with diabetes could inhale rather than inject. But last month, after selling only $12 million worth of inhaled insulin in the first nine months of the year, Pfizer said it would take a $2.8 billion charge and abandon the product.”

“Alfred E. Mann is betting nearly $1 billion of his own money that he can succeed where Pfizer failed.”
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WASHINGTON SCRUTINIZES NURSING HOMES

Friday, November 16th, 2007

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Concerns that quality at nursing homes was declining as large chains were acquired by private investment groups prompted Congressional hearings into the matter.

“Members of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee and the Senate Special Committee on Aging proposed measures to require nursing homes to disclose ownership and to require regulators to release information about poorly managed homes.”

“Kerry N. Weems, the acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which regulates nursing homes, offered several initiatives to improve oversight. His suggestions included releasing the so-called special focus facility list, which identifies homes that regulators consider among the nation’s worst. That list, which will be released Dec. 1, has not been public.”
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COMMERCIAL AIRLINES GIVEN PRIORITY IN MILITARY’S SPACE

Friday, November 16th, 2007

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President Bush announced that airlines would be able to make fuller use of military airspace to relieve congestion and cut delays. An agreement has been made between the Federal Aviation Administration and the Defense Department which will allow commercial airlines to plan in advance to route flights through areas off the Atlantic coast where the Air National Guard and the Air Force conduct exercises.

“The experiment will start Wednesday and run through the Sunday after Thanksgiving.”

“If the experiment works in that period, it could be used again at the end of the year, said Mary E. Peters, the secretary of transportation. Ms. Peters compared the routes to highway shoulders that are opened for traffic during rush hour.”
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