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Editorials, Opinion Pieces Respond To Recent Action On Health Reform
The following summarizes recent editorials and opinion pieces responding to health reform action over the last week.

Improved Communication Encourages Patients To Seek Colorectal Cancer Screening, Study Finds
Improved communication among patients and primary care physicians increases the chances those due for colorectal cancer screening will follow their doctors" advice and complete the procedure, a University at Buffalo study has found.
News of the day
Lawsuit Filed Over Gene Patent
A group of cancer patients, genetic researchers and professional pathologist organizations has filed a lawsuit against Myriad Genetics and the U.S. Patent Office over the patent of two genes associated with an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancers, the New York Times reports. According to the Times, the government more than 10 years ago granted Myriad the patent on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, as well as the company"s genetic test that measures a patient"s risk for the cancers.The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and is believed to be the first of its kind, the Times reports. The lawsuit challenges the decision to grant patents on genes to Myriad and companies like it. The plaintiffs say that patents on genes restrict medical and research efforts, while companies like Myriad have said that the patent system supports innovation by giving them a temporary monopoly after they make a discovery, thereby rewarding prior investment in research and development.Wendy Chung, the director of clinical genetics at Columbia University and a plaintiff in the case, said, "With a sole provider, there"s mediocrity." The plaintiffs say that BRCA testing would improve with market competition. Furthermore, some plaintiffs argue that certain natural materials cannot be patented. Jan Nowak, president of the Association for Molecular Pathology and a plaintiff in the case, said, "You can"t patent my DNA, any more than you can patent my right arm, or patent my blood."To date, two government panels, including the National Research Council, found no evidence that gene patents result in significant impediments to research or medical care (Schwartz, New York Times, 5/13).
Mental Health

Number Of Polio Cases In Nigeria Decreases, Some States Still Showing Low Immunizations Rates

The number of polio cases in Nigeria has gone down from 799 in 2008 to 353 this year, according to the country"s National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Africa Science News Service reports. The number of children who have never had a polio vaccine has been reduced from 16 percent in 2008 to 8 percent in 2009, NPHCDA Executive Director Mohammed Ali Pate said. However Pate said there is an "upsurge" in the number of West Polio Virus-3 cases mostly in the north and there are very low immunization rates in some states in the northern part of the country. Pate named several states where less than 10 percent of children receive immunizations by the age of one. "That is not really adequate. We should do better than that," he said, adding that it is an indication that the routine system is not operating well. "Even though the routine vaccines are supplied by the Federal Government, the money from the states and local governments may not be released to local government primary health care facility to go and collect their vaccines to run the outfits and staff," he said (Africa Science News Service, 6/21). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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