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Transplant Drug Stimulates Immune Memory
Rapamycin, a drug given to transplant recipients to suppress their immune systems, has a paradoxical effect on cells responsible for immune memory, scientists at the Emory Vaccine Center have discovered.

GM Bankruptcy Plan Would Use Stock Worth 39% Of Firm To Fund Half Of VEBA Obligation
General Motors and United Auto Workers on Thursday agreed to a tentative deal that would allow the automaker to use company stock to fund half of its obligation to a retiree health care fund, the Washington Post reports (Cho et al., Washington Post, 5/22). According to the terms of temporary loans granted by the government in 2008, GM must present a plan for restructuring its finances by June 1 or else enter bankruptcy protection (Krisher, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/22).UAW in 2007 agreed to establish a voluntary employees" beneficiary association, totaling $35 billion, that would cover health care costs of retired GM workers and their spouses starting in 2010. GM so far has paid about $15 billion into the fund (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/15). Under the potential deal, GM would fund its remaining $20 million obligation to the VEBA with $10 billion in cash paid over time. The rest would come in the form of company stock that would give UAW as much as a 39% stake in the restructured firm (Merx/Green, Bloomberg, 5/21). The deal is similar to one at Chrysler, in which UAW agreed to accept 55% of Chrysler"s stock in exchange for about $6 billion of the $10.6 billion the automaker owed to the VEBA (AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/22).Under the GM deal, the union also would get a seat on the company"s board (Stoll/Terlep, Wall Street Journal, 5/22). Retirees would lose coverage of dental care and some prescription drugs, according to people with knowledge of the talks (Bloomberg, 5/21).UAW officials on Tuesday will meet in Detroit to discuss terms of the agreement and are expected to give their approval. The plan would then be presented to the union"s 60,000 GM workers for ratification (Wall Street Journal, 5/22).
News of the day
ACCP Position Paper On Genetic Tests Advertised Directly To The Consumer
Genetic testing services have recently begun to be advertised directly to the patient, and the results of the consumers" response can affect public health, as well as the future adoption of pharmacogenetic/genomic testing, according to a position paper from the American College of Clinical Pharmacology (ACCP) to be published in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. The journal is published on behalf of the ACCP by SAGE.
Nutrition

Oregon Legislature Passes Statewide Health Reform Bills

The Oregon state legislature cleared two reform bills that passed its House of Representatives earlier this week, the Portland Oregonian reports. One bill will tax insurers and hospitals up to $500 million over two years to provide "health coverage for 80,000 uninsured children and an additional 35,000 uninsured low-income adults and put the state on a path toward covering all of its more than 600,000 uninsured residents." The state will leverage as much as $1 billion in federal matching funds. "Some of the federal money will be used to pay hospitals what they pay in taxes. Insurers also will get a portion of their tax money back," the Oregonian reports. The second bill will "create an Oregon Health Authority that will be charged with streamlining state health services and carrying out a variety of initiatives to contain costs and improve quality in the state"s health care system" (Graves, 6/11). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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