Friday, February 27, 2009

News Clipping Archives

 

Maryland / Regional

Plan Announced In Balt. To Stop Underage Drinking (WJZ TV 13)

2nd Md. Teen's Death Also Blamed on Flu; Officials Urge Shots (Washington Post)

Fraser Smith on the Efforts to Offer Dental Care to All Marylanders (WYPR Radio)

Maryland funeral industry managing downturn (Frederick County Gazette)

Md. suicide ring members will be extradited to Ga. (Frederick News-Post)

Bill would provide insurance coverage for autism (Hagerstown Herald-Mail)

Funding available for farm plans (Salisbury Daily Times)

Funding for care of mentally disabled back in Va. Budget (DC Examiner)

National / International

Obama names head of AIDS policy office (Washington Post)

Study: Old drugs might give TB a 1-2 punch (Washington Post)

Opinion

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Plan Announced In Balt. To Stop Underage Drinking

 

By Weijia Jiang

WJZTV 13 Online

Friday, February 27, 2009

 

BALTIMORE (WJZ) ― Just say no to alcohol. The U.S. Surgeon General was in Baltimore Thursday to announce a new plan to keep underage children from drinking.

 

Weijia Jiang reports Maryland was the 12th state Admiral Steven Galson visited.

 

He brought a strong message for kids. He says he can't drive home enough that underage drinking can be deadly.

 

"To demystify, take away the glamor associated with underage drinking," said John Colmers, Md. mental hygiene secretary.

 

State leaders, educators and students all joined forces with the surgeon general to combat underage drinking.

 

"It has medical risks. It can harm their ability to do well in school. It clouds their judgement and can result in injuries or even worse," said Galson.

 

Galson is traveling across the country to encourage kids to utilize programs that help them overcome pressure to try booze.

 

"Like when I think of people that drink, I mean, I think of myself. Cause it's like, imagine if that was me. I try to have empathy for them," said Montez Garnett, student.

 

The surgeon general's handbook reports underage drinking causes 5,000 deaths a year, and the alcohol use spikes during adolescence.

 

"Forty percent of nine through 12th graders had at least one drink of alcohol or more in the last 30 days," said Galson.

 

Governor Martin O'Malley launched a new committee Thursday to prevent that from happening in Maryland.

 

"It could lead to death; kids just don't know when to stop. It can lead to drinking and driving; it can lead to unwanted pregnancies; it can lead to you know, them being victims of violent crimes," said Katie O'Malley.

 

In 2008, the O'Malley administration created a state council to site drug and alcohol abuse.

 

Just say no to alcohol. The U.S. Surgeon General was in Baltimore Thursday to announce a new plan to keep underage children from drinking.

 

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

 

2nd Md. Teen's Death Also Blamed on Flu; Officials Urge Shots

 

By Lori Aratani

Washington Post

Friday, February 27, 2009; B01

 

The flu-related deaths of two Maryland teenagers in the past two weeks have prompted health officials across the region to urge people of all ages to get flu shots if they haven't already.

 

Zachary Weiland, 15, of Woodbine in Howard County died Sunday at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, and Ian M. Willis, 13, of Urbana in Frederick County died Feb. 19 at Children's National Medical Center in the District, health officials said.

 

There is no indication that this is a significantly worse flu season than in prior years, health officials said. But officials at the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks flu outbreaks, note that more than six weeks into the flu season, the number of infections is beginning to increase. CDC officials said there are widespread infections in Virginia and Maryland but only localized cases of infections in the District.

 

"It looks like from our disease surveillance data that we are just easing into the beginning of the flu season in Montgomery County," said Carol Jordan, director of communicable disease and epidemiology for Montgomery. Last year, the number of infections peaked in mid-March, she said, and, given current data, she expects a similar trend this season.

 

Virginia officials said flu season there had peaked and appeared to be tapering off.

 

The parents of the two Maryland boys said they did not think their sons were any sicker than they had been during previous bouts with the flu.

 

Robert Willis said they had no reason to believe anything was out of the ordinary when Ian began complaining of aches and tiredness Feb. 13. The next day, his temperature spiked, but after taking Tylenol, the fever dissipated. The next day, however, Ian began having trouble breathing, his father said, and his parents took him to a Frederick emergency room. He was later transferred to Children's Hospital, where he died.

 

"It was so sudden," Willis said. "I heard it was the same with the other boy."

 

A memorial service was held for Ian on Monday. He was an eighth-grade honor roll student at Urbana Middle School at Ijamsville, loved animals and people and had recently taken up fencing after watching it during the Olympics, his father said.

 

A memorial service for Zachary, who was a sophomore at Mount Airy Christian Academy, will be held tomorrow, said his father, Kirk Weiland.

 

Zachary loved basketball, baseball and soccer and after several years of playing the piano had taken up the guitar, his father said. Zachary often played during worship services at his church and was part of the chapel band at his school.

 

The teenager had a sore throat and was coughing when he was taken to Howard County General Hospital. He was later transferred to Johns Hopkins, where he fell into a coma and died Sunday.

 

"It was terrible," said Zachary's grandmother, Fran Weiland. "It was so sudden."

 

Last year, the CDC said that 78 people younger than 18 died from the flu. Even so, the head of Howard's health department said such deaths are uncommon.

 

"This is very unusual," Peter Beilenson, Howard's health officer, said of Zachary's case. "This was a healthy, athletic kid."

 

This year, the CDC has reported nine pediatric deaths as of Feb. 20, not including the two Maryland cases. Maryland officials said one young person died of flu last year.

 

D.C. area schools said they have not had an unusually high number of absences, but at least one Baltimore area elementary school, Immaculate Conception Elementary School in Towson, canceled classes this week because many students were reporting flu symptoms.

 

Area health officials said the deaths are a reminder that people should get a flu shot or use the flu mist, and most counties report that they have an ample supply. People should contact their local health department for information. People can also stay healthy by practicing good hygiene: washing their hands and covering their sneezes and coughs by using the crook of the arm, for example.

 

Beilenson said that a prolonged fever, difficulty breathing, confusion, irritability or a bluish tint to the lips or nails might indicate a more serious infection and that someone with those symptoms should see a doctor.

 

Frances Phillips, Maryland's deputy secretary for public health, said this year's vaccine is particularly effective against most strains of the flu. "It is not too late now for people to get a flu shot," she said.

 

Copyright 2009 Washington Post.

 

Fraser Smith on the Efforts to Offer Dental Care to All Marylanders

 

WYPR Radio

Friday, February 27, 2009

 

BALTIMORE, MD (2009-02-26) President Obama said America's can-do spirit will help us solve some big problems. Yesterday, Maryland officials offered bitter-sweet proof that the drive to make things better lives on. WYPR's Senior News Analyst Fraser Smith comments in his weekly essay.

 

We're a compassionate people. And, we're problem solvers. We hate to see preventable accidents -- or worse -- particularly when kids are involved. Some times, though, the worst does happen.

 

For want of access to a dentist and an 80-dollar procedure, a 12-year-old boy died two years ago in Prince George's County. But then came the can-do instinct. Reforms were made at the state and national level.

 

Yesterday, at the University of Maryland's Dental Clinic in Baltimore, Congressman Elijah Cummings and Maryland's Health Secretary John Colmers, reported on their efforts to make sure dental care - and public education on its importance - reach every Marylander.

 

Congressman Cummings emphasized the educational element. Not everyone knows that dental health affects overall health, he said, or that dental pain can be managed.

 

"I can remember going to school many a day in pain. But it was expected. But this is a new day. And that's why we've got to inform people."

 

Congressman Cummings wanted to make sure no one else suffered - or died -- unnecessarily.

 

"All he needed was to have a tooth repaired. It would have taken 80-dollars. Unfortunately his mother was not able to find a dentist treating Medicaid patients. She couldn't find one. So he died. He died. A 12-year-old boy died in one of the most wealthiest states in the country, and one of the wealthiest counties in that state."

 

But yesterday, the Congressman and Health Secretary John Colmers announced the availability of 100 additional dentists who will treat kids on Medicaid in Maryland. A half-dozen new clinics have opened and a new federal health insurance program for children now offers dental treatments.

 

"One of the great tragedies about the death of Deamonte Driver and there were many tragedies is that when his mother was looking for a dent ist for his brother whose teeth hurt. Deamonte's teeth didn't hurt him. So we have to get the message out to people that's it's important to get help before your teeth hurt."

 

The university dental school is perfecting a public education campaign.

 

© Copyright 2009, wypr.

 

Maryland funeral industry managing downturn

Directors wary of possible drop in demand for more expensive services

 

By Rebecca McClay

Frederick County Gazette

Friday, February 27, 2009

 

Funeral home owner G. Douglas Stauffer says his new business model helps him cope with the industry's rising costs.

 

Stauffer Funeral Home of Frederick has five other locations in the region, in Walkersville, Mount Airy, Boonsboro, Brunswick and Thurmont. Consolidating their administrative operations in Frederick has helped cut costs, he said. His son George D. Stauffer II is co-owner.

 

"With the changes in the economy, funeral homes are not a whole lot different from a business standpoint," Stauffer said. "Operating costs and overhead are far greater than they were. … Contrary to what many people believe, the large profits simply aren't there. You've got to be a good manager and provide good service to survive, and you can't take shortcuts."

 

Demand for funerals has been as steady as the national death rate — about 8.3 per 1,000 people — and funeral homes in Frederick County are still fairly unscathed by the recession. Still, funeral directors such as Stauffer are on guard.

 

"We're going to feel an impact if it boils down to what funding a family has to work with," Stauffer said. "We haven't seen that yet in the area, but none of us knows how long the financial situation we're in will last. … We're not just in it for the profit motive."

 

Profit margins across the industry average about 6 percent, Stauffer said, and have declined in recent years. For him, rising costs include salaries for his growing staff of 70, maintenance on a fleet of 18 vehicles and managing real estate.

 

Both Stauffer, Keith Roberson of Keeney & Basford, also in Frederick, and Terry Connelly Jr. of Connelly Funeral Home of Essex say families have not been cutting back significantly on their options.

 

"Most people usually have life insurance and a lot of people prepare in advance," said Connelly, whose business provides about 350 funerals a year. "So far, I would say we're not affected that much by the economy."

 

Keeney & Basford, which Roberson acquired with fellow longtime employee Rick Graf in 2007, provides about 400 funerals a year at an average cost of $9,000. Roberson said revenues have held steady in recent years. "We work with families in their ability to pay, but we've always done that," Roberson said.

 

Prearrangements, or paying for funerals before they are needed, have started to wane at funeral homes, as families are looking more closely at their budgets. Thus far, Stauffer's and Connelly's prearrangement fund investments into insurance companies have fared well during the downturn.

 

Roberson, who invests prearrangement funds with local banks, said he has not struggled with investments either. "The funding we've been working with doesn't seem to be impacted yet," he said.

 

In the Baltimore area, Ruck Funeral Home has locations in Towson, Hamilton and Dundalk that have all noted steady revenues in recent years while providing nearly 2,000 funerals a year, said owner and president Michael J. Ruck. The business has 85 full-time employees.

 

"Most families know what kind of service they want before they come in," Ruck said. Roughly 22 percent request cremation, which is typically a less expensive service than burial, he said.

 

Law on funeral home owners still sparking controversy

 

The number of funeral homes in Maryland has remained fairly constant in the past eight years, fluctuating from 253 in 2001 to 242 in 2007, according to the Maryland Board of Morticians.

 

Funeral home owners in Maryland must have either a mortician's or a funeral director's license. In 1979, the state implemented a law restricting new licenses to only morticians in an effort to streamline the licensing process.

 

A push to revise the licensing process, including efforts by religious groups that do not want to embalm, was successful and the Maryland Board of Morticians is just starting to reissue those licenses, said executive director Laurie Sheffield-James.

 

The state also recently opened up funeral home ownership to corporations, both in or out of state. But those owners must still hold a funeral director's or mortician's license to operate.

 

A group of aspiring funeral home entrepreneurs, including one in Hagerstown, has sued the board over the licensing requirements. They argue that anyone should be able to own a home as long as they have a licensed employee, said their attorney Clark Neily of the Institute for Justice in Arlington, Va.

 

A ruling on the case, now in Circuit Court, is expected by June, Neily said. As of now, Maryland is the only state that requires a funeral home owner to be licensed.

 

While Stauffer declined to comment on the suit, citing his membership on the board of directors for the Maryland State Funeral Directors Association, Roberson said he supported the previous law limiting corporations' presence and keeping licensing restrictions to regulate service, he said.

 

"The right should be there for people to compete — it only makes us better," Roberson said. "But historically [licensing requirements have] been a good thing because people knew who they were dealing with."

 

Green funeral trend slow to take off

 

Nationwide, funeral home directors are starting to explore "green" funerals, a trend popular in Europe. Many families have been curious about eco-friendly burials, but most are "still making traditional choices," said Jessica Koth of the National Funeral Directors Association.

 

Green funerals usually involve not embalming the body, wrapping it in a shroud and using biodegradable caskets. Instead of tombstones, trees or plants mark the burial spot.

 

"We're helping educate our members about it," Koth said of such funerals. "We're seeing interest in it take off."

 

Both Stauffer, who is attending the International Cemetery, Cremation & Funeral Association conference in Las Vegas in April, and Roberson said they have had very few requests for a green service.

 

"It's not something that's going to take off tomorrow, but we owe it to ourselves to be enlightened and accommodating," Stauffer said. "If you take it to its purest form, there will have to be some regulatory changes."

 

Maryland's funeral industry

 

Roughly 880 licensed morticians in 2008.

 

Only state-licensed funeral directors may own funeral homes, a law being challenged by some would-be owners.

 

The U.S. death rate is 8.3 per 1,000 persons. As the death rate has held steady, so has demand for funerals.

 

Source: National Funeral Directors Association; Maryland State Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors; U.S. Census Bureau

 

Copyright 2009 Frederick County Gazette.

 

Md. suicide ring members will be extradited to Ga.

 

Associated Press

By Alex Dominguez

Frederick News-Post

Friday, February 27, 2009

 

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Two members of an assisted suicide ring are willing to travel to Georgia to face charges that they helped a 58-year-old man kill himself, an attorney said Friday as they appeared in court in Baltimore.

 

Dr. Lawrence D. Egbert and Nicholas Alex Sheridan, wearing bright yellow jumpsuits, smiled and waved to about a dozen supporters in the courtroom before asking a judge to release them on bond so they could travel to Georgia themselves to face charges. They waived their right to an extradition hearing.

 

"These are not people who are running from justice, these are people who want justice," defense attorney Michael Kaminkow told a judge.

 

Egbert is the Final Exit Network's medical director and Sheridan is a regional coordinator. They and two other network members arrested Wednesday and charged with assisted suicide in the death of John Celmer last June at his home near Atlanta.

 

Investigators say the organization may have been involved in as many as 200 other deaths around the country, and say the group advocated a suicide technique using helium, which cannot be detected in an autopsy, and "exit bags" placed over the head.

 

Kaminkow, citing 82-year-old Egbert's high blood pressure, told Judge Jeannie J. Hong that his clients were not in Georgia when Celmer killed himself. Hong said she couldn't release the men, but promised to speed the extradition and said she would reconisder if Georgia says the men can travel to Georgia on their own.

 

Egbert's wife, Ellen Barfield, said outside the courtroom that the case is part of a nationwide crackdown on assisted suicide and is bringing needed attention to the issue. She says, however, that her husband is not guilty of any crime.

 

"They were helping desperate people," she said. "But it's not assisted suicide, all they do is talk."

 

The case has revived a long-simmering debate about the right to die.

 

Voters in Oregon and Washington have legalized doctor-assisted suicide, and a district judge in Montana ruled in December that such suicides are legal there, though the state Supreme Court could overturn that decision. Most other states have stiff penalties for those found guilty of assisting suicide. People convicted of assisting in suicide in Georgia can be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

 

Georgia began investigating the Final Exit Network shortly after Celmer died of suffocation due to inhalation in June. Celmer's mother says he had suffered for years from cancer, but authorities say he had recovered and was embarrassed about his appearance following surgeries.

 

Group members say they don't actively aid suicides but rather support and guide those who decide to end their lives on their own, telling them how to suffocate themselves using helium and hoods known as exit bags.

 

Thomas E. Goodwin, the group's president, and Claire Blehr were both arrested Wednesday in metro Atlanta. A court appearance set for Friday was delayed after they were released from jail overnight on $66,000 bond each, authorities said.

 

According to court documents in the case, Blehr detailed each step of the process to an undercover agent who infiltrated the group claiming to be interested in committing suicide.

 

Blehr told the agent that he would place the hood on top of his own head, like a shower cap, and then inflate it by turning on the helium tank. After a few breaths, she told him the "lights would go out."

 

The guides would then let the helium tanks run for 20 minutes after they last felt his pulse to make sure he was dead. They would also stand by his side to ensure he didn't pull the bag off his head, according to the documents.

 

Jerry Dincin, the Final Exit Network's vice president, disputed the claims made in court documents.

 

"That's nonsense," Dincin said Friday. "We hold your hand because we feel a compassionate presence means you hold someone's hand. They need to be with someone in their last minutes. No one pulls off any hood. This method is so quick and so sure and so painless."

 

Associated Press Writer Greg Bluestein in Kennesaw, Ga., contributed to this report.

 

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

 

Bill would provide insurance coverage for autism

 

Maryland General Assembly 2009

 

By Erin Cunningham

Hagerstown Herald-Mail

Friday, February 27, 2009

 

ANNAPOLIS - Cindy Hill recalls a night when her son, who is now 9 years old, tenderly reached out to her and said, "Mom, I love you."

 

For Hill's son, Luke, who has been diagnosed with autism, that simple act took years of work, research and treatment to produce.

 

Yet the treatment that led to that breakthrough is not covered by insurance. That's the problem that Hill, of Hagerstown, and two other mothers were in Annapolis to address Thursday.

 

Hill said autism treatments or diagnoses are not covered by insurance plans because autism is considered untreatable and incurable. However, she, Kathy Laky of Frederick, Md., and Debbie Benfield of Hagerstown say their children have made notable improvements with biomedical treatment - a clinically proven autism treatment that recognizes the biology behind the behavior. All three women belong to a Hagerstown-based biomedical discussion group for parents.

 

Legislation being considered by state lawmakers would provide insurance coverage for some families with autistic children, but Hill and others said it does not go far enough. Laky and Benfield agreed that more families should receive help paying for autism treatment.

 

A bill heard Thursday by the House of Delegates Health and Government Operations committee would not help Hill, Laky or Benfield pay medical bills for their children.

 

The women attended a rally earlier in the day to support the bill, but they said they attended only to get additional information. They also discussed some possible options with Del. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington.

 

Laky, who has two daughters with autism, says she and her husband have paid at least $20,000 in two years in autism-related medical bills.

 

Hill said instead of helping only some families pay for autism treatments and other needs for their children, more funding should be diverted to a "waiver fund" available through Medicaid. The fund currently helps 900 families in Maryland - including Hill's - pay for autism-related medical bills not covered by insurance. Laky and Benfield are on the waiting list of 2,700 families.

 

The last time Laky checked the list was last year, and at that time her oldest daughter, who had been on the list for years, was No. 781.

 

The women said they would favor increasing the number of families who can access the fund by making more money available - a solution Shank suggested.

 

That would help more families than the bill being offered in the Maryland General Assembly, they said.

 

Shank said additional funding might not be available this year.

 

The women said all of their out-of-pocket expenses are worth it to see the strides their children are making each day.

 

Hill said she's refinanced her house three times to pay health care costs, and she hopes to be able to stay in it.

 

"You go into a lot of debt trying to rescue your child from the pit of autism," Hill said. "But it's worth everything."

 

Copyright 2009 Hagerstown Herald-Mail.

 

Funding available for farm plans

With few qualified to write applications, many may miss today's deadline

 

By Calum McKinney

Salisbury Daily Times

Friday, February 27, 2009

 

SALISBURY -- Eastern Shore poultry farmers are facing new environmental regulations from the federal government that call for permits that go beyond the now defunct state requirements.

 

The 2008 Farm Bill's Chesapeake Bay Initiative is now offering $23 million in conservation assistance funding, which farmers can tap to fulfill the Environmental Protection Agency's requirements for updated nutrient management plans from all chicken growers that produce manure. The deadline is today for farmers to submit those applications with new nutrient control plans.

 

However, some Eastern Shore chicken farmers are finding it difficult to meet the deadline.

 

"They have passed requirements at the federal level that we are going to be unable to comply with," said Virgil Shockley, a Worcester County Commissioner and chicken grower.

 

Even though the financial assistance is there, qualified personnel to write the plans is lacking.

 

"It took someone 30 hours to write my nutrient management plan," Shockley said. "Imagine how long it's going to take for 300 plans to be drawn up."

 

With very few people on the Eastern Shore qualified to write the plans, Shockley doesn't see how it's possible to get so many farms in compliance by today's application deadline.

 

The Maryland Department of the Environment is tasked with enforcing the federal permitting process, according to the MDE Web site.

 

And with the potential for many farms to pass today's deadline without having submitted nutrient management plans, Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Roger Richardson said any decision to push the deadline would have to be made by MDE.

 

"We can't delay it," he said late Thursday. "They need to get their applications in."

 

Moments before entering a meeting Thursday to discuss the CAFO permit, Richardson said he was unsure if farmers would face fines for failing to meeting today's deadline.

 

The Maryland Department of the Environment and Department of Agriculture report that the final Maryland general permit for Animal Feeding Operations has been delayed due to two requests for a contested case hearing -- one by the Waterkeeper Alliance and another from an individual farmer -- despite the state regulations becoming effective in January, according to the MDE Web site. The contested permit is being reviewed by an Administrative Law Judge at the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings, according to the Web site.

 

The stricter federal Concentrated Area Feeding Operation permit, created under a new interpretation of the 1972 Clean Water Act, is recommended for any farms with more than 37,500 birds. But the EPA has told farmers that regardless of size, if they "discharge or propose to discharge" pollutants into U.S. waters, they will need the permit, said Bill Satterfield, executive director of Delmarva Poultry Industry Inc.

 

"That definition is broad enough to include one thimble full of manure that could conceivably be carried to a waterway," he said. "That applies to atoms of nitrogen leaving a chickenhouse through the air or manure on a bird's feathers or a farmer's boots."

 

The annual fee MDE is proposing for permitting is $1,200 for large farms, $600 for medium ones and $120 for small ones. However, for the time being those fees will be waived. In Delaware and Virginia, no fee is being considered to enforce the law, Satterfield said.

 

"No matter how growers handle their manure and carcasses, if any nutrients are likely to be carried to waters of the United States, EPA believes farms need a permit," he said.

 

And according to an EPA official at a DPI Grower Committee meeting Satterfield attended, no matter the size of the farm, the absence of a permit puts a grower at a greater risk of enforcement.

 

"There are criminal penalties associated with violations of the Clean Water Act and the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation requirements," Satterfield said.

 

Producers concerned with Clean Water Act compliance are urged to seek funds through local U.S. Department of Agriculture service centers to help get their plans written.

 

"The new money available through the Farm Bill's Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative is great news for the bay and for Maryland farmers," Richardson said. "We encourage farmers to apply as soon as feasible."

 

Visit www.md.nrcs. usda.gov/programs for application forms, more information on the program and funding assistance.

 

Copyright 2009 Salisbury Daily Times.

 

Funding for care of mentally disabled back in Va. budget

 

By William C. Flook

DC Examiner

Friday, February 27, 2009

 

Budget negotiators in Virginia’s House and Senate agreed Thursday to restore funding for community-based care for the mentally disabled, reversing a cut proposed by Gov. Tim Kaine.

 

The agreement among the dozen senior legislators clears an impasse standing in the way of a timely budget compromise, though key disagreements over school staff funding, incarceration policy and other spending items persisted as of early Thursday evening.

 

The 2009 session is scheduled to adjourn on Saturday, leaving lawmakers with little time to reach a consensus budget to cover state spending through fiscal 2010.

 

The GOP-majority House had insisted on the funding, which will allow 400 more Virginians with mental disabilities to access group homes, respite care and other community-based services through Medicaid.

 

Half of those slots, called “MR waivers,” will be new. The other 200 were approved by the General Assembly last year as part of a larger expansion of the waivers, but cut in December in Kaine’s plan to close a $2.9 billion budget shortfall.

 

The infusion will allow Virginia to contain a waiting list for the waivers that climbs by about 400 names a year.

 

“What people have to realize is we’re still in the process of simply trying to level the playing field for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” said Nancy Mercer, executive director of The Arc of Northern Virginia, an advocacy group for the mentally disabled.

 

House negotiators, as a concession, agreed to the Senate’s demands for hospital funding, said Del. Phil Hamilton, R-Newport News, a budget conferee.

 

Kaine, and the House, want to cap the state’s funding on school support staff, which Senate negotiators remain opposed to. The House’s conferees are opposing a plan backed by the governor and Senate to allow nonviolent prison inmates up to 90-day early release.

 

Thursday’s agreement offered a glimmer of hope that budget talks won’t drag the session into March, especially after disputes derailed progress a day before.

 

“After yesterday’s meltdown, today has been very positive,” said Hamilton. “If we can have a good evening, and possibly a good Friday morning, there is a good possibility we can wrap this thing up.”

 

Copyright 2009 DC Examiner.

 

National / International

 

Obama names head of AIDS policy office

 

Associated Press

Washington Post

Thursday, February 26, 2009

 

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has selected a senior researcher from Georgetown University to direct his Office of National AIDS Policy, the White House announced Thursday.

 

Jeffrey S. Crowley will lead an office tasked with coordinating government efforts to reduce HIV infection in the U.S. and leading treatment of Americans with HIV/AIDS.

 

Crowley, who holds a master's degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University, has worked since 2000 as senior research scholar at Georgetown University's health policy institute.

 

"Jeffrey Crowley brings the experience and expertise that will help our nation address the ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis and help my administration develop policies that will serve Americans with disabilities," Obama said in a statement. "In both of these key areas, we continue to face serious challenges and we must take bold steps to meet them."

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last summer that it had been underestimating new HIV cases in the U.S. and that a better blood test and new statistical methods showed roughly 56,300 new HIV infections in 2006 _ about a 40 percent increase from the 40,000 annual estimate used for the past dozen years.

 

Obama's 2010 budget proposal released Thursday pledged increased resources to domestic HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, though no dollar figure was specified.

 

Crowley previously worked at the National Association of People with AIDS. His areas of expertise include Medicaid policy.

 

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, welcomed Crowley's appointment in a statement. "We need a national AIDS strategy to better coordinate and guide our response to this devastating disease," she said.

 

© 2009 The Associated Press.

 

Study: Old drugs might give TB a 1-2 punch

 

Associated Press

By Lauran Neergaard

Washington Post

Thursday, February 26, 2009

 

WASHINGTON -- Scientists might have found a way to deal drug-resistant tuberculosis a one-two punch using two old, safe antibiotics _ and studies in ill patients could begin later this year.

 

TB is one of the world's oldest killers, and the lung disease still claims the lives of more than 1.5 million people globally every year. The bacteria that cause TB are fast becoming impervious to many treatments, drug resistance that is seen worldwide but is a particular problem in parts of Asia and Africa. While typically the TB doesn't respond to two top treatments, an emerging threat is so-called extensively drug-resistant disease, or XDR-TB, that is virtually untreatable by remaining options.

 

So researchers are frantically hunting new approaches, including taking a fresh look at some old drugs.

 

TB bacteria contain a certain enzyme that renders the penicillin family of antibiotics drugs useless.

 

"It chews them up and spits them out and they never get to see their target," explained biochemist John Blanchard of the Albert Einstein School of Medicine.

 

But there are different antibiotics that can block that enzyme, called beta-lactamase. One, named clavulanate, has long been sold as part of the two-drug Augmentin combination that's widely used for various children's infections.

 

So Blanchard's team tested whether administering clavulanate might make TB vulnerable to other antibiotics _ and found a combination that in laboratory tests blocked the growth of 13 different drug-resistant TB strains.

 

The combo: Clavulanate to drop TB's shield, plus a long-sold injected antibiotic _ meropenem, part of that penicillin-style family _ that then attacks the bacteria.

 

The findings are reported Thursday in the journal Science.

 

What happens in a lab doesn't necessarily work in people. Still, the findings were so compelling that two teams of U.S. researchers _ from the National Institutes of Health and New York's Montefiore Medical Center _ already are planning small patient studies in South Korea and South Africa. They hope to begin those studies later this year.

 

"It's very clever," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. When one drug knocks out the TB microbe's defense, "that leaves the original drug with the capability of doing what it's supposed to be doing."

© 2009 The Associated Press.

 

Opinion

 

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