The American Cancer Society established a goal to cut cancer death rates by 50 percent between 1990 and 2015, but they found one big obstacle kept getting in their way: too many patients with little or no health insurance. So the nation’s wealthiest health charity (in both donations and volunteers) decided to modify their strategy. [...]

Pfizer, Incorporated (NYSE: PFE), is contacting healthcare professionals to warn them about a potential carcinogen in Viracept (nelfinavir), a medication used to help control human immunodeficiency virus infections. The possible carcinogen is known as ethyl methanesulfonate, or EMS. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, EMS has been shown to be teratogenic, mutagenic, and [...]

Two common cancers–one which strikes women and another that strikes men–will be sharing the spotlight next month. President George W. Bush has signed a pair of official proclamations declaring September 2007 National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. The proclamations serve as a tribute to the many scientists, researchers, and healthcare [...]

The national electronic prescription drug network now extends to all 50 states thanks to this month’s addition of the last holdout, Alaska. After some initial hesitation, Alaskan officials decided to follow suit with West Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia who joined the voluntary federal program earlier this year. Some physicians and smaller pharmacies had expressed [...]

Governor Bill Richardson has directed the New Mexico Department of Health to continue plans for a state-run medical marijuana program despite worries that his actions could lead to federal prosecutions for drug trafficking. New Mexico’s state laws allow the use of medical marijuana by patients who are undergoing treatment for chronic conditions such as cancer, [...]

Senate and House members remain divided about federal funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, otherwise known as S-CHIP. Here’s a cross-section of some of the coverage: NEWS: ABC; CBS; FOX; MSNBC GOVERNMENT: The White House; Senate Finance Committee EDITORIALS: The Boston Globe; The Heritage Foundation INDUSTRY/PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS: Insurance News Net; American Medical Association [...]

Lance Armstrong recently joined Chris Matthews on MSNBC Hardball to discuss the upcoming LIVESTRONG Presidential Cancer Forum. Armstrong and Matthews will co-moderate the August event where commander-in-chief hopefuls will be asked how they plan to tackle the difficult issue of healthcare reform and, more specifically, cancer program funding, if elected. The bipartisan forum is schedued [...]

A special session of the President’s Council on Bioethics is scheduled to meet on June 29, 2007, in Washington DC. The council’s agenda includes plans to discuss the implications of emerging research in the fields of nanotechnology and nanomedicine. Two experts in the field of nanoscience, Dr Andrew Maynard (Chief Science Advisor, Woodrow Wilson Center [...]