| Unusual therapies, intense scrutiny
Elrene Thomas says Dr. Rashid Buttar's unconventional therapies cured her cancer and saved her life. But Stephanie Kenny calls the Huntersville doctor a "charlatan" whose expensive intravenous infusions were worthless in treating her late husband's advanced cancer. This divide over Buttar's non-traditional medical practice is at the heart of allegations leveled against him recently by the N.C. Medical Board. Armed with complaints from Kenny and three others, the state board accuses Buttar of unprofessional conduct for departing from prevailing medical practice by treating patients with experimental, ineffective therapies and charging "exorbitant" fees. A public hearing is set for Feb. 20, after which the board could reprimand the doctor or revoke, suspend or put limits on his license.
Coming Soon to a Cell Near You: Genetic Engineering
The article originally appeared on Beliefnet in May 2000.
We've become sufficiently accustomed to announcements of medical or technological breakthroughs that today we tend to skim past them, headlines with "Scientists Discover Amazing _________" having lost their punch. Nevertheless, two reports of clinical trials last week should inspire in us both wonder and pause, for they herald the beginning of the end of Homo sapiens, as our species is presently constituted. Researchers in Paris and Houston reported success in using genetic therapy to treat severely ill patients. In the last 20 years, there have been scientists who have made many, many attempts--all unsuccessful--to infuse new genes into the bodies of those suffering genetic illnesses. Finally, such an attempt has worked, and the likely outcomes are two: First, that an important new round of disease reduction is in store, and second, that humanity is on the verge of acquiring the ability to alter its genetic destiny.
Great Barrief Reef doomed within a generation, say scientists
IT is probably too late to save the Great Barrier Reef and other coral reefs from global warming. Even if governments implement far-reaching measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions, they will not prevent the annihilation of coral reefs around the world. These are the conclusions of analysis by leading marine scientists to be published today in the prestigious journal Science.'Terrible future' "There is a terrible future in front of us for the reefs," said Canada-based United Nations University professor Peter Sale, one of 17 authors from seven nations of the Science paper. On Wednesday, Kevin Rudd told the UN's Bali climate change conference that global warming was threatening Australian natural wonders such as the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu National Park and rainforests, killing rivers and exposing people to more frequent and ferocious bushfires.
Dendreon Completes Target Enrollment of 500 Patients in Phase 3 IMPACT ...
SEATTLE, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) today announced that the Company has completed enrollment of over 500 patients in the Phase 3 IMPACT (IMmunotherapy for Prostate AdenoCarcinoma Treatment, also known as D9902B) clinical trial of PROVENGE (sipuleucel-T), the Company's investigational active cellular immunotherapy for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. The IMPACT study is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 3 trial designed to measure overall survival in men with metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer receiving PROVENGE versus placebo. Earlier this year, following a positive recommendation from an outside panel of experts, Dendreon received a complete response letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that asked for additional evidence that would support the efficacy of PROVENGE.
A New Computational Technique Predicts Side-Effects Of A Major Cancer ...
Researchers at the University of California San Diego have developed a novel computer technique to search for the side effects of major pharmaceuticals. The study, reported November 30 in PLoS Computational Biology relates to a class of drugs known as Select Estrogen Receptor Modulators (SERMs), which includes tamoxifen, the most prescribed drug in the treatment of breast cancer.
Unexpected side effects account for one-third of all drug development failures and result in drugs being pulled from the market. Typically drugs are tested using an experimental method which aims to identify off-target proteins that cause side effects. The team in this study, led by Drs. Philip Bourne and Lei Xie, propose a computational modeling approach. If broadly successful the approach could shorten the drug development process and reduce costly recalls.
LOCAL COLUMN: Ready to face tomorrow?
He practiced medicine here in Meadville for more than half a century. My Uncle Ed was a dentist. He walked to school and completed the eighth grade, then worked as a streetcar conductor before fighting in the Spanish American War. Afterward, he attended University of Pittsburgh Dental School, graduating in 1904. When my mother first became a legal secretary (she walked to school, too) she worked for an attorney who shared office space with a lawyer named Captain Jimmy Smith. Captain Smith was a Civil War veteran who never went to college or law school. As a kid, he probably walked to school. But as a young man, he "read law" in the offices of another lawyer and ultimately gained enough experience to hang out his shingle without the benefit of a long, expensive education. Those were simpler times.
The experts are students, too
Only 3.5% of freshman grades this year have been F's, down from 15%, and the number of freshmen who failed a class dropped 22%. Early intervention has been the key, said Robert Beato, dean of students. The goal of the mentoring program is to help students overcome their fears about high school and to get off to a strong start academically. "When they start failing classes as a freshman, they end up dropping out," Beato said. "We need to give them a chance." South Lake's program, developed by the Boomerang Project, a California-based group, is used in 31 school systems in Michigan, including Crestwood, North Farmington, L'anse Creuse North, and seven other high schools in metro Detroit. Juniors and seniors are selected as peer mentors, with each older student helping five freshmen.
Carbon Nanotubes Have Room for Multifunctionality
In the quest to turn carbon nanotubes from nanoscale wonder into clinically useful drug and imaging agent delivery agents, researchers have often added polymer coatings to the outside of the nanotubes in order to render them biocompatible. Now, researchers at Stanford University have found that even when coated, carbon nanotubes retain the ability to bind extraordinarily large numbers of drug and imaging agent molecules in a stable yet reversible manner. .
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