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Neupro(R) (rotigotine Transdermal Patch) Can Now Be Prescribed To All Patients With Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease In Europe
UCB announced that Neupro(R) (rotigotine transdermal patch) can now be prescribed to all patients with idiopathic Parkinson"s disease in Europe and is newly available for the symptomatic treatment of moderate to severe idiopathic Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) in adults. This follows the decision of the European Commission to lift treatment restrictions on Neupro® in line with the recommendation of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), issued on 29 May 2009.

Safety-Critical Software Put Under Scrutiny
Eliminating the potential for catastrophic medical, energy and transportation disasters due to software failure is the aim of a new $21-million global research centre to be located at McMaster University. It will be one of the first such centres in the world.
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Blogs Comment On Supreme Court Pregnancy Leave Ruling, Obama's Notre Dame Speech, Other Topics
The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries. ~ "Peaceful Revolution: Another Blow to Women," Debra Ness, Huffington Post blogs: The Supreme Court"s ruling this week in AT&T Corp. v. Hulteen "dealt a serious and painful blow to working women and the families who rely on their retirement benefits," Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, writes. The ruling "affects a limited number of people," and it "would be easy to ignore them -- easy, but terribly wrong," Ness continues. "This ruling sends a terrible message about whether discrimination will bring penalties and costs, and whether the courts will address the ongoing effects of prior discrimination," she writes. Ness notes that the ruling "couldn"t come at a worse time," adding, "In today"s grim economic climate, women and their families cannot afford to see their retirement benefits kept lower by discriminatory workplace policies that should have been remedied decades ago." Ness writes that it is "sobering that, at a time when negative stereotypes about pregnant women clearly persist, we have a Supreme Court that doesn"t stand firm for equal rights and equal opportunity." She concludes, "It"s a good reminder of what"s at stake with the Supreme Court nomination President Obama is about to make" (Ness, Huffington Post blogs, 5/21).~ "This Week in Religion and Politics," Sarah Posner, American Prospect"s "The FundamentaList": When "viewed in the context of Obama"s entire faith-based outreach project, the events" surrounding the University of Notre Dame"s commencement ceremony "highlighted how he has embraced traditionalist, conservative religion -- to the detriment of sexual and reproductive justice," Posner writes. President Obama has "focused his outreach efforts" to reduce the need for abortion "on more conservative religious groups" and "claims to honor their position on moral issues," Posner writes. However, "when the dust settles on the Notre Dame controversy, he"ll have to figure out what to do with the policy advice he has sought" from the White House Office on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, she continues. Posner adds, "How Obama reacts to that advice will demonstrate whether the council is mere window dressing to shore up support from swing constituencies or whether Obama will yield to conservative religious dogma on reproductive-health issues." Meanwhile, Christian conservatives have been "making hay of the findings" of recent Pew and Gallup polls that found more U.S. residents identifying with "pro-life" positions and using the data to argue "that Obama"s position is out of touch with the majority of Americans," Posner writes. However, as bloggers at The Monkey Cage and FiveThirtyEight have pointed out, the polls are not representative of most U.S. residents" views on abortion rights, she writes. "Because of that deception on reproductive rights, it"s more important than ever for the president to lay the moral groundwork for his own position -- not just to recognize the moral qualms of abortion opponents," Posner says (Posner, "The FundamentaList," American Prospect, 5/20).~ "Meghan McCain Preaches What She Practices," Willa Paskin, Slate"s "XX Factor": Meghan McCain -- Sen. John McCain"s (R-Ariz.) daughter -- "acquitted herself quite admirably" on Monday"s episode of Comedy Central"s "The Colbert Report" by "defending her core position" that the Republican Party "needs to appeal to younger voters, and it can only do so by getting liberal on social issues," Paskin writes. On the show, McCain said, "I think it"s not realistic for this generation to be just plain abstinent, I think we need to have sex education with condoms and birth control. ... I would never practice anything I didn"t preach." Paskin also includes a video clip of McCain"s appearance (Paskin, "XX Factor," Slate, 5/19).~ "Skill the Messenger," Cristina Page, Birth Control Watch: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin"s (R) 18-year-old daughter Bristol -- who was
Cardiovascular

Lowell Elementary Closes Due To High Rate Of Influenza Like Illness

Today, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health in cooperation with Phoenix Elementary School District has closed Lowell Elementary School until May 26, 2009 due to a high rate of influenza like illness. "Through enhanced surveillance and a stellar school nurse, we learned that the school was experiencing a much higher than normal rate of absenteeism due to illness that looks like flu," said Dr. Bob England, director of Maricopa Department of Public Health. "I said that we would watch schools closely for signs of a local outbreak and would act as necessary on a case by case basis. After talking with school officials, we all agreed that as a precaution and to limit the further spread of illness, we would close the school until after the Memorial Day holiday." With the novel H1N1 influenza (Swine Flu) and seasonal flu behaving much the same way, it is not recommended to test students already home with mild illness; therefore, it is likely that the particular strain of flu will remain unknown. "As I"ve said over the last few weeks, as long as the novel H1N1 influenza continues to look like seasonal flu, there is no need to continue testing what we already know; flu is here in our community." "Our healthcare community is seeing cases of both types of influenza; seasonal and H1N1. This is why the community and public health must continue to be vigilant; sometimes, that means having to close a school as a precaution." Tips to lessen the spread of flu in your home include: - Keep the sick person away from other people as much as possible - Remind the sick person to cover their coughs, and clean their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub often, especially after coughing and/or sneezing - Have everyone in the household clean their hands often, using soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub Arizona Department of Health Services


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