MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'arlen specter'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:32:18 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4119717&cid=t_182682_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FMG3RQRES24g%2F Will Congress ever pass a bill that limits pay-to-delay deals? The Federal Trade Commission has been trying to convince Congress for months to do so, but opposition is mounting. Five Democratic Senators are objecting to a bill recently passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee because it contains a provision that would restrict these patent settlements (see this). In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the endangered Nevada Democrat, and Appropriations Committee chairman Daniel Inouye, a Democrat from Hawaii, the Democrats say they have “substantive concerns with the content” of the provision and that the decision to include it in the appropriations bill “contradicts both the spirit and the letter of the Senate rules” (see the letter). Why bother to ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4119717 Thu, 28 Oct 2010 21:34:10 +0100 4119717 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3907782&cid=t_182682_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FdhMhoMraD94%2F The latest people to object to the recent decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to open a National Coverage Analysis of the Provenge prostate cancer vaccine happen to be two US Senators. John Kerry and Arlen Specter, Democrats from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, respectively, wrote an Aug. 20 letter to the agency questioning the rationale for the review and voicing suspicion the move will lead to restricted coverage. At issue is the extent to which CMS believes coverage is reasonable and necessary. As noted previously, an NCA is uncommon for new drugs, but CMS officials have ranged from silent to vague in explaining their decision. Although marketed for $93,000, price is not supposed to factor into the analysis. Presumably, the undertaking was prompted by regional ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3907782 Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:04:50 +0100 3907782 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3806023&cid=t_182682_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F7SvmpDcngfs%2F In yet another legislative bid to tackle pay-to-delay deals, the US Senate Appropriations Committee voted yesterday to pass the Preserve Access to Affordable Generic Drugs Act, which was included in the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill reported out of the committee. A companion House bill was recently passed as part of the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the House bill would save the federal government $2.6 billion over 10 years by reducing drug costs. “The cost of brand-name drugs rose nearly ten percent last year. In contrast, the cost of generic drugs fell by nearly ten percent. At this time of spiraling health care costs, we cannot turn a blind eye to these anticompetitive backroom deals that deny consume... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3806023 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:06:17 +0100 3806023 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3721960&cid=t_182682_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F28WlTkAyHMw%2F A proposal to end those controversial ‘pay-to-delay’ deals between brand-name and generic drugmakers was passed by the House of Representatives last night as part of a measure to fund wars. Ironic, yes? Or maybe appropriate. In any event, the bill now goes to the Senate, Bloomberg News reports. Under the proposal, drugmakers could be fined if the Federal Trade Commission or the courts determine they struck deals to preserve a brand-name drug patent by delaying introduction of a lower-priced generic equivalent (see page 74). This is “just another signal of the growing support in Congress for ending this unconscionable behavior by some pharmaceutical companies,” FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz tells the news service. The FTC, you may recall, has made a mission of ending these dea... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3721960 Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:55:23 +0100 3721960 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3581591&cid=t_182682_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FyrFMb31yafw%2F By Ilya ShapiroJust as Tuesday’s primary elections were good news for libertarians, they were bad news for Elena Kagan.  Now that Arlen Specter (D-R-D-PA) will never again face an electorate, we will be able to see his true colors, whatever they are – this should be interesting! — on the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), assuming she wins her June 8 primary run-off (having to tack left to do so), will be a possible vote against Kagan so she can show skeptical Arkansans that she’s not an Obama-Reid-Pelosi rubber stamp.  And Rand Paul’s trouncing of establishment candidate Trey Grayson in the Republican primary should strike fear into the hearts of all senators running for re-election this fall (or even 2012) such that they refuse to�... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3581591 Thu, 20 May 2010 12:42:30 +0100 3581591 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2699748&cid=t_182682_125_f&fid=34819&url=http%3A%2F%2Fflapsblog.com%2F2009%2F08%2F13%2Fpennsylvania-senate-poll-watch-republican-pat-toomey-beating-democrat-senator-arlen-specter-by-12-points%2F United States Senator and newly switched party Democrat Arlen Specter is in trouble in his 2010 re-election campaign. Uncomfortable town hall meetings are just the tip of the iceberg for Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter. He now trails Republican Pat Toomey by double digits in his bid for reelection next year and is viewed unfavorably by a majority of the state’s voters. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Pennsylvania voters shows 48% would vote for Toomey if the election were held today. Just 36% would vote for Specter while four percent (4%) prefer a third option, and 12% are not sure. These figures reflect a dramatic reversal since June. At that time, before the public health care debate began, Specter led Toomey by eleven. Just 43% now have a favorable opinion of Spect... FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2699748 Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:53:04 +0100 2699748 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2630051&cid=t_182682_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FJ3w8Wlgi7cs%2F Having sat through the entire gavel-to-gavel coverage of last week’s confirmation hearings, I still don’t know if I would vote to confirm Sonia Sotomayor if I were a senator, I really don’t. Deciding how to vote on this is more than a simple matter of deciding whether she is “qualified” to sit on the Supreme Court—which is hard enough given there is no fixed qualification standard. It also has to include how much deference you want to give the president, in general terms but also taking into account that Sotomayor will likely be confirmed and you want to position yourself politically for the next nominee. And it has to include, of course, how your constituents feel; while it’s cowardly to follow opinion polls blindly, you are accountable to those who sent you to Washingto... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2630051 Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:04:59 +0100 2630051 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2389674&cid=t_182682_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FhJKyEy9FHS4%2F Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) has been a leader in the fight for fiscal responsibility in Congress. He’s even led on issues that many elected officials have shied away from, such as Social Security reform and free trade. Recently he said that he would support Pat Toomey over Arlen Specter in a Republican primary, which may have prompted Specter’s party switch. DeMint was widely quoted as saying, “I would rather have 30 Republicans in the Senate who really believe in principles of limited government, free markets, free people, than to have 60 that don’t have a set of beliefs.” It may have been feedback from that comment that caused DeMint to write an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on his vision of a “Big Tent” Republican party. He makes some excellent points: But bi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2389674 Mon, 04 May 2009 16:12:08 +0100 2389674 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2386854&cid=t_182682_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F05%2Fscurilous-specter-blames-gop.html Jack Kemp died yesterday of cancer, with which he was only diagnosed in January. By the time it was caught, it had spread throughout his body. Those who knew him mourn, and those who didn't, like me, give a tip of the hat in appreciation to the pubic service of a respectable politician.But Arlen Specter--shamefully--used the occasion of Kemp's death to justify his political switch to again becoming a Democrat. From the story: "Well, I was sorry to disappoint many people. Frankly, I was disappointed that the Republican Party didn't want me as their candidate," Mr. Specter said on "Face the Nation." "But as a matter of principle, I'm becoming much more comfortable with the Democrats' approach. And one of the items that I'm working on, Bob, is funding for medical research." Mr. Specter contin... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2386854 Mon, 04 May 2009 02:00:00 +0100 2386854 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2382261&cid=t_182682_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FL5E-Hh7pQ-w%2F President Obama is not the only one with a difficult decision to make in the face of mounting pressure from various groups.  The Republicans will have to decide what posture to take: combative or deferential, political or analytical. With Obama still at the height of his popularity, and with solid Democratic control of the Senate (even without Arlen Specter and Al Franken), the GOP is unlikely to sustain a filibuster or generate significant opposition to any but the most extreme nominee — such as the radical transnationalist Harold Koh, whose nomination to be the State Department’s head lawyer is currently pending. What Republicans should do instead is force a full public debate about constitutional interpretation and judicial philosophy, laying out in vivid detail what kind of judges... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2382261 Fri, 01 May 2009 15:28:13 +0100 2382261 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2380730&cid=t_182682_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FGK5O_PL6LtI%2F I offer some evidence in today’s Chicago Tribune: Last week, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter was one of the most liberal Republicans in the Senate. Today, he’s the most conservative Democrat…. But party-switchers often change their votes as well as their labels. The day after Republicans won control of the Senate in 1994, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama switched to the Republican Party. He had been a relatively conservative Democrat and had high-profile conflicts with President Bill Clinton, so the switch wasn’t a great surprise. But observers might be surprised to look back at what happened to Shelby’s voting record. According to the American Conservative Union, for eight years Shelby’s conservative voting percentage had ranged between 43 and 76. Even in 199... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2380730 Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:55:40 +0100 2380730 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1509068&cid=t_182682_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F309909631%2F Just how badly does the Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt want that extra $275 million for the FDA? Not enough, according to a letter US Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, who accuses Leavitt of a maneuver that could cause a delay of up to nine months before the FDA sees any additional funding. You may recall Congress chastised FDA commish Andy von Eschenach for months for refusing to say how much - if any - extra money was needed to combat tainted food and drugs. Last month, Andy took the unusual step of writing Specter a letter asking for $275 million in extra funding. Then, two evenings ago, Mike and Andy hastily call a press conference to say the White House added the funds to its budget for the fiscal year starting October 1. This morning, however, Leavit... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1509068 Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:26:36 +0100 1509068 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1443177&cid=t_182682_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F290108491%2F After months of refusing to say how much the agency needs to get things done, FDA commish Andy von Eschenbach has writte a letter to Congress asking for an immediate infusion to inspect imported food, drugs and devices, The New York Times reports. The request was made in a letter to Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, and offers a detailed spending plan for such things as opening new foreign offices, increasing inspections and constructing new databases to track drug hazards, the paper writes. Here is the letter. Presidential appointees rarely diverge so forcefully from the president’s own spending plans, or at least avoid doing so in writing. Andy’s action surprised some observers and was taken as perhaps a sign of Bush’s waning influence in the closing months of his p... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1443177 Wed, 14 May 2008 11:12:54 +0100 1443177 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1376904&cid=t_182682_136_f&fid=36051&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FCancerCommentary%2F%7E3%2F271437040%2F In 2005, Sen. Arlen Specter was given a clean bill of health after undergoing treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma - a cancer of the lymphatic system. Now, it seems that Specter’s cancer is back. SSen.pecter, 78, said yesterday that doctors diagnosed an early recurrence of Hodgkin’s, revealed in a medical scan but that he has no symptoms. “I was surprised by the PET scan findings because I have been feeling so good,” Specter said in the statement. “I consider this just another bump on the road to a successful recovery from Hodgkin’s, from which I’ve been symptom-free for three years.” Source: The Washington Post Tags: Hodgkin's lymphoma, Senator Arlen SpecterShare This (Source: Cancer Commentary) Cancer Commentary blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1376904 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:46:49 +0100 1376904