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Senate Judiciary Committee Vote On Sotomayor Reset For July 28
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday postponed its vote on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor until July 28 at the request of Republican members who said they need one more week to review written answers she recently submitted to the panel, CongressDaily reports. Both Republicans and Democrats expect Sotomayor to be approved by the committee and confirmed by the Senate, CongressDaily reports (CongressDaily, 7/21).The delay came as Senate Republicans continued to weigh whether they would vote to confirm Sotomayor, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced plans to vote for Sotomayor and issued a statement calling the judge "committed to applying the law impartially without bias or favoritism." Four other moderate Republicans have said they will support Sotomayor, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) indicated that more might follow suit. "There are a number of Republicans who have announced they plan to vote for her," Leahy said, adding, "There are a number of others who"ve not made that announcement yet, but plan to vote for her" (Peterson, Wall Street Journal, 7/21). Leahy said he is confident that Sotomayor will be confirmed in time for the Supreme Court"s first meeting on Sept. 9.Some strong conservatives, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), have said they will oppose Sotomayor (Hirschfeld Davis, AP/Denver Post, 7/22). Among the Senate Republicans who have not announced their intentions are Sens. John Cornyn (Texas), who serves on the Judiciary Committee, and Judd Gregg (N.H.) (Wall Street Journal, 7/21).NARAL Endorses Sotomayor NARAL ProChoice America recently said that it will endorse Sotomayor, the AP/Seattle Times reports. The group said that Sotomayor"s testimony shows that she is a stronger supporter of privacy rights than the last two Supreme Court nominees -- Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. Sotomayor said several times during her confirmation hearings that privacy rights include a woman"s right to have an abortion, NARAL said. According to the AP/Times, NARAL did not endorse Sotomayor until now because of uncertainty over her views on abortion rights (Hirschfeld Davis, AP/Seattle Times, 7/21).
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There Is Enormous Waste In The Production And Reporting Of Research Evidence
In a viewpoint published Online First and in a future edition of The Lancet, Sir Iain Chalmers, of the James Lind Library, Oxford, UK, and Professor Paul Glasziou, of the University of Oxford, UK, debate on the unnecessary waste that exists in medical research. This misuse leads many reports to be of no purpose. If there is a lack of functional reports and if they are not easily accessible, research is of no help to patients or their doctors.
News of the day
Zebrafish Provide A Model For Cancerous Melanoma In Humans
In a new study published in Disease Models & Mechanisms, scientists use the zebrafish to gain insight into the influence of known cancer genes on the development and progression of melanoma, an aggressive form of human skin cancer with limited treatment options.
Public Health

Article In Medical Decision Making: FDA Ignores Critical Information On Home HIV Tests

The FDA is ignoring critical information in deciding whether to approve an over-the-counter, rapid HIV test for home use, according to a recent article in the journal Medical Decision Making (MDM) which is published by SAGE. As the price of the HIV test rises, some lower-income individuals who are at greater risk for HIV infection will not be able to afford it. The FDA has been criticized because it bases its decisions on small studies performed in non-representative populations. "When approving new technologies, the FDA should focus less on the general population and more on the people who will actually use these technologies," said co-author A. David Paltiel, PhD, of the Yale School of Medicine. "The disconnect between approved indication and actual use is stark." The test in question is the OraQuick ADVANCE 1/2, a rapid, point-of-care test that can detect antibodies to both HIV-1 and HIV-2 in 20 minutes using a simple cheek swab. The test is already FDA-approved for use in health care settings such as hospitals, drug treatment facilities, state and local health departments, clinics, community-based organizations, and university health centers throughout the United States. The FDA has asked the manufacturer to collect data on the ability of the test to correctly detect both the presence and absence of HIV infection when employed by untrained users. However, it has not requested any further information on how the manufacturer"s retail price will influence the demand for home testing in populations with high-rates of undetected HIV infection. Using a mathematical analysis, the authors demonstrate that many of the highest-risk individuals will be unable to afford home testing at the price the manufacturer is likely to propose. By failing to take into account the relationship between retail pricing, consumer purchasing behavior, and HIV risk, the FDA may overestimate the test"s ability to identify previously undetected cases of HIV infection. "The information currently sought by the FDA is not sufficient to address the true benefit of the HIV test for home use," write Paltiel and co-author Harold A. Pollack, PhD of the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. "Our analysis suggests that a cheaper test may do a better job of finding HIV infection. The home HIV test product might actually work better at a lower price." "Price, Performance, and the FDA Approval Process: The Example of Home HIV Testing" in Medical Decision Making is now online and freely available for a limited time at http://mdm.sagepub.com/cgi/rapidpdf/0272989X09334420v1. Jim Gilden SAGE Publications


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