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Monthly Archives: August 2014

CDC Staffer Exposed to Ebola Amid Growing Concerns for Health Workers

The Ebola virus threat to health workers and international responders in West Africa saw no letup today, with news of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) returning one of its deployed staff members after contact with a patient and Canada pulling a lab team after infections were detected at their hotel. CDC…
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Past WCMS President Rhoda Powsner Passes Away

Rhoda Lee Moscovitz Powsner, MD, JD, MHSA, former President of WCMS, died in her sleep in Dedham, MA on August 21, 2014. A resident of Ann Arbor for almost 60 years, Dr. Powsner and her husband relocated to Massachusetts in 2013 to be near family. Dr. Powsner operated a cardiology practice in Ann Arbor from…
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Sunshine Act Deadline Pushed Back

After nearly two weeks of technical problems and a host of physician and industry complaints, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has reopened its Sunshine Act portal (also known as the “Open Payments” system), where physicians can review data about their financial interactions with medical device and drug manufacturers. The agency has extended…
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Washtenaw County Schools Working to Reduce Elevated Vaccine Waiver Rates

Parents of children in Washtenaw County schools excuse their children from being vaccinated at a rate that is troubling local public health officials. Washtenaw’s immunization waiver rate was the 20th highest out of 83 Michigan counties. Database: See vaccination rates at Washtenaw County public and charter schools Requiring that students at public and charter schools…
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NewLink Genetics: Ready to Test Ebola Vaccine

An Iowa drug developer is preparing to test a possible Ebola vaccine in humans, as scientists race to develop ways to prevent or fight a virus that has killed more than 1,000 people in a West African outbreak. NewLink Genetics is planning an initial phase of testing involving up to 100 healthy volunteers and is…
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US Ebola Outbreak ‘Possible’ But Likely Not Large: CDC Chief

Washington (AFP) - People with symptoms of Ebola will inevitably spread worldwide due to the nature of global airline travel, but any outbreak in the US is not likely to be large, health authorities say. Already one man with dual US-Liberian citizenship has died from Ebola, after becoming sick on a plane from Monrovia to…
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U.S. Ebola Virus Patient Being Treated in Atlanta Faces Crucial Days

An American infected with Ebola in Liberia was being treated and monitored in the U.S. on Sunday, as doctors worked to provide care in what will be a crucial few days in his attempt to recover from the deadly disease. About a week after his first symptoms of Ebola were reported, Kent Brantly, a doctor,…
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