The summary from Slashdot says it so well.

"A case before the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday addressed the legality of medical patents. From the article: 'The case focuses on a patent that covers the concept of adjusting the dosage of a drug, thiopurine, based on the concentration of a particular chemical (called a metabolite) in the patient's blood ( Read more... )

Thursday, August 13, 2009 was my first infusion. 25 months (and a smidge more), and I'm doing my 200th infusion as I write this. That means 800 needle sticks in my abdomen, 1000 needles disposed of, over eight football field lengths of tubing used, almost 7 liters of medicine infused (6955 ml) representing 1217 grams of actual immuneglobin (IgG ( Read more... )

just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection ( Read more... )

Today, May 12, is Fibromyalgia Awareness Day. I had heard of fibromyalgia over the years, but I never knew what it was, that is, until a friend of mine was diagnosed with it. I've known Michelle for probably more than 15 years now, and it forced her into medical retirement and Social Security Disability (SSDI) before she turned 40. She had ( Read more... )

YES! I have always thought these were just flat-out wrong. Patents were intended for inventions, not things that occur in nature. If you invent a machine that will detect certain genetic patterns, fine, patent that. But not the sequence ( Read more... )

I can't say that I'm terribly surprised, but it is interesting.http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/M/MED_TIME_CHANGE_HEART_ATTACKS?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-10-