(Subjects: Religion/Worship, Lightworkers, Food, Health, Prescription Drugs, Homeopathy, Innate (Body intelligence), New Age movement, Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text version)

“…… Should I use Doctors and Drugs to Heal Me or Spiritual Methods?

"Dear Kryon, I have heard that you should stay natural and not use the science on the planet for healing. It does not honor God to go to a doctor. After all, don't you say that we can heal with our minds? So why should we ever go to a doctor if we can do it ourselves? Not only that, my doctor isn't enlightened, so he has no idea about my innate or my spiritual body needs. What should I do?"

First, Human Being, why do you wish to put so many things in boxes? You continue to want a yes and no answer for complex situations due to your 3D, linear outlook on almost everything. Learn to think out of the 3D box! Look at the heading of this section [above]. It asks which one should you do. It already assumes you can't do both because they seem dichotomous.

Let's use some spiritual logic: Here is a hypothetical answer, "Don't go to a doctor, for you can heal everything with your mind." So now I will ask: How many of you can do that in this room right now? How many readers can do that with efficiency right now? All of you are old souls, but are you really ready to do that? Do you know how? Do you have really good results with it? Can you rid disease and chemical imbalance with your mind right now?

I'm going to give you a truth, whether you choose to see it or not. You're not ready for that! You are not yet prepared to take on the task of full healing using your spiritual tools. Lemurians could do that, because Pleiadians taught them how! It's one of the promises of God, that there'll come a day when your DNA works that efficiently and you will be able to walk away from drug chemistry and the medical industry forever, for you'll have the creator's energy working at 100 percent, something you saw within the great masters who walked the earth.

This will be possible within the ascended earth that you are looking forward to, dear one. Have you seen the news lately? Look out the window. Is that where you are now? We are telling you that the energy is going in that direction, but you are not there yet.

Let those who feel that they can heal themselves begin the process of learning how. Many will be appreciative of the fact that you have some of the gifts for this now. Let the process begin, but don't think for a moment that you have arrived at a place where every health issue can be healed with your own power. You are students of a grand process that eventually will be yours if you wish to begin the quantum process of talking to your cells. Some will be good at this, and some will just be planting the seeds of it.

Now, I would like to tell you how Spirit works and the potentials of what's going to happen in the next few years. We're going to give the doctors of the planet new inventions and new science. These will be major discoveries about the Human body and of the quantum attributes therein.

Look at what has already happened, for some of this science has already been given to you and you are actually using it. Imagine a science that would allow the heart to be transplanted because the one you have is failing. Of course! It's an operation done many times a month on this planet. That information came from the creator, did you realize that? It didn't drop off the shelf of some dark energy library to be used in evil ways.

So, if you need a new heart, Lightworker, should you go to the doctor or create one with your mind? Until you feel comfortable that you can replace your heart with a new one by yourself, then you might consider using the God-given information that is in the hands of the surgeon. For it will save your life, and create a situation where you stay and continue to send your light to the earth! Do you see what we're saying?

You can also alter that which is medicine [drugs] and begin a process that is spectacular in its design, but not very 3D. I challenge you to begin to use what I would call the homeopathic principle with major drugs. If some of you are taking major drugs in order to alter your chemistry so that you can live better and longer, you might feel you have no choice. "Well, this is keeping me alive," you might say. "I don't yet have the ability to do this with my consciousness, so I take the drugs."

In this new energy, there is something else that you can try if you are in this category. Do the following with safety, intelligence, common sense and logic. Here is the challenge: The principle of homeopathy is that an almost invisible tincture of a substance is ingested and is seen by your innate. Innate "sees" what you are trying to do and then adjusts the body's chemistry in response. Therefore, you might say that you are sending the body a "signal for balance." The actual tincture is not large enough to affect anything chemically - yet it works!

The body [innate] sees what you're trying to do and then cooperates. In a sense, you might say the body is healing itself because you were able to give it instructions through the homeopathic substance of what to do. So, why not do it with a major drug? Start reducing the dosage and start talking to your cells, and see what happens. If you're not successful, then stop the reduction. However, to your own amazement, you may often be successful over time.

You might be able to take the dosage that you're used to and cut it to at least a quarter of what it was. It is the homeopathy principle and it allows you to keep the purpose of the drug, but reduce it to a fraction of a common 3D dosage. You're still taking it internally, but now it's also signaling in addition to working chemically. The signal is sent, the body cooperates, and you reduce the chance of side effects.

You can't put things in boxes of yes or no when it comes to the grand system of Spirit. You can instead use spiritual logic and see the things that God has given you on the planet within the inventions and processes. Have an operation, save your life, and stand and say, "Thank you, God, for this and for my being born where these things are possible." It's a complicated subject, is it not? Each of you is so different! You'll know what to do, dear one. Never stress over that decision, because your innate will tell you what is appropriate for you if you're willing to listen. ….”

Monsanto / GMO - Global Health


(Subjects: Big pharma [the drug companies of America] are going to have to change very soon or collapse. When you have an industry that keeps people sick for money, it cannot survive in the new consciousness., Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text version)
"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Lose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Pedal wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)
"THE BRIDGE OF SWORDS" – Sep 29, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: ... I'm in Canada and I know it, but I will tell those listening and reading in the American audience the following: Get ready! Because there are some institutions that are yet to fall, ones that don't have integrity and that could never be helped with a bail out. Again, we tell you the biggest one is big pharma, and we told you that before. It's inevitable. If not now, then in a decade. It's inevitable and they will fight to stay alive and they will not be crossing the bridge. For on the other side of the bridge is a new way, not just for medicine but for care. ....) - (Text Version)

Pharmaceutical Fraud / Corruption cases

Health Care

Health Care
Happy birthday to Percy Julian, a pioneer in plant-drug synthesis. His research produced steroids like cortisone. (11 April 2014)

Friday, May 3, 2013

All autistic kids are atheists

TimeTurk, 22 april 2013


The head of Adana’s Health and Education Association for Autistic Children, sociologist Fehmi Kaya, recently caused a stir when he claimed all autistic children were “atheists due to a lack of a section of faith in their brains,” while adding that atheism was a form of autism, according to research.

“Autistic children do not know believing in God because they do not have a section of faith in their brains,” Kaya said, according to daily Milliyet.

Kaya said the underdevelopment of faith sections in the brain caused autistic children to not believe in God.

“That is why they don’t know how to pray, how to believe in God. It is needed to create awareness in these children through methods of therapy.”

Kaya added that autistic children should undergo treatment to “create areas of faith in their brain.”

“They need to develop feelings and learn to form empathy with others. They need to understand why normal people do what they do. As a result of that, they would need to understand that there is a creator, to whom the people pray to and believe in; and they need to understand and internalize that. That way a section of faith can be formed in their brains,” Kaya was quoted as saying.

Autistic children were atheists from birth without being aware of it, Kaya said, adding, “Research says atheism and autistic children are linked. Researchers in the USA and Canada say that atheism is a different form of autism.”

“We cannot expect a child who cannot recognize a picture to recognize God. We need to help the autistic child recognize objects through therapy by targeting areas of senses in the brain,” Kaya said.

Kaya also said that they will turn autistic children into believers through therapy sessions that will be offered freely in therapy centers in the future.(Agencies)


Related Articles:

"THE NEXT 18 YEARS"–  Dec 2, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll)

(Subjects: You are looking  at a Quantum event, clearing a filter - Portal pineal , Higher self to step forward and communicate to You, Still remains in 3D but exposure to multi dimensions, Evolution of humanity, Intent, Mayan Calendar, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, 26.000 Years, Milky Way, Nostradamus, 1987, Beginning to a New Time, Channellers/Teachers, Center of Galaxy – Black hole, Bridge of Swords, Pleiadians, Children, Inventions – The discoveries (e.g. : Airplanes - Medicines – Radio .. ): These new Discoveries were given all over the planet when Human consciousness was ready for it. New Inventions are coming, the timing depends on how the middle East problems are solved, Biology reaction of quantum energy; new radio of the future, seeing quantum energy, when it is revealed all science books will have to be rewritten, This will be an AHA moment – be possible to communicate with the rest of Galaxy, NASA, Church/Religion will be effected the most by these discoveries, The quantum discovery will see the grid, life, gardens and will redefine life, DNA (3 billion pieces) evolving piece DNA are chancing, Gaia/Humanity are linked, new instruments will start to reveal the DNA variance, Evolution revealed: Autistic children have born with the removal of their 3D structure in the brain, Gaia/Spirit are testing these quantum beings  (Evolved DNA), Universe central clock = Rifs,  Globally there will be only 5 currencies, Wars on earth will be declared barbaric, Middle East, Global Unity, .. etc.)



“.. What do you think the Human brain can really do? What do you think it's built to do? Let me give you an example of what your society has come to accept as an "unbalanced person." Some of you think it's a "sick person." Let me talk about the autistic one. Let us talk about autism in what you call the most severe case.

Blessed is the autistic one who has come to this earth to show you what future Human evolvement looks like! They spend a lifetime trying to figure out linearity and it frustrates them. Blessed is the savant who the earth looks at and calls unbalanced. For the Humans who do this cannot see what they don't understand. The autistic one is able to get up off the paper and be in color! Many of the autistic ones can do what your calculators can do on your desks, did you know that? And they don't need a calculator! Give them a problem - two digits multiplied by three digits. Now watch how fast they give you the answer. Because they're not linear! Ask them what weekday the 13th of August will be in 2012, and they'll tell you, and they don't need a calendar. You might say, "What kind of a mind can do that?" I'll tell you - a nonlinear one without the walls in the brain that you have.

Have you ever thought about that? The autistic have a nonlinear mind. The barriers are dropped. Can you imagine the frustration of this Human? Here he is in a world of black and white while he is in color. Not only that, you want him to go in a straight line when he is used to all directions at once. This also explains why the only energies that will work to calm him are interdimensional ones - music, art, and love. Does this start to make sense to you? (see below)

What is taking place, dear ones, for all to know and see and understand, is that very, very slowly you have the linearity of the Human brain starting to be reduced. Unlike the autistic, it will be in ways that will still be balanced and make sense. In other words, you will be able to move in and out of quantum thought any time you wish in order to live in a linear, 3D existence, but have quantum consciousness. It will be a return to a form of consciousness that Lemurians had, but with the wisdom of the ages that you have collected. This will not be fast, but the forerunners of that are already here.

I'm going to give you some attributes of Human evolution in a moment, but let's return to the autistic ones. Many reading this are very concerned about autism. You wish to know why there are so many autistics being born. You say it's beyond coincidence that there are suddenly so many! There's more autistic children being born today than there ever have been on this planet. Humans are scurrying around wanting to know what's wrong. Is it the chemistry of the food? Perhaps it must be vaccinations! Some are saying, without any proof, "Yes, that's it - vaccinations must be it." You are grasping at almost anything to solve the puzzle of why so many autistics are arriving.

Yet very few Humans, if any, have looked at the puzzle and said, "Perhaps we're evolving, and this is the first wave of what we're going to see?" Not mentally unbalanced, but nonlinear thinking! This is, indeed, the case. You are seeing a form of evolution and you are calling it odd and unusual. It's simply those who are coming in early with activated quantum DNA. This early forerunner has DNA activated in an uncontrolled way, and so learning is needed to know how to make sense of it all. This is what they are doing, and each generation of savant will have a better time of it, figuring out what is linear and what is not.

Watch the autistic child go through what they must do (autism in its most severe form). They are so nonlinear that there is incredible frustration in trying to linearize even the Human voice as you speak to them. They will do the same actions over and over and over, trying to linearize the nonlinear. The linear walls are gone in their brain, and they have to learn to build the ones that they need. Humans then see them as a problem, and it's not a problem. It's a form of gifted children who are helping this planet to grow. Blessed are those who come into Earth as the new wave of consciousness to show you where it's going. They are setting the stage for a new kind of Human. For this quantumness will develop in a balanced way where many will have the autistic talents where they want them, and the linear when they want that. That's what the Human mind is capable of - being quantum when they wish to be. That's a return to the way it was given to you.  ‘’



Question: Why are so many new humans developing autism at this time?  Is there a purpose? Is there something we can do to assist them?  And then in addition to that, is there a correlation between autism and Alzheimer's?

Goddess: Autism is very much on people's mind at this time upon the earth.  It is a term that has been given to many children.  It is a definition that people give to a child as a means of trying to understand their behavior or how they think or how they are within their life.  Autism as you know it right now is but a fraction of what it truly is going to indicate in the future.  Many of the individuals that are being termed autistic are not necessarily autistic.  Autism in and of itself is a disconnection within.  Or you could say it's that these people have a different way of being able to communicate from others around them.  So when we say disconnect, it's not that they have fully disconnected with the other individuals; it's just that they are vibrating and living and experiencing life on a different level or a different plane.

Many have said that those who are autistic have their feet in two different dimensions or in multiple dimensions; yes, that is true.  Many have said that those children who are autistic have a short in their wiring as if there are aspects that are not working in this individual and this I would like to disagree with.  What's happening is, you are getting children especially who are of very high vibrations that are incorporating more of the crystalline vibration and less of the dense energies that have been upon the earth for the last several thousand years.

Therefore the electrical impulses that move through a crystal as opposed to the electrical impulses that move through a regular individual we shall just say or someone with regular wiring, there's going to be much less resistance, therefore their whole metabolism, everything about them is functioning on a completely different basis.

This journey tonight was to assist each one of you in recognizing just how much you are moving between dimensions.  These children that come in with these special gifts are used to moving (between dimensions) and they do it unconsciously.  To them, their sense of awareness, their sense of reality is very different from your own.  They may live in other realities while their physical body is here upon the earth.  Provide them with the structure that they may need to be able to function in society but also recognize that these are highly evolved individuals and respect that about them.

There may be crystals, there may be colors, there may be vibrations, things that emanate a vibration that assist the children in feeling more comfortable in their skin, in their reality.  If you are one of the individuals that would like to work with them or you find yourself perhaps having a child with these symptoms, go and open your senses and communicate from that of an expanded consciousness from the fifth, sixth or even seventh dimension.  Communicate from your heart, communicate without words, communicate through feelings and energies and you will find there's a great deal of information they are sharing with you.  These children are extremely sensitive so be aware of that and what is in their environment.

When it comes to Alzheimer's, there are some parallel pathways that one could point out.  Alzheimer's is a means of an individual beginning to cross over, beginning that journey back to this side of the veil but they have not yet fully chosen to return so they move at their own pace, experiencing whatever it is that they seek to experience.  And that is one reason why Alzheimer's seems to affect people for years at a time.  So while there are some similarities, that's as far as that goes.  Alzheimer's is a time to love and nurture an individual and again accept that this is their choice and this is their path.

Towards the end they are spending more and more of their reality in this other dimension.  For some it's a means of allowing them to feel comfortable with where they are going before they transition.  What you can do with them is also communicate from the heart, communicate without words. Assist them in being comfortable in other vibrations and assist them in being comfortable with the light and they will transition when the time is right for them.

I knew that this was something that was affecting many, many people and that is why I chose to give it a little bit more time and connection, and I thank you all for your patience. 


"THE THREE WINDS" – Feb 23-24, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) (Subjects: Humanity, Home - other side of the veil, Wind of Birth - Birth, Wind of Existence - Life, Wind of Transition - Death)

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Poisoned yogurt in China 'kills two children'

BBC News, 2 May 2013 

Related Stories 

Two girls aged six and seven in China's Hebei province have died after consuming yogurt laced with rat poison, state media report.

The girls in Lianghe village, Pingshan county, shared the yogurt after coming home from school, according to Xinhua news agency.

They suffered from convulsions after consuming the yogurt on 24 April and died later, the report said.

Police believe the poisoning was motivated by a school dispute.

Police told Xinhua that the head of a rival school, who has been arrested, had admitted to injecting the yogurt with rat poison.

They said she then asked a man to leave the yogurt, along with some notebooks, on the road near the girls' school.

The man suspected of helping her has also reportedly been detained.

The girls' grandmother was said to have found the yogurt and brought it home.

China has seen a string of shocking cases in recent years, many involving tainted food and medicine.

These incidents have led to bouts of national soul-searching and questions about how profits are often put before people's health, the BBC's Damian Grammaticas reports from Beijing.

In the worst incident five years ago, tens of thousands of children were sickened after drinking tainted baby milk powder.

The industrial chemical melamine had been added to the powder to make its protein content appear higher.

Six children died and two of those found responsible for the poisoning were given death sentences.

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Tulsi reduces fluoride content in water, says study

The New Indian Express, NALGONDA, 20th April 2013

District collector N Muktheshwar Rao addresses a press meet in Nalgonda
on Friday | Express Photo

District collector N Muktheshwar Rao on Friday said that Tulasi plant is in rich in medicinal properties and can reduce fluoride content in the water. Speaking to media persons, Muktheshwar Rao said the fact was found after a research was conducted by Rajasthan University last year.

He said the district administration too did the same experiment and attained positive results.

“We did the experiment in Yellareddygudem village of Narketpally mandal. The water in this village has high fluoride content. In the experiment 75 mg of Tulasi leaves were soaked into 100 ml water with the fluoride content of 7.4 ppm (part per million). After eight hours, the tests revealed that the fluoride content in the water reduced to 1.1 ppm and this falls in to the range recommended by the World Health Organisation,” he said.

The collector said Tulasi has many medicinal properties and is extensively used in Ayurvedic medicines to cure kidney stones, stomach disorders, common cold, inflammation, malaria, heart diseases, headaches and many other ailments.

He said steps were been taken to control fluoride content in the water through various methods. “Food with high nutritional values is being distributed for pregnant women and children through anganvadi centres,” he said.

He further added that the officials are conducting awareness programmes on the importance of Tulasi and are also planning to promote cultivation of guava, papaya, curry leaves and citric fruit trees in the fluoride affects areas. Zilla parishad chief executive officer Koti Reddy, DEO Acharya Jagadhish, RWS assistant executive engineer Shyamsundhar, social welfare deputy director Venkat Narsaiah, CPO Mohan Rao, deputy CEO Mohan Rao and others participated in the press conference.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

US morning-after pill approved for 15-year-olds

BBC News, 1 May 2013

Related Stories 

Under a court ruling, Plan B must be
 available to all women without a
prescription
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the "morning-after" pill without a prescription for women aged 15 and over.

Proof-of-age will be required to purchase the drug, Plan B. The decision comes a month after a judge ordered the drug to be made available to girls of all childbearing ages.

The FDA said its decision was not a response to the court ruling.

Reproductive rights groups approved the FDA move but called for fuller access.

On Tuesday, the FDA said its decision was in response to an amended marketing plan from the drug's maker, Teva Pharmaceuticals, to sell Plan B without a prescription to women 15 and older.

But the move comes days before the deadline to comply with a New York district judge's order to make the drug available over the counter to girls of all childbearing ages.

Obama administration criticised

The judge criticised the Obama administration for imposing an age-17 limit.

In 2011, the FDA said it had concluded the "morning after" pill could be safely used by girls of child-bearing age.

But in an unprecedented move, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled the agency.

She said there was not enough evidence from all potential ages to support removing over-the-counter restrictions.

The Obama administration was accused of bowing to pressure from social conservatives.

The reproductive rights group that brought the lawsuit said on Tuesday it will continue its legal fight if need be.

Lowering the age limit "may reduce delays for some young women but it does nothing to address the significant barriers that far too many women of all ages will still find if they arrive at the drugstore without identification", said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Scientists on brink of HIV cure

Researchers believe that there will be a breakthrough in finding a cure for HIV “within months”.

The Telegraph, Jake Wallis Simons, 27 Apr 2013

With modern HIV treatment if medication is stopped, HIV reservoirs become
active and start to produce more of the virus Photo: Alamy

Danish scientists are expecting results that will show that “finding a mass-distributable and affordable cure to HIV is possible”.

They are conducting clinical trials to test a “novel strategy” in which the HIV virus is stripped from human DNA and destroyed permanently by the immune system.

The move would represent a dramatic step forward in the attempt to find a cure for the virus, which causes Aids.

The scientists are currently conducting human trials on their treatment, in the hope of proving that it is effective. It has already been found to work in laboratory tests.

The technique involves releasing the HIV virus from “reservoirs” it forms in DNA cells, bringing it to the surface of the cells. Once it comes to the surface, the body’s natural immune system can kill the virus through being boosted by a “vaccine”.

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In vitro studies — those that use human cells in a laboratory — of the new technique proved so successful that in January, the Danish Research Council awarded the team 12 million Danish kroner (£1.5 million) to pursue their findings in clinical trials with human subjects.

These are now under way, and according to Dr Søgaard, the early signs are “promising”.

Dr Ole Søgaard, a senior researcher at the Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark who is part of the research team, said: “I am almost certain that we will be successful in releasing the reservoirs of HIV.

“The challenge will be getting the patients’ immune system to recognise the virus and destroy it. This depends on the strength and sensitivity of individual immune systems.”

Fifteen patients are currently taking part in the trials, and if they are found to have successfully been cured of HIV, the “cure” will be tested on a wider scale.

Dr Søgaard stressed that a cure is not the same as a preventative vaccine, and that raising awareness of unsafe behaviour, including unprotected sex and sharing needles, remains of paramount importance in combating HIV.

With modern HIV treatment, a patient can live an almost normal life, even into old age, with limited side effects.

However, if medication is stopped, HIV reservoirs become active and start to produce more of the virus, meaning that symptoms can reappear within two weeks.

Finding a cure would free a patient from the need to take continuous HIV medication, and save health services billions of pounds.

The technique is being researched in Britain, but studies have not yet moved on to the clinical trial stage. Five universities — Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College, London, University College, London and King’s College, London — have jointly formed the Collaborative HIV Eradication of Reservoirs UK Biomedical Research Centre group (CHERUB), which is dedicated to finding an HIV cure.

They have applied to the Medical Research Council for funding to conduct clinical trials, which will seek to combine techniques to release the reservoirs of HIV with immunotherapy to destroy the virus.

In addition, they are focusing on patients that have only recently been infected, as they believe this will improve chances of a cure. The group hopes to receive a funding decision in May.

“When the first patient is cured in this way it will be a spectacular moment,” says Dr John Frater, a clinical research fellow at the Nuffield School of Medicine, Oxford University, and a member of the CHERUB group.

“It will prove that we are heading in the right direction and demonstrate that a cure is possible. But I think it will be five years before we see a cure that can be offered on a large scale.”

The Danish team’s research is among the most advanced and fast moving in the world, as that they have streamlined the process of putting the latest basic science discoveries into clinical testing.

This means that researchers can progress more quickly to clinical trials, accelerating the process and reaching reliable results sooner than many others.

The technique uses drugs called HDAC Inhibitors, which are more commonly used in treating cancer, to drive out the HIV from a patient’s DNA. The Danish researchers are using a particularly powerful type of HDAC inhibitor called Panobinostat.

Five years ago, the general consensus was that HIV could not be cured. But then Timothy Ray Brown, an HIV sufferer — who has become known in the field as the Berlin Patient — developed leukaemia.

He had a bone marrow transplant from a donor with a rare genetic mutation that made his cells resistant to HIV. As a result, in 2007 Mr Brown became the first man to ever be fully cured of the disease.

Replicating this procedure on a mass scale is impossible. Nevertheless, the Brown case caused a sea change in research, with scientists focusing on finding a cure as well as suppressing the symptoms.

Two principal approaches are currently being pursued. The first, gene therapy, aims to make a patient’s immune system resistant to HIV. This is complex and expensive, and not easily transferrable to diverse gene pools around the world.

The second approach is the one being pursued by Dr Søgaard and his colleagues in Denmark, the CHERUB group in Britain, and by other laboratories in the United States and Europe.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

US sues Novartis for paying kickbacks

Google – AFP, 26 April 2013

Indian protesters march during a demonstration against Swiss drug
 manufacturer Novartis in Mumbai on December 21, 2012 (AFP/File,
Indranil Mukherjee)

NEW YORK — The US Justice Department on Friday accused drug maker Novartis of paying kickbacks to doctors to prescribe the company's drugs over rival products.

In the second US lawsuit against the Swiss firm this week, the Justice Department said its US unit Novartis Pharmaceuticals had boosted sales of its more expensive brand-name drugs by offering incentives to prescribing doctors that were ultimately paid for by public health-care programs.

The lawsuit, filed in the US district court in New York, alleged that, to promote Novartis drugs like Lotrel and Valturna, used for hypertension, and Starlix, for diabetes, the company paid doctors to make speeches at what were only "social occasions" and put on lavish dinners for the doctors.

The payoffs involved "thousands" of speaker programs in which the doctors "spent little or no time discussing the drug at issue."

"Instead, Novartis simply wined and dined the doctors at high-end restaurants with astronomical costs, as well as in sports bars, on fishing trips, and at other venues not conducive to an educational program," the suit said.

Such actions "were, in reality, kickbacks to the speakers and attendees to induce them to write prescriptions for Novartis drugs," the department said.

The payments violated the US Anti-Kickback Statute and led to the government paying "false claims" via its health-care programs for Novartis drugs.

On Tuesday the government filed suit against Novartis for paying kickbacks to pharmacies to substitute its drug Myfortic for cheaper generic drugs used to help transplant patients.

The payments to the pharmacies amounted to tens of millions of dollars, and took Myfortic sales in those pharmacies to $100 million, with nearly half that paid by the government's Medicare and Medicaid schemes, the suit said.

In a statement, Novartis disputed the claims of both cases, and said the government was expanding the definition of "kickback" beyond the law.

"Discounts and rebates by pharmaceutical companies are a customary, appropriate and legal practice as recognized by the government itself."

The government's stance, Novartis said, "threatens to undermine pharmaceutical company discounting practices that benefit both consumers and payers, including the government."

In addition, it said, "physician speaker programs are an accepted and customary practice in the industry."

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Friday, April 26, 2013

HIV vaccine trial ends in failure: official

Google – AFP, 25 April 2013

A researcher works on samples at a lab, May 21, 2010 (Getty Images/AFP/
File, Chris Hondros)

WASHINGTON — US authorities announced Thursday they have halted clinical trials of an experimental vaccine designed to halt the virus that leads to AIDS after discovering it did not stop infection.

The program, which began in 2009, is the latest in a series of unsuccessful studies of candidate vaccines aimed at tackling HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said volunteers in 19 US cities -- either gay men or transgender people who had sex with men -- took part in the study, with the HVTN 505 vaccine given to 1,250 and 1,244 receiving a placebo.

A panel analyzed the results of the study on April 22 and recommended halting the program after findings indicated 41 infections among those who had received the vaccine versus 30 in the placebo group.

The NIAID, part of the National Institutes of Health that funded the clinical trial, said it planned to continue to follow the participants to further analyze the results of the study.

An estimated 34 million people are infected with HIV worldwide, including 3.4 million children.
AIDS has killed 30 million people since the beginning of the epidemic 30 years ago and an estimated 1.8 million people die from the disease each year.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

GlaxoSmithKline accused of market 'abuse'

BBC News, 19 April 2013

Related Stories
GlaxoSmithKline accused of
market 'abuse' by the OFT
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has been accused of market "abuse" by the consumer watchdog, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

The OFT alleges that the pharmaceutical giant paid rivals to delay the release their own versions of GSK's Seroxat treatment.

Alpharma, Generics UK and Norton Healthcare all received money not to enter the market with their copies of Seroxat, it said.

GSK said it "acted within the law".

"GSK supports fair competition," it said.

"In fact, these arrangements actually resulted in generic versions of paroxetine entering the market before GSK's patents had expired," the company said in a statement.

Moreover, it added that "the OFT investigation covers matters that have already been investigated by the European Commission in 2005-2006".

"In March 2012 the Commission announced that it had formally concluded its enquiry with no further action," it said.

"The issues were also reviewed in the European Commission's 2008-2009 Sector Inquiry. Neither investigation resulted in any sanctions against the company."

Dominant player

The generic drug makers were attempting to supply the UK market with their versions of paroxetine, which GlaxoSmithKline brands as Seroxat, the OFT said. Seroxat is used to treat depression.

GSK accused them of infringing its patent, so to resolve this dispute Glaxo effectively paid the three companies off, according to the OFT.

"The paroxetine supply agreements under investigation were terminated in 2004," GSK said.

If proven, the allegations would be an infringement on the part of all the parties of competition law and on the part of GlaxoSmithKline an abuse of its dominant place in the market.

"The introduction of generic medicines can lead to strong competition on price, which can drive savings for the NHS, to the benefit of patients and, ultimately, taxpayers," said Ann Pope, senior director of services, infrastructure and public markets at the OFT.

"It is therefore particularly important that the OFT fully investigates concerns that independent generic entry may have been delayed in this case."

The firms will now be asked to respond to its allegations, before the OFT makes a decision on whether or not competition law has been infringed.

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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Utrecht hopes to set up cannabis clubs - for medical research

DutchNews.nl, Wednesday 17 April 2013

Two foundations in Utrecht are to apply for exemption from the opium laws so they can set up ‘cannabis clubs’ to grow marijuana for medical research with city council backing, the Volkskrant reports on Tuesday.

Council alderman Victor Everhardt, who is behind the plans, hopes his ‘cannabis club’ concept can become a reality on public health grounds.

The aim of the experiment, says the Volkskrant, is to find out if the club’s members' psychological condition improves, if ‘home grown’ marijuana is less dangerous than that sold in the country’s coffee shops, and if cannabis club members cause less of a public nuisance.

Crime

The city council says the clubs would be a suitable alternative to coffee shops, which are largely supplied by organised crime.

In addition, coffee shop marijuana is often grown using large amounts of chemicals and its THC percentage – the active ingredient – can be above 15%. The government is planning to treat marijuana with a higher THC content as a hard drug.

A number of cities have recently called on the government to regulate marijuana production, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Groningen, Nijmegen and Zwolle. Everhardt told the Volkskrant his plan is different.

Members

For example, the club would have a maximum 100 members, he said.


Thursday, April 11, 2013

Pharma sector changes as generic market grows

Deutsche Welle, 10 April 2013


Medicine can save lives if you can get it and afford it. But now, generics are a cheaper alternative to more expensive brand name drugs.

Generics no longer only play a major role in developing and emerging countries. In industrialized countries, healthcare costs continue to spiral. Generics are a way of reducing those costs - they can be up to 90 percent cheaper than a brand name drug. In recent years, many pharmaceutical companies have lost the exclusive rights to produce some of their most popular drugs, which generated billions in revenue. Now that the drugs can be made more cheaply as generics, healthcare systems and patients are saving money.

The generics drugs industry recently scored a major victory in India. The country highest court decided that Indian manufacturers can continue making generic versions of Novartis' Gleevec, a drug that has been effective in treating some forms of leukemia.

New markets for the pharmaceutical industry

While older markets shrink, drug makers will have to tap into new markets so that they can continue to make a profit. And there is evidence that the pharmaceutical industry is more global than it was. Most of the medication which was only available in developed countries is now being sold worldwide.


"We are observing that multinational pharmaceutical companies in recent years have increasingly been seeking markets in developing and emerging countries," says Christian Wagner-Ahlfs of the BUKO-Pharmakampagne in Bielefeld. The independent campaign has been examining the role of major pharmaceuticals for more than 30 years, especially insofar as the industry's business practices have affected developing countries.

Now, a middle and upper class that is willingly to pay for drugs is growing in developing and emerging economies.

"They are of course interesting customers, because they can also afford expensive medication," Wagner-Ahlfs says.

The line between generic and brand
 drugs is becoming greyer," says
Christian Wagner-Ahlf
Even the increasing numbers in poorer classes need to be supplied with cheap generic drugs. And because every cent counts, it might be worth producing the drugs locally. But that doesn't always apply, says Wagner-Ahlfs: "In that case, referring to the list of the WHO's essential medicines makes total sense."

Same agents, different name

The World Health Organization regularly makes a list of the most important drugs around the world. At the moment, 340 chemical agents can be used to treat 90 percent of all diseases. In Germany, some 2,400 agents and around 90,000 drugs are authorized, according to the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM). Most of the drugs authorized in Germany are generics. It doesn't make a difference for patients.

"The line between generic and brand drugs is becoming greyer," says Wagner-Ahlf: today, most major pharmaceuticals produce one or more generics as well as their branded products.

"Around 80 percent of the agents are made in India or China. It doesn't matter whether that product is for a generic manufacturer or a multinational brand drug maker," he adds.

It's no surprise that these countries dominate the market: production facilities are up to 40 percent cheaper in India than in European countries. Labor costs are also lower and there are also trained personnel that the pharmaceutical industry needs.

The end production of the drug, by a registered company that guarantees it with its reputation, can take place anywhere in the world where production standards are adhered to. The WHO has very strict regulations on hygiene and authorization standards, control mechanisms and quality assurance.

Local pharmatical industry

Christoph Bonsmann is a board
 member of a charity that helps the
 pharma sector in developing countries
It is still very difficult for many developing countries to fulfill the WHO's conditions. But local drug production could definitely help improve medical provision in those countries.

"I see there especially the advantage of availability above everything else," says Christoph Bonsmann, pharmacist and board member of German Medical Aid Organisation action medeor. The organization supports efforts to build local drug production in Africa.

Local production doesn't necessarily have to be cheaper than imports, says Bonsmann. But reliable drug supply for diseases like TB, malaria, HIV-AIDS or some of the new global diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes is still lacking in many developing countries. A local pharmaceutical industry with a well-developed distribution system could considerably improve drug supplies, especially in rural areas.

But Bonsmann cautions, "With local production, you have to be sure that people don't justify poor quality for political reasons." Local pharmaceutical production is often seen as a showcase project. "I see the main deficit in the lack of consistent and continuous conrol by the authorities," says Bonsmann.

Drugs on the black market

In many countries, illegally produced, sometimes smuggled drugs are flooding the informal market. If the drugs are bought from traders on the market, there is neither specialist advice nor a guarantee that the drug has been tested.

"That is the major challenge because the authorities are usually understaffed, they are often not properly motivated and underpaid," says Bonsmann.

For eight years, Susanne Held headed the pharmacy of Saint Bendict's Hospital in Ndanda, south Tanzania. She had good experiences with both imported and locally made drugs. But the hospital only bought its drugs from wholesalers with a good reputation.

"There were no complaints from patients that medicines didn't work properly, and the doctors in the hospital also didn't complain. So I suspect that we were very lucky the whole time." she says.

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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Horsemeat scandal: Dutch recall 50,000 tonnes of meat

BBC News, 10 April 2013

Horsemeat scandal

The horsemeat scandal has
damaged European consumer confidence
in processed food
Dutch authorities have recalled some 50,000 tonnes of meat sold as beef across Europe, over fears that it may contain horsemeat.

The meat was being recalled because its exact source could not be verified, Dutch food authorities said.

The meat was supplied by Dutch trading companies Wiljo Import en Export B.V. and Vleesgroothandel Willy Selten.

About 130 companies in the Netherlands and some 370 more around Europe are affected by the recall.

There was no evidence that the meat was a threat to human health, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority said.

Inspectors examining the Dutch trading companies' records found that the origin of the supplied meat was unclear, officials added.

As a result it was not possible to confirm whether slaughterhouses had respected procedures.

'Might contain horsemeat'

Some of the meat was exported to Germany, France and Spain. The authorities in those countries have been alerted.

"It might contain traces of horsemeat, but we don't know for certain at the moment if this is the case," the Dutch food authority said on Wednesday.

"The buyers have probably already processed the meat and sold it on. They, in turn, are obliged to inform their own customers."

Horse DNA has been found in numerous processed beef frozen meals across Europe.

In February, Dutch officials raided a meat processing plant suspected of mislabelling beef and withdrew suspicious products from supermarket shelves.

The mislabelled meat was also discovered in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, France, Switzerland, Sweden and Germany.

In response, EU member states have launched tests for horse DNA in processed beef foods and to detect a medicinal drug used on horses.

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