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The Senate health committee passed the Next Generation Researchers Act (S. 2014) with bipartisan support on Tuesday, which aims to increase opportunities for young researchers and attract them to the NIH. The full Senate will now consider the bill. “In order for America to out-innovate the rest of the world and create an economy built to last, we must protect and strengthen our investments in research, science and innovation. We can’t accomplish this without supporting and investing in the next generation of researchers,” Senator Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said in a press (Read more...)

The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions unanimously recommended a measure designed to improve health care information technology.The purpose of the “Improving Health Information Techonology Act” (S. 2511) is to simplify information sharing among doctors and allow patients easier access to their own medical records. The bill focuses on the use of the electronic health record — a real-time digital version of a patient’s medical chart — to allow for central record keeping of a patient’s entire medical history, including medications prescribed, treatment plans, immunization records, allergies, (Read more...)

Anterior segment surgeons are increasingly performing minimally invasive glaucoma surgery in their patients with mild to moderate disease, especially in conjunction with cataract surgery.“What these procedures have done is brought effective glaucoma surgery into the hands of mainstream cataract surgeons who prior to these procedures did not routinely perform glaucoma surgical procedures,” OSN Technology Board Member Jodi I. Luchs, MD, FACS, said. Moreover, minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) “can produce a significant difference in clinical outcomes, reducing intraocular pressure and relieving the need to use topical medications in many cases,” (Read more...)

To the Editor:I am submitting a counterpoint to the apologetics provided by Drs. Gustafson and Lindstrom regarding the pricing of Omidria in the Nov. 10, 2015, issue of Ocular Surgery News. I offer some “outside of the beltway” perspective, characterized by Allison Weber Shuren, MSN, JD, as “misguided” at the 2015 ACES/SEE meeting. Please note that all three are paid consultants to Omeros.

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