Synapse - Life Sciences News Digest of the Medical center of the americas

The Texas Tech University System Board of Regents approved to initiate the process of establishing a freestanding health sciences university in El Paso. The new university will join Texas Tech University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) and Angelo State University under the Texas Tech University System as a fourth, separate but equal institution.

“Having a freestanding health sciences university in El Paso will be a tremendous asset to the community and will further our efforts to address the shortages of health care professionals in the region and the entire state,” said Texas Tech University System Chancellor Kent Hance. “We look forward to working with the Texas Legislature to make this significant goal a reality.”

El Paso is the fourth most populous city in the state with a population of more than 700,000. With such an immense population, this region has been federally designated as... [more]

Since April, the Medical Center of the Americas (MCA) Foundation has been coordinating a series of meetings with Las Cruces leadership in government, business and higher education in an effort to engage southern New Mexico with the MCA’s spearheading effort to elevate the region’s global presence in the biomedical and biotechnology sector.

“In order to be truly successful, the Paso del Norte region must distinguish itself from other biomedical clusters by coming together in a strong and meaningful collaboration,” said MCA’s President Emma Schwartz. “It is by the coming together of our regional communities that we will successfully launch this transformative effort call the Biomedical Institute of the Americas.” 

Next meetings will take place May 10 with Dr. Garrey E. Carruthers, NMSU’s dean of the College of Business; May 17 to participate in a forum held by the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance where discussions will center on developing a stronger technology-based... [more]

The Austin American-Statesman published a story detailing the emergence of El Paso’s Medical Center of the Americas (MCA) and its anchor tenant, the Texas Tech Paul L. Foster School of the Medicine. The story puts forth the MCA and the medical school as a model for Austin, Texas, whose leaders have their eye on opening a medical school and expanding the capital city's footprint in health care. The article read, “The Austin effort faces similar challenges as well as different ones. As in El Paso, the overarching task is to raise hundreds of millions in public and private dollars. … Still another challenge is justifying a four-year medical school in Austin when the A&M Health Science Center has been given legislative approval — although not all of the funding it needs — to develop one about 25 miles away in Round Rock. … UT... [more]

The Medical Center of the Americas Foundation has begun talks around organizing a biomedical conference as well as a life science research symposium. The biomedical conference will highlight the region’s strengths in biomedical innovation and biomanufacturing, while the symposium would focus on the region’s research strengths. No date for the meetings have been set; except it will take place in El Paso in 2013.

In preparation for the undertaking, the MCA Foundation recently sent a representative to attend the inaugural Texas Life Science Venture Forum in Houston. Moving forward, the MCA will reach out to scientists, manufacturers, inventors, business people, higher education leaders and others to recieve input. For more information or to become involved, call the MCA at 915-613-2478 and ask for Noemi Rojas or Emma Schwartz.

El Paso City Council voted Feb. 7 to set in motion a historic allocation of 75 percent of the city’s Impact Fund to the Medical Center of the Americas Foundation. It means approximately $3.2 million will be paid each year to the MCA Foundation for the next 18 years, potentially totaling more than $60 million. The decision promotes growth of the region’s long-envisioned medical hub, known as the Medical Center of the Americas (MCA). Growth will include not only developing the physical campus; but also, creating a robust biotech industry that sharpens the region’s research, development and commercialization prowess and focuses on the region’s niche health needs and demographics. The MCA Foundation is a nonprofit organization and keeper of the MCA vision.  Its plans for the Impact Funds will go toward infrastructure projects as... [more]

El Paso City Council’s Feb. 7^th decision to allocate 75 percent of the city’s Impact Fund to the Medical Center of the Americas (MCA) Foundation will result in accelerated growth of the MCA campus; but what may be most exciting and least reported by news media is the MCA Foundation’s plans to create a biotech industry in El Paso. Central to the plan is the creation of an MCA Biotech Commercialization Institute that is comprised of three pillars: discovery, development and deployment. Essentially, the institute will bridge university intellectual property to the marketplace. Businesses in the region – from law practices to accounting firms to manufacturing - will begin to see an increase in the demand for biotech expertise and specialty areas over the next 20 years and beyond.

    Subsets to the commercialization institute will be the establishment of... [more]

In the ongoing legal saga that could significantly affect the development of molecular diagnostics, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, DC partially reversed a lower district court’s earlier ruling in a case challenging patents on two human genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer. The appeals court ruled that companies can obtain patents on the genes; but, cannot patent methods to compare those gene sequences. “The ruling is a blow to the idea that patent law cannot impede the free flow of ideas in scientific research,” said Chris Hansen, staff attorney with the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, New York City.

http://www.ivdtechnology.com/article/appeals-court-overturns-ruling-gene-patents

The U.S. for decades has led the global medical device industry, providing life-saving and life-improving devices to patients and employing more than two million people in device-related jobs. However, the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) unpredictable, inconsistent and non-transparent handling of the review process has threatened our nation's medical device leadership, hurting patients, American jobs, and innovation. After hearing from patients, inventors, investors and employers, committee members from both sides of the aisle introduced 10 legislative solutions to improve the predictability, consistency, and transparency of FDA's medical device review and approval process.

House Energy and Commerce Committee news release 

El Paso’s county judge and commissioners voted this week to adopt University Medical Center’s proposed budget for the new fiscal year and the tax rate that helps fund that budget. The vote was unanimous. The new rate of 19.2 cents per $100 of assessed valuation is about a penny higher than last year’s. It will cost the average homeowner about a dollar more per month. It is the first hospital district tax increase to win the Commissioner Court’s approval since 1989, according to UMC.

Commissioners Court will decide tax rate Sept. 26   (posted Aug. 12, 2011)

Commissioners Court is scheduled to decide whether to adopt UMC's proposed tax rate on Monday, September 26^th.

County commissioners will propose tax increase  (posted Aug. 19, 2011)

El Paso County Commissioners Court voted 4-0 to officially propose a 7.9 percent tax increase for the hospital district.  Next up will be two public hearings on the matter,... [more]

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a patent reform bill by a vote of 304-117, the last major hurdle in revamping the U.S. patent system. The final bill still needs to be reconciled with an earlier version passed by the Senate in March. President Obama has signaled he will sign the resulting bill into law.  The so-called America Invents Act shifts the U.S. patent system from first-to-invent to a first-to-file system to harmonize with most other patent offices around the world.

According to the House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX), the June 23rd passage of the House bill (H.R. 1249) brings the patent system into the 21st century, reducing frivolous litigation while creating a faster and more efficient process for the approval of patents.  All sides agree the U.S. patent office needs help as it faces a backlog of at least 700,000 applications and it takes on... [more]

Legislation that would continue to fund the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission at $31 million a year was introduced June 23 on Capitol Hill. The Border Health Security Act of 2011 aims at improving border health services, curbing infectious diseases and strengthening the commission, officials said. Improving the health and level of health-care resources along the U.S.-Mexico border is one of the greatest challenges confronting America today," said Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, who introduced the bill with Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.

News story                     Bingaman                     Reyes         

State funding for El Paso's medical school may not be cut as severely as its leaders had anticipated.

Texas senators on May 25 passed a bill that was amended to restore some money to the state's health sciences centers, which are set to lose millions of dollars in a proposed two-year budget. Under the amendment, Texas Tech's Paul L. Foster School of Medicine now faces a nearly $4 million cut, instead of the $13 million initially suggested by state lawmakers who are trying to close an up to $27 billion budget gap.

Dr. Jose Manuel de la Rosa, the school's founding dean, said he had not calculated how the lower number of cuts would affect the medical school; but, there would still be some employee positions that would be cut.

News article 

A contentious measure that would allow Texas counties to consider the income of a legal immigrant’s sponsor when determining if the immigrant is eligible for indigent health care passed the Texas House this week (May 16). Senate Bill 420, by Texas Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, also would allow counties to take into consideration the income of a sponsor’s spouse when the applicant requested indigent care. A sponsored alien is one who is admitted into the country legally after an affidavit of support is submitted in his or her favor by a U.S. citizen sponsor. The bill passed the House 100 to 37; it passed the Senate last month. The bill is permissive, and does not mandate counties adopt this rule.

The Texas Tribune  

At a time of dire physician shortages, Texas’s medical schools say they won’t be able to fully fund the roughly 5,600 students currently enrolled, and could be forced to curb new admissions next year. Texas’ nine medical institutions are looking at an estimated 20 percent cut in state funding over the next biennium — the result of a 5 to 10 percent cut in formula funding, and the loss of tens of millions of dollars in federal stimulus dollars. Medical schools say they are poised to lose roughly $500 million combined in 2012-13, and to see state payments for medical education drop by more than $12,000 per student per year. They’re also looking at a 25 percent reduction in funding for so-called “special items” that support specific education and research initiatives.

The Texas Tribune  

Three major priorities for El Paso are languishing with only about two weeks left in the state's legislative session. Gambling legislation that would allow the Tiguas to reopen Speaking Rock Casino is in the trash bin; meanwhile, a state budget hole of up to $27 billion that drastically underfunds public schools and health care will leave virtually no chance for new research buildings at Texas Tech's Paul L. Foster School of Medicine and the University of Texas at El Paso.

Article  

University Medical Center of El Paso (UMC) could soon be allowed to change hiring practices to tackle doctor shortages under a bill that cleared the state Senate April 19. The bill – by state Senator José Rodríguez – gives hospitals the ability to directly employ doctors, dentists and other health care providers, rather than contract with them. Texas is one of five states in the country that bans the corporate practice of medicine. The reasoning given for the law has been that a doctor's primary concern should be the patient and not the hospital's financial interests. The bill is now headed to the House. A similar by state Representative Naomi Gonzalez has passed the House and is now in the Senate.

Article                   Opinion

On April 20, a bill filed by state Senator José Rodríguez passed the Senate on a 29-2 vote that would allow University Medical Center of El Paso (UMC) the ability to hire peace officers. The bill is now pending in the Texas legislature.  UMC has no plans to employ certified police officers for its campus. UMC officials say the bill is necessary in order to give UMC the option to do so if it were to become necessary. County hospitals in Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio have the authority to directly hire peace officers.

Article

The Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, part of Texas Tech's Health Sciences Center, stands to lose about $13 million, or 30 percent of its state money, under a budget approved by the House. Dr. Jose Manuel de la Rosa, the school's founding dean, is pinning his hopes on a different proposal from the state Senate that could be voted out of committee and released publicly this week.

Article               Read background

Texas Senate bill 1020 was passed last week to provide for a feasibility study about establishing a dental school at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso. Currently, the County has only 28 dentists per 100,000 residents, falling far short of the state average. Since there are only three dental schools in Texas, a new El Paso school will bring promising young health professionals to the county. The bill was authored by Sen. Jose Rodriguez.

S.B. 1020                

Texas Senator Jose Rodriguez has issued a call to action for El Pasoans to contact public officials as they take the next two weeks to address the Senate Budget Bill. The bill dictates amounts and types of cuts that will be made to El Paso’s key issues:  healthcare, Medicaid, mental health, the West Texas Poison Center in El Paso. “The time is now to encourage the Senate to protect funding for these essential services and programs,” said Corinne Chacon, district director for Sen. Jose Rodriguez.

Key Legislators

All senator offices can be contacted via the email format:  FirstName.LastName@senate.state.tx.us.

House of Representative email format is FirstName.LastName@house.state.tx.us.

Senate Committee on Finance

Chair: Sen. Steve Ogden

Vice Chair: Sen. Juan Hinojosa

Members:

Sen. Bob Deuell

Sen. Robert Duncan

Sen. Kevin Eltife

Sen. Craig Estes

Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr.

Sen. Jane Nelson

Sen. Dan Patrick

Sen. Kel Seliger

Sen. Florence Shapiro

Sen. Royce West

Sen. John Whitmire

Sen. Tommy... [more]

It seems like a simple idea: create new marketplaces, called "exchanges," where consumers can comparison shop for health insurance. But, like almost everything connected with the health overhaul law, state-based insurance "exchanges" are embroiled in politics. Some Republican governors are threatening to refuse to set up exchanges unless they get more flexibility over Medicaid. Others say they don't want to implement any part of the federal health care law.

Kaiser Health News    

As the passage of the Affordable Care Act (healthcare reform) turns the page on one year, proponents and opponents continue to sound their horns. In Texas, several measures in the House of Representatives to thwart the bill gained traction this week. 

One piece of legislation that was approved along party lines and an accompanying non-binding resolution says that Texans do not have to buy health insurance, claiming the Affordable Care Act “infringes on the liberty of individuals” by mandating that all citizens and legal residents carry health insurance. Another bill that won passage in the Texas House this week would require state agencies to report on any activities associated with implementation of the Affordable Care Act. 

Meanwhile, Texas federal court lawsuits are still winding their way through the system with four cases having been decided. Two federal judges have sided with the government and two have said Congress overstepped its authority in... [more]

James N. Valenti, CEO and president of University Medical Center (UMC) of El Paso, continues to call upon the public to voice their concerns over House Bill 1, the bare bones budget bill which got its first thumbs up this week by the House Appropriations Committee on an 18-7 party line vote.  Every Democrat on the committee opposed the bill.  It now goes to the House floor for consideration where Republicans hold a 101-49 member advantage. Valenti said the proposed budget wipes away more than $10 billion from Texas’ Medicaid program, which means UMC’s Medicaid reimbursements would drop by $20.5 million to $24.5 million in each of the next two years.

Cuts to Medicaid has another group posturing. Frew, a class of plaintiffs who brought suit against the state nearly 20 years ago because of inadequate outreach to children who qualify but lack access to care under the Medicaid program, said... [more]

The New Mexico Senate has confirmed Catherine Torres, M.D., as the state's health secretary. The 48-year-old Las Cruces pediatrician will be in charge of the department that runs public health clinics across the state, manages programs for the developmentally disabled and operates several state health facilities, including a mental hospital and long-term care nursing homes. The health department also administers New Mexico's medical marijuana program.

Torres earned her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of New Mexico. Most recently, she worked at Rio Grande Medical Group in Las Cruces. Torres also served on the U.S. Mexico Border Health Commission until 2006 and was chairwoman of the New Mexico Border Health Council Advisory Committee for two years.

Release  

The 82^nd Legislative Session of the Texas House of Representatives recognized the West Texas Area Health Education Center (AHEC) today for its work exposing and preparing minority schoolchildren for careers in the medical field. In coordination with educational institutions, health care providers, communities, and counties, AHEC has programs in Abilene, Amarillo, El Paso, Midland, and Plainview. Eric Nieto – a senior at the Maxine Silva Health Magnet High School in Central El Paso –received the House Resolution No. 418.

James N. Valenti, president and CEO of University Medical Center of El Paso, is urging El Pasoans to express their concerns to their legislators and other state leaders about the proposed budget cuts. UMC alone is targeted for between $20.5 and $24.5 million in cuts in each of the next two years.

Valenti’s letter    

More than 100 Texas doctors made a deal with the state: For four years, they would practice in underserved communities and treat the neediest patients — in return for having their medical school debt forgiven. The source of the funding comes from an enhanced tax on smokeless tobacco; but, just a year into the arrangement, and facing a multibillion-dollar shortfall, state officials could be backing down on their side of the bargain — and directing the smokeless tobacco revenue to help balance the budget instead.

Texas Tribune       

The U.S. Senate has voted to remove an unpopular provision of the healthcare reform law that requires all businesses to fill out a tax form each time they spend $600 or more, but voted down a GOP amendment that would have repealed the Affordable Care Act in its entirety.

MedPage Today

By a vote of 245-189, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on Jan. 19 to repeal the new healthcare reform law, enacted March 23, 2010. It now goes before the Senate, in which Democratic supporters of the law have majority. If once again passed, President Barack Obama has said he would veto the repeal if it reaches his desk.

MedPage Today

U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes supports Affordable Care Act

Congressman Reyes (D-TX) asserts that the “health insurance reform law is not only vital to the physical health of tens of thousands of people in our community, it’s also vital to our region’s long term economic health as well.”

Release

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn stands against Affordable Care Act

Senator Cornyn (R-TX) asserts that “One of the most perplexing things about this health care bill is the determination of the White House and the Democratic majority... [more]

Congressman Silvestre Reyes met with El Paso health care leaders today to discuss the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as the health care reform act, and what it could mean to area residents if it is repealed. On Jan. 19, the House of Representatives will vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act that was enacted March 2010.  Reyes asserts that the “health insurance reform law is not only vital to the physical health of tens of thousands of people in our community, it’s also vital to our region’s long term economic health as well.”

Release

Bloomberg News reported recently, "Spending cuts proposed by the incoming House majority leader would reduce scientists’ chances of winning U.S. grants by almost half, demoralizing researchers and slowing drug development, the National Institutes of Health’s director said. Republicans taking control of the House next year would roll back funding to agencies including NIH to fiscal 2008 levels, according to a proposal by Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., who is likely to become the chamber’s majority leader. That would equate to a 4.3 percent, or $1.3 billion, cut to the agency’s $30.8 billion annual budget." The article appeared in the Washington Post and in several other newspapers on Nov. 10.

Bloomberg News

The National Research Council of the National Academies released a report Oct. 4 that calls for improvements in the way academic institutions manage intellectual property. The report is largely supportive of the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, which permits universities and other recipients of federal research grants the ability to retain title to inventions arising from publicly funded research, and gives academic institutions significant latitude in the management of this intellectual property.

Release

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Friday announced $130.8 million in grants to strengthen and expand the health professions workforce. Six areas are targeted: primary care workforce training, oral health workforce training, equipment to enhance training across the health professions, loan repayments for health professionals, health careers opportunity programs for disadvantaged students, and patient navigator outreach and chronic disease prevention in health disparity populations.

Release

The presidents of seven emerging research institutions, including UTEP’s Diana Natalicio and Guy Bailey of Texas Tech University, testified at a Texas legislative hearing concerning the impact of a 2009 bill that allocated nearly $300 million to emerging research institutions. The goal of the program is to increase the number of tier-one research institutions in the state. Currently, Texas has only three tier-one universities; California has nine.

Dallas News

El Paso Times

Lawmakers approved the Fiscal Year 2011 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, which authorizes $300 million in new construction for Fort Bliss. That includes $147 million that will be used in the construction of the new William Beaumont Army Medical Center. There is also $1.16 million in planning and design funding for renewable energy projects at the post. The bill now awaits Senate passage.

Release                El Paso Times

The New York Times reported, "The Obama administration is rewriting new rules on medical privacy after an outpouring of criticism from consumer groups and members of Congress who say the rules do not adequately protect the rights of patients." 

More

President Obama on July 2 issued an executive order mandating fundamental changes in the regulation of "select agents," a set of 82 designated pathogens and toxins. According to the White House, HHS and USDA will tier the existing list based upon the risk posed by the pathogen or toxin in enabling a mass casualty incident through deliberate misuse. For those pathogens and toxins in the highest risk tier, HHS and USDA will evaluate options for the targeted application of physical security and personnel reliability measures in a manner regulatory burden on researchers and institutions using lower risk agents.

Fact sheet                     Executive order

Dr. Donald Berwick, nominated by President Obama to be Administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services on April 19th, was named to the position on July 7 as a congressional recess appointment. Dr. Berwick can serve until the end of the current Congressional session (likely to be late in 2011).

AAMC                                 White House