Even in tough times, this self-directed service option is giving Medicaid consumers more flexibility and saving states money
posted on March 12, 2010 - 2:30pm
Cash and Counseling, a government program that gives Medicaid recipients in 15 states direct control over their personal-care spending, has been so successful that a majority of states are now adopting it or similar programs. A new report tells why and how.
New Web sites help people with disabilities find jobs
posted on March 11, 2010 - 10:07am
The Social Security Administration (SSA) and other service providers have launched several new Web sites for people with disabilities who want to work.
The Choose Work site contains first-person accounts by people who have used the SSA's work incentives; videos, including a seminar on work incentives; help finding local resources; and more. The site can be found at http://www.choosework.net/.
'Muscle Gene Therapy' brings together the latest research in this promising field
posted on March 8, 2010 - 11:19am
MDA grantee Dongsheng Duan has published a book on the latest advances in gene therapy for muscle disease, particularly muscular dystrophies.
Duan, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Missouri, served as editor of the book Muscle Gene Therapy and co-authored two of its 15 chapters. Duan is currently researching gene transfer therapy in dogs.
About the new book
Human testing has begun of ISIS-SOD1-Rx, a compound designed to block production of a toxic protein in people with the SOD1-related form of familial (inherited) ALS
posted on March 5, 2010 - 12:35pm
Isis Pharmaceuticals of Carlsbad, Calif., has begun a phase 1 clinical trial of its experimental compound ISIS-SOD1-Rx in people with familial (inherited) ALS caused by toxic SOD1 protein molecules.
Scholarships for students with disabilities are available from two organizations -- but deadlines are fast approaching
posted on March 5, 2010 - 9:55am
Application deadlines are fast approaching for two scholarships for students with disabilities, offered by two organizations run by people with forms of muscular dystrophy.
Both organizations – Incight and Deshae Lott Ministries -- require applicants to submit documentation of disability, confirmation of acceptance at a qualifying educational institution, and letters of recommendation. More...
The experimental drug ataluren, developed to overcome nonsense mutations in Duchenne and Becker MD, did not meet its primary end point in a large-scale human trial
posted on March 3, 2010 - 4:55pm
The biopharmaceutical firm PTC Therapeutics announced March 3 that ataluren, its experimental drug for certain forms of Duchenne (DMD) and Becker (BMD) muscular dystrophy, although safe and well tolerated, failed to meet its primary end point within the 48-week duration of the phase 2b trial. That end point was an improvement in how far boys with DMD or BMD could walk in six minutes.
