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The article discusses aspects of the quality of care of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Europe based on the Multiple Sclerosis--Nurse Empowering Education (MS-NEED) European survey. It is critical of the increase in the number of MS nurses in the continent wit the arrival of the disease-modifying therapies. Also investigated is the variation of the role from country to country to country.

This paper focuses on two areas of innovation currently articulating the agenda of personalized medicine (PM): the discourse of empowerment in health-care reforms and the rise of molecular epigenomics. We align these two developments as discursive and technical resources, focusing on their nascent interplay in shaping alternative sociotechnical imaginaries of PM. Our work aims at inaugurating an intellectual programme on the distinct futures of policy- and identity-making that are being catalysed around epigenomic technoscience, as well as to provide an operational map of its potential synergies with pre-existing socio-political discourses of empowerment in PM. This roadmap advances our understanding of how the intersection of epigenomics with dominant policy discourses becomes a resource to shape roles and obligations of citizens, patients and health-care actors in the emergence of PM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to report on the ‘Innovation through generics’ roundtable, which was convened at the European Parliament in April 2008 to discuss the role of generic medicines in stimulating innovation in the pharmaceutical sector. The roundtable identified a number of factors that hamper generic market entry in Europe and, thus, inhibit competition and innovation in the pharmaceutical sector. These factors include the decline in true innovation in the pharmaceutical sector; shortcomings in current patent and registration systems; pricing and reimbursement delays for generic medicines; greater intellectual property protection and market exclusivity for originator medicines than in the United States; price linkage between generic and originator medicines in some member states; and a lack of demand-side measures that encourage physicians, pharmacists and patients to use generic medicines. There is a need for a pan-European policy relating to patents, registration, pricing and reimbursement, prescribing and dispensing of medicines. In particular, the creation of an internal market will benefit European healthcare by helping to drive down costs. The overall goal should be to support competition and true innovation and, thus, provide sustainable healthcare for patients throughout Europe.Journal of Generic Medicines (2008) 6, 3–8. doi:10.1057/jgm.2008.30; published online 4 November 2008 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing recognition in the United States and Europe that health care is driven to a significant extent by an emphasis on consumer choice and demand. As consumers, people regularly choose their own solutions for health promotion and maintenance, solutions which may or may not be sanctioned by mainstream medicine. Radioactive radon therapy exemplifies a non-sanctioned treatment eagerly sought by certain patients, but scorned or dismissed by many physicians. This is certainly the case in the United States, where well-publicized Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warnings portray radon as a potential carcinogen. Between 1997 and 2001, I worked with a population of arthritis sufferers who expose themselves to radon gas in Montana radon health mines in order to alleviate their symptoms. In this paper I discuss the decision-making process involved in using radon, and compare the Montana radon health mine facilities with selected radon mines and spas in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]