5/30/08

ACTION ALERT
for Medicare Part B beneficiaries using nebulized medications

As members of the COPD patient community, it is important that all COPDers be strong advocates for the community’s interests: spreading awareness, providing education, supporting research, and ensuring access to care.

The COPD Foundation has become aware of a new Medicare policy, scheduled to take effect July 1, 2008 which could severely restrict access to nebulized products. If you are a Medicare beneficiary who has used a nebulized product under Part B of the Medicare program you may be impacted by this change in reimbursement policy. The COPD Foundation believes that your physician should make treatment recommendations based on need rather then cost. If you are interested in taking Action to alert CMS to the impact this will have on you as an individual please send a brief e-mail describing the product you use to Miriam O'Day, Senior Director Public Policy at: moday@copdfoundation.org

5/5/08

Alpha to be Featured in Pulmonary Rehab Talk at Thoracic Society’s Public Advisory Roundtable Forum in Toronto

Alpha Len Geiger, who had a lung transplant five years ago and now regularly takes part in 5K walk events, will be among the featured speakers at the second annual forum of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Public Advisory Roundtable Forum May 17.

Of all the treatments available for individuals with chronic lung diseases such as emphysema or chronic bronchitis, pulmonary rehabilitation usually provides the greatest relief in symptoms, improvements in exercise capacity, and enhancements in quality of life, say ATS experts.

Pulmonary rehab does this despite the fact that it has virtually no direct effect on lung functioning, the experts say. Experts in pulmonary rehabilitation will discuss the rationale behind its effectiveness, its brief yet remarkable history, and how the patient and health care providers work together to reach its impressive goals.

Geiger will talk about how he used pulmonary rehabilitation as part of an overall plan to restore his health.

4/3/08

Bethesda. MD – The Alpha-1 Foundation and COPD Foundation are sponsoring a workshop this week for specialists from around the world to review the state of the art in CT Scan technology and arrive at a set of recommendations for future research on COPD.

The two-day workshop beginning Thursday is formally entitled “Quantitive Chest  Tomography in COPD Research” and will involve both presentations and discussions by experts attending from as far away as Japan.  According to Alpha-1 Foundation Scientific Director Adam Wanner, MD, “Quantitative computed tomography has the potential to be a very important tool to study the genetics and pathogenesis of COPD, as well as the potential effect of therapeutic interventions. The central problem is, there is currently no standardized method for CT scanning in COPD.”

Wanner said he hopes information gathered at the workshop will ultimately serve as the basis for an international CT scanning standard The overall chair of the workshop is Harvey Coxson, MD, of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC. Co-chairs are Stephen Rennard, MD, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha; John Newell, MD, National Jewish Medical & Research Center, Denver, CO, and Jan Stolk, MD, of Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.

Workshop presenters include Drs. Coxson, Rennard and Newell; Martine Remy- Jardin, MD, of Albert-Calmette Hospital in Lille, France; and Masaharu Nishimura, MD, of Hokkaido University School of Medicine in Japan

The Alpha-1 Foundation and COPD Foundation are grateful to the following organizations for providing sponsorship to support this workshop, the 10th installment of the Gordon L. Snider Critical Issues Workshop Series: AlphaNet, Arriva Pharmaceuticals, Baxter Healthcare, CSL Behring, Kamada Ltd., Roche Pharmaceuticals, Spiration Inc. and Talecris Biotherapeutics. About the Alpha-1 Foundation: The mission of the Alpha-1 Foundation is to provide the leadership and resources that will result in increased research, improved health, worldwide detection, and a cure for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. For more information, please visit: www.alphaone.org.

About the COPD Foundation: The COPD Foundation is dedicated to developing and supporting programs which improve the quality of life through research, education, early diagnosis, and enhanced therapy for persons whose lives are impacted by Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. For more information, please visit www.copdfoundation.org/

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Mobile Spirometry Testing (FREE) - Washington DC

NBC4 Health and Fitness Expo

Washington Convention Center
Jan 12th and 13th, 2008
Hours: 9-5 both days

On Saturday, November 3rd, from 9AM to 10AM, John Walsh, President, COPD & Alpha-1 Foundations and Ed Silverman, M.D.,Ph.D., Associate Professor Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hopital, had a question and answer session on WEZE 590AM radio. It was also cast to the Internet from www.talkingabouthealth.org

To listen to the broadcast, you will need windows media player. You can download it at: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/download/download.aspx

To listen to the WEZE presentation in WAV format, Click Here

COPD & Alpha-1 Education Day -- Saturday, November 10th --- 8:30am - 4:30pm

Bedford Glen Hotel, 44 Middlesex Turnpike, Bedford, MA

Speakers include:
Ed Silverman, MD, Ph.D.
Associate Professor - Harvard Medical School
Introduction to COPD and Alpha-1

Craig Hersh, MD, M.P.H.
Instructor in Medicine - Harvard Medical School
Pulmonary Rehabilitation

John Walsh, President COPD & Alpha-1 Foundations
Working with Patients: COPD & Alpha-1 Foundations

Miriam O'Day, Sr. Director of Public Policy
Alpha-1 Association and Foundation, COPD Foundation
Advocacy Update

John Reilly, MD
Vice Chairman for Integrated Clinical Services
Dept. of Medicine, Brighham and Women's Hospital
New Treatment Issues in COPD

Hillary Goldberg, MD
Instructor in Medicine - Harvard Medical School
Immediate Chair, Massachusetts Consortium for Lung Transplant
Lung Transplant

Patient Panels featuring guest speakers on Living with COPD and Alpha-1

Separate COPD Track
Patient COPD resource groups - Chip Gatchell
Oxygen Primer - TBA
Systemic Manifestations of COPD - Dawn DeMeo, M.D.
---Assistant Professor of Medicine
---Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital

Separate ALPHA-1 Track
Alpha-1 Foundation Update - TBA
Alpha-1 Association Overview - Marlene Erven, Exec. Director
Liver Disease in Alpha-1 - Frederick Gordon, M.D.

Note: Reminder - Transportation arrangements may be available
from one city North west and South of conference -
send email to webmaster@COPDFoundation.org with contact information

January 15, 2007 

The Mobile Spirometry Unit (MSU) had an extremely successful launch at the NBC 4 Health & Fitness Expo in Washington, D.C. With a goal of performing 500 spirometries, it completed 861. The MSU is a truck and trailer traveling cross-country stopping at health expos, senior fairs, state and county fairs, and other events in different cities. At each stop the MSU performs free spirometries for individuals symptomatic or at-risk of developing COPD, as well as general information for passersby. Next stop: Daytona Beach, January 30-31!

January 18, 2007 

In conjunction with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) - the COPD Foundation is debuting the C.O.P.D. (Call Our Patients Direct) Information Line. The hotline provides COPD-related information to individuals without Internet savvy or access. The call center is staffed by volunteer patients who are prepared to handle calls from seasoned COPD patients, recently diagnosed patients, symptomatic individuals or members of the general public just interested in more information about COPD. The calls center is operating from 9 am EST to 9 pm EST. Phone:  1-(866) 316-COPD (2673)