National Legal News May 17, 2012
Government Adopts Landmark
Strategy to Fight Alzheimer’s
Washington (AP) – The Obama administration adopted a landmark national strategy to fight Alzheimer’s on Tuesday, setting the clock ticking toward a deadline of 2025 to finally find effective ways to treat, or at least stall, the mind-destroying disease.
But work began right away: Starting Tuesday, embattled families and caregivers were able to check a new one-stop website for easy-to-understand information about dementia and where to get help. The National Institutes of Health is giving the green light to some major new studies of possible therapies, including a form of insulin that’s squirted into the nose.
And the world’s top Alzheimer’s scientists gathered this week to decide what other research should take place next in order to meet that ambitious 2025 deadline.
“These actions are the cornerstones of an historic effort to fight Alzheimer’s disease,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement. She announced the steps Tuesday at the meeting of researchers.
The first National Alzheimer’s Plan comes at what many scientists think is a pivotal moment. Alzheimer’s is poised to become a defining disease of the rapidly aging population. But researchers are pushing for a big change in how potential therapies are tested, by trying them in people who don’t yet have full-blown Alzheimer’s symptoms, when it may be too late to help.
“There’s a sense of optimism” thanks to some new discoveries, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, told scientists at the Alzheimer’s Research Summit on Monday.
But, “we need to figure out exactly where is the best window of opportunity” to battle back Alzheimer’s, Collins added. He noted that cardiologists don’t test cholesterol-lowering drugs on people already near death from heart failure.
It’s clear that Alzheimer’s quietly brews in the brain, killing off cells, for 10 years or more before symptoms appear, Dr. Reisa Sperling of Harvard Medical School told the meeting. She called that time period an important opportunity to try to stave off the disease, at least postponing the memory loss and other symptoms.
Already, 5.4 million Americans have Alzheimer’s or related dementias. Barring a research breakthrough, those numbers will rise significantly by 2050, when up to 16 million Americans are projected to have Alzheimer’s.
Already, it’s the sixth-leading killer, and there is no cure. Treatments only temporarily ease some symptoms.
Beyond the suffering, it’s a budget-busting disease for Medicare, Medicaid and families. Caring for people with dementia will cost the U.S. $200 billion this year alone, and $1 trillion by 2050, the Alzheimer’s Association estimates. Even that staggering figure doesn’t fully reflect the toll. Sufferers lose the ability to do the simplest activities of daily life and can survive that way for a decade or more. Family members provide most of the care, unpaid, and too often their own health crumbles under the stress.
So the National Alzheimer’s Plan, required by Congress, takes a two-pronged approach: focusing on future treatments plus help for families suffering today.
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Coverage by Lorraine Boyd
Fraser Stryker Partner Stephen Bruckner (left) and Associate Brian Bartels (right) congratulate their firm’s 2012 Diversity Scholars: Catherine Lee and Mikeisha Russell at a ceremony May 9.
Scholars Set Sights on Legal Studies
Catherine Lee, a Burke High graduate, will attend St. Louis University. She will study business, political science and pre-law. Mikeisha Russell, a 2012 Northwest Magnet High School graduate, plans to attend the University of Nebraska at Omaha to study business administration, with an eye to ultimately study law. Both were honor roll students who earned academic letters as well. They were also involved in extracurricular activities such as track and field, DECA, FBLA, and Upward Bound.
Fraser Stryker law firm’s latest winners of the Diversity Scholarship are of Asian-American and African-American descent. This is the sixth year of the firm’s scholarship program.
For more pictures of the event, visit www.omahadailyrecord.com.
His former co-chair Linda Crump presents District Judge John Gerrard the Raciall and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts award at the National Consoritum this week.
Gerrard Receives Award
From National Consortium
On Racial, Ethnic Fairness
Former Nebraska Supreme Court Justice John Gerrard accepted the Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts award during a reception Wednesday evening hosted by the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts at the Hilton Hotel in Omaha.
Nebraska was selected to host the 24th Annual Conference of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts this week. The National Consortium has been working since 1988 to bring together thought leaders and delegates of state justice systems from around the country to share their collective knowledge about best practices within their court systems for achieving fairness and access to justice for all.
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Big O! Excellence Rewards Nonprofits
By Andy Roberts
The Daily Record
To search for excellence in the Omaha area is not really a challenge. To stand out in an area where excellence can be expected is enough in itself to make an organization worthy of attention.
Those are the companies and individuals who will be honored today during the Big O! Excellence Awards Luncheon at Ramada Plaza Hotel & Convention Center.
Hayneedle Co-Founder and CEO Doug Nielsen has been tabbed as the featured speaker. Nielsen’s presentation, entitled: “Fast, Forward Thinking: Insights from an Internet Entrepreneur,” will highlight how Hayneedle has grown from a single online store to more than 220 online stores. Since its 2002 launch with a dozen employees, the company now has 500 in two Omaha offices and has reached $1 billion in cumulative sales.
The larger focus of the event will be on the honorees, including many that have been featured by The Daily Record during the past year. In this issue, the spotlight is on the three not-for-profit organizations that have been nominated for their work in addressing some vital human needs. Nonprofit of the Year nominees must be fully accredited as a 501(c)(3) with an operating history of at least three years and governed by a volunteer board of directors.
Those nominated are Legal Aid of Nebraska, Lutheran Family Services and Completely KIDS. Here are their stories.
Legal Aid of Nebraska
Having two law schools set within an hour of Omaha, it might seem there would be enough attorneys to meet the needs of the population. However, these services, rightly, are not inexpensive. If charged with a crime, a person of limited financial means has options, including the Public Defender’s officer or a court-appointed attorney.
For others, there is Legal Aid of Nebraska, headquartered in downtown Omaha at 19th and Farnam Streets, with offices throughout the state.
Dave Pantos, executive director of Legal Aid, says the organization provides free legal services in civil cases to low-income Nebraskans.
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