Pluristem Therapeutics stock soared 113% Monday on Nasdaq, after the Haifa-based biotherapeutics firm, which specializes in stem-cell therapy products, announced it had successfully completed a preclinical study on its treatment of stroke patients. The study conducted under the supervision of Prof. Frank Emmrich, head of the Fraunhofer Institute in Leipzig, Germany, demonstrated statistically significant improvement in functional and neurological condition in rats, after injection of the treatment.

This is Pluristem’s second preclinical study of the therapy, which involves injection of placental stem cells. The first study, which was conducted in France, showed improvement in mice that received the cells even 10 hours after occurrence of the stroke, compared to existing therapies on the market, which require the patient to receive treatment no later than three hours after the occurrence.

But at Pluristem there is even more excitement over the upcoming human clinical trial for its therapy for lower extremities arteriosclerosis this summer. “This will be the first clinical study in the world, in which placental stem cells are injected into humans, so everyone is on tenterhooks, as we are. But once we are able to prove it [viable], the sky is the limit,” Pluristem CEO Zami Aberman said at the firm’s offices in Haifa.

Aberman is a great believer in the potential inherent in placental stem cells. Up until a few years ago, the prevailing attitude was that the placenta was useless after birth. But Pluristem began examining the placenta as an interesting source of stem cells for biological therapies, based on the assumption that the source of stem cells for production of blood cells is the placenta rather than the umbilical cord.

Arteriosclerosis is a disease in which clots are formed in blood vessels, mainly in the legs. Diabetics, heavy smokers and overweight people for the bulk of those suffering from arteriosclerosis. According to Aberman’s data, the number of patients worldwide reflects a $4 billion market for the therapy, and this is just for the lower limbs. In the U.S. alone there are about 12 million patients, and Pluristem believes that the blood circulation in their legs can be improved, and amputations prevented.

The first stage of clinical tests will begin between July and October, and continue over 6-12 months. The test, which will include 20 patients, involves a single injection, followed by monitoring of the healing process.

Aberman is expecting initial results by mid 2009. The next two stages will be far broader, and include 200 patients each. The paperwork for the first stage has already been submitted in Germany and the U.S., and Pluristem expects U.S. Federal Drug Administration approval of the Haifa plant by mid-June.

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A bill that would let political candidates post the results of voluntary drug tests on a state Web site could get a final vote in the Senate today.

Sen. Harvey Peeler wanted to require drug testing for candidates after the state’s former treasurer, Thomas Ravenel, was indicted on a drug charge.

In mid-March 2008, Ravenel was sentenced to 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to a cocaine charge last September.
There are questions about whether the drug testing measure could survive legal challenges.

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Here’s some chilling reading: Nearly one-third of all eighth-graders have taken an illicit drug; half of all teenagers say they’ve had a drink in the last 30 days; every day, almost 6,000 youths under 18 start smoking cigarettes.

What’s a parent to do?

Kim Hildreth, a mother living in Texas, doesn’t hesitate: Test your kids at home for tobacco, alcohol and drugs. “From a parent’s standpoint, we need all the tricks in the trick bag that we can get,” she says.

Hildreth is so passionate about this subject that several years ago she began selling mail-order drug-testing kits (DrugTestYourTeen.com).

Her advice: Take your child into the bathroom, hand them a cup and tell them, “This is how I’m going to sleep better at night.”

I asked her about ethics issues, like trust and respect.

“Don’t be a chump,” she answers in the straight-talking way that is oh-so-Texas. She likens it to not checking your child’s report card or not calling the other parents before letting your child go on a sleepover.

“If you blindly believe everything a teenager says to you, first of all you don’t recall being a teenager,” she says. “That’s just ignorant. It’s careless parenting.”

Hildreth is convinced these home tests are a deterrent. “It’s also an effective out for the other kids. They can say, ‘My mom’s such a crazy witch, she’ll drug test me.’ ”

Case closed? Not exactly.

Mary Devereaux also is a mother and she would never drug test her kids unless she had good reasons. Even then, she’d go to a professional.

For Devereaux, trust and respect are paramount. If you are drug testing your kids against their will, “you’ve already lost half the battle,” she says.

If the results are negative, “you’ve really damaged the trust,” she adds. If they’re positive? “You’re still going to have to go to a professional to find out exactly what you’re dealing with.”

Devereaux directs the biomedical ethics seminars for the University of California San Diego’s Research Ethics Program. She cites literature warning that home tests are not always reliable and there are tricks that can taint the results. She also argues that research is inconclusive over whether the threat of random drug testing is an effective deterrent.

Her advice: Talk to your kids about drugs and alcohol and tobacco. If you see signs that your child’s behavior is changing, ask your child what’s going on. Contact other parents, if necessary, and school officials.

“My impulse is to have conversations, and if drug testing needs to be done, then it needs to be done by a professional,” Devereaux says.

“I think parenting is all about trust and communication,” she adds.

As an ethicist and a mother, she does not dismiss the drug problem. It’s serious and it’s scary. She also is sympathetic to the other side of the debate. “I can see why people resort to this because it seems like an easy solution,” Devereaux says.

But someday, those kids are going to be on their own and away from your home drug tests. “The real goal here is to get your child or your teenager to decide for themselves not to do drugs,” she says.

But ethics issues aren’t always black and white. Hildreth remains unswayed on the other side. “I hear all the arguments, and it just makes me scratch my head,” she says. “I’m blind about why it should be an issue. It’s just part of our job.”

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The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency says wrestler Mike Zadick has been given a public warning after testing positive for a drug prescribed by a doctor.

USADA said Friday that Zadick tested positive for triamcinolone acetonide at the Pan Am Championships in Colorado Springs in March. The agency says the drug is prohibited under national and international rules, and Zadick did not get an exemption before using it.

Triamcinolone acetonide is often used to treat skin conditions.

Zadick was a silver medalist at the 2007 Pan American Games and 2006 worlds. He won a bronze at the Pan Am Championships, but that finish was overturned as part of the warning.

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A 5-year-old South Salt Lake boy tested positive for cocaine and opiates earlier this year after a woman admitted to authorities that she used the boy’s urine to try to pass a drug test, and failed.
The woman, posing as as a man, called the Department of Child and Family Services on Feb. 27 and said “he” knew a couple who were using cocaine and heroin in front of their child, court documents state.
The woman also said “he” borrowed the 5-year-old child’s urine in order to pass a drug test. The urine came back positive for cocaine, court documents state. Authorities later tested the child’s urine again, as well as his hair. Both tested positive for cocaine and opiates, court documents state.
A 42-year-old woman, not the caller, who lives near 70 E. Claybourne Ave., South Salt Lake, was charged in 3rd District Court on Friday with a third-degree felony charge of having a clandestine laboratory endangerment of child. The charge stems from activity that occurred around Dec. 1, 2007. A male codefendant is also listed on the charging documents.

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Over 1,100 drug tests were carried out on Irish sports people in 2007, the Irish Sports Council (ISC) has said.

According to the council’s Anti-Doping Annual Report 2007, a record 1,135 tests were carried out across 37 sports. These tests led to three adverse findings, two of which resulted in sanctions – one in martial arts and one in rugby.

“The testing programme in 2007 was very extensive with relatively high numbers of tests by international standards”, explained Brendan Buckley, chairperson of the ISC’s Anti-Doping Committee.

The council said that the testing programme in 2008 will include every athlete who may represent Ireland at the Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing.

“This year is an Olympic and Paralympic year and brings renewed focus on the area of doping in sport. The council will ensure that every Irish athlete who may compete in Beijing will be tested”, said ISC chairman, Ossie Kilkenny.

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There are no plans to implement mandatory drug testing within the Fredericton Police Force, says senior management.

Chief Barry MacKnight said the department hasn’t moved in that direction, unlike some departments in North America.

“It is not something we have seriously considered here,” MacKnight said.

But MacKnight, the chairman of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police drug-abuse committee, said drug testing is an issue that’s being discussed on a national level.

“It is something that will continue to be on our radar from a professional standards perspective,” he said.

The association hasn’t taken a position on drug testing, he said.

MacKnight’s comments follow news reports from New York City this week stating that police there are going to face random tests for steroid abuse, starting this summer.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said any officer who tests positive for steroids could be fired or face other discipline.

The decision to test follows an investigation of a pharmacy suspected of peddling steroids without prescriptions.

Some of the customers allegedly included police officers.

MacKnight said drug testing isn’t that cut and dry in Canada.

He said there have been a couple of cases that have had conflicting outcomes.

In one, the courts supported the measure, but in the other it was turned down.

“It is not something that the law is clear on,” MacKnight said. “It is a completely different story if you are doing mandatory drug testing.”

MacKnight said Fredericton has a relatively small department that has a “pretty good” system in place for managing the performance of its officers. Because of that, problems are seen more readily by supervisors, who are engaged in working with them.

“We certainly haven’t seen any kind of rampant problem at all … (but) it will continue to be a hot topic,” MacKnight said.

“It’s on the radar, but we don’t have any plans to implement any program right now.”

Sgt. Derek Strong, media liaison officer for the RCMP in New Brunswick, said mandatory drug testing isn’t carried out within the federal force.

“If we suspect somebody has a problem, then it’s more like situational factors,” Strong said.

He said he has never heard of the issue coming up before.

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Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - “We test an individual when we have reasonable suspicion,” said NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp in response to this week’s revelation that former Craftsman Truck Series and Nationwide Series driver Aaron Fike drove in a race the same day as taking heroin.

Unfortunately, if you are wearing blinders, it’s hard to see when there is a problem unless it is right in front of you.

NASCAR only found out about Fike’s drug problem after he and his girlfriend were arrested last July outside an Ohio amusement park. Had he not been found out by park officials and local police, he might have continued to endanger other drivers with his behavior on the track.

Other drivers had suspicions about Fike, but it shouldn’t be up to a driver to call out a competitor. And it certainly shouldn’t be a money issue…NASCAR has plenty of that.

Drivers are speaking up quickly on this issue as well they should. When you are driving 200 m.p.h. into a corner just a few feet away from another race car, you had better be sure that the other guy has a “level” head and all his faculties.

“Every driver in this garage should take one (drug test), in any garage,” Kevin Harvick said to NASCAR.com’s David Caraviello on Thursday at Phoenix International Raceway.

“I guarantee you, he’s not the first guy and he’s not going to be the last guy,” said 2008 Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman.

“I’ve never been asked to take one yet,” said two-time series champion Tony Stewart, who has raced in the Sprint Cup Series since 1999. “I think it should be mandatory that we have random drug testing all the time, I think non-stop through the year.”

NASCAR’s drug policy is strong once they find a problem, it’s just that they don’t seem to want to go out of their way to check the drivers or for that matter the pit crew. To date, only six people have been suspended for a positive test for drugs or alcohol.

Most sports have some sort of random testing and they are not putting their life on the line like a race car driver. The NFL and MLB have testing. The NBA allows testing not only of players, but trainers and coaches too. The PGA will begin testing this year.

“There’s no reason not to be proactive in the state of the world of sports,” said Harvick. “If I have to pee in a cup 15 times a year, I’m happy to do that.”

NASCAR has made its cars safer and we should all praise them for their efforts with the Car of Tomorrow. Based on Michael McDowell’s crash last weekend, all their efforts are paying off. The next step in driver safety is to make sure drivers can trust each other as much as they trust their cars.

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Baseball players and owners plan to turn over most of the authority for testing for performance-enhancing drugs to the program’s independent administrator while keeping oversight over drugs of abuse with a joint union-management body.

The sides established a third-party administrator when they amended their drug plan for the second time in November 2005, and they split authority between the administrator and baseball’s Health Policy Advisory Committee, which has two members from each side.

Negotiators are close to an agreement that would amend the drug plan for a third time, and the independence of the administrator would be strengthened by establishing a fixed term and allowing his termination only for specified reasons, several people familiar with the talks said.

However, the administrator is unlikely to have all authority over performance-enhancing drugs, with a different third-party entity likely to be created for some issues. In addition, the commissioner will retain authority over discipline.

An agreement could be announced as early as Friday. As part of the deal, HPAC could be replaced by a different and renamed union-management body.

Negotiations began after former Senate majority leader George Mitchell issued his report on performance-enhancing drugs in December. The union has insisted that as part of an agreement, players implicated in the Mitchell Report not be disciplined.

Mitchell’s report focused on performance-enhancing drugs and did not delve into drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, which were perceived to be a greater problem in the 1980s.

With the sides nearing an agreement, 15-day suspensions assessed in December to outfielders Jose Guillen and Jay Gibbons have been put on hold through April 15.

As part of a deal, the frequency of testing probably will increase.

Also Thursday, two people familiar with the details said the 50-game suspension imposed this week on Atlanta Braves prospect Jordan Schafer resulted from work by baseball’s new department of investigations, established at the recommendation of Mitchell. Schafer was suspended after the commissioner’s office said he used human growth hormone in violation of the sport’s minor league drug program.

One official said the suspension did not result from information obtained in a government investigation. That makes it likely the department received a tip.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because details were not make public.

Details of the Department of Investigation’s work were first reported by ESPN.com.

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London, Jan 11(ANI): Troubled Amy Winehouse has been asked to give a drug test to get a visa for Los Angeles where the Grammy Awards are scheduled to take place.

Sources have revealed that the US officials have asked the Rehab star to give a drug test to prove she is clean.

She would have to be clear of drugs for weeks to pass before going to the flashy Los Angeles bash on February 10.

“Amys been told she needs to pass a drug test before she can get a visa, The Sun quoted a source as saying.

“She is doing much better and has cut down her drug use but still isnt clean.

“Her team are desperate to clean her up as the Grammys is such a big deal. But Amys not so bothered,” added the source.

Winehouse has six nominations for the US music awards and has been lined up to be a star in the ceremony. (ANI)

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