Daily Rounds: HIV 'Cure'? Medicare Discounts Threatened; Vitamin D Confusion; Partners Chair Send-Off

Traces of virus in man cured of HIV trigger scientific debate (NPR-Shots) - "The transplants appear to have snuffed out Brown's HIV infection. After an initial spike, the stubborn virus disappeared from his system — even though he is no longer taking anti-HIV drugs. But new data presented last week in Spain raise a question about whether there are minute traces of HIV in some tissues — not whole virus capable of replicating, but pieces of viral genes."

Drugmakers say if court strikes health law, Medicare discounts could end (Kaiser Health News) - "Billions of dollars in drug savings for Medicare beneficiaries may come to an end if the Supreme Court overturns the 2010 federal health law, a drug industry spokesman said Tuesday. The law provides "the necessary legal framework" for drug companies to slash brand-name drug prices by half for seniors and people with disabilities when they enter a coverage gap in their Medicare drug plans."

Panel to post-menopausal women: Don't take Vitamin D, calcium (USA Today) - "'The studies analyzed by the government panel have important limitations,' says Jen Sacheck, an assistant professor and researcher in the antioxidants research laboratory at Tufts University in Boston. The research largely involved white people and no accommodation was made for how nutritional needs may vary by where a person lives, she says. 'It's a more complex picture than they're painting,' she says. 'If you live in New England there are many months of the year when you're not getting adequate amounts of vitamin D from the sun. I check blood levels of young and older people and find them to be low in New England.'"

Partners to host send-off for longtime chairman (Boston Globe - White Coat Notes) "Several hundred people are expected to gather at Camp Harbor View on Moon Island in Boston Harbor Wednesday evening to toast outgoing Partners HealthCare Chairman Jack Connors. Connors, who recently turned 70, is retiring next month after 20 years with Partners hospitals. He joined the board of trustees of Brigham & Women’s Hospital in 1992."