A controversial group is asking Walt Disney Co. ( DIS ) shareholders to vote for a proposal to adopt non-discrimination language against “ex-gays” at the company’s annual meeting in March. Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays, or PFOX , says Disney’s exclusion of “ex-gay” language from the company’s employment policies and diversity training discriminates against those who choose to “leave” homosexuality, according to a preliminary filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Continue reading Disney Battles Group Seeking Protection for ‘Ex-Gays’ Disney Battles Group Seeking Protection for ‘Ex-Gays’ originally appeared on DailyFinance on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:20:00. Filed Under: Company News , Walt Disney Permalink | Tweet this! | Comments

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Disney Battles Group Seeking Protection for ‘Ex-Gays’

After jumping 3.7% on Wednesday, Merck & Co. ( MRK ) shares continued their climb higher, up about 2.7% at the end of trading Thursday. On Wednesday, investors reacted to an analyst’s upgrade; on Thursday, they reacted to news that Merck is trying to broaden the market for its cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil. Also, it certainly didn’t hurt that Merck CEO Richard Clark said at an investor conference on Tuesday that 10 of the company’s products were on track to generate at least $1 billion each in sales for 2009. Continue reading Surging Merck Seeks to Expand Use of HPV Vaccine to Older Women Surging Merck Seeks to Expand Use of HPV Vaccine to Older Women originally appeared on DailyFinance on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:52:00. Filed Under: Healthcare , Merck , Schering-Plough , GlaxoSmithKline Permalink | Tweet this! | Comments

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Surging Merck Seeks to Expand Use of HPV Vaccine to Older Women

Filed under: Columns , Healthcare I’ve been inundated by questions from patients and friends over the past few weeks regarding two recent recommendations concerning cancer screenings for women. The big worry that keeps coming up is “are we rationing women’s health care?” That’s because first, the U.S. Preventive Task Force on Nov. 16 recommended against routine mammography for women under 50 and called for regular screenings every other year instead of annually thereafter. The group also downplayed the usefulness of conducting regular breast self-exams. A few days later, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released new cervical cancer screening guidelines stating that women should begin having Pap tests at age 21, then every other year between 21 and 29. The previous recommendation had called for women to begin annual Pap tests a few years after their first sexual activity, or by 21, whichever comes first. Continue reading The Doctor Is In: Where new screening guidelines for women go wrong The Doctor Is In: Where new screening guidelines for women go wrong originally appeared on DailyFinance on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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The Doctor Is In: Where new screening guidelines for women go wrong