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State round-up: Penn. Medicare advantage; N.J. cuts immigrant care; Hospitals face hardships

Independence Blue Cross has lost 30 percent of its Medicare managed-care members in the region this year in the wake of federal government rate cuts as its major competitors saw enrollment gains. The cuts came after the Philadelphia insurer eliminated some product offerings for senior adults and raised rates for others.

17 Apr 2010

West African health experts to meet to address health in region

More than 150 health experts from West Africa will meet in Freetown, Sierra Leone, next week for a multi-day gathering aimed at addressing health issues facing people in the region, AfricaNews reports.

17 Apr 2010

Men with prostate cancer may face increased risk of thromboembolism

Men with prostate cancer, particularly those receiving hormone therapy, may face an increased risk of blood clots or 'thromboembolism', scientists at King's College London have found.

17 Apr 2010

Opinion: After health reform, U.S. should focus on responding to global health needs

"Now that the Obama administration has delivered on health care in the United States, we should think about families around the globe who suffer from malnutrition and lack access to basic maternal and child health-care services, including family planning," Thomas Lovejoy of Population Action International and Jim Harkness, president of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, write in a MinnPost.com opinion piece that examines the health needs of people living in developing countries and ways Congressional leaders can respond.

17 Apr 2010

New data on Cladribine Tablets presented at AAN annual meeting

EMD Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, today announced that new data providing further understanding on Cladribine Tablets as a potential new therapeutic option for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis were presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

17 Apr 2010

Obama extends hospital visitation rights, medical decisions, to gays and other non-family members

The Washington Post: "President Obama mandated Thursday that nearly all hospitals extend visitation rights to the partners of gay men and lesbians and respect patients' choices about who may make critical health-care decisions for them. ... The president directed the Department of Health and Human Services to prohibit discrimination in hospital visitation in a memo that was e-mailed to reporters ... while he was at a fundraiser in Miami."

17 Apr 2010

AMD LASERS introduces disposable tips for dental laser procedures

AMD LASERS, LLC proudly announces that effective April 1, 2010, dental practitioners now have the option of using disposable tips or a strippable fiber with the number 1 selling dental lasers in the world - Picasso and Picasso Lite.

From AMD Lasers 17 Apr 2010

70% of COPD patients under-diagnosed due to lack of disease knowledge

"It is high time to demystify COPD in order to better explain the issues and help people who suffer from this disease," says Dr. Jean Bourbeau, Director of the Respiratory, Epidemiology and Clinical Research Unit at the Montreal Chest Institute of the MUHC, and lead investigator of CanCOLD along with Dr. Wan Tan of The James Hogg iCAPTURE Centre for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research, University of British Columbia.

17 Apr 2010

Mass. health official quits, rumors say he's Washington bound

"Jon Kingsdale, head of the quasi-state agency that oversees Massachusetts' landmark health law, is stepping down June 4, Governor Deval Patrick said yesterday."

17 Apr 2010

Treatment with high dose UDCA no more effective for NASH: German study

Results of a German study presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2010, the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Liver in Vienna, Austria, have shown that overall, treatment with high dose (23-28mg/kg/d) ursodeoxycholic acid is no more effective than placebo in the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, the most advanced form of non-alcoholic liver disease associated with cirrhosis of the liver.

17 Apr 2010

Sen. Rockefeller casts 'a watchful eye' on insurers' accounting practices

Dow Jones Newswires/ NASDAQ: "A report released Thursday by the chairman of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee cautioned against health insurers using 'creative accounting' to meet new requirements for the amount of premium dollars they spend on patient care." The requirement is that insurers spend 80 percent of the premiums they collect on patient care for small group and individual plans, and 85 percent for large group plans (Brin, 4/15).

17 Apr 2010

Health law help for those with preexisting conditions; IRS to enforce individual mandate through refunds

"Starting in July, a special high-risk pool will offer coverage to uninsured people with pre-existing health conditions at a cost similar to what everyone else pays. It's the first test of whether the administration can deliver on Obama's vision within the budget Congress set. But some vulnerable patients are probably going to feel a little cheated."

17 Apr 2010

States gear up for implementation, others continue to fight overhaul

Chillicothe Gazette/Gannett: "The spotlight on health care has shifted from the federal government, which wrote the recently passed overhaul legislation, to states, which will be in charge of much of the implementation. States will oversee the expansion of Medicaid, enforce the new insurance reforms and set up and run the new insurance 'exchanges' for small businesses and people who aren't offered coverage through an employer.

17 Apr 2010

Federal cancer research is 'at a breaking point,' IOM study finds

Bloomberg: "The government's cancer research network is 'approaching a state of crisis' as waste and inefficiency cause 40 percent of late-stage trials it funds to be abandoned before completion, according to a report released yesterday. The government-funded National Cancer Institute's clinical trials group isn't able to effectively study the benefits of new and current treatments, according to the analysis by the Institute of Medicine.

17 Apr 2010

Coburn casts doubt on health repeal this year; Health groups lobbying on implementation

The Hill reports Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said Friday that "Republicans can only 'nip at' the law until healthcare opponents take back the White House and gain majorities in Congress, or gain veto-proof majorities in both the House and Senate. … Many conservative activists and Republican lawmakers have argued for full repeal right away, but others have said that won't be possible."

17 Apr 2010

COBRA subsidies continued, Medicare cuts delayed

President Barack Obama signed legislation Thursday night extending extra unemployment benefits through May, including subsidies to help the laid-off buy health insurance under so-called COBRA rules, The New York Times reports. "The measure, which would continue added unemployment benefits and other expired federal programs through May, will restore aid to thousands of Americans who had exhausted their benefits or whose eligibility was expiring. "

17 Apr 2010

Endra Life Sciences launches Nexus 128 preclinical photoacoustic CT scanner

Endra Life Sciences today announced the launch of the Nexus 128, a preclinical photoacoustic computed tomography (CT) scanner for small animal imaging. The system is used for simple, fast, non-invasive quantification of tumor vasculature and other physiological parameters for preclinical research.

16 Apr 2010

3M files lawsuit against Andover Healthcare over CoFlex 2 Layer Compression System

3M and 3M Innovative Properties Co. filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota today against Andover Healthcare Inc. seeking injunctive relief and damages regarding Andover's CoFlex 2 Layer Compression System.

16 Apr 2010

Repligen expects total revenue of $21.0M for fiscal year 2010

Repligen Corporation today announced preliminary financial results for fiscal year 2010 which ended March 31, 2010. Total revenue for the year is expected to be $21.0 million, including $10.3 million of bioprocessing product revenue and $10.7 million of royalty and other revenue. Research and development expenses are expected to be between $13.8-$14.2 million and selling, general and administrative expenses between $6.8-$7.2 million.

16 Apr 2010

Victims of SCA treated with AEDs by bystanders have much greater chance of survival

Victims of sudden cardiac arrest who are treated with automated external defibrillators by bystanders have a much greater chance of survival than their counterparts, according to landmark research by the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium, just published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

16 Apr 2010