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Florida lawmakers weigh Medicaid overhaul

Health News Florida: "In a surprising turnaround from last week, a top Senate health chairman Monday called off two meetings that had been scheduled to scrutinize a House proposal for overhauling the Medicaid system. The Senate Health Regulation Committee planned to hold more than nine hours of meetings Wednesday and Thursday to study House bills that would require almost all Medicaid recipients to move into managed-care plans.

15 Apr 2010

Breast Cancer Research: Thinner girls may be at higher risk of breast cancer

Thinner girls may be at higher risk of breast cancer. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Breast Cancer Research found that girls who were leaner at age seven were at higher risk of cancer later in life.

15 Apr 2010

HHS 2009 quality report shows increase in hospital-acquired infections

The Associated Press: "The Health and Human Services department's 2009 quality report to Congress found 'very little progress' on eliminating hospital-acquired infections and called for 'urgent attention' to address the shortcomings — first brought to light a decade ago."

15 Apr 2010

AMRI announces multi-year research agreement with Navigen Pharmaceuticals

AMRI announced today that it has initiated a research collaboration with Navigen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. focused on the development of new drug therapies.

15 Apr 2010

COBRA health insurance subsidies waiting for Senate action

Kaiser Health News staff writer Andrew Villegas writes: "People recently laid off are waiting -- once again -- to hear if they will be eligible to get subsidies to stay on their employer's health insurance.

15 Apr 2010

Medical schools scramble to address doctor shortage

The Wall Street Journal: "Proponents of the new health-care law say it does attempt to address the physician shortage. The law offers sweeteners to encourage more people to enter medical professions, and a 10% Medicare pay boost for primary-care doctors. … Meanwhile, a number of new medical schools have opened around the country recently."

15 Apr 2010

Financial concerns can delay heart attack treatment

A study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that financial concerns can lead people having heart attacks to delay treatment.

15 Apr 2010

Study: New anti-cancer agents halt cancer metastasis

ke microscopic inchworms, cancer cells slink away from tumors to travel and settle elsewhere in the body. Now, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College report in today's online edition of the journal Nature that new anti-cancer agents break down the loping gait these cells use to migrate, stopping them in their tracks.

15 Apr 2010

Comparative effectiveness funds spur changes, but not without critics

The new health law will infuse $3 billion into health research that compares treatments to gauge which are most effective, building on an earlier federal investment of $1.1 billion from the stimulus package, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports.

15 Apr 2010

Drug company payments to doctors: Continuing controversy

The New York Times has two stories on pharmaceutical industry payments to physicians and experts.

15 Apr 2010

Happiness, well-being tied to the lives of others

Professor Jacqueline Scott led the study which compiled the views of more than 10,000 people over a time frame of five years at Cambridge University. The study which appears in a new book, Gender Inequalities in the 21st Century found that most people were linking their happiness with that of people close to them.

15 Apr 2010

Australian scientists sequence genome of pancreatic cancer

The International Cancer Genome Consortium which includes researchers from 22 countries is mapping the genomes of different types of cancers. A genome is essentially a blueprint of a human’s DNA. The genetic data of each individual is different and so is the genetic data of the cancer in the individual. The Australian scientists are sequencing the genomes of people suffering from pancreatic cancer.

15 Apr 2010

First lady Obama visits Haiti

First lady Michelle Obama, along with Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, "paid a surprise visit to Haiti Tuesday, witnessing the 'powerful' devastation left in the wake of a massive earthquake three months ago," Agence-France Presse reports.

15 Apr 2010

Hospital acquired infections on the increase

Despite being reported over a decade ago, little has been done in America to reduce hospital born infections as per a Health and Human Services department quality report for 2009 to Congress. Hospital acquired infections seem to be on the increase according to the report when compared with statistics available for 2007. The situation is being seen as critical by many health care experts.

14 Apr 2010

Anticonvulsants increase suicide risk

Dr. Elisabetta Patorno, a research fellow at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston has published a study this week in the Journal of American Medical Association which found that taking anticonvulsant drugs raise thoughts of suicide and risks of actually trying to commit suicide by two times the norm. The study was sponsored by the Harvard School of Public Health and HealthCore, a research subsidiary of WellPoint. WellPoint is a health benefits company that serves the Blue Cross Blue Shield network.

14 Apr 2010

Spare the rod – kids spanked more likely to be aggressive

As the saying goes, “spare the rod and spoil the child”. Many organizations including American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association have found that this is a wrong statement and spanking a child may do more harm than good.

13 Apr 2010

CAS Medical Systems granted Japanese patent for LASER-SIGHT technology in FORE-SIGHT Oximeter

CAS Medical Systems, Inc. today announced that that the Japanese Patent Office has granted a new patent for the Company's LASER-SIGHT® technology used in the FORE-SIGHT® Oximeter.

13 Apr 2010

SRI/Surgical Express announces sponsorship of Practice Greenhealth's Greening the OR Symposium

SRI/Surgical Express, Inc., a leading provider of reusable surgical device reprocessing services supporting the healthcare industry, is pleased to announce their sponsorship of Practice Greenhealth's Greening the OR Symposium, scheduled for April 27, 2010 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

13 Apr 2010

Mersana Therapeutics, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries sign research and license agreement

Mersana Therapeutics, a platform-based cancer therapeutics company, today announced that it has entered into a research and exclusive license agreement with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. to develop and commercialize XMT-1107, a novel fumagillin analog, for the treatment of all indications, including cancer.

13 Apr 2010

Benefits of moderate alcohol drinking on stroke risk counteracted by cigarette smoking

New research finds any beneficial effect of drinking moderate amounts of alcohol on stroke may be counteracted by cigarette smoking, according to research that will be presented as part of the late-breaking science program at the American Academy of Neurology's 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto, April 10 - 17, 2010.

13 Apr 2010