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Maine studies prospects for state reform efforts while N.Y. experience shows impact of guaranteeing access to coverage

In Maine, insurance regulators say measures aimed at expanding health coverage to more people in that state should wait for final action in Congress, The Associated Press/WBZ reports. A Maine report "released last week, stems from a 2009 law that asks the superintendent to review ways to improve the availability and affordability of Maine's individual health insurance market." In the report, the authors write that Maine's options to expand access and make coverage more affordable will depend on what Congress does.

22 Feb 2010

Chiltern International and Charles River Laboratories to study radiolabelled drug products

Chiltern International Limited, a global contract research organization (CRO), announced its latest collaboration with Charles River Laboratories, Inc. As part of this collaboration, Chiltern Early Phase will partner with Charles River to conduct and support early phase radiolabelled studies.

22 Feb 2010

FDA grants Fast Track designation for Curemark's CM-AT autism treatment

Curemark LLC, a drug research and development company focused on the treatment of neurological diseases, announced that its CM-AT autism treatment, now in Phase III clinical trials, has been designated as a Fast Track drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

22 Feb 2010

Obama's health plan to target insurers' rates

President Obama will propose a regulatory crack down on insurers' rate hikes this morning, as the administration seeks to set the stage for a week-long push to reinvigorate the health care debate, The New York Times reports.

22 Feb 2010

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics, Hadassah Medical Center sign collaborative agreement for ALS clinical trials

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc., a leading developer of adult stem cell technologies and therapeutics, is extremely pleased to announce that it has entered into a collaborative agreement with Hadassah Medical Center to conduct its ALS clinical trials at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital.

22 Feb 2010

UIC researchers receive federal grant to study effects of TV media on children’s health outcomes

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago Institute for Health Research and Policy have received a $2.2 million federal grant to determine whether or not TV food advertising affects children's diet, physical activity and weight.

22 Feb 2010

GOP plans to attend health summit as Obama calls for compromise

President Barack Obama warned during the weekend that both Republicans and Democrats should be careful not to turn this week's health care summit into "political theater" but to work to find "common ground" on the issues, The Washington Post reports. "The Thursday event, scheduled to be televised live on C-SPAN, could prove a pivotal moment in the year-long effort to overhaul the health-care system.

22 Feb 2010

Insurers rebut criticisms of profits, rates

As the Obama Administration seizes on a proposed 39-percent rate hike by a California insurer earlier this month to rally new support for a health overhaul, that insurer's top executive is preparing to go before Congress, The Associated Press/Los Angeles Times reports.

22 Feb 2010

Full text: Obama's health care proposal

Kaiser Health News reports the "proposal President Barack Obama will bring to his Thursday health 'summit' with Congressional leaders contains many of the ideas from the bills already passed by the Democratic House and Senate, including a mandate that individuals buy insurance and a promise to 'end discrimination' from pre-existing conditions."

22 Feb 2010

NHMRC awards $12.7 million for malaria research

A research program that aims to better understand malaria infection and develop treatments and vaccines for the disease has today been awarded $12.7 million (US$11.5 million) by Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

22 Feb 2010

VA focuses on female veterans' struggles, disability claims backlog

News outlets explore issues at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is seeking to cut a backlog in disability claims and also address the needs of female veterans.

22 Feb 2010

Governors on health reform: 'We want in'

"Some governors, frustrated by halted federal efforts to overhaul the U.S. health-care system" and by lingering budget shortfalls deepened by rising health costs, "are introducing their own changes at the state level," The Wall Street Journal reports. While some states, such as Massachusetts, have already taken on health care, others, such as Colorado, Pennsylvania and Republican-led Utah, are now tackling the issues, including cost. "Some governors suggested they may be better equipped to work with one another on health care than congressional leaders who have been at an impasse over federal legislation" (Thiruvengadam, 2/22).

22 Feb 2010

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals initiates ALN-RSV01 Phase IIb trial in adult lung transplant patients for RSV infection

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has initiated a Phase IIb trial in adult lung transplant patients with ALN-RSV01, an RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. RSV infection in lung transplant patients represents an important unmet medical need; the condition is associated with significant morbidity, including the development of acute lung transplant rejection in 10% to 20% of infected patients.

22 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 22, 2010

Peter Orszag, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, tells POLITICO that it is "absolutely" still possible to pass a comprehensive health reform bill, insisting that "to really reform the health care system" would be "best for the economy and the American public" (Politico).

22 Feb 2010

Five undiscussed threats to workers’ safety

A new study released today by VitalSmarts found that five threats to workers’ safety are commonly left undiscussed and lead to avoidable injury or fatalities.

22 Feb 2010

RNCRR uses Parascript' AccuDetect CAD software to detect breast cancer

Parascript, LLC, the image analysis and pattern recognition solution provider, today announced the use of its AccuDetect computer aided detection (CAD) software by the Russian Center for Roentgeno - Radiology Research in Moscow. RNCRR is Russia's largest, most recognized breast cancer oncology center.

22 Feb 2010

Researchers use new technology to reveal different genetic patterns of neuroblastoma

Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden and Karolinska Institutet have used novel technology to reveal the different genetic patterns of neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of childhood cancer. This discovery may lead to significant advances in the treatment of this malignant disease, which mainly affects small children.

22 Feb 2010

Axolotl has the most live HIE clients in acute-to-acute space, KLAS reports

Axolotl Corp. was identified as one of the early leading Health Information Exchange (HIE) solution providers with a fast-growing client base in the new KLAS report “Health Information Exchanges: The Reality of HIE Adoption.”

22 Feb 2010

Capitol Connection summit calls upon elected officials to recognize PAs' vital role in health care reform

Hundreds of physician assistants (PAs) will converge in Washington, D.C. on February 23 during the American Academy of Physician Assistants' Capitol Connection summit to deliver the message to Capitol Hill that PAs are integral to a strong health care system that delivers the highest possible care to patients.

22 Feb 2010