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Over 2 million children gain Medicaid or CHIP coverage during 2010

Two years after President Obama signed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA), HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that more than two million more children were served by Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) at some point over the past year.

4 Feb 2011

New England Biolabs expands line of reagents for sample preparation

New England Biolabs has expanded its line of reagents for sample preparation upstream of next generation sequencing to include NEBNext® Small RNA Sample Prep Set 1 for sequencing on the Illumina® platforms, and NEBNext Small RNA Sample Prep Set 3 for sequencing on LIFE's SOLiD™ platform. These new products offer a new and unique protocol, which results in higher yields and lower adaptor-dimer formation, as compared to other protocols.

From New England Biolabs 3 Feb 2011

New state scorecard finds geographic disparities in health insurance coverage for children

Two years after the reauthorization and expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program, a new Commonwealth Fund state-by-state scorecard evaluating how the health care system is working for children finds that federal and state action on behalf of children has helped preserve, and even expand, health coverage for this group, despite the severe recession.

2 Feb 2011

Software can predict future of sports concussion: New research

With the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers poised to do battle for the Super Bowl XLV crown, concern about recognizing and minimizing the incidence of concussions in sports could once again be back in the spotlight. Media coverage of concussion awareness rose to a fever pitch earlier this season fueled by an Associated Press report that this type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) had risen 21 percent in the first eight weeks of the regular season.

1 Feb 2011

New Medicaid panel 'off to rocky start'; States continue to struggle with Medicaid's pressure on their budgets

Politico gives a progress report on the MACPAC while KHN details how a Medicaid showdown regarding costs and coverage could be in the making.

1 Feb 2011

Researchers invent paper microfluidic device for rapid medical diagnostics, chemical analysis

Researchers have invented a technique that uses inexpensive paper to make "microfluidic" devices for rapid medical diagnostics and chemical analysis.

27 Jan 2011

Microvisk secures £6 million to launch world's first diagnostic SmartStrip

Microvisk Technologies, the developer of a handheld system to monitor the blood clotting status of patients taking the drug Warfarin, has raised £6 million through a rights issue to existing investors in an oversubscribed round. This is the third successful funding round for Microvisk, which has secured £10.5m in the past 12 months - the largest amount raised by a UK life science company**.

26 Jan 2011

Government's health care fraud prevention and enforcement efforts recover over $4 billion in FY 2010

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli today announced a new report showing that the government's health care fraud prevention and enforcement efforts recovered more than $4 billion in taxpayer dollars in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010.

25 Jan 2011

Researchers design engineered organ study the use of nanoparticles in breast cancer detection

Purdue University researchers have reproduced portions of the female breast in a tiny slide-sized model dubbed "breast on-a-chip" that will be used to test nanomedical approaches for the detection and treatment of breast cancer.

25 Jan 2011

Three million Medicare beneficiaries receive prescription drug cost relief through Affordable Care Act

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that three million Medicare beneficiaries nationwide have received prescription drug cost relief through the Affordable Care Act. To date, three million eligible beneficiaries who fell into the drug coverage gap known as the donut hole during 2010 have been mailed a one-time, tax-free $250 rebate check.

21 Jan 2011

CWLA disappointed with House's vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act

The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), the nation's oldest and largest membership-based child welfare organization, is speaking out against the House of Representatives' vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

21 Jan 2011

Bluechiip, STMicroelectronics enter partnership to manufacture unique MEMS-based tracking tags

STMicroelectronics, the leading supplier of MEMS devices for consumer and portable applications, and Bluechiip Limited, an innovative early-stage company that has developed a groundbreaking tracking solution, today announced that the two companies are to cooperate in the manufacturing of unique MEMS-based tracking tags, aimed at a range of different markets, but initially in healthcare, such as biobanks.

20 Jan 2011

Research roundup: Racial disparities in cancer and other care, nursing home closures, extending drugmakers' exclusivity

Journal of the National Cancer Institute: Projections Of The Cost Of Cancer Care In The United States: 2010-2020 - "By combining cancer prevalence with average annual costs of cancer care by phase of care and tumor site for 13 cancers in men and 16 cancers in women" and "all cancer sites combined," the authors project there will be just over 18 million cancer survivors in 2020 compared to 13.8 million survivors in 2010.

14 Jan 2011

ICON announces acquisition of Oxford Outcomes

ICON plc,, a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, today announced the expansion of its Late Phase and Outcomes Research services through the acquisition of Oxford Outcomes, a leading international health outcomes consultancy.

14 Jan 2011

AAAS elevates Dartmouth professors to rank of Fellow

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has elevated four Dartmouth professors to the rank of Fellow, including three members of the faculty of Dartmouth Medical School.

13 Jan 2011

Life Technologies announces new DNA sequencing portfolio for lab research

Life Technologies Corporation today announced a series of new product innovations across the company's DNA sequencing portfolio. To date, most sequencing technologies have primarily addressed the needs of researchers in the highest throughput laboratories, limiting widespread accessibility of these powerful next-generation sequencing technologies.

12 Jan 2011

Dirty cash machines – Literally!

Experts have found that cash machines carry same amounts and kinds of bacteria as a public toilet. They took swabs from both places and found pseudomonads and bacillus bacteria types, both of which are behind common afflictions such as diarrhea.

11 Jan 2011

Novelda announces CMOS Impulse Radar Transceiver designed for ETSI and FCC compliance

Novelda AS announced today a CMOS Impulse Radar Transceiver designed for ETSI and FCC compliance within the 6.0GHz - 8.5GHz UWB-mask.

11 Jan 2011

New lab-on-a-chip technology detects protein in blood less than 30 minutes

While most blood tests require shipping a vial of blood to a laboratory for analysis and waiting several days for the results, a new device invented by a team of engineers and students at the University of Rhode Island uses just a pinprick of blood in a portable device that provides results in less than 30 minutes.

10 Jan 2011

Innovative device reduces dental drill's noise, helps people to seek oral healthcare treatment

An innovative device which cancels out the noise of the dental drill could spell the end of people's anxiety about trips to the dentist, according to experts at King's College London, Brunel University and London South Bank University, who pioneered the invention.