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New taxes, Medicaid expansion requests and health insurance portability make health law news

News outlets examines a host of health law issues including new taxes on the rich -- set to soon take effect -- meant to pay for parts of the health law, governors' latest requests on expanding Medicaid, health insurance portability for older workers and dealing with chronic care.

11 Dec 2012

Infinity announces new data from IPI-145 Phase 1 trial on advanced hematologic malignancies

Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced new data from its ongoing Phase 1, open-label, dose-escalation trial of IPI-145, the company's potent, oral inhibitor of phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K)-delta and PI3K-gamma, in patients with advanced hematologic malignancies.

11 Dec 2012

Despite effective anti-viral drugs, majority of HCV patients remain untreated

Just 20 percent of people infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) begin the recommended treatment regimen and less than 5 percent go on to successfully overcome the virus, according to a new review in General Hospital Psychiatry.

10 Dec 2012

New hope for leukemia patients

Nine of twelve leukemia patients who received infusions of their own T cells after the cells had been genetically engineered to attack the patients' tumors responded to the therapy, which was pioneered by scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

10 Dec 2012

Surgical patients with chronic psychological symptoms require psychotherapeutic treatment

In their study, the research group, headed by Privatdozent Dr. Henning Krampe, psychologist at the Charité Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Prof. Claudia Spies, Director of the Charité Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine and Prof. Elmar Brähler, Head of the Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology at the University of Leipzig, initially recorded how many patients faced by a forthcoming operation were interested in psychotherapy sessions and to what extent this interest was associated with the increased psychological distress occurring before the operation. Finally, the scientists examined whether changes in the psychological symptoms took place during the six months following the surgery.

10 Dec 2012

Ibrutinib may effectively combat chronic lymphocytic leukemia

The promising investigational targeted therapy ibrutinib and its mechanism of silencing gene communication pathways critical to the development of cancer may be an effective way to combat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to studies presented today at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

10 Dec 2012

Targeting RAD52 protein can block the process by which leukemia stem cells repair themselves

Despite treatment with imatinib, a successful drug that targets chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a deadly type of cancer, some patients may continue to be at risk for relapse because a tiny pool of stem cells is resistant to treatment and may even accumulate additional genetic aberrations, eventually leading to disease progression and relapse. These leukemia stem cells are full of genetic errors, loaded with potentially lethal breaks in DNA, and are in a state of constant self-repair.

10 Dec 2012

American Journal of Psychiatry publishes results from Successful Aging Evaluation study

Presently, there are about 40 million Americans over the age of 65, with the fastest-growing segment of the population over 80 years old. Traditionally, aging has been viewed as a period of progressive decline in physical, cognitive and psychosocial functioning, and aging is viewed by many as the "number one public health problem" facing Americans today.

9 Dec 2012

C5aRA treatment could be effective against periodontitis

Periodontitis, a form of chronic gum disease that affects nearly half of the U.S. adult population, results when the bacterial community in the mouth becomes unbalanced, leading to inflammation and eventually bone loss. In its most severe form, which affects 8.5 percent of U.S. adults, periodontitis can impact systemic health.

9 Dec 2012

Baby boomers with liver cancer drive demand for liver transplantation

New research reveals that the greatest demand for liver transplantation due to hepatitis C (HCV)-related liver disease occurs among Americans born between 1941 and 1960. Findings in the December issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), suggest that continuing increased demand for transplantation is driven by the development of liver cancer in baby boomers with HCV, but that the demand may decrease as patients born in this time period continue to grow older.

7 Dec 2012

Roundup: Ga. 'provider fee' defeat could mean $430M less for Medicaid; Minn. health programs in line for $37M cut over fiscal cliff; Calif. stem cell board criticized

Just weeks before the 2013 General Assembly convenes, the state's provider fee, called a "bed tax" by some, remains a high-profile wild card -- one that could deal Georgia's hospital industry a crippling blow. If the fee is not renewed -- and anti-tax forces will oppose it -- the Medicaid system may lose $430 million-plus that the assessment now generates. That loss would swell the state's Medicaid financial shortfall, which is already about $400 million (Miller, 12/6).

7 Dec 2012

Over three million American workers diagnosed with cancer each year, reports study

Each year, more than three million American workers are diagnosed with cancer, leading to high productivity losses that mainly affect smaller companies, reports a study in the December Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

7 Dec 2012

Research Roundup: Medicare Advantage Plan beneficiaries may get more appropriate use of services; CHIP participation grows; College students' flu vaccination rates weak

Analysis Of Medicare Advantage HMOs Compared With Traditional Medicare Shows Lower Use of Many Services During 2003-09 – Researchers compared the utilization rates of Medicare Advantage health maintenance organizations (HMOs) with those of traditional Medicare beneficiaries, 2003-09, "to ascertain whether the HMO enrollees demonstrated different levels of use of services, which can be a hallmark of more integrated care."

7 Dec 2012

Modified CKD model aids risk prediction in African Americans

Screening African Americans for microalbuminuria at either 5- or 10-year intervals would be highly cost-effective using a modified version of the CKD Health Policy Model, US researchers report.

7 Dec 2012

CRP40 may have pathogenic role in schizophrenia

Gene expression of catecholamine-regulated protein 40 is dysregulated in people with schizophrenia, study findings show.

7 Dec 2012

Study reveals increase in incidence of dialysis-requiring acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI), an abrupt or rapid decline in kidney function, is a serious and increasingly prevalent condition that can occur after major infections, major surgery, or exposure to certain medications.

7 Dec 2012

Study demonstrates how parasites enter the brain to influence its host

Toxoplasma is a common 'cat parasite', and has previously been in the spotlight owing to its observed effect on risk-taking and other human behaviours. To some extent, it has also been associated with mental illness. A study led by researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now demonstrates for the first time how the parasite enters the brain to influence its host.

7 Dec 2012

Boston Scientific’s Precision Spectra Spinal Cord Stimulator System receives CE Mark approval

Boston Scientific Corporation has received CE Mark approval and has begun the European market launch of the Precision Spectra Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) System.

7 Dec 2012

Roundup: Fla. judge rules legislature must decide on prison care privatization; Skepticism over Ore. medical liability reform proposal

A Tallahassee judge ruled Tuesday that a legislative committee did not have the authority to approve a contract regarding prison health care services. According to Businessweek, the plan would privatize health care services in three of Florida's four prison system regions. Circuit Judge John Cooper, who made the decision, said the policy changes must be approved by the full Legislature, rather than just a panel of 14 select legislators.

6 Dec 2012

Scientists identify novel mechanism by which ketogenic diet could delay effects of aging

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have identified a novel mechanism by which a type of low-carb, low-calorie diet-called a "ketogenic diet"-could delay the effects of aging. This fundamental discovery reveals how such a diet could slow the aging process and may one day allow scientists to better treat or prevent age-related diseases, including heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and many forms of cancer.

6 Dec 2012

Chronic News and Research

New taxes, Medicaid expansion requests and health insurance portability make health law news

Infinity announces new data from IPI-145 Phase 1 trial on advanced hematologic malignancies

Despite effective anti-viral drugs, majority of HCV patients remain untreated

New hope for leukemia patients

Surgical patients with chronic psychological symptoms require psychotherapeutic treatment

Ibrutinib may effectively combat chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Targeting RAD52 protein can block the process by which leukemia stem cells repair themselves

American Journal of Psychiatry publishes results from Successful Aging Evaluation study

C5aRA treatment could be effective against periodontitis

Baby boomers with liver cancer drive demand for liver transplantation

Roundup: Ga. 'provider fee' defeat could mean $430M less for Medicaid; Minn. health programs in line for $37M cut over fiscal cliff; Calif. stem cell board criticized

Over three million American workers diagnosed with cancer each year, reports study

Research Roundup: Medicare Advantage Plan beneficiaries may get more appropriate use of services; CHIP participation grows; College students' flu vaccination rates weak

Modified CKD model aids risk prediction in African Americans

CRP40 may have pathogenic role in schizophrenia

Study reveals increase in incidence of dialysis-requiring acute kidney injury

Study demonstrates how parasites enter the brain to influence its host

Boston Scientific’s Precision Spectra Spinal Cord Stimulator System receives CE Mark approval

Roundup: Fla. judge rules legislature must decide on prison care privatization; Skepticism over Ore. medical liability reform proposal

Scientists identify novel mechanism by which ketogenic diet could delay effects of aging

Improving healthcare sustainability through carbon data

A New Approach to Preventing Bladder Cancer Recurrence

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

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