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Levin Group to develop a practice integration program for BIOLASE dental lasers

BIOLASE Technology, Inc. today announced that it has engaged Baltimore-based Levin Group, Inc., a leading international dental practice consulting firm, to develop a practice management system for the successful integration and implementation of BIOLASE dental lasers into everyday dental offices.

25 Sep 2009

Entertainment Arts Research to acquire Explain My Surgery

Entertainment Arts Research, Inc. (EARI) today announced that they have issued a letter of intent to acquire Explain My Surgery, Inc. (EMS) and have the company become a wholly-owned subsidiary of EARI.

25 Sep 2009

Phase III PLATO study proves that ticagrelor is more effective than clopidogrel

New data from the phase III PLATO study showed that ticagrelor (BRILINTA((TM))) provided greater reduction of cardiovascular (CV) events (composite of CV death, heart attack and stroke) than clopidogrel (9.02% vs. 10.65%,>

25 Sep 2009

Senators urge the CMS to spare funding cuts for radiation oncology services

Cancer physicians and cancer care advocates applauded a bipartisan letter led by Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius yesterday urging that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) spare life-saving radiation oncology services from a major Medicare funding cut proposed for diagnostic imaging services. The 32 Senators signing the letter stated their unanimous concern that these funding cuts could force freestanding and community-based cancer centers to shut down, thereby limiting access to care for seniors - particularly in rural areas.

25 Sep 2009

NIDCD awards research grant to Mobius Therapeutics

Mobius Therapeutics, LLC ™ has been awarded a research grant from the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) to study its investigational procedure, selective Photodynamic Myringotomy (PDM).

25 Sep 2009

Qrxpharma forms an alliance with Liaoning Nuokang Medicines to commercialise its venomics assets

QRxPharma Limited,announced today a strategic alliance with Liaoning Nuokang Medicines Co. Ltd. ("Nuokang"), a Chinese biopharmaceutical company based in Shenyang, China, to develop and commercialise QRxPharma's venomics assets for the Chinese market.

25 Sep 2009

Webcast on the treatment of cardiovascular diseases

On September 24th at 7:00pm EDT, Dr. Holly Andersen, Director of Education and Outreach at the Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, will host a live webcast exploring the advances and innovations in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. The air live on ORLive.com from the Hospital's new Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute.

25 Sep 2009

Severe plagiocephaly in babies can lead to ear infections

The recommendation to lay babies on their backs to sleep has reduced sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), but has led to an increased number of infants with a skull deformity called deformational (or positional) plagiocephaly. Now new research suggests that infants with more severe plagiocephaly may have a higher rate of middle ear abnormalities associated with ear infections (otitis media), reports the September issue of The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.

25 Sep 2009

Interim results of a pilot study using BACE cardiac device released

Mardil, Inc. today announced positive interim data from a pilot study investigating the safety and efficacy of its novel cardiac device - BACE (Basal Annuloplasty of the Cardia Externally) -- in treating mitral valve regurgitation. The condition arises when the heart's mitral valve leaks blood backward into the heart, causing a range of severe and debilitating symptoms.

25 Sep 2009

Stereotaxis showcases its remote magnetic navigation technology at TCT symposium

Stereotaxis, Inc. is showcasing the value of its technologies for interventional procedures at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) symposium in San Francisco this week.

24 Sep 2009

Study compares benefits of laparoscopic and traditional open surgery for prostate cancer

The more things change, the more they stay the same, as the proverb goes. A study appearing in an upcoming edition of The Journal of Oncology appears to prove just that. The study compares the benefits of laparoscopic surgery versus traditional open surgery in the treatment of prostate cancer. With traditional surgery, surgeons remove the prostate gland via an incision below the belly button.

24 Sep 2009

"Top Docs" ad campaign suit resolved

Virtua may continue advertising that it has the most Top Docs as a result of a Consent Order agreed to by the parties in the suit brought by Cooper against Virtua in February 2009.

24 Sep 2009

Research study links cancer to excess body weight

At least 124,000 new cancers in 2008 in Europe may have been caused by excess body weight, according to estimates from a new modelling study. The proportion of cases of new cancers attributable to a body mass index of 25kg/m2 or more were highest among women and in central European countries such as the Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovenia and Bulgaria.

From The University of Manchester 24 Sep 2009

Scientist reveals that selecting optimal radiation dosage for a patient is possible

An international group of scientists has taken the first step on the road to targeting radiotherapy dosage to individual patients by means of their genetic characteristics, a radiation oncologist told Europe's largest cancer congress, ECCO 15 - ESMO 34, in Berlin today (Thursday September 24). Professor Dirk de Ruysscher, from Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands, said that his team's work might provide the basis for personalised radiotherapy in which, with a simple blood test, doctors may be able to select the optimal radiation dose for a particular patient.

24 Sep 2009

Palmetto GBA-TrailBlazer Health cover Renessa treatment of female SUI

Novasys Medical, Inc., a developer of innovative therapies in women's health, announced today that Palmetto GBA and TrailBlazer Health Enterprises, LLC -- two large regional Medicare carriers serving over 10.2 million beneficiaries in California, Nevada, Hawaii, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico and Virginia -- have agreed to cover the Renessa(R) treatment for female SUI (stress urinary incontinence) in appropriately selected patients with documented medical necessity.

24 Sep 2009

Hsp-27 protein: An indicator of prostate cancer progression

In the largest study of its kind, the international team of pathologists studied an initial 4,000 prostate cancer patients over a period of 15 years to further understanding into the natural progression of the disease and how it should be managed. The research, published in the British Journal of Cancer, could be used to develop a blood test to distinguish between aggressive and non-aggressive forms of prostate cancer.

24 Sep 2009

Two new studies test conventional wisdom about physician behavior

Two new studies test classic assumptions about doctor behavior, including whether fatigue, stress and even full moons impede their work. Meanwhile, separate reports investigate would-be physicians' behavior far from the exam room or operating table -- on Facebook, YouTube, and private blogs.

24 Sep 2009

Rescuing immune system cells can reduce risk of prostate cancer

Immune therapies have been explored as a way to treat cancer after it develops. But a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center suggests that genetic risk of prostate cancer can be reduced by rescuing critical immune system cells.

24 Sep 2009

ProVation MD software for GI procedures

Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading global provider of information for healthcare professionals and students, announced today that Outpatient Surgery Center of Jonesboro has selected its ProVation® MD software for procedure documentation and coding. The software will be used to document Gastroenterological (GI) procedures at the facility.

24 Sep 2009

Hope for heterotopic ossificiation

A recent United States Army study found that excessive bone growth, also known as heterotopic ossificiation (HO), affects up to 70 percent of soldiers who are severely wounded during combat. A much smaller percentage of the civilian population also suffers from HO following trauma or invasive surgery. The excessive bone forms within muscles and other tissues causing severe pain, reduced mobility and even local paralysis if untreated.

24 Sep 2009