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iPSC-derived liver cells hold potential as alternative to liver transplants

Johns Hopkins researchers have demonstrated that human liver cells derived from adult cells coaxed into an embryonic state can engraft and begin regenerating liver tissue in mice with chronic liver damage.

12 May 2011

State roundup: Daniels signs Ind. law to ban Planned Parenthood funding

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican considering a run for president, signed legislation Tuesday to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funding in his state, a move widely seen as a bid to woo influential social conservatives. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and the American Civil Liberties Union went to court to try to block the measure from taking effect.

12 May 2011

FDA accepts Insys NDA for Fentanyl SL Spray to treat breakthrough cancer pain

Insys Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted its New Drug Application (NDA) for Fentanyl SL Spray. The FDA will notify Insys of its PDUFA date in the 74-day letter which is expected in the upcoming weeks.

12 May 2011

Injecting botox in 'trigger points' of pericraneal and neck muscles reduces migraine frequency

Scientists at the University of Granada have confirmed that injecting a local anesthetic or botulinum toxin (botox) into certain points named "trigger points" of the pericraneal and neck muscles reduce migraine frequency among migraine sufferers. University of Granada researchers have identified the location of these trigger points -which activation results in migraine- and their relationship with the duration and severity of this condition.

11 May 2011

Amylin, JDRF collaborate to investigate combination therapy for type 1 diabetes treatment

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that they have entered into a research collaboration agreement to provide financial support for a series of clinical studies to investigate the feasibility of mixing pramlintide, an analog of the human hormone amylin, with insulin to treat type 1 diabetes.

11 May 2011

Majority of urban NYC women with hepatitis B do not receive education, subsequent care

According to new research at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, high rates of chronic hepatitis B infection are found in pregnant minority and immigrant women in the New York City area, and most of them do not receive education, appropriate follow-up testing or referral, which is considered the standard of care for all persons newly identified as HBV carriers.

11 May 2011

Inovio first quarter total revenue increases to $3.1 million for 2011

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2011.

11 May 2011

Depressed patients with chronic illnesses less likely to adhere to medications

People who are depressed are less likely to adhere to medications for their chronic health problems than patients who are not depressed, putting them at increased risk of poor health, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

11 May 2011

$Study: Only 15% of heart failure patients with spinal fractures are being treated for osteoporosis$

Study: Only 15% of heart failure patients with spinal fractures are being treated for osteoporosis

One in 10 heart failure patients had compression fractures in the spine that could have been detected by a chest X-ray, but few are receiving treatment to help prevent such fractures according to a Canadian study published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Heart Failure.

11 May 2011

NCL launches new public education campaign on medication adherence

Today the National Consumers League launches a new public education campaign, Script Your Future, to raise awareness among patients about the consequences of not taking medication as directed.

11 May 2011

Spinal manipulation as effective as microdiskectomy for patients with sciatica

In a recent study, "Manipulation or Microdisketomy for Sciatica? A Prospective Randomized Clinical Study," researchers concluded that spinal manipulation was just as effective as microdiskectomy for patients struggling with sciatica secondary to lumbar disk herniation.

11 May 2011

Merck launches 'Hope Against Hepatitis C' education program

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced the launch of Hope Against Hepatitis C, a company initiative to increase awareness, prevention and diagnosis of hepatitis C virus infection.

10 May 2011

Study: Personality impacts medication adherence behaviour

The results of a unique study from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, show that personality has an impact on how likely people are to take their medication. This is the first major study of its kind to be published in the online journal PloS ONE.

10 May 2011

'Healthy' smokers have gene expression profiles similar to COPD patients

'Healthy' smokers experience changes in the gene expression of their lungs similar to that suffered by smokers who have developed Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). This is the conclusion of a new study, led by Catalan researchers, which confirms the crucial role that smoking plays in causing these alterations.

10 May 2011

biocrea and Pfizer jointly presented details on novel PDE10 inhibitors

biocrea, a biopharmaceutical company focusing on novel treatments for disorders of the central nervous system (CNS), today reported details on the design and synthesis of novel, brain-penetrating phosphodiesterase-10 (PDE10) inhibitors developed in collaboration with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE). The data were featured in joint presentations1 with Pfizer at the recent 241st ACS National Meeting & Exposition, an event organized by the American Chemical Society (ACS).

10 May 2011

Aethlon seeks FDA meeting for re-initiation of Hemopurifier IDE study

Aethlon Medical, Inc. announces that it has submitted a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a face-to-face meeting to discuss re-initiation of an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) study of the Aethlon Hemopurifier in the United States.

10 May 2011

Abbott, Sucampo present lubiprostone phase 3 trial data in Japanese CIC at DDW 2011

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Abbott today reported data from a phase 3 clinical efficacy trial in 124 Japanese chronic idiopathic constipation patients as well as from a phase 3 long-term safety trial in an additional 209 Japanese CIC patients.

10 May 2011

Viewpoints: Dems' Medicare strategy; Health disparities; Chicago hospital dispute

Democrats may be feeling smug about their campaign against the House Republican budget plan, and as a matter of politics, they're no doubt right. If the goal is to deal with the long-term fiscal challenge, though, the Democrats' political success is apt only to prolong the gridlock and make the eventual solution that much more painful. ...

9 May 2011

CMS outlines two different ways to revise Medicare payment system for skilled nursing care

In conjunction with a hearing today before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce in which Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testified about the "Policies and Priorities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services," the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care underscored the importance of provider - Department collaboration in recalibrating the recently implemented Medicare payment system for skilled nursing facility care.

9 May 2011

Innovative detection practices may prevent liver diseases

Research being presented at Digestive Disease Week- shows that screening individuals for hepatitis C based on age instead of conventional risk factors may help increase detection rates as well as prevent liver disease.

9 May 2011