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State roundup: Financial issues threaten N.Y.'s Brookdale Hospital

On two separate occasions this year, Brookdale Hospital Medical Center - a once-venerable institution that serves some of the city's most impoverished patients - has been threatened with expulsion from public-health insurance programs after flunking multiple government safety inspections. The hospital relies heavily on Medicaid and Medicare for financial support.

20 Dec 2011

Zimmer board approves quarterly cash dividend and new share repurchase program

Zimmer Holdings, Inc., a global leader in musculoskeletal care, today announced that its Board of Directors has approved the payment of a quarterly cash dividend to stockholders for the first quarter of 2012.

19 Dec 2011

Acacia increases infusion pump technology patent portfolio

Acacia Research Corporation announced that a subsidiary has acquired patents relating to infusion pump technology from a major medical device company.

19 Dec 2011

Tanning beds raise risk of skin cancer – kids need to be barred

The issue regarding the banning of under-18s from tanning beds has come up again. Manitoba MP James Bezan is pushing for it. The Conservative MP introduced a private members’ bill Thursday that would bar anyone under the age of 18 from using a tanning bed, as well as require tanning salons to improve the warning signs and labels on and around their machines.

18 Dec 2011

Berlin Heart receives FDA approval for EXCOR Pediatric System

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a medical device that supports the weakened heart of children with heart failure to help keep them alive until a donor for a heart transplant can be found.

17 Dec 2011

Health Canada approves Positron's Attrius system

Positron Corporation, a leading molecular imaging company specializing in the field of nuclear cardiology is pleased to announce today that on December 12, 2011, the Company's Positron Emission Tomography Scanner(s) Attrius & Attrius L have received approval for sale in Canada.

15 Dec 2011

With federal court action looming, Sebelius says Plan B decision 'not about politics'

A federal judge in Brooklyn will hear arguments Tuesday afternoon on the constitutionality of the federal decision regarding the access teenage girls should have to morning-after contraceptive pills. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the decision about Plan B's over-the-counter status was not a political one.

14 Dec 2011

Medtronic agrees to $23.5 million settlement in Kickback case

Medtronic Inc. has agreed to pay $23.5 million to resolve allegations that it paid illegal kickbacks to physicians who participated in its postmarket studies and device registries to induce doctors to implant the company's pacemakers and defibrillators, the Department of Justice said Monday.

14 Dec 2011

FDA allows marketing of Infrascanner Model 1000 for intracranial hematomas diagnosis

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today allowed marketing of the first hand-held device intended to aid in the detection of life-threatening bleeding in the skull called intracranial hematomas, using near-infrared spectroscopy.

14 Dec 2011

Aethlon Hemopurifier can capture Nef protein exosomes linked with HIV

Aethlon Medical, Inc., the pioneer in developing therapeutic filtration devices to address infectious disease and cancer, announced today that researchers have discovered that the Aethlon Hemopurifier is able to capture particles known as Nef protein exosomes, which contribute to the progression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

14 Dec 2011

Baxter to acquire Synovis

Baxter International Inc. and Synovis Life Technologies, Inc. today announced a definitive agreement for Baxter to acquire Synovis, a leading provider of biological and mechanical products for soft tissue repair used in a variety of surgical procedures.

From Baxter International Inc. 14 Dec 2011

First Edition: December 13, 2011

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz talked with former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Donald Berwick, who defended these federal health programs, but said they are trapped in a U.S. health system that promotes wasteful spending and inefficient care.

13 Dec 2011

Quintiles launches Kun Tuo to service unique needs of biopharma companies in China

Further deepening its commitment to China, Quintiles today announced the launch of Kun Tuo, a local contract research organization (CRO) built to service the unique needs of the Chinese biopharmaceutical industry and multinational biopharma companies operating in China.

13 Dec 2011

Second annual clinical meeting of Cell Society to be held in San Diego

Although demand and interest in adult stem cell therapies are increasing, it has been challenging for physicians, patients and policy-makers to retrieve the most current and accurate information available. Cell Society International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the clinical applications of adult stem cell therapies worldwide. Cell Society firmly believes that cell therapies offer improved medical treatment for many complicated and hard to treat diseases/injuries.

12 Dec 2011

MyHeartMap Challenge to create nation's first crowd-sourced AED registry

A group of Penn Medicine researchers is set to save lives with cell phone cameras -- and they're challenging the public to help. The MyHeartMap Challenge, a month-long contest slated to take place beginning in mid January, will send thousands of Philadelphians to the streets and to social media sites to locate as many automated external defibrillators (AEDs) as they can.

12 Dec 2011

ICON agrees to acquire BeijingWits

ICON plc, a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, today announced that it has agreed, subject to closing conditions, to acquire BeijingWits Medical Consulting Ltd., a leading CRO in China.

12 Dec 2011

New gift to create Morsani College of Medicine building at USF Health

The University of South Florida has renamed its medical college the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine in honor of the philanthropic commitment of Frank and Carol Morsani. In total, the Morsanis have given $37 million to USF Health and a total of $43 million to the university.

12 Dec 2011

Microsoft, GE Healthcare plans to create joint venture

General Electric Company, through its healthcare IT business, and Microsoft Corp. today announced plans to create a joint venture aimed at helping healthcare organizations and professionals use real-time, system-wide intelligence to improve healthcare quality and the patient experience.

8 Dec 2011

Senate hearing focuses on merger of two big drug benefit managers

Express Scripts and Medco Health Solutions are seeking to combine operations, but some senators have raised concerns about the effect on consumers.

7 Dec 2011

Aethlon receives approval to begin Hemopurifier study at Sarcoma Oncology Center

Aethlon Medical, Inc., the pioneer in developing therapeutic filtration devices to address infectious disease and cancer, announced today that a cancer research study to test the ex vivo effectiveness of the Aethlon Hemopurifier to capture tumor-secreted exosomes from the blood of advanced-stage cancer patients has received institutional review board approval to begin studies at the Sarcoma Oncology Center, based in Santa Monica, California.

7 Dec 2011