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Thermo Fisher Scientific opens global food testing laboratory in Dreieich, Germany

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today opened a global food testing laboratory devoted solely to helping contain costly and life-threatening chemical contamination crises. The Food Safety Response Center, located in Dreieich, Germany, is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and staffed by world-class chemists who will quickly mobilize to aid governments and businesses facing an unknown food safety threat involving chemical contaminants.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 15 Apr 2010

Research reveals demand for over-the-counter oral contraceptives in the US

American women who live along the U.S.-Mexico border frequently buy over-the-counter oral contraceptives from Mexican pharmacies because they don't need a prescription and can send a friend to pick up the pills, according to a study by researchers from two University of Texas campuses and Ibis Reproductive Health.

15 Apr 2010

Universal screening test for CMV infection is not effective, says study

DNA analysis of dried blood samples routinely collected from newborns did not effectively identify an infection that is a major cause of hearing loss in children, according to a study in the April 14 issue of JAMA.

15 Apr 2010

Tobacco policies reduce exposure to secondhand smoke: The Cochrane Library

In countries and states that have introduced policies that restrict smoking in public, people have less exposure to secondhand smoke. There is also a reduction in the number of people who have heart attacks, as well as an improvement in other indicators of health. These findings are reported in a new review published in the April issue of The Cochrane Library.

15 Apr 2010

Opinions: Health and living conditions; H1N1, one year later; global water shortages

Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Habitat for Humanity CEO Jonathan Reckford write in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution opinion piece about the need to "address the constant crisis families face daily in deplorable living conditions."

15 Apr 2010

Partners HealthCare offers $40 million to control health insurance costs in Massachusetts; Neb. Gov. signs new abortion law

Partners HealthCare, whose Boston teaching hospitals have been blamed for helping to drive up medical spending, is offering $40 million toward reducing double-digit health insurance rate increases for small businesses, part of a broader package that will be unveiled today by Senate President Therese Murray.

15 Apr 2010

New strategy, more funding needed to meet maternal, child health MDGs

"Dozens of countries are unlikely to meet" the Millennium Development Goal targets related to maternal and child health without a new strategy and an additional $20 billion each year, according to a report released Tuesday, the Canadian Press reports (Lederer, 4/14).

15 Apr 2010

CDHP applauds dental coverage in health care reform legislation

The Children's Dental Health Project (CDHP) today applauded the historic dental health care provisions that were recently enacted as part of the health care reform legislation signed into law by President Obama. The provisions contained in the legislation represent an unprecedented investment in the oral health of all Americans, especially children.

15 Apr 2010

Loyola University internist advises patients to complete their living wills

On April 16, Americans are being urged to complete living wills and other types of "advance directives" in observance of National Health-care Decisions Day.

15 Apr 2010

EGEE User Forum to highlight role of grid computing techniques in diagnosing cancer and heart diseases

Cancer, heart and circulatory system diseases cause two thirds of all deaths in Europe. Three research projects at this week's Enabling Grids for E-sciencE (EGEE) User Forum in Uppsala, Sweden, are demonstrating ways that modern computing techniques can investigate today's biggest killers.

15 Apr 2010

FDA: Seven MDIs for treating asthma and COPD to be phased out

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced, in accordance with longstanding U.S. obligations under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, seven metered-dose inhalers (MDI) used to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) will be gradually removed from the U.S. marketplace. These inhalers contain ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are propellants that move medication out of the inhaler and into the lungs of patients.

15 Apr 2010

NIH awards Corgenix Medical $600,000 grant to develop diagnostic tests for Ebola and Marburg virus

Corgenix Medical Corporation, a worldwide developer and marketer of diagnostic test kits, including innovative products for emerging pathogens and lethal viruses, today announced a major extension of the collaborative effort to combat important viral diseases.

15 Apr 2010

New AIGISRx Flat provides antimicrobial protection from CRMD infection

TYRX, Inc. announced today the commercial release of the AIGISRx™ Flat, an antibacterial product that helps provide protection against infections associated with implanted pacemakers and defibrillators.

15 Apr 2010

OHSU awarded $5.8M in ARRA funds to educate health IT professional work force

Oregon Health & Science University has been awarded $5.8 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to advance the widespread adoption and meaningful use of health information technology by educating professionals to work in this rapidly growing field.

15 Apr 2010

Opinions divided on swine flu fear

According to health experts the swine flu pandemic is far from over and remains a threat to the population, especially the young. John Mackenzie, the Australian who heads the World Health Organization’s independent but secretive Emergency Committee said in a statement on Wednesday, “This is just as severe as we saw in 1957 and 1968, with one major difference. We are not seeing deaths in the elderly but we are seeing them in a more important group of the population, healthy young adults… It is much more severe than people tend to talk about.”

15 Apr 2010

Family support critical for managing patients with chronic health problems

Almost 40 percent of chronically ill older adults in the U.S. live alone, and a majority of those who are married have spouses with at least one chronic illness that can affect their ability to provide support, according to a U-M study published in the journal Chronic Illness.

15 Apr 2010

Florida to enact health care legislation to improve access to ARV therapy

Florida is poised to enact health care legislation that would add clarity to existing state statutes by requiring that all state-regulated health plans include lifesaving antiretroviral (ARV) HIV/AIDS drugs on their drug formularies or preferred drug lists.

15 Apr 2010

Risks and benefits of anti-aging hormones

In an editorial appearing in the Future Medicine journal Aging Health, Dr. Perls applauds the courage and example displayed by the AMA in its recently published assessment of the risks and benefits of growth hormone, testosterone, estrogen and DHEA for anti-aging.

15 Apr 2010

Anticonvulsants increase suicide risk

Dr. Elisabetta Patorno, a research fellow at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston has published a study this week in the Journal of American Medical Association which found that taking anticonvulsant drugs raise thoughts of suicide and risks of actually trying to commit suicide by two times the norm. The study was sponsored by the Harvard School of Public Health and HealthCore, a research subsidiary of WellPoint. WellPoint is a health benefits company that serves the Blue Cross Blue Shield network.

14 Apr 2010

Spare the rod – kids spanked more likely to be aggressive

As the saying goes, “spare the rod and spoil the child”. Many organizations including American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association have found that this is a wrong statement and spanking a child may do more harm than good.

13 Apr 2010