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USAID official discusses agency's efforts to address cholera in Haiti

A USAID official said Tuesday that potential violence following the release of Haiti's final presidential election results could interfere with efforts to contain the country's cholera epidemic, CBC News reports. "What we all worry about is if there is violence again and it disrupts for a couple of days," said Mark Ward, acting director of USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance. "That's my biggest headache right now," he added.

23 Dec 2010

In State budgets, Medicaid goes under the knife; Costs high for Florida Medicaid's doctor-immunity plan; N.J. practices to launch ACOs

Governors nationwide are taking a scalpel to Medicaid, the jointly run state and federal health-care program for 48 million poor Americans, half of whom are children. The single biggest expense for states, Medicaid consumes about 22 percent of their total $1.6 trillion in expenditures, more than what is allocated to elementary and secondary education, according to a National Governors Association report.

23 Dec 2010

New study reveals statin therapy linked to reduced postoperative mortality

Statin drugs were first introduced to lower blood cholesterol concentrations; however, research is now discovering other benefits. A new study from France, published in the January 2011 issue of Anesthesiology, is the first to analyze the impact of preoperative chronic statin therapy on postoperative adverse events in surgical patients. Findings from the study suggest that statin therapy is associated with reduced postoperative mortality.

23 Dec 2010

Photon-based radiation therapy may result in better survival rate in patients with spinal-cord tumor

A study comparing the long-term outcomes of patients with spinal-cord tumors following radiation therapy suggests that certain subsets of patients have better long-term survival.

23 Dec 2010

Amylin, Lilly submit BYETTA sNDA for type 2 diabetes

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company today announced that a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) has been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the expanded use of BYETTA® (exenatide) injection as an add-on therapy to basal insulin, with or without metformin and/or a thiazolidinedione (TZD) in conjunction with diet and exercise for adults with type 2 diabetes who are not achieving adequate glycemic control.

23 Dec 2010

Medicare pays out big bucks for questionable treatments

News outlets report on various activities related to fraud and abuse in Medicare.

23 Dec 2010

NCI grants U-M Cancer Center $10.7M for study of colorectal and pancreatic cancer

The University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a five-year $10.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study colorectal and pancreatic cancer.

23 Dec 2010

TMEM106B gene appears to protect against frontotemporal lobar degeneration

Neuroscientists had assumed that a mutation in the progranulin gene, which makes the progranulin protein and supports brain neurons, was sufficient to produce a kind of dementia known as frontotemporal lobar degeneration. But now an international team of scientists led by researchers at Mayo Clinic's campus in Florida have found another genetic factor they say appears to protect against the disorder in progranulin mutation carriers.

23 Dec 2010

FDA approves Novartis' Amturnide for treatment of high blood pressure

Today Novartis announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Amturnide (aliskiren, amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide) tablets for the treatment of high blood pressure. Amturnide combines the only approved direct renin inhibitor worldwide, Tekturna (aliskiren), with the widely used calcium channel blocker amlodipine and the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ).

23 Dec 2010

Immunomedics announces additional claim for RS7 antibodies patent family

Immunomedics, a biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on the development of monoclonal antibody-based products for the targeted treatment of cancer, autoimmune and other serious diseases, today announced that additional claims for the patent family, "RS7 antibodies," were issued as Patent No. 1,002,443 in Korea.

23 Dec 2010

Minorities with MS may face risk of developing depressive symptoms

Multiple sclerosis can cause significant physical impairment, including fatigue, pain, muscle spasms, tremors and dizziness. For many with MS, the disease wreaks havoc with emotional well-being, too, and according to a new study, minorities might especially be at risk for developing depressive symptoms.

23 Dec 2010

FDA joins Abbott Diabetes Careto to recall 359 glucose test strips

The test strips being recalled may give falsely low blood glucose results. False results may lead patients to try to raise their blood glucose unnecessarily, or they may fail to treat elevated blood glucose because of a false, low reading. Both scenarios pose risks to a patient's health.

22 Dec 2010

New nanoparticle-based diagnostic platform provides rapid detection of sepsis

Blood poisoning can be fatal. If you suffer from sepsis, you used to have to wait as much as 48 hours for laboratory findings. A new diagnostic platform as big as a credit card will now supply the analysis after as little as an hour. This system is based on nanoparticles that are automatically guided by magnetic forces.

22 Dec 2010

New era for anticoagulant therapy

In a Guest Editorial published in the new publication Clinical Investigation, Dr Jeffrey Weitz and Dr John Eikelboom of McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada highlight the importance of the approval in October by the FDA of dabigatran etexilate (Pradaxa®; Boehringer Ingelheim). This new oral thrombin inhibitor provides an alternative to warfarin for long-term stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

22 Dec 2010

Earlier ART initiation should be highest priority for global expansion of HIV patient care

Earlier initiation of antiretroviral therapy should be the highest priority for global expansion of HIV patient care. This finding, from a paper published in this week's PLoS Medicine, should help resource-limited nations to phase in the implementation of the new 2010 WHO recommendations for HIV treatment. "Immediate scale-up of the entire WHO guideline package may be prohibitively expensive in some settings," said lead author Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA.

22 Dec 2010

Vote For Kids Health calls for voting support to help win December Pepsi Refresh Project

Critically ill and disadvantaged children are counting on the generosity of strangers Thursday, December 23, 2010, asking for 100,000 votes to help win their grant ideas in the December Pepsi Refresh Project. Securing the thousands of votes needed to finish in winning spots is an uphill challenge for many organizations, but eight enterprising charities have joined forces to help each other into the winners circle.

22 Dec 2010

First Edition: December 22, 2010

Today's headlines include a number of reports regarding a new proposed rule by the Department of Health and Human Services that will require insurers to justify large premium hikes.

22 Dec 2010

BioCryst commences BCX4208/allopurinol combination Phase 2b study in gout patients

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the initiation of a Phase 2b study of BCX4208 as add-on therapy in gout patients who have not responded to allopurinol therapy alone.

22 Dec 2010

Gifts to help navigate daily routine best for people living with chronic conditions

For those living with chronic conditions, the best holiday gift is something that will make navigating the daily routine easier.

22 Dec 2010

Top ten advances in cardiovascular, stroke research in 2010

Research on reducing risks, improving medical treatment and improving lifestyle behaviors to fight the battle against heart disease and stroke are among the key scientific findings that make up this year's top cardiovascular and stroke research recognized by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

22 Dec 2010