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United BioSource announces acquisition of Total Healthcare Group

United BioSource Corporation (UBC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Medco Health Solutions, Inc., today announced the acquisition of Total Healthcare Group (THG), a London-based international consultancy serving clients in the biopharmaceutical industry. THG provides global payer research, strategic planning, and global value dossiers for biopharmaceutical products.

13 Dec 2010

Man Up Now capsules can dangerously lower blood pressure

Product marketed for sexual enhancement contains potentially dangerous ingredient The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to use Man Up Now capsules, marketed as a dietary supplement for sexual enhancement, because they contain a variation of an active drug ingredient found in Viagra that can dangerously lower blood pressure.

13 Dec 2010

News outlets examine flooding in Pakistan four months on

"More than four months after the worst flooding in Pakistan's history, vast stretches of land are still under water in the province of Sindh, isolating many communities. ... The world's attention has long since moved on from the Pakistani flood story, but there are still more than 1 million people who remain displaced in Sindh alone, said U.N. humanitarian affairs chief Valerie Amos last Friday after touring the flood zone.

13 Dec 2010

Study finds Haitian cholera strain resembles one from South Asia, carries mutation that increases severity

"Detailed genetic tests confirm that the cholera strain that has killed more than 2,000 people in Haiti came from South Asia and most closely resembles a strain circulating in Bangladesh," according to a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), Reuters reports (12/9).

13 Dec 2010

Research programs embody the promise of anti-aging medicine.

Sometimes the value of research lies as much in exposing false remedies as in discovering true breakthroughs. Scientists at the country's first school of gerontology and in laboratories around the University of Southern California do both, mindful of their responsibility to a society focused on healthful aging.

13 Dec 2010

Rate of health care-associated infections in developing countries more than double U.S., European rates, study finds

The rate of health care-associated infections in developing countries is more than three times the rate of cases in the U.S. and more than double the rate in Europe, according to a study published Friday in the Lancet, BBC reports (12/9).

13 Dec 2010

EU, India leaders meet to discuss trade deal, some concerned deal will jeopardize drug access in developing countries

On Friday, Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht met to "present a status report on the ongoing free trade talks" that some health advocates fear could limit the supply of generic medications in developing countries, according to Business Standard. "An EU source said the report would signal that talks had made excellent progress and should be wrapped up by early next year," according to the news service (Aiyar, 12/10).

13 Dec 2010

Cesarean-section deliveries may lead to degenerative back disease

Researchers from Michigan State University are studying whether pregnancies, specifically cesarean-section deliveries, are linked to a degenerative back disease that affects women three to nine times more often than men.

13 Dec 2010

House clears the Medicare 'doc fix' for the President's signature; Senate falls short of passing 9/11 bill

In the midst of the lame duck session, House lawmakers approve a one-year Medicare pay fix for physicians — clearing the measure for the president's signature.

10 Dec 2010

Arizona's transplant funding cuts continue to trigger controversy; Florida, Kansas focus on state role in reforms; Wisc. plan would elminate tax on health savings accounts

[Arizona Gov. Jane] Brewer's transplant cutbacks have become a rallying cause for Democrats, who call her decision "Brewercare." It's hypocritical for Republicans to support the program's end while opposing President Barack Obama's health-care legislation on the ground it would create death panels run by bureaucrats, said Anna Tovar, a Democratic state representative from Tolleson (Palmeri, 12/10).

10 Dec 2010

In effort to curb preventable ICU infections, new reporting requirement kicks in Jan. 1

A new rule will require hospitals to report infections the follow a patient's treatment in intensive-care units. Meanwhile, a new study finds mortality risks related to dialysis are higher at for-profit chains.

10 Dec 2010

Research roundup: For-profit hospitals' readmission rate, containing self-referrals, children's dental health, revisiting McAllen

For-Profit Hospital Status And Rehospitalizations At Different Hospitals: An Analysis of Medicare Data - "Rehospitalization within the first 30 days of discharge affects 1 in 5 hospitalized Medicare fee-for-service patients and costs approximately $17.4 billion in payments annually ... the top 4 factors most related to the risk for rehospitalization at a different facility were initial admission to a for-profit index hospital … lower-volume index hospital (hospitals with <1000 annual discharges) … hospital with a major medical school affiliation … and being disabled."

10 Dec 2010

HHS slaps 'mini-med' plans with new restrictions

The Department of Health and Human Services offers new guidance on "mini-med" health plans, requiring that insurers selling these limited coverage offerings must inform consumers "in plain language" how such plans fall short of the health law's minimum coverage standards.

10 Dec 2010

The New York Times: Aetna's former chief executive ponders the new health law

Insurers continue to "ponder" their future under the new order of the health law and, in California, rate increases trigger a blame game.

10 Dec 2010

GOP lawmaker calls government funding bill a 'trojan horse' for health reform

Politics continue to swirl around health overhaul and deficit reduction issues. A new Bloomberg poll, for instance, indicates that the public wants the deficit addressed, but still wants Congress to stay away from Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs. Meanwhile, a GOP senator targets the catch-all spending bill to fund the government as a "trojan horse" to fund the health overhaul. Off the hill, groups are paying particular attention to the words used in discussing health policy issues.

10 Dec 2010

Deals, expansions and ACOs mark hospital sector activity

Hospitals and health systems are the subject of proposed deals and acquisitions. Meanwhile, the concept of accountable care organizations continues to trigger interest and curiosity within the health care sector.

10 Dec 2010

OpEds: Palin on the Ryan Roadmap, Seniors and primary care docs, Arizona transplant controversy

[The president's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform's report] implicitly endorses the use of 'death panel'-like rationing by way of the new Independent Payments Advisory Board—making bureaucrats, not medical professionals, the ultimate arbiters of what types of treatment will (and especially will not) be reimbursed under Medicare.

10 Dec 2010

Stroke falls from third to fourth leading cause of death

A new report, "Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2008," released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), says that for the first time in 50 years, stroke has fallen from the third to the fourth leading cause of death.

10 Dec 2010

AARP Pennsylvania thanks House for passage of bill stopping payment cut to doctors in Medicare

AARP Pennsylvania State Director Dick Chevrefils released a statement following today's passage of the Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010 by the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill stops a scheduled payment cut to doctors in Medicare, ensuring seniors can continue to see their physicians for the next year.

10 Dec 2010

Pfizer withdraws Thelin for treatment of PAH, discontinues global clinical studies

Pfizer Inc. announced today that, in the interest of patient safety, it is voluntarily withdrawing Thelin® (sitaxentan) for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in regions where it is approved (the European Union, Canada and Australia). In addition, Pfizer is discontinuing clinical studies of Thelin worldwide.

10 Dec 2010

Health Care News and Research

United BioSource announces acquisition of Total Healthcare Group

Man Up Now capsules can dangerously lower blood pressure

News outlets examine flooding in Pakistan four months on

Study finds Haitian cholera strain resembles one from South Asia, carries mutation that increases severity

Research programs embody the promise of anti-aging medicine.

Rate of health care-associated infections in developing countries more than double U.S., European rates, study finds

EU, India leaders meet to discuss trade deal, some concerned deal will jeopardize drug access in developing countries

Cesarean-section deliveries may lead to degenerative back disease

House clears the Medicare 'doc fix' for the President's signature; Senate falls short of passing 9/11 bill

Arizona's transplant funding cuts continue to trigger controversy; Florida, Kansas focus on state role in reforms; Wisc. plan would elminate tax on health savings accounts

In effort to curb preventable ICU infections, new reporting requirement kicks in Jan. 1

Research roundup: For-profit hospitals' readmission rate, containing self-referrals, children's dental health, revisiting McAllen

HHS slaps 'mini-med' plans with new restrictions

The New York Times: Aetna's former chief executive ponders the new health law

GOP lawmaker calls government funding bill a 'trojan horse' for health reform

Deals, expansions and ACOs mark hospital sector activity

OpEds: Palin on the Ryan Roadmap, Seniors and primary care docs, Arizona transplant controversy

Stroke falls from third to fourth leading cause of death

AARP Pennsylvania thanks House for passage of bill stopping payment cut to doctors in Medicare

Pfizer withdraws Thelin for treatment of PAH, discontinues global clinical studies

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