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Meningiomas account for about 25% of primary brain tumors: Mayo Clinic Health Letter

Meningiomas, the most common type of brain tumors, are rarely cancerous and may not require treatment. The July issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter offers an overview of this brain tumor that is usually benign.

16 Jul 2010

Insurers will pick up preventive care costs under new rules

The recommendations of a federal task force on preventive care - once just suggestions for doctors - will soon become coverage requirements for private insurers under regulations unveiled Wednesday by the Obama administration, according to Kaiser Health News and The Washington Post. "Under the new health care overhaul law, insurers will be required to pay fully for services that get an "A" or "B" recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a volunteer group made up of primary care and public health experts."

16 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 15, 2010

Headlines topping today's news include reports about the White House release of new coverage rules for certain screening tests and other types of preventive care, and calls from the GOP for hearings on Berwick's recess appointment to run Medicare and Medicaid top today's news.

15 Jul 2010

NUHW files for union election, but refuses to sign agreement

Two weeks after filing for a union election among 46,000 Kaiser workers in California, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) refused to sign an agreement that would allow the election to go forward in the next 60 days.

15 Jul 2010

Media outlets focus on audiences towards Alzheimer's disease: Intellect Neurosciences

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of disease-modifying therapeutic agents for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease, today announced that it is pleased with the recent press coverage the Company and Dr. Daniel G. Chain, Ph.D., the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, recently has received.

14 Jul 2010

IFH delivers summer package of new software features to Expresso bikes worldwide

Interactive Fitness Holdings, announced that it has delivered a summer package of new software features to all networked Expresso bikes worldwide.

14 Jul 2010

InfoLogix granted extension of time to regain compliance with NASDAQ listing requirements

InfoLogix, Inc., a leading technology provider of enterprise mobility solutions for the healthcare and commercial industries, today announced that it received a letter from NASDAQ on July 8, 2010, stating that a NASDAQ Hearings Panel granted the Company's request for an extension of time, as permitted under NASDAQ's Listing Rules, to regain compliance with the $2.5 million minimum stockholders' equity requirement for continued listing on the NASDAQ Stock Market.

14 Jul 2010

Medicaid stalemate, pay-for-delay ban among health care items under debate

"Several states are preparing to make deep cuts to Medicaid as a federal stalemate over funding for the poor drags on—even as states face mandates to expand the program under the new health-care law." Efforts to extend provisions of the stimulus programs that provided extra federal money to state Medicaid programs remain in limbo; the enhanced funding is set to expire at the end of the year.

14 Jul 2010

FDA opens two-day hearing to examine safety of diabetes drug Avandia

The Fiscal Times: "There will be more at stake than just one drug's future when the Food and Drug Administration opens a two-day hearing Tuesday on the safety of the diabetes drug Avandia. The 30-member panel of outside experts will also be rendering judgment on research methods that are frequently used to compare effectiveness and are slated to become a pillar of the nation's drug safety monitoring system.

14 Jul 2010

FDA to decide on Avandia’s fate Wednesday

Avandia, a drug used as a treatment for type 2 diabetes was approved for use in 1999. However controversies have surrounded it since 2007 when a Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Steven E. Nissen published a study in the acclaimed New England Journal of Medicine that concluded that the drug significantly increased the risk for heart problems like heart attacks, heart failure and deaths.

13 Jul 2010

Deaf, hard of hearing individuals to be provided equal access at N.Y. nursing and rehabilitation facility

Under an agreement announced today by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing will be provided equal access to a nursing and rehabilitation facility in New York State and will be provided interpretation services when necessary for effective communication.

13 Jul 2010

Verbal cues influence even most elementary visual processing

Cognitive psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania and University of California have shown that an image displayed too quickly to be seen by an observer can be detected if the participant first hears the name of the object.

13 Jul 2010

Memoir traces lifelong, undetected bipolar disorder

When Jerry Jewler turned 60, he celebrated his "coming of age" with a splashy party -- and a glorious high. The next day, he awoke to a hell he had never known: sad and depressed, unable to make even idle chatter with his houseguests, and angry at the world.

13 Jul 2010

Gene mutation that causes auditory neuropathy identified

Researchers have identified a gene mutation that causes a rare form of hearing loss known as auditory neuropathy, according to U-M Medical School scientists.

13 Jul 2010

Sperian Respiratory Protection awarded VHA contract for 65,000 special configuration half-mask respirators

The U.S. Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has awarded Sperian Respiratory Protection USA a contract to purchase 65,000 special configuration modified Sperian Blue1 half-mask respirators with speaking diaphragm for use in VHA hospitals nationwide. VHA is the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States with over 150 hospitals and 130,000 healthcare workers. This award is a result of Sperian's emphasis on developing respiratory products that enhance speech intelligibility when worn by healthcare workers.

13 Jul 2010

Researchers discover gene mutation that causes auditory neuropathy

Researchers have identified a gene mutation that causes a rare form of hearing loss known as auditory neuropathy, according to U-M Medical School scientists. In the study published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, U-M's Marci Lesperance, M.D., and Margit Burmeister, Ph.D. led a team of researchers who examined the DNA of individuals from the same large family afflicted with the disorder.

13 Jul 2010

Axelrod defends recess appointment of Berwick to head Medicare

"This morning on ABC News' 'This Week,' Senior White House Advisor David Axelrod insisted that President Obama's recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick to be the administrator of The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was simply 'too important' to wait for a Congressional hearing" (7/11).

12 Jul 2010

OTA calls on USDA and HHS to revise draft Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010

The Organic Trade Association today called on the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health & Human Services to encourage those seeking to minimize their exposure to toxic chemicals to look for the USDA Organic label wherever they shop by revising the draft Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010.

9 Jul 2010

Lawmakers, pundits offer mixed reaction to Berwick appointment

Politicians and pundits are reacting to President Barack Obama's recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick to run Medicare and Medicaid, with some saying such an appointment bypasses an important process while others praise the move.

9 Jul 2010

Japanese scientists identify long-elusive enzyme necessary for proper regulation of cilia

It's safe to say that cilia, the hairlike appendages jutting out from the smooth surfaces of most mammalian cells, have long been misunderstood - underestimated, even.

8 Jul 2010