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Study: Generic nifedipine product not bioequivalent to Adalat XL

An extended release generic nifedipine product (Mylan-Nifedipine extended release 60 mg formerly Gen-Nifedipine extended release 60mg, Genpharm ULC) is not bioequivalent to the Canadian originator product, Adalat(R) XL(R), according to the results of a study recently published in the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

4 Feb 2010

Recent clinical trials in patients with ALBP show that SOMA 250 mg reduces disability

A recent analysis of two pivotal clinical trials in patients with acute low back pain (ALBP) who were treated with SOMA® (carisoprodol) 250 mg showed significantly improved functionality and reduced disability after three days of treatment, as measured by the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ).

4 Feb 2010

P&G joins existing Navigenics investors in $18M Series C financing

Navigenics, a leading personal genomics company, announced today that the company has raised approximately $18 million of funding. The Procter and Gamble Company, with a worldwide portfolio of leading consumer brands, has joined existing Navigenics investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and Mohr Davidow Ventures who also participated in this financing round.

4 Feb 2010

State round up: Florida considers eliminating popular Medicaid plan; State program for low-income adults changing in Minn.

e year the state of Florida eliminates its popular MediPass program, which gives more than half a million Medicaid recipients, mostly aged and disabled Floridians, an alternative to HMOs. Hints of its demise showed up in the governor's budget and letters from a powerful lawmaker.

4 Feb 2010

TGen, Geisinger Health System sign strategic research agreement

The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Geisinger Health System today announced the signing of a strategic research agreement that provides for a focused look at the gaps in clinical medicine where biomedical research can make a difference.

4 Feb 2010

Tough economy adds stress to hospitals; Community health centers help fill gaps

Hospitals get mixed marks while many suffer from the effects of the struggling economy. Meanwhile, community health centers increasingly provide more care and help fill in health care gaps.

4 Feb 2010

UBC announces the opening of new global office in Tokyo, Japan

nited BioSource Corporation (UBC) today announced the opening of its newest global office in Tokyo, Japan. The UBC office will be led by Kumpei Kobayashi, PharmD, a biopharmaceutical industry veteran with over 20 years of product development experience throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

4 Feb 2010

Poll: Health care 'damage' to Democrats 'has been done'

Politico: "Democrats will face nearly the same political environment this fall whether or not they pass health care reform legislation, according to a new poll out Tuesday." The poll, by Public Policy Polling, found that "Republicans currently have a generic ballot advantage of 43 percent to 40 percent in races for Congress. ... 'At this point, it looks like the political damage for Democrats on health care has been done,' PPP President Dean Debnam said. "The poll, conducted Jan. 29 - 31, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points" (Barr, 2/2).

3 Feb 2010

Lobbying, ads slow down on health reform

"Drugmakers, business organizations and other interest groups in the health care battle have dialed down expensive lobbying campaigns as they assess how last month's stunning Republican capture of a Senate seat from Massachusetts has altered Washington's political landscape...," The Associated Press reports.

3 Feb 2010

Obama urges Senate Dems not to give up on health legislation

The Washington Post: President Obama attended an issues conference today with the Senate Democratic Caucus and "answered questions from senators, some of them facing uphill reelection battles."

3 Feb 2010

Lawmakers sound off on President's budget and health costs

While White House Budget Director Peter Orszag testified on Capitol Hill about President Obama's fiscal 2011 budget, some members expressed concern about health costs, McClatchy reports.

3 Feb 2010

House Dems' next step in health reform: Repeal of insurance antitrust exemption

Lawmakers "hoping to revive President Barack Obama's stalled health care overhaul have started writing a compromise bill, but it's unclear when the legislation will be ready for votes, a top House Democrat said Tuesday," The Associated Press reports. "The measure would change the massive Senate-approved health bill to what bargainers from the White House, Senate and House agreed to last month, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., said in a brief interview.

3 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 3, 2010

Today's headlines highlight what might be the Democrats' next health reform move in the House, where Speaker Pelosi plans to advance legislation next week to repeal insurance companies' antitrust exemption.

3 Feb 2010

Effective implementation of clinical information systems to maximize health care IT investment

Marking the launch of its newly redesigned Web site, Informatics Corporation of America (ICA; www.icainformatics.com), provider of electronic solutions to hospitals, integrated delivery networks (IDNs), and health information exchanges (HIEs), announces the availability of an informative white paper, “Health Care IT Investment Heightens Need For Effective Implementation: Introducing five key elements for successful roll-out of clinical information systems (CIS),” http://www.icainformatics.com/news-and-events/white-papers/.

3 Feb 2010

AFGE lauds proposed $57 billion funding for VA

Today, the American Federation of Government Employees and its National VA Council applauded the White House's proposed funding increases for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The White House's proposed fiscal year 2011 budget provides $57 billion in funding for the VA. For more than two decades, AFGE, which represents over 180,000 employees in the VA, has joined veterans' groups in calling for full funding of veterans' services.

3 Feb 2010

Majority of nurses experience workplace violence

Three-quarters of nurses providing private and public care experienced workplace violence, but only one in six incidents were formally reported, according to study published in the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

3 Feb 2010

Apple Valley Medical Center to hold free Heart Failure Community Education Evening

A free Heart Failure Community Education Evening will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 9, 2010, at the Apple Valley Medical Center.

3 Feb 2010

ONA urges Ontario government to retain RNs and prevent negative impact on patient care

Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN is calling for the Ontario government to use limited health-care funding available where it's going to matter most: improving patients' health outcomes by preserving registered nursing positions that are being cut as hospitals struggle to balance budgets.

3 Feb 2010

Australian sports medicine experts invited to lend skills for Vancouver Winter Olympics

Two of Australia's sports medicine experts have accepted the only invitation issued to non-Canadian physiotherapists to provide physiotherapy services at the Vancouver Winter Olympics polyclinic.

3 Feb 2010

BioSpecifics Technologies' XIAFLEX receives FDA approval

BioSpecifics Technologies Corp., a biopharmaceutical company developing first in class collagenase-based products, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved XIAFLEX™, a novel, first-in-class, orphan-designated, biologic, for the treatment of adult Dupuytren's contracture patients with a palpable cord.

3 Feb 2010