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State highlights: DOJ sues Fla. over keeping children in nursing homes

The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Florida on Monday, accusing the state of unnecessarily institutionalizing about 200 disabled children in nursing homes and cutting services that would allow them to receive care at home (7/22).

24 Jul 2013

Illinois Gov. Quinn signs Medicaid expansion into law

News outlets report on other developments related to state decisions about whether to expand the federal-state program for the poor in Idaho, West Virginia and California.

24 Jul 2013

Researchers develop microbial washing technique to decontaminate fetal tissues

The use of central nervous system fetal tissues derived from routine elective abortions to provide stem cells for transplantation procedures aimed at restoring damage done by neurodegenerative diseases is an established therapy.

23 Jul 2013

Melatonin pre-treatment greatly increases cell survival, say researchers

When melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland, was used as a pre-treatment for mesenchymal stem cells prior to their transplantation into the brains of laboratory animals to repair damage from stroke, researchers in China found that the stem cells survived longer after transplantation. Previous studies had shown that 80 percent of transplanted MSCs died within 72 hours of transplantation.

23 Jul 2013

Toshiba, Unfors RaySafe partner to improve clinical staff safety during interventional procedures

To improve clinical staff safety during interventional procedures and help monitor radiation dose, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. has partnered with Unfors RaySafe, Inc. to offer a new dose monitoring and management tool for Infinix-i cardiovascular X-ray systems. The Unfors RaySafe i2 displays real-time dose exposure information, helping to make exams safer for all clinical staff.

22 Jul 2013

Experts to focus on health care challenges at U.S. Conference on Rare Diseases and Orphan Products

Patient advocates, industry leaders, medical researchers, government officials, and investors will join together in Bethesda, MD, on Oct. 7 - 9 for the 3rd annual U.S. Conference on Rare Diseases and Orphan Products.

20 Jul 2013

Research roundup: Eye care disparities; more complications for Medicaid patients after spine surgery; the cost to states opting against Medicaid expansion

After analyzing 2003-2004 data of patients who underwent spinal surgery at two medical institutions, they found that Medicaid beneficiaries were at much higher risk of experiencing any type of complication than patients who are privately insured. "The results of our study further support the growing body of literature that Medicaid patients have higher rates of complications," the authors write. When evaluating patients and considering the likelihood of complications, "Medicaid status should be considered as well," they concluded (Hacquebord et al., 7/15).

20 Jul 2013

Professional athletes can return to competition after vertebral fusion surgery

Most professional athletes are able to return to competition within a year after vertebral fusion surgery on the upper (cervical) spine, reports a study in the July issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

20 Jul 2013

Small business owners anxious about health law, Chamber survey finds

Small business owners are increasingly concerned about the law's impact, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, while Karen Ignagni of the nation's biggest trade group of insurers says the nation's focus must move to reducing the cost of health care.

19 Jul 2013

Cost of emergency room visits for severe dizziness projected to reach $4.4 billion by 2015

A new Johns Hopkins research report says emergency room visits for severe dizziness have grown exponentially in recent years, with costs topping $3.9 billion in 2011 and projected to reach $4.4 billion by 2015.

18 Jul 2013

Cancer patients who receive chest radiation should screen for heart disease every 5-10 years

Cancer patients who receive chest radiation should be screened for heart disease every 5-10 years, according to the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE).

17 Jul 2013

Roundup: Ore. seniors get special medical deduction, but less generous than hoped; Six fired at Calif. hospital after patient data breaches

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber and Democrats wanted to do away with it. Oregonian columnist Susan Nielsen opined against it. Even AARP was OK with its demise. But when the smoke cleared this week, the Oregon Legislature merely curtailed it. Beginning this tax year, only seniors age 62 or older can deduct out-of-pocket medical expenses, not their entire households (Hunsberger, 7/12).

16 Jul 2013

Cancer patients who receive chest radiation should be screened for heart disease every 5-10 years

16 Jul 2013

ACO pioneers face decision deadline

Modern Healthcare reports that Medicare Pioneers have until July 15 to let the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services know if they plan to stay in the program for a second year. Meanwhile, the Connecticut Mirror offers a picture of how accountable care organizations work.

16 Jul 2013

State highlights: Calif. insurers, lawmakers fight over premium disclosure; For-profit hospital re-entrance in Mass.

Despite opposition from insurers, the Assembly Committee on Health last week approved a bill designed to lower health insurance premiums by requiring plans to disclose more information about their rates. SB 746 by Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) would require insurers selling coverage to employers with 50 or more employees to provide more detailed information about how and why they raise health insurance rates. Leno said the bill was prompted by a recent dust-up between San Francisco unions and Kaiser Permanente. Union officials asked Kaiser for data and reasons for rate increases. Leno indicated he has not been satisfied with the insurer's response (Hart, 7/11).

15 Jul 2013

Weekend reading: Doctors who decide, death desires, and decisions

On the last week of April earlier this year, a small committee of doctors met quietly in a midsized ballroom at the Renaissance Hotel in Chicago. There was an anesthesiologist, an ophthalmologist, a radiologist, and so on - thirty-one in all, each representing their own medical specialty society, each a heavy hitter in his or her own field.

12 Jul 2013

3D-printed airway splint saves life of infant born with severe tracheobronchomalacia

Half a millennium after Johannes Gutenberg printed the bible, researchers printed a 3D splint that saved the life of an infant born with severe tracheobronchomalacia, a birth defect that causes the airway to collapse.

12 Jul 2013

Community health centers get $150 million to help enroll people in new marketplaces

Community health centers across the country will share in $150 million in grants that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday will help them enroll up to 3.7 million Americans in the new marketplaces this fall. HHS on Wednesday announced that 1,200 centers will get at least $59,000 each, money available through the health care law (Bunis, 7/10).

12 Jul 2013

New study evaluates effectiveness of radioimmunotherapy in lymphoma patients

A new treatment option for patients with relapsing follicular, mantle cell and other indolent B-cell lymphomas has been determined safe and feasible by researchers exploring the potential of a low energy beta-emitter radiopharmaceutical.

11 Jul 2013

Study links vitamin D deficiency to accelerated aging of bones

Everyone knows that as we grow older our bones become more fragile. Now a team of U.S. and German scientists led by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley has shown that this bone-aging process can be significantly accelerated through deficiency of vitamin D - the sunshine vitamin.

11 Jul 2013

CT News and Research

State highlights: DOJ sues Fla. over keeping children in nursing homes

Illinois Gov. Quinn signs Medicaid expansion into law

Researchers develop microbial washing technique to decontaminate fetal tissues

Melatonin pre-treatment greatly increases cell survival, say researchers

Toshiba, Unfors RaySafe partner to improve clinical staff safety during interventional procedures

Experts to focus on health care challenges at U.S. Conference on Rare Diseases and Orphan Products

Research roundup: Eye care disparities; more complications for Medicaid patients after spine surgery; the cost to states opting against Medicaid expansion

Professional athletes can return to competition after vertebral fusion surgery

Small business owners anxious about health law, Chamber survey finds

Cost of emergency room visits for severe dizziness projected to reach $4.4 billion by 2015

Cancer patients who receive chest radiation should screen for heart disease every 5-10 years

Roundup: Ore. seniors get special medical deduction, but less generous than hoped; Six fired at Calif. hospital after patient data breaches

Cancer patients who receive chest radiation should be screened for heart disease every 5-10 years

ACO pioneers face decision deadline

State highlights: Calif. insurers, lawmakers fight over premium disclosure; For-profit hospital re-entrance in Mass.

Weekend reading: Doctors who decide, death desires, and decisions

3D-printed airway splint saves life of infant born with severe tracheobronchomalacia

Community health centers get $150 million to help enroll people in new marketplaces

New study evaluates effectiveness of radioimmunotherapy in lymphoma patients

Study links vitamin D deficiency to accelerated aging of bones

Industry Focus eBook - Forensics & toxicology (2nd edition) eBook

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

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