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Wright Medical Group acquires BioMimetic Therapeutics

Wright Medical Group, Inc. today announced that it has completed its acquisition of BioMimetic Therapeutics, Inc. The transaction combines BioMimetic's breakthrough biologics platform and pipeline with Wright's established sales force and product portfolio, to further accelerate growth opportunities in Wright's Extremities business.

1 Mar 2013

Report: Medicare paid $5.1B to nursing homes that provided substandard care

Medicare paid billions in taxpayer dollars to nursing homes nationwide that were not meeting basic requirements to look after their residents, government investigators have found.

1 Mar 2013

Other governors pressured for and against Medicaid expansion

In North Carolina, lawmakers passed legislation barring the state from expanding the program for the poor, while in Pennsylvania, Kansas and West Virginia, supporters are pressing the economic and political advantages of the health law provision made optional by the Supreme Court.

28 Feb 2013

FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee to review NDA for tivozanib

AVEO Oncology and Astellas Pharma Global Development, Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc., today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee will review the company's New Drug Application for tivozanib for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma during the morning session of its meeting on May 2, 2013.

27 Feb 2013

Governors mull Medicaid expansion as White House signals states may reduce payments

With federal budget cuts looming, the nation's governors met in Washington and discussed whether or not to expand Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act.

27 Feb 2013

Shionogi receives FDA approval for Osphena to treat women with severe dyspareunia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Osphena (ospemifene) to treat women experiencing moderate to severe dyspareunia (pain during sexual intercourse), a symptom of vulvar and vaginal atrophy due to menopause.

26 Feb 2013

Societies advocate some change for colonoscopy patients with Medicare

The federal government has issued an important clarification on preventive screening benefits under the Affordable Care Act. Patients with private insurance will no longer be liable for cost sharing when a pre-cancerous colon polyp is removed during screening colonoscopy.

26 Feb 2013

Report: Insurance rate hike requests drop as a result of Govt. scrutiny

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, requests by health insurers for double-digit rate increases dropped. The report credits the health law with this development.

26 Feb 2013

With no budget, panel to study health care work force shortage has never met

As health law implementation efforts advance, workforce issues continue to draw headlines. Meanwhile, the Obama administration released final rules Friday regarding key elements of the overhaul, and the law's birth control coverage mandate continues to be the subject of court challenges.

26 Feb 2013

Bayer receives FDA approval for Stivarga to treat advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today expanded the approved use of Stivarga (regorafenib) to treat patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) that cannot be surgically removed and no longer respond to other FDA-approved treatments for this disease.

26 Feb 2013

FDA alerts patients and health care providers of voluntary recall of Omontys by Affymax

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting health care providers and patients of a voluntary nationwide recall of all lots of Omontys Injection by Affymax, Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., and Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company Limited, of Deerfield, Ill.

25 Feb 2013

Expansion debate, decisions play out in Va., Ga., Texas

As state legislators and governors wrestle with budget issues and health law implementation decisions, the role of the Medicaid expansion is shaping up in different ways in different locations.

24 Feb 2013

Some red states wavering on opposition to Medicaid expansion

This week, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, one of the fiercest critics of this health law provision, reversed his position and said he would proceed with the expansion. But he's not the only one, and, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, it's because the idea is just "too good to pass up."

24 Feb 2013

HHS funds projects in 25 states to try to lower Medicaid costs, improve care

The Department of Health and Human Services said on Thursday that it would provide 25 of the 50 states with funding to test new ways to lower costs and improve care within the national Medicaid program for the poor.

23 Feb 2013

Genentech receives FDA approval for Kadcyla to treat HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Kadcyla (ado-trastuzumab emtansine), a new therapy for patients with HER2-positive, late-stage (metastatic) breast cancer.

23 Feb 2013

Gov. Scott's Medicaid decision riles conservatives

The Florida governor's move to expand Medicaid under the health law disappoints some of his supporters, but one newspaper praises the decision.

22 Feb 2013

Pa., Wis. governors face scrutiny, decisions on Medicaid programs

Governors in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are facing questions from their legislatures over plans to expand or limit Medicaid enrollment.

21 Feb 2013

Proposals, partisan rhetoric fly in countdown to March 1 spending cuts

News outlets report how spending reductions will impact health care programs. Meanwhile, in hopes of creating momentum toward a compromise, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles on Tuesday unveiled a $2.4 trillion proposal that includes $600 billion in spending reductions to health-care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

21 Feb 2013

Blog profiles ranking Republican on Senate HHS Appropriations subcommittee

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog profiles Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies. Moran is an advocate of funding for the National Institutes of Health, the blog notes, adding that during his seven terms as

21 Feb 2013

NIAID-funded Phase I trial to evaluate two related candidate vaccines against shigellosis

Researchers have launched an early-stage human clinical trial of two related candidate vaccines to prevent infection with Shigella, bacteria that are a significant cause of diarrheal illness, particularly among children.

21 Feb 2013