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Eisai enters Canadian pharmaceutical market

Eisai Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Eisai Co., Ltd. today announces the establishment of Eisai Limited in Canada, the world's ninth largest pharmaceutical market. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eisai Inc., Eisai Limited will be based in Mississauga, Ontario, one of the largest biopharmaceutical clusters and medical communities in North America.

10 May 2010

Companies await health IT windfall

The Washington Post: A Virginia firm, Vangent, is positioning "itself for a surge of federal spending on health information technology" by setting up a health IT strategy group. "Vangent is likely to face stiff competition for those dollars, but company officials say they expect the firm's reputation as a health-related services provider to serve it well as it bids on contracts." The firm is also involved in civil, defense and national security work, but health services are its largest business.

10 May 2010

ACM receives Health Utilization Management Accreditation from URAC

Akeso Care Management®, Inc. (ACM®) announced today that it has been awarded Health Utilization Management Accreditation by URAC, a leading health care accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry. ACM provides medical management services to domestic and international insurance carriers, self-insured employers and third party administrators.

10 May 2010

CFMG to adopt eClinicalWorks EMR system

eClinicalWorks®, a market leader in ambulatory clinical systems, today announced that California Forensic Medical Group (CFMG), which provides health care to correctional facilities in 25 counties in the state, has selected eClinicalWorks electronic medical records (EMR) system. Using eClinicalWorks will allow the group to streamline operations and improve the quality of care provided through reporting capabilities and the ability to share data across the counties. This will help in the continuity of care for inmates.

10 May 2010

First Edition: May 10, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include the feature coverage of aspects of health reform implementation, including how "gradfathering" will be defined in regulations and the latest details on the early retiree reinsurance program.

10 May 2010

Groups vie for a piece of health law's $15 billion prevention fund

Kaiser Health News staff writer Julie Appleby reports: "If you had $15 billion to spend on preventing disease in the U.S., where do you think it would do the most good? Fighting obesity? Smoking? Maybe encouraging exercise?

10 May 2010

Parents, young adult children eagerly await health insurance expansion

The provision of the new health law that allows young adults to stay on their parents' insurance plan is in the news.

10 May 2010

$Free online fracture-risk calculator$

Free online fracture-risk calculator

FRAX- is a free online fracture-risk calculator (http://www.shef.ac.uk/FRAX/) that has been developed by the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Metabolic Bone Diseases at the University of Sheffield, UK. More and more physicians around the world are using the tool as an aid in making informed treatment decisions in the course of a clinical assessment of their patients.

10 May 2010

Costs and quality of cancer care in the U.S.

A new analysis finds that the costs of treating cancer have nearly doubled over the past two decades and that the shares of these costs that are paid for by private health insurance and Medicaid have increased.

10 May 2010

Scientists develop dry, inhalable measles vaccine, will begin testing in India this summer

CBSNews.com reports on the development of a dry, inhalable measles vaccine by researchers at the University of Colorado-Boulder (CU-Boulder), who hope that their work will "help pave the way for the inexpensive treatment of a range of other illnesses" (Cooper, 5/5).

10 May 2010

President says health reform already delivering 'real benefits'

The Associated Press: "The new health care law already is helping millions of people through tax breaks for small businesses and assistance for families with young adults, President Barack Obama said Saturday" (Babington, 5/8).

10 May 2010

Lancet examines Canada's G8 strategy for maternal, child health initiatives

A Lancet World Report examines the details of the Canadian government's strategy for the G8 maternal and child health initiative and reactions from global health leaders and politicians to the plan, including the announcement during a meeting of G8 leaders Halifax, Nova Scotia, that the initiative would not support abortion.

10 May 2010

Majority of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans experience multi-symptom pain disorders

Dr. Gallagher further noted the VA's pain care challenge is magnified by a 90 percent injury survivor rate from these conflicts compared with only 40 percent in the Vietnam War. VA clinicians are now challenged to manage pain in blast survivors with one or several other consequences of blast, such as head injuries causing mild to severe TBI, physical disfigurement and social stigma, emotional trauma, and often post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

10 May 2010

MIT, South Africa announce plans to join patent pool for 'neglected diseases'

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and South Africa's Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) will join the Pool for Open Innovation against Neglected Tropical Diseases, Science|Business reports.

10 May 2010

Canada commemorates National Nursing Week

The theme of this year's National Nursing Week - Nursing: You Can't Live Without It! - reflects the value of the profession to the health system and celebrates the largest group of health-care providers in Canada who, each day, make important personal and professional contributions to the health and lives of Canadians.

10 May 2010

House committee to investigate Johnson & Johnson after kids' Tylenol recall

A House committee is looking at Johnson & Johnson after the company announced a recall of children's medicines. "Lawmakers requested information on Thursday from regulators about Johnson & Johnson's recall of Children's Tylenol and other over-the-counter pediatric medicines, saying the company's repeated recalls 'point to a major problem' with production," Reuters/The New York Times reports.

10 May 2010

Women's empowerment, regional integration, malaria prevention discussed at WEF on Africa

On the second day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa, Graca Machel, founder and president of the Foundation for Community Development, called on African governments to implement strategies aimed at empowering women in order to accelerate the continent's social and economic development, Tanzania Daily News/allAfrica.com reports.

10 May 2010

FAO head calls for more African agriculture investment to boost food security

Country and donor under-investment in agriculture has hindered food security across Africa, Jacques Diouf, director-general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said on Thursday at the group's 26th Regional Conference for Africa in Luanda, Angola, Reuters reports.

10 May 2010

GP practices to get funds to employ full time nurses

There are nearly 40 percent GP practices in Australia who do not employ the services of a trained nurse. Authorities believe that there are 441,000 unnecessary hospital admissions each year only because of inability of patients to manage their chronic diseases due to lack of knowledge, or their inability to get adequate follow up care.

9 May 2010

President's cancer panel focuses on environmental chemicals

An expert panel that advises the president on cancer said Thursday that Americans are facing 'grievous harm' from chemicals in the air, food and water that have largely gone unregulated and ignored. The President's Cancer Panel called for a new national strategy that focuses on such threats in the environment and workplaces.

7 May 2010