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First Edition: April 12, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about Massachusetts' health reform's sixth birthday.

From Medtronic 12 Apr 2012

Overweight moms with moderately high blood sugar raise health risk

Pregnant women who are overweight with moderately elevated blood sugar never set off any alarms for their physicians. The big concern was for women who were obese or who had gestational diabetes because those conditions are known to cause a host of health risks to the mom and baby.

12 Apr 2012

Tenet to pay $43M to settle Medicare overbilling claims

The settlement ends an investigation into allegations the Dallas-based hospital operator overbilled Medicare for treating patients at certain inpatient rehabilitation centers.

12 Apr 2012

Scientists discover mutation limited to brain tissue that causes HMG

Scientists have discovered a mutation limited to brain tissue that causes hemimegalencephaly (HMG), a condition where one half of the brain is enlarged and dysfunctional, leading to intellectual disability and severe epilepsy.

12 Apr 2012

Hospitals step up efforts to control spending

Faced with the prospect that the Affordable Care Act's Medicare cost control measures will remain in place even if the Supreme Court rules its individual mandate and other insurance reforms are unconstitutional, hospital and physician groups are stepping up their efforts to control spending with a special emphasis on limiting labor costs.

12 Apr 2012

Online tool can accurately diagnose autism within minutes

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have significantly reduced from hours to minutes the time it takes to accurately detect autism in young children.

12 Apr 2012

Scientists use two different methods to visualize rare CTCs, double positive cells in mBC

New research from The Ohio State University utilizes two different methods to visualize circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as well as other unusual circulating cells with both epithelial and hematopoietic characteristics in metastatic breast cancer.

12 Apr 2012

Screen time linked with obesity in children

Approximately 20 percent of adolescents in the U.S. today are obese or overweight. With the number of obese and overweight younger children close behind, this epidemic has lasting implications for the future.

12 Apr 2012

USPTO issues two Notices of Allowance to AcelRx for NanoTab formulations

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies for the treatment of acute and breakthrough pain, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued AcelRx two Notices of Allowance for the patent applications entitled "Small-Volume Oral Transmucosal Dosage Forms" and "Bioadhesive Drug Formulations for Oral Transmucosal Delivery."

12 Apr 2012

Education tool helps chest pain patients decide on stress testing

Chest pain patients educated about their future heart attack risk and involved in deciding care options were more likely than less-aware patients to opt out of stress testing, according to research in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.

12 Apr 2012

When the economy is tough, hospitals woo well-insured patients

A study published in Health Affairs found that during the recession, hospitals have sought to establish themselves in affluent markets.

12 Apr 2012

People with PNES do not necessarily experience more frequent or severe stressful events

Based on their clinical experience and observations, a team of Johns Hopkins physicians and psychologists say that more than one-third of the patients admitted to The Johns Hopkins Hospital's inpatient epilepsy monitoring unit for treatment of intractable seizures have been discovered to have stress-triggered symptoms rather than a true seizure disorder.

12 Apr 2012

U.S. spends more on cancer care, but gains time in return

A new analysis published in Health Affairs found that American cancer patients lived almost two years longer than those in 10 European countries -- leading the researchers to say that the additional expense is worth it.

12 Apr 2012

Quest Diagnostics receives FDA clearance for Simplexa C. difficile Universal Direct test

Quest Diagnostics, the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 510(k) clearance to its Simplexa C. difficile Universal Direct Test on the 3M Integrated Cycler.

From Quest Diagnostics 12 Apr 2012

Study: Health law would add $340 billion to nation's deficit

Although the health overhaul is touted by the Democrats as a means to control health care costs, a study by a Republican member of the board that oversees Medicare financing contends that it will add at least $340 billion to the federal deficit.

12 Apr 2012

Study: Stem cells from pelvic bone marrow may help hearts beat stronger

Stem cells from the pelvic bone may help hearts beat stronger. Doctors and other clinicians at the Orlando Health Heart Institute are researching the use of stem cells from pelvic bone marrow to restore tissue and improve heart function after muscle damage from heart attacks.

12 Apr 2012

Eye test to detect heart disease early

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have developed the test which scans blood vessels in the retina at the back of the eyes. They are now launching a study involving more than 1,000 patients to see if the test is reliable.

11 Apr 2012

Times of India examines how female health volunteers are improving maternal, child health in India

"In many parts of India, teenagers and housewives are now donning the garb of health volunteers and convincing pregnant women to deliver in hospitals, and not at homes," the Times of India reports, and profiles Lata Ravikar, "one of the many ordinary women who are leading a silent revolution in urban slums and villages across the country."

11 Apr 2012

TAVI improves heart function, exercise capacity in patients with aortic stenosis

German researchers report success with transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in patients with low-flow, low-gradient aortic stenosis-a special form of aortic stenosis that is difficult to treat. Results published in the April issue of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, the peer-reviewed journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), show that while all-cause mortality was high within the first six months, TAVI significantly improved heart function and exercise capacity in surviving patients.

From Medtronic 11 Apr 2012

Losartan may not increase risk of all-cause mortality in heart failure patients

Although observational studies have suggested that losartan, a drug used primarily for the treatment of hypertension, may be associated with an increased risk of death among patients with heart failure compared with other medications in the same class of drugs (angiotensin II receptor blockers [ARBs]), an analysis that included nearly 6,500 patients found that overall, use of losartan was not associated with increased all-cause death or cardiovascular death compared with use of the ARB candesartan, according to a study in the April 11 issue of JAMA.

11 Apr 2012