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Anthem Blue Cross introduces DailyMed Pharmacy program for Medi-Cal members

Imagine having to face the daily struggle of taking six or more different medications a day to manage a chronic health condition; add to this the worry of missing or taking a dose incorrectly. For Anthem Blue Cross (Anthem) Medi-Cal members, that daily struggle will now be simplified to help increase medication adherence and reduce medication errors.

5 Feb 2010

Attempt by Idaho lawmakers to opt out of federal health care reform could prove disastrous for the state

An attempt by Idaho lawmakers to opt out of federal health care reform could prove disastrous for the state -- resulting in the loss of over a billion federal dollars for Idaho and thousands of jobs in the state.

5 Feb 2010

San Antonio Methodist Hospital upgrades to Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion system

AMERICAN SHARED HOSPITAL SERVICES, a leading provider of turnkey technology solutions for advanced radiosurgical and radiation therapy services, announced today that it has entered into a contract to supply a Leksell Gamma Knife® PerfexionTM system to Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. This new Perfexion system, the eighth placed by AMS to date, will replace an existing Gamma Knife supplied by AMS and is expected to begin treating patients later this year.

5 Feb 2010

Early stage trial finds malaria vaccine effectively protected young children, study says

An experimental vaccine was found to effectively protect young children from malaria in Mali, Reuters reports. According to the news service, "The vaccine, which uses an immune system booster called an adjuvant from British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, targets the malaria parasite as it is actively infecting red blood cells and causing fever and illness" (Steenhuysen, 2/3).

5 Feb 2010

ARUP Laboratories adds three downstream cost calculators to its Suite of Utilization Management Services

ARUP Laboratories announced the release of three groundbreaking tools, downstream cost calculators, to its Suite of Utilization Management Services.

5 Feb 2010

LDDI releases biomonitoring report on environmental neurotoxins in health affected community

The Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI) today released the first-ever biomonitoring report identifying toxic chemical pollution in people from the learning and developmental disability community.

5 Feb 2010

Landrieu speaks on the Senate floor to defend so-called 'Louisiana purchase'

USA Today's On Politics: Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., took to the Senate floor Thursday "to defend the so-called 'Louisiana purchase.'" Describing the deal as a "'bipartisan effort,'" she said she made no apologies for leading the push to cut a deal "to get Louisiana $300 million in extra Medicaid funds inserted into the health care bill" (Kiely, 2/4).

5 Feb 2010

Survey: 60 percent of Americans doubt health reform will pass this year

While a growing segment of people are becoming more optimistic that a health care overhaul will pass this year, they're still largely outnumbered by people who think reform won't happen, The New York Times reports.

5 Feb 2010

With health reform stalled, Medicare coverage for some therapies subject to caps

Stalled health care reform efforts have created several unresolved issues, some of which related to Medicare and Medicaid.

5 Feb 2010

WORLD Symposium: Protalix Biotherapeutics to present data on taliglucerase alfa Phase III Gaucher disease trial

Protalix Biotherapeutics, Inc. today announced that data from its pivotal Phase III trial of taliglucerase alfa in patients with Gaucher disease will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Lysosomal Disease Network: WORLD Symposium 2010, February 10-12, 2010 in Miami, Florida.

5 Feb 2010

Virginia AG works to increase outpatient treatment for mentally ill; Iowa hospitals oppose Medicare fraud bill

News outlets report on health care developments in Virginia, the District of Columbia, California, Iowa, Maryland, Maine and Michigan.

5 Feb 2010

Indiana medical school cuts number of students amid budget cuts

The Louisville Courier-Journal: "Facing a $7 million budget cut, the Indiana University School of Medicine plans to reduce the number of new students next year -- a move that will save money but could reduce the number of physicians when the state is already facing a shortage. After several years of ramping up acceptances of new medical students, IU was forced to cut back after Gov. Mitch Daniels recently ordered state-funded universities to reduce their budgets, said Dr. D. Craig Brater, dean of the school.

5 Feb 2010

House to move forward to end antitrust exemption for health insurers

"House Democratic leaders are moving forward with Plan B for passing health care reform by introducing a stand-alone measure to strip the antitrust exemption for health insurance companies — a popular piece of their stalled health care reform package," Roll Call reports. "Freshmen Reps. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) and Betsy Markey (D-Colo.) will file legislation on Friday aimed at barring the insurance industry from fixing prices and setting their own markets without being investigated.

4 Feb 2010

Global cancer rates could be reduced by 40% with prevention strategies, report says

"Forty percent of the 12 million people diagnosed with cancer worldwide each year could avert the killer disease by protecting themselves against infections and changing their lifestyles, experts said on Tuesday," Reuters reports.

4 Feb 2010

Allergan acquires Serica Technologies

Morningside Technology Ventures, Prism VentureWorks, and Ivy Capital Partners are pleased to announce the acquisition of their portfolio company, Serica Technologies, Inc. by Allergan, Inc. Serica is a growth-stage medical device company focused on the development of biodegradable silk-based scaffolds for use in tissue regeneration in numerous therapeutic areas. Following the acquisition, Serica became a wholly owned subsidiary of Allergan.

4 Feb 2010

Health spending consumes more of U.S. economy, will tip toward government

A new report by federal actuaries shows government programs will pay for more than half of all U.S. health care spending by 2012, and that total spending on health grew as a share of the economy by 1.1 percent last year to 17.3 percent, the largest leap ever, the Los Angeles Times reports.

4 Feb 2010

Obama tries to bridge Democratic divide on health reform

Speaking with Senate Democrats Wednesday, President Obama "suggested that Republicans could be enlisted to play at least some role in negotiating a final bill, The Washington Post reports.

4 Feb 2010

COBRA extension likely part of Senate Democratic jobs plan

The Wall Street Journal: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today said he plans to move the " first part of a job-creation package next week." In discussing the measure during a Capitol Hill press conference, Democratic leaders were short of specifics "but pledged to make the issue of job creation their top priority in 2010."

4 Feb 2010

VA hospitals urged to accomodate growing number of female veterans

NPR: "The traditionally male-dominated environment often doesn't recognize that women veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have experienced the same psychological, physical and emotional trauma as male veterans." Jill Feldman, manager of the Women Veterans Health Care Program at the Milwaukee VA, says the hospital is working to change a culture that has traditionally been more masculine.

4 Feb 2010

Medicaid cuts, past and proposed, a concern to businesses and patient advocates

Kansas Health Institute: "The Kansas Hospital Association will throw its lobbying clout behind a proposed increase in the state tobacco tax to restore a cut in the Medicaid rates paid to providers" (McLean, 2/3).

4 Feb 2010

Health Care News and Research

Anthem Blue Cross introduces DailyMed Pharmacy program for Medi-Cal members

Attempt by Idaho lawmakers to opt out of federal health care reform could prove disastrous for the state

San Antonio Methodist Hospital upgrades to Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion system

Early stage trial finds malaria vaccine effectively protected young children, study says

ARUP Laboratories adds three downstream cost calculators to its Suite of Utilization Management Services

LDDI releases biomonitoring report on environmental neurotoxins in health affected community

Landrieu speaks on the Senate floor to defend so-called 'Louisiana purchase'

Survey: 60 percent of Americans doubt health reform will pass this year

With health reform stalled, Medicare coverage for some therapies subject to caps

WORLD Symposium: Protalix Biotherapeutics to present data on taliglucerase alfa Phase III Gaucher disease trial

Virginia AG works to increase outpatient treatment for mentally ill; Iowa hospitals oppose Medicare fraud bill

Indiana medical school cuts number of students amid budget cuts

House to move forward to end antitrust exemption for health insurers

Global cancer rates could be reduced by 40% with prevention strategies, report says

Allergan acquires Serica Technologies

Health spending consumes more of U.S. economy, will tip toward government

Obama tries to bridge Democratic divide on health reform

COBRA extension likely part of Senate Democratic jobs plan

VA hospitals urged to accomodate growing number of female veterans

Medicaid cuts, past and proposed, a concern to businesses and patient advocates

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

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

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

Applications Engineer

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