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African vaccine maker plans to increase production capacity sevenfold by 2013

Biovac Institute, a South African vaccine maker, said Monday that it is working with other major pharmaceutical firms to increase its annual capacity sevenfold to 35 million doses by 2013, Reuters reports.

28 Jan 2010

Obama's State of the Union address: LIVESTRONG CEO releases statement

Tonight, LIVESTRONG released the following statement from its President and CEO Doug Ulman, a three-time cancer survivor, regarding President Barack Obama's State of the Union address:

28 Jan 2010

State news: A doctor shortage in New Jersey, a plan to expand health care in Iowa and more

News outlets report on a health care expansion plan in Iowa, an outcry over a possible hospital deal in New York, the impending doctor shortage in New Jersey, and an increase in new HIV infections in Minnesota.

28 Jan 2010

Injured veterans' caregivers face emotional, financial pressures

Caregivers of severely injured veterans and their families face emotional and financial pressures and difficulty accessing military medical care. USA Today reports on the "thousands of unpaid caregivers — parents, spouses, siblings and war buddies — helping veterans injured in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars get through each day.

28 Jan 2010

Lawmakers voice opinions and search for ways forward on health overhaul

The Hill: "[Centrist] Democrats such as Sens. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Bill Nelson (Fla.) and Max Baucus (Mont.) have approached [Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine,] within the past week to discuss her potential support for various healthcare proposals." Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., who caucuses with the Democrats, has also broached the topic with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, another moderate Republican, who "said she would consider supporting a scaled-back version of the health legislation," (Bolton, 1/26).

27 Jan 2010

Uninsured residents of Hartford area in need of medical attention should register for free health clinic

Uninsured residents of the Hartford area in need of medical attention should call 877-233-5159 toll-free as soon as possible to schedule appointments for a free health clinic at the Connecticut Convention Center on Feb. 3.

27 Jan 2010

House Democrats meet, weigh reform's reconciliation option

The Wall Street Journal / Dow Jones reports on a meeting of House Democrats on the health overhaul Tuesday night. Some Democrats have suggested that the House adopt the bill passed by the Senate in December and then have the House and Senate modify that bill through a cumbersome budget process called reconciliation. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said earlier in the day that he was confident Democrats could pass a health overhaul that way. But other members are reluctant.

27 Jan 2010

Obama to Congress: 'Don't walk away' from health reform

The Associated Press: "His health care remake near collapse, President Barack Obama on Wednesday implored lawmakers not to abandon a historic opportunity even as he accepted part of the blame for failing to sell the complex plan to average Americans ... Obama defended his ambitious proposal, saying it would protect most Americans from being rejected for insurance if they get sick, preserve choice of doctors, bring down the federal deficit and provide affordable coverage for millions now uninsured" (Alonso-Zaldivar, 1/27).

27 Jan 2010

Two former LA Medical Center owners to pay $10 million in Medicare fraud case

"The two former owners of City of Angels Medical Center will pay $10 million as part of a consent judgment over allegations that they performed unnecessary medical work on homeless people recruited from skid row shelters as part of a Medicare fraud scheme." Authorities alleged that the center would charge the government for the treatments (Grad, 1/26).

27 Jan 2010

Health care stocks gain as reform falters

"Health care stocks lagged the broader market's recovery in 2009," Forbes reports.

27 Jan 2010

WHO addresses handling of H1N1 at Council of Europe meeting

During a Council of Europe meeting on Tuesday to address the WHO's handling of the H1N1 virus, the WHO said it had not "fallen under the sway of drugs firms and exaggerated the dangers of the H1N1 flu virus, but said it might have handled the crisis better," Reuters reports.

27 Jan 2010

Experts duel on plight of health reform and merits of specific provisions

NPR interviewed two leading health care experts - Uwe Reinhardt, a Princeton professor, and Gail Wilensky, an economist who ran Medicare under the first President Bush - to shed light on the current plight of pending health care overhaul.

27 Jan 2010

Clinton rebuffs criticism of U.S. aid to Haiti, pledges redoubling of efforts to help quake survivors

"Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she resents criticism of the U.S. effort to help stricken Haiti and pledged to redouble efforts to help survivors of the Jan. 12 earthquake," the Associated Press/CBSNews.com reports. "I deeply resent those who attack our country, the generosity of our people and the leadership of our president in trying to respond to historically disastrous conditions after the earthquake," she said.

27 Jan 2010

Democrats shun health reform deadlines as they await state of the union

Democrats Tuesday backed away from setting or adhering to a health overhaul timeline "saying they no longer felt pressure to move quickly on a health bill after eight months of setting deadlines and missing them," The New York Times reports.

27 Jan 2010

Web-based records worried patients, prompting more neutral language

Kaiser Permanente's experience while providing digital records to patients highlights the potential for miscommunications -- and sometimes needless alarm, The Huffington Post Investigative Fund reports. The health care company gave patients access to the same online lab reports that went to doctors and they included warning messages, such as a capital "H" to indicate above average results. That worried enough patients that the managed-care giant changed its format.

27 Jan 2010

CBO: Stimulus more expensive than expected, Medicare costs to double by 2020

A new Congressional Budget Office report "provides more ammunition for Republicans who say the stimulus has been long on spending and short on creating promised jobs," The Associated Press/ABC News reports. The report says the stimulus will cost $75 billion more than expected, because of increased unemployment, requirements for the food stamp program and the high popularity of an infrastructure bonds program. The report comes as Democrats consider a second stimulus bill that could include another extension of unemployment benefits, job creation tax credits and further help for jobless people to buy health coverage (Taylor, 1/26).

27 Jan 2010

Imagine Media signs non-binding LOI to acquire DMI Life Sciences

Imagine Media, Ltd., a Delaware corporation today announced that it has signed a non-binding Letter of Intent to acquire DMI Life Sciences, Inc., a Denver, Colorado-based biotechnology company. (“DMI”). Under the terms of the LOI, if the acquisition is completed, the shareholders of DMI will acquire approximately 90.52% of the total issued and outstanding shares of the Company, and the transaction will constitute a change in control.

27 Jan 2010

Home health care fraud: Detroit-area physical therapist pleads guilty

Detroit-area resident Jessica Vigil pleaded guilty today for her role in a Detroit-area home health care fraud scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L. McQuade; Special Agent in Charge Andrew G. Arena of the FBI's Detroit Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General's (HHS-OIG) Chicago Region.

27 Jan 2010

TeleTracking Technologies' Bed Management Suite selected as leading patient flow solution

For the third straight year TeleTracking's Bed Management Suite™, with the trend-setting electronic bedboard® , was selected "Category Leader – Patient Flow" (formerly Bed Management) by healthcare providers who use automated patient flow solutions, according to healthcare market researcher KLAS.

27 Jan 2010

Social inequalities exist in diabetes care

People with lower socioeconomic status and those belonging to ethnic minority groups receive worse health care in the treatment of diabetes than the rest of patients in the world's most developed countries.

27 Jan 2010