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Unique project to address key healthcare reform issue to be launched

Groundbreaking ceremonies on December 15 will mark the launch of a unique project that exemplifies how new technologies are being used to address a key healthcare reform issue: the multi-billion dollar cost of repeatedly hospitalizing patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart failure, asthma and lung disease.

5 Dec 2009

Red Cross workers educate public on unfair labor conditions

Teamster members employed by the Philadelphia chapter of the American Red Cross are hard at work educating the public about the unfair labor conditions that they endure that could potentially put Philadelphia's blood supply at risk. More than 100 employees went on strike and set up a picket line yesterday when their issues were ignored by their employer.

5 Dec 2009

Biomagnetics Diagnostics discusses utilization of acquired Los Alamos National Security intellectual property

Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp., a developer of revolutionary diagnostic systems and technology for HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis and malaria detection provides the following recap of yesterday's investor conference call, which discussed the Company’s acquisition of intellectual property rights from Los Alamos National Security.

5 Dec 2009

Club Red Clinic offers preventive care for women with cardiovascular risk factors

When the University of Virginia Health System's new Club Red Clinic was on the drawing board, its organizers envisioned creating an innovative, cost-effective model for healthcare delivery. In a bold move, they decided to meld two timely healthcare concepts - prevention and shared medical appointments (SMAs) - into a unique clinical offering that has garnered overwhelmingly positive feedback from patients.

5 Dec 2009

Statins may protect against GVHD complications

Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins are among the most prescribed medicines in the U.S. Now a new study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center indicates that statins may protect stem cell transplant patients from one of the most serious complications of the life-saving cancer therapy: graft-versus-host disease, or GVHD.

5 Dec 2009

Late recurrence of Ewing sarcomas and astrocytomas: A risk for some pediatric cancers

Late recurrence is a risk for some pediatric cancers, particularly Ewing sarcomas and tumors of the central nervous system, according to a new study published online December 4 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

5 Dec 2009

Radio units help in optimizing medical device management in hospitals

Have the blood supplies got too warm? Do they match the patient's blood group? In the future, these kinds of questions will be answered by intelligent radio nodes attached to blood bags. These radio units will also greatly facilitate device management in hospitals.

5 Dec 2009

Statins may help protect stem cell transplant patients from GVHD

5 Dec 2009

New findings shed light on heart attack symptoms

Researchers at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas are investigating what symptoms could help doctors better spot heart attacks and if certain symptoms might indicate different types of heart attacks.

5 Dec 2009

Number of new active TB cases increases from 2007 to 2008, WHO says

The WHO's Stop TB Department released data on Thursday at the 40th Union World Conference on Lung Health indicating that the number of new active TB cases worldwide rose from 9.27 million in 2007 to 9.4 million in 2008, Reuters reports. Experts, who were gathered for the conference in Cancun, Mexico, "called for more research funding to develop better diagnostic tests, vaccines and drugs for tuberculosis, which killed 1.8 million people around the world last year," according to the news service.

4 Dec 2009

Rituximab drug may reduce long-term complications of type 1 diabetes

New findings by UT Southwestern researchers suggest that a drug already used to treat autoimmune disorders might also help slow the destruction of insulin-producing cells in patients recently diagnosed with insulin-dependent (type 1) diabetes.

4 Dec 2009

Application for regulatory approval of apixaban in Europe to be submitted

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Pfizer today announced that the companies are planning to submit an application for regulatory approval of apixaban in Europe for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after orthopedic surgery in the first half of 2010.

4 Dec 2009

New York Times examines HIV testing program in China

The New York Times examines an HIV prevention program in China aimed at promoting blood screening that has led "more than 110,000 people" to be tested so far: "On any given night, in 14 cities around the country, hundreds of people flock to makeshift blood collection centers in bars, bathhouses and apartments where workers test for syphilis and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS."

4 Dec 2009

PLUS Diagnostics expands its specialty anatomic pathology services

PLUS Diagnostics announced today that it has expanded its specialty anatomic pathology services with the launch of a national hematology/oncology offering. The new service completes the company's expansion from a regional laboratory to a leading national anatomic pathology company offering diagnostic services across a full range of specialties including gastroenterology, urology and now hematology/oncology.

4 Dec 2009

Health Policy Research Roundup

UCLA Center For Health Policy Research: Health Disparities Among California's Nearly Four Million Low-Income Nonelderly Adult Women - Using data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey, the authors of this policy brief compare low-income women, ages 18-64, to others. The report finds the low-income women are four times more likely to report fair or poor health and are more likely to report a health condition that interferes with basic physical activities, such as walking or climbing stairs.

4 Dec 2009

Geisinger Health System's diabetic bundling program pays dividends

Diabetes is one of the nation's most prevalent chronic diseases, and Geisinger has created a "bundle" of best practice measures to improve the quality of diabetes care and outcomes.

4 Dec 2009

Preclinical data of Curis' HSP 90 inhibitor published

Curis, Inc., a drug development company seeking to develop next generation targeted small molecule drug candidates for cancer treatment, today announced that preclinical data related to CUDC-305, the company’s Heat Shock Protein (HSP) 90 inhibitor, was published online this week in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.

4 Dec 2009

IMF to stage presentation on multiple myeloma at ASH annual meeting

The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF)—supporting research and providing education, advocacy and support for myeloma patients, families, researchers and physicians—today said presentations at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) will cover all stages of multiple myeloma, a major milestone in treating this and related cancers.

4 Dec 2009

DCVax therapeutic cancer vaccine manufacturing process receives patent approval

Northwest Biotherapeutics, Inc. ("NWBT" or the "Company") announced today that the US Patent and Trademark Office has allowed its patent application on a system for automation of the initial stages of the manufacture of the Company's DCVax® therapeutic cancer vaccines.

4 Dec 2009

MoneyTV features bioengineering and stem cell topics this week

Bioengineering, extracting health products from waste tobacco, stem cells, unemployment, wind energy; this week on MoneyTV, hosted by anchor Donald Baillargeon.

4 Dec 2009