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St. Jude’s Volunteen Program offers hands-on learning experience for teenagers

They have glue on their fingers and smiles on their faces; crayons spread before them and kids crowded around them. It's all part of a day's work for the Volunteens of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

11 May 2010

Experts try to fix problem of millions who don't adhere to prescriptions

The Boston Globe: "It is a common conundrum in doctor's offices, clinics, and hospitals across the nation: patients who do not take their medication as directed. It's true for people with high cholesterol, low calcium, diabetes, and asthma. It's even true for patients with the AIDS virus and those who have received life-saving replacement organs."

11 May 2010

Lawmakers continue to feel the pinch of health reform politics while SEIU has a new president

Politico: New Mexico Democrat Rep. Harry Teague dropped his employer-based health coverage for his employees at Cavaloz Energy as the debate over health care reform surged in Congress.

11 May 2010

Can familiar voices heal traumatic brain injuries?

In January 2009, Ryan, a 21-year-old college student from Huntley, Ill., was in a coma after he had been flung from his snowmobile into a tree during an ice storm. He had a traumatic brain injury; the fibers of his brain had been twisted and stretched from the impact.

11 May 2010

People with family history of diabetes gain more weight

In the first study of its type, Australian researchers have shown that healthy people with a genetic predisposition to Type 2 diabetes gain more weight overeating over the short term than their non-genetically-prone counterparts.

11 May 2010

Alphatec Spine reports 25.6% increase in first-quarter 2010 revenue

Alphatec Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Alphatec Spine, Inc., a medical device company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets products for the surgical treatment of spine disorders, with a focus on treating conditions related to the aging spine, announced today financial results for the first quarter March 31, 2010.

11 May 2010

BIOTRONIK launches TactiCath irrigated RF contact force ablation catheter for treating AF

BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG, a leading manufacturer of implantable cardiac devices and pioneer of remote monitoring technologies today announced the market release of the TactiCath catheter. The TactiCath catheter, an Endosense company product, is an irrigated RF contact force ablation catheter with features that offer a major advance in ablation therapy for patients with cardiac arrhythmias and particularly Atrial Fibrillation (AF).

11 May 2010

Massachusetts fighting to control health costs

"Bake sales saved the nonprofit Athol Memorial Hospital the first time around, Steve Penka says with a smile. Eleven years later, it took a big Tennessee-based, for-profit hospital chain to keep it in business," the (Worcester, Mass.) Telegram & Gazette reports. In light of a recent report by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley's office, many are surprised Athol is around at all.

11 May 2010

CrystalGenomics completes European Phase I SAD study of CG400549 antibiotic candidate

CrystalGenomics, Inc., a novel drug R&D company announced today that the Phase I SAD (Single Ascending Dose) study for its novel antibiotic candidate, CG400549, has been successfully completed in Europe.

11 May 2010

Hospital operator HCA plans to offer $4.6 billion IPO

HCA Inc., the nation's biggest hospital operator by number of facilities, filed plans last week for a $4.6 billion initial public offering as it "looks to return to the public markets," The Wall Street Journal reports.

10 May 2010

CVS calls on FDA to suspend use of contaminated rotavirus vaccines

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) convened a panel of experts to review recent findings that rotavirus vaccines given to infants in the U.S., Rotateq, produced by Merck Pharmaceuticals and Rotarix produced by GlaxoSmithKline, are contaminated with DNA from pig viruses PCV1 and PCV2. On March 22nd the FDA Commissioner asked doctors to suspend use of the Rotarix vaccine due to the contamination. Upon additional testing, Rotateq was also found to be contaminated.

10 May 2010

FDA grants EUA for IQuum's Liat Influenza A/2009 H1N1 Assay

IQuum, Inc. today announced it has been granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Liat™ Influenza A/2009 H1N1 Assay. The assay detects and differentiates 2009 H1N1 influenza viral RNA starting from collected nasopharyngeal swab samples in less than 30 minutes.

10 May 2010

QRxPharma reports successful outcome of Phase 1 trial for MoxDuo CR for chronic pain

QRxPharma announced today the successful outcome of a Phase 1 trial for MoxDuo CR, a controlled-release (CR) Dual-Opioid(TM) designed to provide 12 hours of pain relief in patients suffering from moderate to severe chronic pain (including cancer, lower back, osteoarthritis and neuropathic). The purpose of the trial was to determine which of the various experimental formulations provided the optimum duration of drug levels in the blood.

10 May 2010

Endosense commences enrollment in EFFICAS I study with TactiCath force-sensing catheter

Endosense, a Swiss medical technology company focused on improving the efficacy, safety and reproducibility of catheter ablation for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, has announced it has enrolled the first patients in EFFICAS I, the first study of the EFFICAS series. These patients were enrolled in Na Homolce Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic and treated by Petr Neuzil, M.D. and Vivek Reddy, M.D.

10 May 2010

Asthmatx announces first U.S. patient treated with BT delivered by Alair System

Asthmatx, Inc. reported today that doctors at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., recently treated the first U.S. patient with bronchial thermoplasty (BT) delivered by the Alair® System, the first device-based asthma treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

10 May 2010

Bovie Medical first-quarter revenues decrease to $5.6M

Bovie Medical Corporation, a manufacturer and marketer of electrosurgical products, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

10 May 2010

St. Jude Medical introduces Wireless USB Adaptor for Merlin@home transmitter in the U.S.

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced the U.S. launch of its Wireless USB Adaptor for the Merlin@home™ transmitter, a system that allows important patient data from an implantable cardiac device to be wirelessly downloaded and securely transmitted via telephone for review by a physician. The new Wireless USB Adaptor enables patients using a Merlin@home transmitter to transmit data to their physician over cellular networks, allowing for more convenient care than existing landline services provide.

10 May 2010

NHI first-quarter normalized FFO increases to $17.17M, net income to $15.94M

National Health Investors, Inc. announced today its normalized Funds From Operations ("FFO") and net income for the three months ended March 31, 2010.

10 May 2010

Watson Pharmaceuticals first-quarter net revenue up 28% to $856.5M

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported a 28 percent increase in net revenue for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010 to $856.5 million, compared to $667.4 million in the first quarter 2009. On an adjusted cash basis, net income increased 25 percent to $100.3 million or $0.81 per share, compared to $80.2 million or $0.69 per share in the first quarter 2009. GAAP earnings for the first quarter 2010 were $0.57 per share, compared to $0.43 per share in the prior year period.

10 May 2010

Astute Medical completes $26.5 million series B financing

Astute Medical, Inc., a developer of novel, biomarker-based medical diagnostics, today announced completion of a $26.5 million series B financing co-led by Domain Associates and Delphi Ventures. Astute will use the funding to advance research and development aimed at the identification and validation of protein biomarkers with the goal of commercializing high potential diagnostic products.

10 May 2010