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Boston Scientific's Close the Gap campaign to raise awareness of heart disease risk factors

Boston Scientific today announced that its Close the Gap campaign is partnering with the Black Coaches and Administrators and college basketball's "The Showcase" to raise awareness of heart disease risk factors for women and minorities.

7 Dec 2010

NIH scientists consider prospects for universal influenza vaccine

The costly, time-consuming process of making, distributing and administering millions of seasonal flu vaccines would become obsolete if researchers could design a vaccine that confers decades-long protection from any flu virus strain. Making such a universal influenza vaccine is feasible but licensing it may require innovation on several fronts, including finding new ways to evaluate the efficacy of vaccine candidates in clinical trials, conclude scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

7 Dec 2010

rVWF safe in patients with type 3 and severe type 1 von Willebrand disease, suggests interim study data

Recombinant von Willebrand factor (rVWF) may be safe and well tolerated in patients with type 3 and severe type 1 von Willebrand disease, according to interim data from a Phase 1 multicenter, international clinical study presented today at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

From Baxter International Inc. 7 Dec 2010

Research roundup: Early retiree insurance; high deductible plans and skipped care; innovation and FDA

Health Care Use And Decision Making Among Lower-Income Families In High-Deductible Health Plans - This study examines the health care experiences of lower-income families (those with incomes that were less than 300% of the federal poverty level) with high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) compared to higher-income families.

7 Dec 2010

State roundup: Wash. state to pay most of state worker premiums; Budget cuts and mental health in N.Y.; Idaho fraud

Gov. Chris Gregoire told state workers for months that they'd have to pay a bigger share of health-care costs — equal to 26 percent of their health-insurance premiums — because of a looming multibillion-dollar budget shortfall. That all changed when Gregoire's office agreed this week to have workers pay 15 percent of health-care premium costs, with the state picking up the other 85 percent in the next two-year budget (Garber, 12/3).

7 Dec 2010

HHS, U.S. Treasury Department recognize Integrated Medical Systems' technolgy

The medical technology developed by Integrated Medical Systems, Inc., has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Treasury Department as a "qualified therapeutic discovery." The designation earns the company a grant to off-set its development efforts. The Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project designation and grant is provided for under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

6 Dec 2010

Texas gov. Perry backs away from Medicaid dropout threat

Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program are breaking the state's budget, but opting out of the federal programs would have a devastating effect on health care delivery in Texas, according to a state report issued Friday. The report said most of the methods for fixing Medicaid spending in Texas will require acts of Congress, not the Legislature, to give the state greater flexibility in how the programs are run and a greater share of the national Medicaid financing.

6 Dec 2010

Healthy People 2020 targets barriers to breastfeeding

For the first time, the barriers to breastfeeding are being addressed at the highest level of government. With the release today of Healthy People 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has targeted the new 10-year goals for our nation's health - and supporting breastfeeding is prominent among them.

4 Dec 2010

HHS, CCSC establish new national awards program

The US Department of Health and Human Services and the Critical Care Societies Collaborative have established a new national awards program. The National Awards Program to Recognize Achievements in Eliminating Healthcare-Associated Infections will annually recognize teams of critical care professionals and healthcare institutions that achieve excellence and notable, sustained improvements in preventing healthcare-associated infections, specifically infections in critical care.

4 Dec 2010

IOM releases new dietary recommendations for calcium, vitamin D intakes

The Institute of Medicine recently released new dietary recommendations for calcium and vitamin D intakes, known as Dietary Reference Intakes, used broadly by health professionals and policy makers to guide consumers' dietary patterns. Citing a strong body of new scientific evidence, the IOM based their recommendations on bone health outcomes, confirming the importance of vitamin D and calcium in promoting bone growth and maintenance through various stages of life.

4 Dec 2010

IDRI awarded $1.8M contract to develop adjuvant formulations for pandemic influenza

The Infectious Disease Research Institute has been awarded an $1.8 million contract from the Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority. IDRI's work will focus on development of adjuvant formulations with options up to $8.5 million over three years when further development and manufacture of priority candidates are approved by the agency.

4 Dec 2010

IDRI receives $790,200 BARDA grant to develop pandemic flu vaccine

The Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) today announced it has received a $790,200 grant from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the US Department of Health and Human Services. The grant enables technology transfer between IDRI and the Cantacuzino National Institute of Research and Development for Microbiology and Immunology (Bucharest, Romania), with the goal of producing a pandemic flu vaccine.

4 Dec 2010

Johns Hopkins patient-safety tools help reduce lethal bloodstream infections

Using a widely heralded Johns Hopkins checklist and other patient-safety tools, intensive care units across the state of Michigan reduced the rate of potentially lethal bloodstream infections to near zero.

3 Dec 2010

NSU receives $1.6 million federal grant to provide better care for homeless

Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine recently received a $1.6 million federal grant to develop an academic program for medical students to provide better care for the homeless by understanding their needs.

3 Dec 2010

New national awards program to recognize healthcare institutions to eliminate HAI infection

A new national awards program will recognize teams of critical care professionals and healthcare institutions able to successfully reduce or eliminate healthcare-associated infections (HAI), a leading cause of death in the United States.

3 Dec 2010

NIAID researchers develop new method to detect prion diseases

A fast test to diagnose fatal brain conditions such as mad cow disease in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans could be on the horizon, according to a new study from National Institutes of Health scientists. Researchers at NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have developed a highly sensitive and rapid new method to detect and measure infectious agents called prions that cause these diseases.

3 Dec 2010

At Senate hearing, Democrats blast 'mini-med' insurance policies

The New York Times: "More than a million Americans enrolled in [limited benefit, or mini med,] plans think they have health insurance to protect them from financial catastrophe if they become seriously ill or hurt, [Senator John D.] Rockefeller said. 'In fact, they don't,' he said. 'It's worse than nothing because of the false expectations and the false hope,' Mr. Rockefeller said" at the Senate hearing.

2 Dec 2010

Study finds higher mortality risk from early heat waves in summer

The risk of dying from a heat wave is highest when heat waves occur early in the summer and are hotter and longer than usual, according to a Yale study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP).

2 Dec 2010

ASH honors Sen. Sherrod Brown and Erik Fatemi

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) will honor Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) with the 2010 ASH Award for Public Service and Erik Fatemi, Majority Clerk for the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), with the Award for Outstanding Service in recognition of their dedication to championing health care and research issues. These awards will be officially announced at the 52nd ASH Annual Meeting taking place December 4-7 in Orlando, FL.

2 Dec 2010

Young women veterans have triple the suicide rate of civilians

Young women veterans are nearly three times as likely as civilians to commit suicide, according to new research published by researchers at Portland State University (PSU) and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).

2 Dec 2010