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Everolimus-eluting stent efficient in treating native coronary artery lesions

Late-breaking data from SPIRIT IV, a large-scale multi-center study of nearly 4,000 patients in the U.S., shows that an everolimus-eluting stent demonstrated enhanced safety and efficacy in the treatment of de novo native coronary artery lesions when compared to a paclitaxel-eluting stent, and showed that "low late loss" may be achieved with drug-eluting stents without sacrificing safety.

24 Sep 2009

Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett's publication on infectious diseases released

Elsevier, the world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, proudly announces the release of Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases, 7th Edition. Marking 30 years since its initial publication, it remains the most respected reference source of its kind, and maintains its relevance in the face of the emergence of newly recognized infectious diseases, including new strains of the swine (H1N1) and avian influenza viruses.

24 Sep 2009

Mayo Clinic Health Manager users have access to blood pressure trackers

As part of Mayo Clinic and Microsoft Corp.'s shared vision to help families take better care of their health, the two companies have made enhancements to Mayo Clinic Health Manager, a free online application designed to help people organize and better manage their health. People with conditions such as hypertension and high cholesterol will now have access to a variety of trackers and up-to-date information to help keep their conditions under control.

24 Sep 2009

Clinical trial comparing Boston Scientific's coronary stent systems

Boston Scientific Corporation today welcomed one-year data from the SPIRIT IV clinical trial comparing the XIENCE V((R)) (PROMUS((R))) Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System to the TAXUS((R)) Express2(TM) Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System. The results support the benefits of paclitaxel-eluting stents in diabetic patients. The trial enrolled 3,690 patients, including 1,140 diabetics, the largest diabetic subset ever studied in a drug-eluting stent clinical trial.

24 Sep 2009

HPV screening and vaccination programmes could eradicate cervical cancer

Cervical cancer could be eradicated within the next 50 years if countries implement national screening programmes based on detection of the human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes the disease, together with vaccination programmes against the virus, according to a cervical cancer screening expert.

24 Sep 2009

SAGE to publish Cartilage on behalf of the International Cartilage Repair Society

SAGE is partnering with the International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) to launch Cartilage in 2010. A peer-reviewed quarterly journal, Cartilage will be a forum for the exchange of ideas for the many types of researchers and clinicians involved in cartilage biology and repair.

24 Sep 2009

Controlled release pills and capsules with dose dumping tendency should be tested

Controlled release pills and capsules that show a tendency in the standard laboratory test toward "dose dumping" - releasing their medicine in a faster and potentially unsafe manner in patients who have consumed alcohol - should be withheld from the market until proven safe with testing in people. That's the conclusion of a review of existing studies in the September-October issue of ACS' Molecular Pharmaceutics, a bi-monthly journal.

24 Sep 2009

Global Med to market the Spanish verIDhemos transfusion safety system

Global Med Technologies(R), Inc. an international healthcare information technology company, today announced that it has signed a binding letter of intent with verIDentia SL of Macanet De La Selva, Girona, Spain for its verIDhemos transfusion safety system. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

24 Sep 2009

Research to identify inborn genetic susceptibility to colon cancer metastasis

A prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Transformative R01 Program grant for $4.9 million has been awarded to Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The five-year grant will fund research to identify patients' inborn genetic susceptibility to the development of colon cancer metastasis. Case Western Reserve was one of only 42 recipients of this competitive new grant designed to support exceptionally innovative, high risk, original and/or unconventional research projects that have the potential to create or overturn fundamental paradigms.

24 Sep 2009

Scholarship fund for interventional radiology fellows

The Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation recently received a $1 million planned-gift donation to create a future scholarship fund for interventional radiology fellows to pursue this medical profession. SIR Foundation is dedicated to advancing the clinical needs of interventional radiology by specializing in developing investigators trained in conducting pivotal basic and clinical trials research.

24 Sep 2009

Some imaging centers, drug makers may be driving up costs

The Dallas Morning News reports on the lure of the medical imaging business, which is many say is a "growth industry," including the idea that a "second- or third-hand MRI machine" can be purchased by a physician practice or free-standing imaging center for a few hundred thousand dollars but yield millions in new revenue. A report by America's Health Insurance Plans says as many as half the scans are unnecessary, and a McKinsey Global Institute study found the extra machines produce around $26.4 billion in additional costs each year. In addition, they expose patients to avoidable radiation (McNeill, 9/22).

24 Sep 2009

IM Practice Manager to increase the quality of care

The Hospital of Central Connecticut (THOCC), a 400-bed hospital in New Britain, has chosen Ingenious Med's IM Practice Manager to automate, organize and increase quality of care and revenue. In the first phase, more than 75 physicians at THOCC will be using IM's handheld and Internet-based solution, joining hundreds of other physicians in Connecticut as licensed Ingenious Med users, making it the most widely used electronic charge capture system in the state.

24 Sep 2009

NIH awards three UNC Scientists for high risk and innovative research

Three scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have received prestigious awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) aimed at encouraging "high risk" and innovative research.

24 Sep 2009

ProCon creates a website for healthcare debate

ProCon.org, a nonpartisan 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity dedicated to promoting critical thinking, created the new website http://healthcare.procon.org to explore the core question "Should all Americans have the right (be entitled) to health care?"

24 Sep 2009

National Day of Action to be celebrated on September 26

Saturday, September 26 officially has been designated as National Day of Action, in support of National Pain Awareness Month. To help promote awareness of chronic pain and how to access help, Valley Pain Specialists, an 11-member physicians group of board-certified, fellowship-trained pain medicine specialists, are launching a speaking circuit where they plan to meet with groups of patients and physicians throughout the community to raise awareness about pain, highlight the issues surrounding pain management and address the lack of access to pain care.

24 Sep 2009

$Cardiogenesis sponsors educational symposium on refractory angina treatment method$

Cardiogenesis sponsors educational symposium on refractory angina treatment method

Cardiogenesis Corporation, a market leader in laser transmyocardial revascularization (TMR), today announced that it sponsored an educational symposium yesterday in conjunction with the 21st Annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting in San Francisco.

24 Sep 2009

Web-based education system improves awareness on cord blood preservation options

Despite significant efforts by government agencies, consumer advocacy groups and industry to educate expecting parents about the medical significance of cord blood stem cells and the options for preserving them, three out of every four pregnant women still consider themselves only "minimally informed." However, data presented at an international meeting on stem cell science and policy found that a proprietary, web-based education system developed by Cord Blood Registry could be an effective and efficient method for improving awareness about all cord blood preservation options.

24 Sep 2009

Rasagiline slows the rate of Parkinson's disease progression

Following one of the largest studies ever conducted in Parkinson's disease (PD), researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine report today in The New England Journal of Medicine that rasagiline, a drug currently used to treat the symptoms of PD, may also slow the rate of disease progression.

24 Sep 2009

MicroDose initiates Phase 1 clinical trial investigating the pharmacokinetics of atropine inhalation

MicroDose Therapeutx Inc. (formerly MicroDose Technologies) today announced that it has initiated a Phase I study at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center with atropine sulfate delivered from the MicroDose proprietary dry powder inhaler (DPI). The study is a further step in the development program for an atropine inhaler to treat nerve agent poisoning in military and civil defense applications.

24 Sep 2009

Study reveals that AIR Inhaled Insulin is inferior to SC insulin

The commercial failure of Exubera- (Pfizer, New York, NY), the first inhaled insulin product to come to market, led other companies such as Eli Lilly-Alkermes to halt studies of similar drug delivery in development intended to compete for a share of the lucrative diabetes market. Does this signal defeat for efforts to deliver insulin via the lungs? The science and circumstances behind the Lilly-Alkermes decision to discontinue trials of the AIR- inhaled insulin product are explored in a special supplement to Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The supplement is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/dia

24 Sep 2009