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Trial date set for Teva's generic COPAXONE patent infringement litigation against Momenta

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. today announced that the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has set a trial date of September 7, 2011 in the Company's ongoing patent infringement litigation against Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc./Sandoz Inc. and Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc./Mylan Inc./Natco Pharma Ltd. regarding their purported generic versions of COPAXONE® (glatiramer acetate injection).

2 Mar 2011

Budget pressures, health law expansions trigger Medicaid skirmishes

Policy proposals — such as turning the program into state block grants unencumbered by federal requirements, as well as the continuing push by some governors to relax maintenance of eligibility standards — are at the crux of these flare-ups.

2 Mar 2011

Viewpoints: GOP Govs. on Medicaid 'flexibility'; 'attack' on planned parenthood; following doctors' orders not so easy

Medicaid is bureaucratic and costly, and the stimulus and new federal health care law have made a bad problem even worse, shackling states with unrealistic mandates.

2 Mar 2011

AMGA releases comments on preliminary proposals for Stage 2 Meaningful Use objectives

The American Medical Group Association, a trade association representing multispecialty medical groups and other organized systems of care, today released its comments on a request for information from the Health Information Technology Policy Committee on its preliminary proposals for Stage 2 Meaningful Use objectives.

1 Mar 2011

Axolotl's two EHR systems receive ONC-ATCB certification

Axolotl Corp. announced that two of its electronic health record systems - Axolotl EHR, version 7 and Elysium EMR Lite - have received Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT Authorized Testing and Certification Body 2011/2012 certifications in accordance with Eligible Provider certification criteria adopted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

1 Mar 2011

LifeWatch fourth quarter revenues increase 11.9% to $21.9 million

LifeWatch AG, the leading provider of wireless telemedicine, today announces the results for the fourth quarter 2010 and full fiscal year 2010 and provides an outlook for 2011. LifeWatch marked the end of a challenging year with a return to growth and profitability in the fourth quarter of 2010.

1 Mar 2011

Obama says he backs state flexibility for health law's coverage goals

The New York Times: "In remarks to the National Governors Association, Mr. Obama said he backed legislation that would enable states to request federal permission to withdraw from the law's mandates in 2014 rather than in 2017 as long as they could prove that they could find other ways to cover as many people as the original law would and at the same cost.

1 Mar 2011

Despite absence of Medicare coverage, hospital use of CTC is on the rise: Study

Despite the absence of Medicare coverage, hospital use of computed tomographic colonography, commonly referred to as virtual colonoscopy, is on the rise, according to a study in the March issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

1 Mar 2011

Regulators face challenge of defining 'essential care' benefits

As federal regulators — in their efforts to implement the health law — work to define what basic medical services health insurers must cover under the measure, another set of regs, those dealing with accountable care organizations, are stalled at the Office of Management and Budget.

28 Feb 2011

Deal to avert gov't shutdown appears within reach

A recent short-term spending plan that emerged from the House Appropriations Committee includes millions of dollars in cuts to federal health programs. Meanwhile, congressional efforts to reach agreement on a long-term spending plan may be getting more complicated.

28 Feb 2011

Viewpoints: Judge Kessler's decision; Utah is role model; Malpractice system flaws

The Republican strategy is to split the vast middle and working classes -- pitting unionized workers against nonunionized, public-sector workers against nonpublic, older workers within sight of Medicare and Social Security against younger workers who don't believe these programs will be there for them and the poor against the working middle class.

28 Feb 2011

First Edition: February 28, 2011

Today's headlines include news about the budge struggles the nation's governors continue to face -- with Medicaid spending a central issue.

28 Feb 2011

Western Medical installs Toshiba's vascular X-ray system to provide efficiency during diagnostic procedures

To increase diagnostic capabilities and provide patients with the highest quality care, Western Medical Center Santa Ana has installed Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc.'s Infinix VF-i bi-plane vascular X-ray system with Volume Navigation 3D roadmapping.

28 Feb 2011

AARP commends lawmakers for their opposition to health care nullification bill

Averting a potentially disastrous piece of legislation, a majority of Idaho Senators on the State Affairs Committee took a bold stand and voted down a measure to "nullify" the federal health care law in Idaho.

28 Feb 2011

Temporary budget compromise would not defund health law

News outlets covered the ongoing saga of whether Congress and the president will avert a government shutdown.

28 Feb 2011

CTSI awards NYU one-year pilot grant to assess feasibility of hemoglobin A1C diabetes test

New York University's Clinical and Translational Science Institute has awarded an NYU nursing-dental research team a one-year pilot grant to assess the feasibility of using gingival crevicular blood from periodontal patients to gauge hemoglobin A1C -- a blood glucose measurement -- as a means of diagnosing diabetes and identifying pre-diabetes.

28 Feb 2011

STD testing for elderly may be covered by Medicare

According to a new report testing for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) may soon be covered by Medicare plans for the elderly. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced that they are considering adding these tests as part of standard Medicare health insurance plans. At present the national health insurance program already pays for HIV tests. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) officials are expected to announce a draft decision by August 24.

28 Feb 2011

Research Roundup: Health costs at life's end; Assessing hospital quality; Surgeons' burnout; Per capita Medicaid spending

Annals of Internal Medicine: Determinants Of Medical Expenditures In The Last 6 Months Of Life - Identifying factors about patients in the final six months of life that affect the level of care needed "may reveal opportunities for patient-centered interventions to predict and to reduce medical costs," write the authors, while noting that the study had "a large proportion of unexplained variation."

25 Feb 2011

Viewpoints: WSJ on Medicare Advantage, Texas Gov. Perry on 'Fed inroads,' Med students' health policy ignorance

The White House has apparently decided that it won't enforce the unpopular parts of its health-care plan until after the 2012 election. The latest evidence is its decision not to slash Medicare Advantage, the program that Democrats hate because it lets seniors choose private insurance options. ... Would this be the same Medicare Advantage that candidate Barack Obama vowed to eliminate, saying in 2007 that "We shouldn't be rewarding the insurance industry for deceiving and defrauding our seniors"? (2/25).

25 Feb 2011

AMAG fourth quarter total revenues increase to $17.2 million

AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of a therapeutic iron compound to treat iron deficiency anemia, today reported unaudited consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2010.

25 Feb 2011

Medicare News and Research

Trial date set for Teva's generic COPAXONE patent infringement litigation against Momenta

Budget pressures, health law expansions trigger Medicaid skirmishes

Viewpoints: GOP Govs. on Medicaid 'flexibility'; 'attack' on planned parenthood; following doctors' orders not so easy

AMGA releases comments on preliminary proposals for Stage 2 Meaningful Use objectives

Axolotl's two EHR systems receive ONC-ATCB certification

LifeWatch fourth quarter revenues increase 11.9% to $21.9 million

Obama says he backs state flexibility for health law's coverage goals

Despite absence of Medicare coverage, hospital use of CTC is on the rise: Study

Regulators face challenge of defining 'essential care' benefits

Deal to avert gov't shutdown appears within reach

Viewpoints: Judge Kessler's decision; Utah is role model; Malpractice system flaws

First Edition: February 28, 2011

Western Medical installs Toshiba's vascular X-ray system to provide efficiency during diagnostic procedures

AARP commends lawmakers for their opposition to health care nullification bill

Temporary budget compromise would not defund health law

CTSI awards NYU one-year pilot grant to assess feasibility of hemoglobin A1C diabetes test

STD testing for elderly may be covered by Medicare

Research Roundup: Health costs at life's end; Assessing hospital quality; Surgeons' burnout; Per capita Medicaid spending

Viewpoints: WSJ on Medicare Advantage, Texas Gov. Perry on 'Fed inroads,' Med students' health policy ignorance

AMAG fourth quarter total revenues increase to $17.2 million

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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