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Talecris Biotherapeutics announces 2010 eALTA award recipients

Talecris Biotherapeutics GmbH announced yesterday the recipients of the 2010 European alpha1-antitrypsin Laurell's Training Awards (eALTA). The annual awards, sponsored by Talecris, provide two fellowships of 50,000 euros to young investigators whose research aims to enhance the understanding and treatment of alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency (AAT deficiency).

21 Sep 2010

GOP divided over health law repeal as White House readies midterm push

In the run up to November's midterm elections, President Obama will tout the new health law, hoping the consumer-friendly provisions taking effect this week will help erode ill will toward the overhaul, The Wall Street Journal reports. "Starting Thursday, insurers officially must adhere to about a half-dozen key changes under the law, including eliminating co-payments for preventive services and allowing children to stay on their parents' insurance policy until their 26th birthday.

21 Sep 2010

'Village' movement allows seniors who need care to stay in their homes longer

The Fiscal Times reports that, as the population ages, more communities are trying to find ways to allow older Americans to remain in their homes, even when they need health care. "The small but fast-growing 'village' movement — where seniors help seniors to coordinate and deliver services within their communities — is a grass-roots response to the well-documented preference of older people to remain in their homes as they age.

21 Sep 2010

FDA Advisory Committee recommends approval of dabigatran etexilate for stroke prevention in AFib patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee today voted 9 to 0 in favor of approving dabigatran etexilate for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib). An estimated 2.3 million Americans have AFib and the prevalence is expected to increase 2.5 fold to 5.6 million by 2050, reflecting the growing population of elderly individuals.

21 Sep 2010

Medicare receives increased scrutiny regarding fraud, payment issues

USA Today: "Proposed regulations being unveiled today seek to crack down on Medicare and Medicaid fraud by subjecting operators of certain medical firms to fingerprinting and stopping payments when credible fraud allegations are made, documents show. The rules would give federal health officials key powers to identify fraud early and reduce the estimated $55 billion in improper payments made each year in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, said Peter Budetti, director of the new anti-fraud office at the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services" (Young, 9/20).

20 Sep 2010

Examining the first wave of health overhaul changes coming this week

Houston Chronicle: Wider access and protections for health care consumers kick in on Thursday as a set of health law provisions take effect. "Most of this month's changes apply directly to the 12 million Texans covered by private health insurance plans, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Insurers may no longer charge co-payments, deductibles or co-insurance for preventive services.

20 Sep 2010

Medical errors continue to pose major risk to patients

Albany Times Union reports on continuing medical errors. "Health care reform consumed the nation for the last 12 months but, despite all the talk, the country took only baby steps toward reducing medical errors that injure and kill millions of hospital patients.

20 Sep 2010

LifePoint Hospitals intends to sell private offering of Senior Notes due 2020

LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. announced today its intention to sell through a private offering $400 million in aggregate principal amount of Senior Notes due 2020. The Notes will be senior unsecured obligations of the Company and will be guaranteed by substantially all of the Company's subsidiaries that guarantee its senior secured credit facilities.

20 Sep 2010

First Edition: September 20, 2010

Today's headlines include news about the political positioning of both Democrats and Republicans on health reform, the mid-term elections and GOP plans to repeal and replace.

20 Sep 2010

Florida Hospital Fish Memorial acquires Toshiba's Xario XG ultrasound systems

Today's hospitals are under pressure to enhance patient care and streamline workflow while containing costs. To achieve this goal, Florida Hospital Fish Memorial acquired four XarioXG ultrasound systems from Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc., to create imaging consistency across various departments.

20 Sep 2010

New law brings changes to health insurance rules this week

A variety of consumer friendly health reform rules will go into effect this week, promising to make life easier for young adults, parents, children with preexisting conditions, people with chronic diseases, and people appealing claims that have been denied. Starting Thursday, insurance companies must allow young adults to remain on their parents' plans until age 26, with some conditions.

20 Sep 2010

Male circumcision shown to help prevent HIV transmission

According to a new study published in the Medical Journal of Australia, male circumcision can be seen as a “surgical vaccine” in the fight against heterosexual HIV transmission. The study based on spread of the virus in Africa showed that there was a reduced rate of transmission in regions where male circumcision was the norm.

19 Sep 2010

Caregiver Expo2010 to be held in November in conjunction with National Family Caregiver Month

The Caregiver Expo2010, presented by Alternatives for Seniors, will be held 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, November 13, 2010 at the Doubletree Hotel, in Oak Brook, Illinois. The free event is being held in conjunction with the National Family Caregiver Month observed every November. National Family Caregiver Month is a nationally recognized time to focus attention on the more than 65 million family caregivers who provide 80% of our nation's long term care services.

18 Sep 2010

La. doctors work from scratch to rebuild local health system; Mich. A.G. sues Blue Cross Blue Shield over rate changes; Wis. health programs make hefty budget request

PBS Newshour: The Newshour Health Unit, in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, explores how doctors in Louisiana "are dealing with the unique challenge of reshaping a health care system that was badly damaged." Dr. Karen DeSalvo, vice dean for Community Affairs and Health Policy at Tulane University, said the response was like creating "health care in the wild. There was nothing."

18 Sep 2010

FDA and Medicare to test joint decision-making on medical products

The FDA announced Thursday that it is beginning a pilot project with Medicare officials in an effort to get new medical products covered sooner for the nation's 45 million senior citizens. Under the proposal, the FDA would review and make approval decisions alongside the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which decides whether and how to pay for new medical products for its elderly and disabled patients once they are approved for the U.S. market," Reuters reported.

18 Sep 2010

HRA Pharma, Watson enter licensing agreement for ulipristal acetate emergency contraceptive commercialization

HRA Pharma, a privately-held, European pharmaceutical company that develops healthcare solutions in reproductive health and endocrinology and makes them available worldwide, and Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that they have entered into a licensing agreement for the commercialization of HRA Pharma's next generation emergency contraceptive ulipristal acetate in Canada.

18 Sep 2010

InVision-Plus connector reduces CLABSI infections: Report

The InVision-Plus needleless IV connector helped three different organizations sharply reduce and in some cases completely eliminate central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), according to three poster presentations that will be presented at AVA 2010, the annual scientific meeting of the Association for Vascular Access.

18 Sep 2010

Atherotech Diagnostics publishes article on advantages of cholesterol testing

Detailed cholesterol testing for Type 2 diabetes patients is the focus of a newly published article by Atherotech Diagnostics Lab Chief Medical Officer Michael E. Cobble, M.D. The article discusses the clinical advantages of advanced cholesterol testing in reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in patients with Type 2 diabetes and details several currently available advanced lipid tests, including the VAP® Cholesterol Test from Atherotech.

18 Sep 2010

EHS is now SuccessEHS

www.successehs.com, a Birmingham-based company specializing in physician practice management software systems and electronic health record (EHR) (sometimes called an electronic medical record or EMR), is pleased to announce they are changing their name, and the name of their flagship product CareRevolution™, to SuccessEHS™.

18 Sep 2010

Judge releases schedule for health overhaul lawsuit proceedings; Poll finds voters indifferent to candidates' reform positions

The federal judge overseeing a lawsuit brought by 20 states against health reform released a schedule this week that lays out how the case will proceed, The Hill's Healthwatch Blog reports.

18 Sep 2010