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First Edition: February 4, 2010

Health care spending is taking an increasingly big bite out of the nation's economy, according to today's headlines.

4 Feb 2010

February issue of Chest releases latest medical news

Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are widely used for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, new research suggests that ICS may only provide a modest benefit in reducing exacerbations in patients with COPD.

4 Feb 2010

Toshiba America Medical Systems' Viamo laptop ultrasound system receives FDA clearance

Designed to meet the needs of today’s hospitals by combining portability with high-end radiology features, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc.’s new ViamoTM laptop ultrasound system has received FDA clearance.

4 Feb 2010

Closing funding gap for federal viral hepatitis education, screening and surveillance programs stops liver cancer

With most liver cancer caused by undetected or untreated hepatitis B or C viral infection, the 22,000 new cases of liver cancer that are diagnosed each year could be dramatically reduced if Congress took decisive action to close the funding gap for federal viral hepatitis education, screening, and surveillance programs, the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable (NVHR) said today.

4 Feb 2010

NIH awards CYCORE project for cancer research $2.6M

Nearly four decades after President Richard Nixon declared a "War on Cancer," the disease still claims the lives of 560,000 Americans every year, despite an annual expenditure of $5 billion by the U.S. government on research to battle it.

4 Feb 2010

First annual Translational Regenerative Medicine Forum in Winston-Salem

The Regenerative Medicine Foundation today announced the first annual Translational Regenerative Medicine Forum to be held April 6-8, 2010 at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem.

4 Feb 2010

State of Michigan keeps lethal hospital infections in check

The state of Michigan, which used a five-step checklist developed at Johns Hopkins to virtually eliminate bloodstream infections in its hospitals' intensive care units , has been able to keep the number of these common, costly and potentially lethal infections near zero — even three years after first adopting the standardized procedures. A report on the work is being published in the February 20 issue of BMJ (British Medical Journal).

4 Feb 2010

Older married female cancer survivors have added health problems

A recently published study from Case Western Reserve University's Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences found 245 older married women who survived cancer had more health problems as compared to a sample of 245 married women without cancer.

4 Feb 2010

Surgery pricing secrets: The challenges patients face

Patients are the losers in both the Democratic and Republican versions of the health care reform bills. Proposed health care reform won't help patients find out how much health care costs before they get care and many hospitals aren't set up to help.

4 Feb 2010

Proposals to reduce tax deductions for charitable donations will harm fundraising for nonprofit hospitals

President Obama's budget proposals to reduce tax deductions for charitable donations and freeze discretionary spending will harm fundraising for nonprofit hospitals by thwarting giving by wealthy donors and drying up funds meant to help the poor and underinsured, according to the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy whose members direct fundraising for some 2,200 hospitals and health care systems across the U.S. and Canada.

4 Feb 2010

New program to help the U.S. health care sector switch to cleaner, renewable energy sources

In recent months, three U.S. hospitals signed energy contracts that will save over $1.7 million in energy costs, provide them with up to 10 percent clean energy. The green energy will avoid 11,829 metric tons of CO2 being released to our atmosphere, which is equivalent to taking 2,052 cars off the road or not burning 56 railcars' worth of coal.

4 Feb 2010

AAUCM recognizes the benefits of PHT's A-Claim medical payment solution

The American Academy of Urgent Care Medicine (AAUCM) has begun a sponsorship of the A-Claim™ medical payment solution that includes discounts on A-Claim for all AAUCM members.

4 Feb 2010

UCSF studies show relationship between Alzheimer's disease and smoking

A UCSF analysis of published studies on the relationship between Alzheimer's disease and smoking indicates that smoking cigarettes is a significant risk factor for the disease. After controlling for study design, quality of the journals, time of publication, and tobacco industry affiliation of the authors, the UCSF research team also found an association between tobacco industry affiliation and the conclusions of individual studies.

4 Feb 2010

Researchers develop simple urine test to predict and diagnose preeclampsia

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have developed a simple urine test to rapidly predict and diagnose preeclampsia, a common, but serious hypertensive complication of pregnancy.

4 Feb 2010

Guns in homes can increase risk of death and firearm-related violence

Having a gun at home not only increases the risk of harm to one's self and family, but also carries high costs to society, concludes an article in the February Southern Medical Journal, official journal of the Southern Medical Association.

4 Feb 2010

Mandatory flu shot program increases vaccination rate to more than 98% in BJC HealthCare

Making flu shots mandatory in 2008 dramatically increased the vaccination rate among St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare's nearly 26,000 employees to more than 98 percent, according to a report now online in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

4 Feb 2010

Study: Generic nifedipine product not bioequivalent to Adalat XL

An extended release generic nifedipine product (Mylan-Nifedipine extended release 60 mg formerly Gen-Nifedipine extended release 60mg, Genpharm ULC) is not bioequivalent to the Canadian originator product, Adalat(R) XL(R), according to the results of a study recently published in the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

4 Feb 2010

Recent clinical trials in patients with ALBP show that SOMA 250 mg reduces disability

A recent analysis of two pivotal clinical trials in patients with acute low back pain (ALBP) who were treated with SOMA® (carisoprodol) 250 mg showed significantly improved functionality and reduced disability after three days of treatment, as measured by the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ).

4 Feb 2010

P&G joins existing Navigenics investors in $18M Series C financing

Navigenics, a leading personal genomics company, announced today that the company has raised approximately $18 million of funding. The Procter and Gamble Company, with a worldwide portfolio of leading consumer brands, has joined existing Navigenics investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and Mohr Davidow Ventures who also participated in this financing round.

4 Feb 2010

State round up: Florida considers eliminating popular Medicaid plan; State program for low-income adults changing in Minn.

e year the state of Florida eliminates its popular MediPass program, which gives more than half a million Medicaid recipients, mostly aged and disabled Floridians, an alternative to HMOs. Hints of its demise showed up in the governor's budget and letters from a powerful lawmaker.

4 Feb 2010