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Bruce Bodaken releases statement on FVPF's International Center

The elimination of domestic violence has been a core objective of Blue Shield of California's charitable endeavors for more than a decade.

9 Jan 2010

NCD to release report on workforce infrastructure for people with disabilities

The National Council on Disability (NCD) will release a report on workforce infrastructure for people with disabilities at the JW Marriott Houston, 5150 Westheimer, Houston, TX, from 9:15 a.m. until 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, January 20, 2010.

9 Jan 2010

Medicare, fraud and abuse remains top health law issues for 2010

Health care reform will change, if not send shock waves through, virtually the entire field of health care law. That is the consensus of 24 health law practitioners from BNA's Health Law Reporter advisory board, in a survey conducted in December 2009.

9 Jan 2010

Carnegie Foundation report calls for enhanced education training for nursing workforce

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) applauds Dr. Patricia Benner and her team at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching for recognizing the critical role education plays in a nurse’s ability to practice safely and achieve optimal outcomes in their new book titled Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation.

9 Jan 2010

Illicit drug use among older adults may lead to increase in substance abuse treatment services

A new study done by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) indicates that the aging of the baby boom generation is resulting in a dramatic increase in levels of illicit drug use among adults 50 and older. These increases may require the doubling of substance abuse treatment services needed for this population by 2020, according to the report.

9 Jan 2010

Renowned physician highlights digital medical devices at International CES 2010

Dr. Eric J. Topol, chief academic officer of Scripps Health and chief medical officer of the West Wireless Health Institute (WWHI), will join Qualcomm chairman and CEO Dr. Paul E. Jacobs during Jacobs' keynote at International CES on Friday, January 8, 2010, to highlight a variety of digital medical devices that offer physicians and consumers the ability to remotely monitor fitness, sleep, vital signs and pre-natal activity.

9 Jan 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet Comment examines the "grossly insufficient" progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing under-5 child mortality. "Accelerated progress can be achieved, even in the poorest environments, through: integrated, evidence-driven, and community-based programmes that focus on addressing the major causes of death, including pneumonia, diarrhoea, newborn disorders, malaria, HIV, and undernutrition; reaching the unreached with a basic package of interventions at large scale and achieving coverage with equity; and using data for action and advocacy," the comment concludes (You et al., 1/9).

9 Jan 2010

Health and development groups applaud Clinton speech; call for action

A broad coalition of organizations representing millions of Americans applauded today's statement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the United States unequivocally supports the worldwide consensus that achieving universal access to reproductive health is critical for individual health, family well-being, broader economic development and a healthy planet.

9 Jan 2010

New agreement to ensure patients' safety at KCHC approved

The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York today announced that they have entered into an agreement with New York City to correct conditions of confinement at the Kings County Hospital Center's (KCHC) psychiatric emergency room and psychiatric in-patient units located in Brooklyn, N.Y.

9 Jan 2010

Reform will save and create millions of more jobs, says Speaker Pelosi

Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on a new report released today by the Center for American Progress that shows that health insurance reform will create up to 4 million more jobs over the next decade than would be created without reform. The report finds that health care reform could increase the number of jobs in the United States by about 250,000 to 400,000 per year over the coming decade.

9 Jan 2010

House Democrats tussling on taxes, exchanges in health bill negotiations

The Washington Post: "Worried House Democrats held a caucus-wide conference call Thursday to strategize about health-care reform before lawmakers return to Washington next week. ... With Senate Democrats barely able to muster the 60 votes necessary to pass their own bill and President Obama leaning toward the Senate's position on some key issues, House Democrats are increasingly concerned that they could be marginalized at the bargaining table."

9 Jan 2010

LFB completes conversion of all acquired preferred stock

GTC Biotherapeutics, Inc. announced that LFB Biotechnologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of LFB S.A. (Laboratoire Français du Fractionnement et des Biotechnologies S.A., Les Ulis, France) and a strategic shareholder in GTC, has converted the convertible preferred stock it previously purchased in November 2009 under the terms described in the financing agreements approved by GTC shareholders in July 2009 into a total of 5.3 million shares of common stock.

9 Jan 2010

IHSS supporters vow to fight Governor's budget cut proposals

Representatives of more than 450,000 seniors and people with disabilities and those who care for them today urged the State Legislature to fight Gov. Schwarzenegger's mean-spirited and hypocritical proposal to destroy the In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program.

9 Jan 2010

Providence Holy Cross Medical Center receives $500,000 grant from Verizon to improve hospital's efficiency

Providence Holy Cross Medical Center has embarked on a technology upgrade, funded by a $500,000 grant from Verizon, that will improve the hospital's efficiency, increase accuracy of patient records, and initiate health care outreach for uninsured Californians.

9 Jan 2010

Nelson calls for expansion of Nebraska Medicaid deal to all states

"Sen. Ben Nelson said Thursday he has asked Democratic leadership to extend to all states the extra Medicaid funding promised to Nebraska in the health care reform bill," The Associated Press reports. "The Democrat wouldn't say who he has spoken to regarding the so-called 'Cornhusker Kickback' but that he would see to it that Nebraska doesn't get a special deal." Nelson said if he can't get similar treatment for every state, "he wants states to be freed from paying the cost of Medicaid expansion. That could mean eliminating the provision, finding another way to pay for it or allowing states to opt out" (Ross, 1/7).

9 Jan 2010

MinuteClinic re-accredited and earns the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval

MinuteClinic, the retail health care division of CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) and the pioneer and largest provider of retail-based medical clinics in the United States, has become the first retail clinic to be re-accredited and earn the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval(TM) for consecutive evaluation periods by having demonstrated compliance with The Joint Commission's national standards for health care quality and safety.

9 Jan 2010

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care wins contract to develop a pilot of FDA's Sentinel System

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has awarded a contract to Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Inc. to develop a pilot of the FDA's Sentinel System, which will use automated health care data to evaluate medical product safety.

9 Jan 2010

Seven new biopharmaceutical companies join PhRMA, Forbes reports

Forbes recently reported that seven new biopharmaceutical companies have now joined the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

From CSL Ltd 9 Jan 2010

Study: Reform bills could save health care dollars

The Los Angeles Times: "National healthcare legislation in Congress could slow the growth of medical costs, allowing employers to create 250,000 to 400,000 new jobs a year over the next decade, economists from Harvard University and USC are predicting.

9 Jan 2010

LehmanMillet honored with four prestigious industry awards

HealthSTAR's LehmanMillet, the leading agency devoted to working with health care companies changing standards of care, today announced it has won four prestigious industry awards: an MM&M (Medical Marketing & Media Magazine) Gold Award for work done on behalf of Abbott Nutrition; a First Place DxMA (Diagnostic Marketing Association) award for work done on behalf of Abbott Diagnostics; a First Place DxMA Award for work done on behalf of BRAHMS USA; and a PM360 Pharma Choice Bronze Award.

9 Jan 2010