Health and Human Services News and Research

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Lyophilized rPA anthrax vaccine more immunogenic than liquid formulation: Study

PharmAthene, Inc., a biodefense company developing medical countermeasures against biological and chemical threats, today announced results from a New Zealand White Rabbit study showing that its lyophilized recombinant Protective Antigen (rPA) anthrax vaccine was more immunogenic than a liquid formulation of rPA vaccine and produced a robust response with only 2 doses.

16 Jul 2010

Elusys, Lonza partner for commercial production of Anthim antibody for inhaled anthrax treatment

Elusys Therapeutics and Lonza today announced an agreement for the scale-up and commercial production of Anthim, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody in late-stage development for the treatment of inhaled anthrax. Under the new contract, Lonza will provide process scale-up, technology transfer, validation, and commercial manufacturing at one of its facilities in the USA. The manufacturing process for Anthim was optimized for full scale production by Lonza under a separate agreement announced in 2009.

16 Jul 2010

8.8% of drug-related hospital emergency department visits by adolescents is a suicide attempt

A new series of studies analyzing drug-related hospital emergency department visits throughout the country during 2008 reveals a substantial percentage of these visits involve suicide attempts. According to these studies conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) more than one in every twelve (8.8 percent) drug-related hospital emergency department visit by an adolescent is a suicide attempt - double the rate found among cases involving those age 25 and older (4.4 percent).

15 Jul 2010

Practice Fusion API Challenge kicked off

Practice Fusion, the free, web-based Electronic Health Record company, kicked off the Practice Fusion API Challenge today as part of the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge, an initiative supported by the US Department of Health and Human Services. The challenge invites developers to connect patient health data from medical devices, mobile apps, social media systems and websites to doctors in real-time through Practice Fusion's new API.

15 Jul 2010

Study analyzes supply, demand for various allied health professions in Tennessee

Middle Tennessee State University's Adams Chair of Excellence in Health Care Services recently released the fourth edition of "Allied Health in Tennessee: A Supply and Demand Study."

15 Jul 2010

Research shows behavioral economic analysis may help understand role of craving in addictions

Just-published research led by a psychologist at the University of Georgia shows that behavioral economic analysis may lead to an improved understanding of craving for alcohol and other drugs. This method of studying how craving alters the way a person values a drug is fairly new, but according to the study, it may well help assess cravings more accurately and contribute to identifying more effective ways to defeat addictions.

15 Jul 2010

Komen Advocacy Alliance applauds new federal rules for no-cost access to mammography

Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Advocacy Alliance today applauded new federal rules that will expand access to potentially life-saving care for millions of Americans.

15 Jul 2010

First 1M doses of smallpox vaccine for immune-compromised populations delivered

Delivery to the Strategic National Stockpile of the first 1 million doses of the nation's first smallpox vaccine for certain immune-compromised populations is now complete, the result of a Project BioShield contract.

15 Jul 2010

NIH announces 5 more years of funding for Consortium of Food Allergy Research

Today, the National Institutes of Health announce that the Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR), established in 2005, will be funded for five more years. CoFAR will continue to foster new approaches to prevent and treat food allergies and also expand in scope to include research on the genetic causes underlying food allergy and studies of food allergy-associated eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGIDs).

15 Jul 2010

Nine new institutions receive NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards

Nine health research centers have received funds to develop ways to reduce the time it takes for clinical research to become treatments for patients. The funds were awarded as part of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program which is led by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), part of the National Institutes of Health.

15 Jul 2010

VCU receives $20M NIH grant to join national consortium of research centers

Virginia Commonwealth University announced Wednesday it has received a $20 million grant - the largest federal award in its history - from the National Institutes of Health to become part of a nationwide consortium of research institutions working to turn laboratory discoveries into treatments for patients.

15 Jul 2010

Rules for free preventive services requirement to be announced

During a Wednesday news conference, the Obama administration is expected to unveil regulations showing which preventive services insurers will be required to provide free-of-charge to consumers under the health overhaul law, The Wall Street Journal reports.

15 Jul 2010

Support for health overhaul down; GOP asks Kagan if she would recuse herself from cases on new law

Support for the new health reform law has dropped seven percentage points in the last two months, though it remains higher than when the law was first signed in March. "Forty-nine percent of Americans now disapprove of the health care reform measure, according to the poll, which was conducted July 9-12. Thirty-six percent support the law. In a May CBS News poll, 47 percent disapproved of the new laws, while 43 percent approved. While the new poll shows a recent drop in support, the numbers have still improved overall since March, when 53 percent of Americans disapproved of the new laws and 32 percent said they approved of them."

15 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 14, 2010

Today's headlines reflect coverage of new federal rules related to "meaningful use" of electronic health records as well as the latest on the federal deficit, the White House's new HIV/AIDS strategy and other developments.

14 Jul 2010

Medsphere Systems voices support for meaningful use criteria to improve patient care

Medsphere Systems Corporation, the leading provider of open-source healthcare enterprise solutions, today voiced support for the official "meaningful use" requirements released by the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. These recently announced requirements will be used to determine hospitals' eligibility for millions in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funds associated with deploying health IT solutions to improve patient care.

14 Jul 2010

IAS announces recipients of CNIHR grants

The International AIDS Society today announced the recipients of its first joint research grant programme, Creative and Novel Ideas in HIV Research. CNIHR grants, funded in partnership with the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the NIH-supported Centers for AIDS Research are designed to promote innovative research and new ideas from early stage investigators whose primary focus has previously been in fields of scientific inquiry other than HIV/ AIDS.

14 Jul 2010

HHS Secretary, U.S. Attorney General to kick-off Miami fraud prevention summit

On Friday, July 16, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will kick off the first in a series of day-long summits bringing together a wide array of federal, state, and local partners, beneficiaries, providers, and other interested parties to discuss innovative ways to eliminate fraud within the U.S. health care system. The summit will include educational panels featuring law enforcement officials, consumer experts, providers, and key government agencies.

14 Jul 2010

NCPDP pleased with HHS' adoption of SCRIPT Standard to achieve Meaningful Use

The National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) today acknowledges and applauds the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) on its Final Rules announcement on "meaningful use" of an Electronic Health Record (EHR), including the adoption of NCPDP SCRIPT Standard for the secure, electronic transmission of prescriptions and prescription-related information.

14 Jul 2010

MTBC welcomes final rule on meaningful use of EHR

MTBC, a unique healthcare IT company, welcomed today's release by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of the final rule on what constitutes "meaningful use" of an Electronic Health Record.

14 Jul 2010

NCCS supports two final rules issued by CMS, ONC for EHR incentive programs

The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship announced its support of the two final rules issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology for the electronic health record incentive programs at a briefing hosted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today.

14 Jul 2010