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State roundup: After Vinson stay, Alaska to implement health law

After allowing the application deadline to pass for $1 million in federal health care assistance, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell said Thursday he will begin implementing the new health care law after all, now that a Florida judge has told the states to do just that.

5 Mar 2011

Micell initiates enrollment in DESSOLVE II MiStent Drug-Eluting Coronary Stent System trial

Micell Technologies,™ Inc. today announced it has enrolled the first patient in the DESSOLVE II (DES with Sirolimus and a bioabsorbable pOLymer for the treatment of patients with de noVo lEsions in the native coronary arteries) clinical trial. Stefan Verheye, M.D., Ph.D. at Middelheim Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium enrolled the first patient in the study. This clinical investigation is being conducted to support CE Mark approval of the company's MiStent™ Drug-Eluting Coronary Stent System (MiStent DES).

18 Feb 2011

Aesthetic and dental surgical procedures show greater than average growth

According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, standouts in surgical procedures in terms of growth over the next five years are going to be dental implant, facial injectable, optical coherence tomography (OCT) catheter, spinal nonfusion implant, and percutaneous heart valve procedures in North America.

15 Feb 2011

Obama will send Congress 'tough choices' budget, White House budget director says

"President Barack Obama will send Congress a 'tough choices' budget next week that would cut some of his own programs in the environment, community development and services for the poor to rein in the deficit," Jacob Lew, the White House budget director, wrote recently in a New York Times opinion piece, Bloomberg reports.

9 Feb 2011

RNAO calls on Ontario political parties to address nurses shortfall

As political parties look ahead to this fall's provincial election, registered nurses say hiring more RNs must be a top priority to help bring Ontario's RN to population ratio in line with the rest of the country.

4 Feb 2011

Court rules in favor of Volcano/Axsun against LightLab Imaging

Volcano Corporation said today that the Superior Court of Massachusetts has issued a decision that ruled in favor of Volcano and its wholly-owned subsidiary Axsun Technologies, Inc., and against LightLab Imaging, Inc., on all of LightLab's remaining claims for trade secret misappropriation. The 11-page decision also rejected LightLab's request for injunctive relief.

1 Feb 2011

Cappella initiates multi-center Italian Sideguard open label clinical study

Cappella Medical Devices announces initiation of the multi-center Italian Sideguard® open label clinical study. The Principal Investigator (PI) of the study, Dr. Giuseppe Massimo Sangiorgi at the Policlinico di Modena - University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, in Modena, Italy stated, "The side branch ostium anatomy requires a unique technology solution to effectively manage and optimize treatment.

1 Feb 2011

American Legion opposes suggestion to freeze VA health-care spending

Responding to a proposal by Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota to freeze VA health-care spending and cut veterans disability payments to help reduce federal spending, American Legion national commander Jimmie L. Foster said his organization steadfastly opposes the initiative.

28 Jan 2011

Roundup: Medicaid cuts and waivers; Mental health care; Mass. immigrant care; Minn. medical errors

Local hospitals facing a possible 10 percent cut in Medicaid fees plan to pressure commercial health insurers for better rates, which could drive up costs for everyone. Texas House Republicans unveiled a budget this week that takes aim at Medicaid, the state's second-largest program, behind public education.

21 Jan 2011

First group of patients 'graduate' from treatment at CDH Proton Center, A Procure Center

Two months after the opening of the CDH Proton Center, A ProCure Center, the first patients have "graduated" from their treatment surrounded by family, friends and staff. The group of graduating patients, whose tumors included prostate, brain and a non-cancerous tumor on the spinal cord, received proton therapy, an alternative to standard X-ray radiation that spares healthy tissue and results in far fewer short- and long-term treatment side effects.

20 Jan 2011

Roundup: Arizona Medicaid waiver?; 'Sweeping' Texas budget cuts; Wisconsin tort reform; Aspen's 'dismal' health coverage

The Legislature will meet in special session today to give Gov. Jan Brewer authority to seek a Medicaid waiver from the federal government, the first step to cutting health care for 280,000 Arizonans. Brewer and Republican lawmakers say the move is needed to balance the state budget and keep the rest of the state's Medicaid program intact.

20 Jan 2011

Surge in cataract surgeries fuels intraocular lens market to almost $1.4 billion

According to two new reports by iData Research, the leading global authority in medical device and pharmaceutical market research, growth in the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) for the detection of ocular conditions will drive the U.S. diagnostic ophthalmic market to over $650 million by 2017.

12 Jan 2011

Avinger raises $25 million for catheter development and commercialization

Avinger, Inc., medical device manufacturer of innovative, multi-functional catheters for treating peripheral artery disease (PAD), recently completed a $25 million Series B round of funding from a syndicate of highly successful entrepreneurs and executives.

12 Jan 2011

Mediterranean diet helps more than one chronic condition

In a study that was published in the Oct 13, 2001 issue of Diabetes Care, authors had reported that Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of developing diabetes significantly. Those on this diet were 52 percent less likely to develop diabetes, compared with those who adhered least to the diet. Salas-Salvadó J. of Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Reus, Spain and colleagues compared two groups of subjects following two Mediterranean diets, one with nuts at 30 grams per day and the other with olive oil at 1 liter per week, with those on a low-fat diet.

2 Jan 2011

Omnibus bill defeated; Congress will vote on continuing resolution to fund government through March 4

Senate Republicans defeated the proposed omnibus package on Thursday and Senate appropriators over the weekend fashioned "a short-term continuing resolution [CR] to fund the federal government for fiscal 2011," National Journal reports (Sanchez, 12/18).

21 Dec 2010

Diopsys develops new SD-OCT imaging software for ophthalmologists

Diopsys, today announced the development of software that uses existing Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography images to assist ophthalmologists and optometrists in diagnosing retinal and optic nerve disease such as glaucoma.

21 Dec 2010

Two patients receive first kidney transplants through OPTN national program

A man in St. Louis and a woman in New Hampshire have received the first kidney transplants made possible through a new national program of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network that uses a Carnegie Mellon University computer algorithm to match transplant candidates with living donors.

14 Dec 2010

NinePoint enters IP licensing agreement with Massachusetts General Hospital

NinePoint Medical, Inc., an emerging leader in the development of in vivo pathology medical devices, today announced it has entered into an intellectual property (IP) licensing agreement with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Under the agreement, NinePoint has certain exclusive rights in multiple fields to 188 patents and patent applications owned by MGH.

13 Dec 2010

Tomophase receives FDA 510(k) clearance to market Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging System

Tomophase Corporation, developer of the non-invasive Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging System (OCTIS™) and other devices, announced today that it has received FDA 510(k) clearance to market OCTIS.

10 Dec 2010

Total Immersion adds Vantage Surgical Systems to North American AR Partner network

Total Immersion, the global leader in augmented reality (AR), today announced the addition of Vantage Surgical Systems as a Certified D'Fusion Value Added Reseller to its North American Partner network, the world's largest network dedicated to AR.

30 Nov 2010