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Looking ahead: What health system changes to expect in 2011

[M]illions of Americans [are] already exploring realities of the health-care overhaul, provisions likely to remain in place even as lawmakers threaten to repeal or defund it. Several key measures began taking effect for insurance plans written or renewed starting in September. More are scheduled for 2011, some benefiting consumers directly, others affecting insurance companies in various ways (Conaboy/Avril, 1/2).

3 Jan 2011

KHN video: Health care battles to surge anew in 2011

In this video feature, Kaiser Health News reporters preview some of the big issues coming this year: The GOP's fight to repeal the law and what the party can offer instead; states' efforts to beat back growing Medicaid costs; consumers' troubles affording care (1/3).

3 Jan 2011

Deceptive food labels lead to increased risk of deadly diseases

Did you know that when you pick up a product promoted as trans fat free, you may still be ingesting a significant amount of this potentially harmful substance? An article by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine student Eric Brandt, published in the January/February 2011 issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion, reveals that misleading labeling practices can result in medically significant intake of harmful trans fat, despite what you read on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved labels.

3 Jan 2011

FDA authorizes Juventas' JVS-100 Phase II clinical trial for critical limb ischemia

Juventas Therapeutics, a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company developing novel therapies for cardiovascular disease, announces that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized commencement of a Phase II clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of its lead product, JVS-100, for the treatment of critical limb ischemia (CLI).

3 Jan 2011

LA Times: Exploring the fairness of wellness incentives

Wanna make a fast buck? Quit smoking. According to the National Business Group on Health, which represents large employers including Wal-Mart and Wendy's, about 68% of its members either offer a discount of several hundred dollars on health insurance premiums to employees who quit smoking, or provide other incentives or penalties to make it happen (Borrell, 1/3).

3 Jan 2011

Today's Opinions: End-of-life counseling; Rising costs of boomers; Controlling infections in hospitals

Death panels. Government-sponsored euthanasia. Pulling the plug on grandma. Those were just some of the blatantly false terms conservatives threw around last year to scare Congress into stripping a provision out of the health-reform bill that would have allowed Medicare to reimburse doctors for providing voluntary, end-of-life counseling to their patients. The scare tactics worked (1/2).

3 Jan 2011

SAIC awarded NIH follow-on task order to provide support to Center for Scientific Review

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) announced today its was awarded a follow-on task order by the National Institutes of Health to provide software and technical support to the Center for Scientific Review (CSR). The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity task order has a six month base period of performance, 9 six-month options and a total contract ceiling of more than $24 million if all options are exercised. Work will be performed in Bethesda, Md. The task order was awarded under NIH's Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners (CIO-SP2) contract.

3 Jan 2011

MEDNAX acquires Neonatal Medical Associates

MEDNAX, Inc., today announced the acquisition of a neonatal physician group in Long Beach, CA.

3 Jan 2011

Celera seeks FDA premarketing approval for KIF6 Genotyping Assay

Celera Corporation today announced that it has submitted a Premarket Approval Application (PMA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its KIF6 Genotyping Assay, a new molecular In Vitro diagnostic (IVD) test designed to detect a marker for risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) independent of traditional risk factors and aid clinical evaluation when statin treatment is being considered.

3 Jan 2011

Genocea announces close of $35 million Series B venture financing round

Genocea Biosciences Inc., a vaccine discovery and development company pioneering a new class of T cell-based vaccines, today announced that it has closed a $35 million Series B round of venture financing, with new investors Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC), Skyline Ventures and MP Healthcare Venture Management, Inc. (MPH) joining existing investors Polaris Venture Partners, Lux Capital Management, SR One, Cycad Group, Auriga Partners and Morningside Ventures.

3 Jan 2011

First Edition: January 3, 2011

Today's headlines include forward looking reports about the health law's possible impact in 2011 as well as early plans for the new Congress.

3 Jan 2011

Book on the business side of medicine

The Medical Entrepreneur Pearls, Pitfalls and Practical Business Advice for Doctors (Nano 2.0 Business Press 2010) was written to help physicians, residents and medical students prepare for the business side of private practice. "In medical school curricula there is barely enough time to cover all the necessary medical courses so there certainly is no room for teaching the business of medicine," says Dr. Steven Hacker, author of The Medical Entrepreneur and a successful physician entrepreneur.

3 Jan 2011

Top-line results of TIGER-2 Phase 3 clinical trial for CF treatment

Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the top-line results from its second Phase 3 clinical trial, TIGER-2, with denufosol tetrasodium for the treatment of cystic fibrosis.

3 Jan 2011

Ecron Acunova, Newcastle University sign Memorandum of Understanding for clinical research

Ecron Acunova and Newcastle University have signed a Memorandum of Understanding signalling an intention by both parties to explore ways of working closely together in the area of clinical trials.

3 Jan 2011

Tips to prevent a hangover

Dr. Andrew Yacht, director of the division of general medicine and vice chair of medicine for education at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City said, “Alcohol clearly causes hangovers, but why it causes hangovers isn’t very well understood…Part of the suspected cause is dehydration and an electrolyte and hormonal imbalance. Some of the symptoms may be caused by low blood sugar. Or, it may be that the direct toxic effects of alcohol are causing the symptoms.”

2 Jan 2011

Canada’s anti-smoking warnings get larger

Canada will have larger and enhanced warning labels on cigarette packs, it was revealed in a government announcement last Thursday. Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said that these new warnings will cover three-quarters of the front and back of cigarette packs, up from one-half.

2 Jan 2011

General anaesthesia brings reversible coma and not sleep: Study

Anaesthesia has been one of the greatest gifts of science and use of general anaesthesia is a routine part of surgical operations at hospitals and medical facilities around the world. However precise biological mechanisms of the drugs’ effects on the brain are only now being analyzed. In a review article published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists have tried to analyze a range of disciplines, including neuroscience and sleep medicine to understand how anaesthesia actually works.

2 Jan 2011

Home births on the decline in UK: Midwives protest

According to a leader of Britain’s midwives, more and more women are being discouraged from giving birth at home. Cathy Warwick, general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives said that many GPs are citing harms of a home birth like dangerous bleeding where their midwives may be unable to help. Warwick said, “There are doctors that still tell women scary things that aren’t evidence-based that then put them off having a home birth…

30 Dec 2010

Fungus may provide clue about human response to changes in circadian rhythm

Humans are not the only species ruled by a circadian rhythm. Even simple organisms like moulds are governed by an inner clock. Studying red bread mould may teach us how our own internal clock works. This is exactly what the Centre for Organelle Research at the University of Stavanger, Norway is doing.

30 Dec 2010

Adjusting mortality for reliability provides more stable estimates of hospital quality

New research published in the January issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery® explores the impact that adjustments in statistical reliability can have on hospital quality rankings for vascular surgery. A total of 14,569 patients who underwent common vascular procedures (open and endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, carotid endarterectomy, lower extremity bypass and aorto-femoral bypass) were identified through the 2007 National Surgical Quality Improvement Project (NSQIP).

30 Dec 2010