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California insurance commissioner puts insurers in the hot seat

News outlets detail how California's new insurance commissioner has taken a strong stance against insurers who propose increases for rates on individual policies.

14 Jan 2011

First Edition: January 14, 2011

Today's headlines include reports that House GOP leaders are poised to return to work on repealing the health law. A vote has been scheduled for next week.

14 Jan 2011

FDA stops operations of N.Y.-based beverage company

At the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Justice today filed a complaint for permanent injunction against a Jamaica, N.Y.-based beverage company to prevent it from processing and distributing juice and other products.

14 Jan 2011

Winter weather tips for people with high blood pressure

It's sad but true. Celebrity groundhog Punxsutawney Phil of PA and his relatives accurately predict the end or extension of winter only 39 percent of the time according to the United States National Climate Center.

12 Jan 2011

Common disinfectant degrades water-borne viruses

A simple technique to make a common virus-killing material significantly more effective is a breakthrough from the Rice University labs of Andrew Barron and Qilin Li.

12 Jan 2011

Adult Social Care can become more environmentally sustainable, says study

New research from the Institute for Sustainability, Health and Environment (ISHE) at the University of the West of England, shows that Adult Social Care can become more environmentally sustainable, more economical and still meet social objectives, with the right policies and strategies in place.

11 Jan 2011

Baylor Hamilton offers Arctic Front Cardiac CryoAblation Catheter system treatment for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation

Physicians at Baylor Jack and Jane Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital are the first in North Texas to offer the Arctic Front® Cardiac CryoAblation Catheter system, the first and only cryoballoon in the United States indicated to treat drug refractory recurrent symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF), a serious heart rhythm disorder that affects millions of Americans.

11 Jan 2011

Antigenics announces name change to Agenus

Antigenics Inc. today announced that effective immediately it is changing its name to Agenus Inc. The company's stock will continue to be traded on NASDAQ under the symbol AGEN. The new name reflects the broadening of the company's product portfolio of clinical candidates beyond autologous antigen-based vaccines, as well as its commitment to actively pursuing licensing opportunities to leverage its development capabilities and expand its product portfolio.

6 Jan 2011

Mayo Clinic uses Arctic Front Cardiac CryoAblation Catheter system for treating AF

Mayo Clinic is the first in the U.S. to use the first minimally invasive freezing balloon technology for the treatment of atrial fibrillation approved in December by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The first patient received the treatment Tuesday, Jan. 4.

6 Jan 2011

Winter depression is more common in women than men

As the winter months approach bringing holidays and good cheer, certain health issues may arise that women should have on their radar. From mental health issues like stress, depression and seasonal affective disorder (SAD), to physical concerns like skin care, the winter can certainly pack a punch.

6 Jan 2011

New Wisconsin Governor backs legal challenge

Taking the position that the law is unconstitutional, the state's new republican governor gave the attorney general permission to proceed with legal action.

5 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

High pressure technology holds promise for decontamination of dairy products

The AZTI-Tecnalia technological centre, in a project undertaken by the Tecnolat and Llet de Catalunya dairy product companies within the FUTURAL project, has verified that, as an alternative to the traditional heat treatment for decontamination of a number of dairy products, high pressure technology is highly recommendable. In fact, according to a press release from Tecnolat, the results, especially with ready-to-eat fruit products and in the inactivation of moulds and yeasts in other dairy products, "were highly positive and promising".

24 Dec 2010

Gold-coated liposomes could make chemotherapy more effective without harmful side effects

University of Arizona researchers may have found a way to deliver chemotherapeutic drugs to cancer tissues in controlled doses without harming healthy body cells.

24 Dec 2010

HPV chemicals cause harm to human health, environment

Every hour, an enormous quantity and variety of manmade chemicals, having reached the end of their useful lifespan, flood into wastewater treatment plants. These large-scale processing facilities, however, are designed only to remove nutrients, turbidity and oxygen-depleting human waste, and not the multitude of chemicals put to residential, institutional, commercial and industrial use.

23 Dec 2010

Halt Medical presents results of Halt Fibroid Study at NIH Global Fibroid Congress

Women suffering from uterine fibroids, a debilitating condition that affects more than seven million women in the U.S., may soon have reason for hope. Halt Medical, a biomedical company based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is developing a minimally invasive procedure for treating the condition. The company recently presented their findings from studies in Latin America at the NIH Global Fibroid Congress.

21 Dec 2010

Laser restoration therapy promotes hair regrowth in women

Many Women suffering from hair loss are turning to Advanced Hair Studios and discovering advanced laser therapy as a method along with other procedures to overcome thinning hair.

21 Dec 2010

AP examines 2010 natural disasters' death toll

"Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 - the deadliest year in more than a generation," the Associated Press/Washington Post reports. According to global reinsurer Swiss Re, these disasters "caused $222 billion in economic losses in 2010 - more than Hong Kong's economy."

21 Dec 2010

$FDA approves Medtronic's Arctic Front Cardiac CryoAblation Catheter system for drug refractory PAF$

FDA approves Medtronic's Arctic Front Cardiac CryoAblation Catheter system for drug refractory PAF

Medtronic, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its Arctic Front® Cardiac CryoAblation Catheter system, the first and only Cryoballoon in the United States indicated for the treatment of drug refractory paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF). The Cryoballoon treatment involves a minimally-invasive procedure that efficiently creates circumferential lesions around the pulmonary vein, which is the source of erratic electrical signals that cause the irregular heartbeat.

20 Dec 2010

Celebrity chef, registered dietitian team up to create nutrition program for people with MS

Amanda Freitag, celebrity chef and recurring judge on the Food Network's "Chopped," and Julie Barto, a registered dietitian specializing in multiple sclerosis, have teamed up to create a nutrition program especially for people with MS.

17 Dec 2010