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Contracting & Outsourcing 2010 Conference to feature presentations of pharma, biopharma outsourcing

On Sept. 23 and 24, the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, N.J. will host Contracting & Outsourcing 2010, the 9th annual Conference and Tabletop Exhibition held by Contract Pharma Magazine. This year's Conference will feature a keynote presentation by Mac Lynch, Vice President, Contract Manufacturing at Pfizer, covering Global Pharma Outsourcing Trends. Other speakers and panelists represent FDA, Johnson & Johnson, Roche/Genentech, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline and more.

17 Sep 2010

Defensive medicine costs U.S. healthcare system $45 billion

Lisa Maas, executive director of Californians Allied for Patient Protection (CAPP), issued the following statement in response to a recent study published in the 2010 issue of Health Affairs which found that costs related to medical liability account for more than $55 billion a year or 2.4% of the total costs to the U.S. healthcare system. According to the study, approximately 80%, or $45 billion of these costs are the result of defensive medicine, procedures performed to avoid unnecessary litigation.

17 Sep 2010

Study suggests familial, contextual factors affect girls' pubertal timing

Girls in homes without a biological father are more likely to hit puberty at an earlier age, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Public Health.

17 Sep 2010

Rural hospitals in Minnesota contribute to insurance premiums for poor patients

News outlets report on rural hospitals in Minnesota, a new insurer contract for a Florida hospital and possible restrictions on a pending for-profit hospital system in Massachusetts.

17 Sep 2010

Aetna extends contract with University of Pennsylvania Health System

Aetna announced today that it has signed a five-year contract extension with the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS), assuring continued in-network access for its members in the Philadelphia area.

17 Sep 2010

Survey reveals 72% of people over age of 65 do not feel old

There is a sharp contrast between people's positive attitudes towards growing old and their preparedness according to the results of a new international survey, Bupa Health Pulse 2010, published today by Bupa Health Dialog.

17 Sep 2010

Seattle uses global lessons to help local poor with health care

The Seattle Times: "Seattle is known for taking its health expertise to the developing world. Now some fruits of that work are coming back to address health issues locally.

17 Sep 2010

Ways and Means leaders introduce fraud prevention efforts

The Hill: Leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee have offered a bipartisan bill to allow the Department of Health and Human Services to exclude corporate executives from Medicare if their companies were convicted of fraud. "The bill, introduced by Reps. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) and Wally Herger (R-Calif.), would also give the HHS Office of the Inspector General the ability to exclude parent companies that may be committing fraud through shell companies."

17 Sep 2010

Researchers suggest bare-foot dancing to avoid plantar fasciitis

With ballroom dancing once again on our screens, all eyes are on the sequins and steps. Well, not quite all eyes. British and Chinese scientists are more interested in the height of the ladies' high heels rather than the torsos and twists and have a few strict words on health and safety for professional dancers.

17 Sep 2010

FEMR and State of Illinois proclaim first-ever Fall Prevention Awareness Day

The Foundation for Education and Musculoskeletal Research (FEMR) and the state of Illinois officially proclaimed the first day of autumn, September 22, 2010, as Fall Prevention Awareness Day. FEMR will be raising awareness for fall prevention and the need for osteoporosis screening and treatment in an effort to reduce the incidence of fragility bone fractures among older residents of Illinois.

17 Sep 2010

Haitian Prime Minister cites rebuilding progress, lack of aid

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive "insisted Tuesday that progress is being made in his devastated homeland despite the trickle of international aid," the Miami Herald reports.

17 Sep 2010

Illinois CDH Proton Center to open ahead of schedule in October

Proton therapy, an alternative to radiation for the treatment of cancer, will be available in Illinois sooner than expected. Originally slated to open in early 2011, the CDH Proton Center, A ProCure Center, will open its doors Oct. 19, making it the first proton therapy center in Illinois and only the ninth in the country.

17 Sep 2010

Continuing care retiring communities receive increased scrutiny

The New York Times: "For middle- and upper-income retirees who had the money, it was almost a no-brainer in recent years to choose living in a continuing-care retirement community. They could move, as the need arose, from independent living to assisted care to skilled nursing care — all without leaving the community."

17 Sep 2010

AdvaMed fights back against increased FDA scrutiny

A report issued Wednesday by the industry's main trade association Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) "found that there were 101 of the most serious kinds of recalls of medical devices from Jan. 1, 2005 to May 1, 2010, a record that AdvaMed senior executive vice president David Nexon called 'remarkable' considering the number of devices on the market," CQ HealthBeat reports.

17 Sep 2010

KHN column: GOP 'Repeal and replace' strategy lacks merit

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, done in collaboration with The New Republic, Jonathan Cohn writes: "It will force a lot of people to pay higher premiums.

17 Sep 2010

Abbott to present two drug eluting stents data at TCT symposium

Abbott today announced the company's schedule of key data presentations at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation's 22nd annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium in Washington, D.C., to be held Sept. 21 – 25.

17 Sep 2010

Today's Opinions: Repeal, constitutionality and the cost curve

And it will add hundreds of billions of dollars to the federal debt. No, I am not talking about the health care reform law. I'm talking about the Republican proposals to repeal it (Jonathan Cohn, 9/16).

17 Sep 2010

First Edition: September 16, 2010

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, done in collaboration with The New Republic, Jonathan Cohn writes: "It will force a lot of people to pay higher premiums. It will lavish subsidies on the private insurance industry. It will put life-and-death decisions in the hands of bureaucrats. And it will add hundreds of billions of dollars to the federal debt" (Kaiser Health News).

17 Sep 2010

Continuum of Care program redesigns workflow, delivery of hospital-based care to maximize clinical effectiveness

The program named "Continuum of Care," and led by co-author Cordelia Sharma, M.D., a Geisinger critical care physician, involves redesigning the workflow and delivery of hospital-based care to maximize clinical effectiveness. Similar to the "patient-centered advanced medical home" model, the program emphasizes timely comprehensive and coordinated care that is personalized to the patient's needs and makes use of Geisinger's advanced electronic clinical information system.

16 Sep 2010

Commercial Service opens annual application period for U.S. trade event organizers

The U.S. Department of Commerce's Commercial Service has opened the annual application period for U.S. trade event organizers looking to apply for the 2012 International Buyer Program (IBP). The IBP promotes exports by bringing international buyers together with U.S. firms at U.S. domestic trade events in industries with high export potential.

16 Sep 2010