Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Longer looks: Shortage of HIV doctors; Oregon program builds on British model

Of the 3,155 U.S.-based members of the HIV Medicine Assn., 45% are older than 50, according to a March 17 Institute of Medicine report on HIV screening and access to care.

8 Jul 2011

GE Healthcare's Magnetic Resonance Imaging receives 2011 IDEA awards

GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company, today announced it received several Silver Awards from the 2011 International Design Excellence Awards for Magnetic Resonance Imaging by the Industrial Designers Society of America.

8 Jul 2011

Roche, CPRIT partner to advance cancer research projects in Texas

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) today announced a strategic partnership agreement with the Swiss-based healthcare company Roche to accelerate the development of promising oncology-related cancer research projects in Texas.

8 Jul 2011

Allegro completes $5.4M Series A extension financing

Allegro Diagnostics today announced that it has closed a $5.4M Series A extension financing. The company's existing venture investors, Kodiak Venture Partners and Catalyst Health Ventures, participated in the round.

8 Jul 2011

Medtronic enters definitive agreement to acquire Salient Surgical Technologies

Medtronic, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Salient Surgical Technologies, Inc., the leader in the advanced energy category for haemostatic sealing of soft tissue and bone in a variety of surgical procedures including orthopaedic surgery, spine, open abdominal and thoracic procedures.

From Medtronic 8 Jul 2011

Roundup: Municipal bonds rise as states make budget cuts; Calif. psych workers seek more security

Florida is firing 1,300 workers. New York is cutting education funding and freezing public employee wages for three years. Arizona is slashing Medicaid coverage. And municipal bondholders are having their best year since President George H.W. Bush was in the White House.

7 Jul 2011

Final Atlantis space trip may open new era of research into infectious diseases

On July 8, at approximately 11:26 a.m. EDT, the space shuttle Atlantis will streak skyward from the Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A, for one last mission. While the STS-135 flight marks the end of the space shuttle's glory days, its final trip may open a new era of research into infectious diseases, thanks to space bound experiments conducted by Dr's. Cheryl Nickerson, and Roy Curtiss III, along with their colleagues at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute.

7 Jul 2011

Conference to explore interface between medicine, arts and humanities

The University of Leicester is hosting a conference to be addressed by Jed Mercurio, author of Bodies and creator of the TV series Cardiac Arrest.

7 Jul 2011

Vouchers and Health Equity Funds work well for poor: Research

In rich countries, the government can fund the health system directly, or subsidise the health costs of its inhabitants through the social security system. People then only pay a small lump sum. But in low and mid-income countries, the government doesn't have the money for (almost) free healthcare.

7 Jul 2011

Researchers find new molecule that controls pain sensitivity from UVB irradiation

Researchers at King's College London have found a molecule in the body which controls sensitivity to pain from UVB irradiation, identifying it as a new target for medicines to treat pain caused by other common inflammatory conditions such as arthritis.

7 Jul 2011

Cultural, gender and ethnic stereotypes can distort treatment of Parkinson's

Cultural, ethnic and gender stereotypes can significantly distort clinical judgments about "facially masked" patients with Parkinson's disease, according to a newly published study from researchers at Tufts University, Brandeis University and the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan.

7 Jul 2011

GEN article reports on new drug research and development costs

A policy specialist and a healthcare economist both say that the oft-quoted cost of $1.32 billion to bring a new drug to market does not hold up to close scrutiny, reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.

7 Jul 2011

Obama calls GOP and Dem leaders to White House for deficit talks

President Obama stepped up pressure on Congressional Republicans on Tuesday to agree to a broad deficit-cutting deal, pledging to put popular entitlement programs like Medicare on the table in return for Republican acquiescence to some higher taxes.

7 Jul 2011

Current prevention strategies may not be very effective at reducing in-hospital falls

While falls are a common cause of injury, particularly in older, hospitalized patients, some may not be as preventable as once thought. According to a new literature review published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, many of the risks that frequently cause falls are not adequately addressed with the fall prevention initiatives used in healthcare facilities.

7 Jul 2011

Medicare could owe billions to state Medicaid programs

Governors are pushing the Department of Health and Human Services to reimburse their states money that was spent on providing health care services to people with disabilities who were mistakenly denied Medicare benefits. The error is attributed to the Social Security Administration and cost state Medicaid programs an estimated $4 billion.

7 Jul 2011

New technology can inexpensively render medical linens, clothing permanently germ-free

A University of Georgia researcher has invented a new technology that can inexpensively render medical linens and clothing, face masks, paper towels-and yes, even diapers, intimate apparel and athletic wear, including smelly socks-permanently germ-free.

6 Jul 2011

Fiscal problems could be mitigated by ART conceived children

In 2009, 1,547 ART children were born in public clinics in Denmark, projecting a net tax revenue of -224 million and -247 million in 25 and 50 years respectively. The authors of the study calculated that reductions of 30-50% in ART cycles following the new policy would lead to cost savings of -67 - -111 million for the Danish government in 2034.

6 Jul 2011

Smoking, social class may lead to POF in women

POF is not only associated with infertility but also with significantly increased morbidity and mortality, as well as a decreased quality of life equivalent to that of people with type 2 diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis, said Dr. Rumana Islam, from Imperial College, London, UK.

6 Jul 2011

Review of non-smoker patient with lung cancer to be presented at IASLC conference

A first-of-its-kind study of a patient with lung cancer who never smoked will be presented today by TGen and the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare at the 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer, July 3-7 in Amsterdam.

6 Jul 2011

Researchers investigate predictors for adverse outcome in IVF singletons

In Sweden almost 40 000 children have now been born after IVF, around 3 500 each year, and IVF children constitute 3% of all newborns. "This represents a large number of children and any adverse outcomes related to IVF are therefore a major public health issue," said Dr. Antonina Sazonova, from Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden, who carried out the research with colleagues from the hospital and from Lund University.

6 Jul 2011