Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Pacira Pharmaceuticals reports net loss of $9.8 million for first quarter 2011

Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011, provided an update on the execution of its pre-commercial and launch strategies for EXPAREL, and reiterated 2011 financial guidance.

11 May 2011

Challenges to health law take center stage with appellate court action

President Obama's health care law faces a series of challenges in three appeals courts starting Tuesday as Republican lawyers from 27 states will urge the courts to strike down the law as unconstitutional. In a sign of the high stakes and the partisan divide, one case will feature a rare courtroom clash between the Obama administration's top appellate lawyer and his counterpart from the George W. Bush administration.

11 May 2011

Georgia to review Medicaid changes; Calif. judge rules against freeze on payments for disability services

In any other year, a historic overhaul of the Medicaid system would have overshadowed every health issue in the Legislature. But when lawmakers went home early Saturday morning, Medicaid might not have even been the noisiest health-related debate of the 2011 legislative session. Lawmakers passed a nearly $70 billion budget that included deep cuts to hospitals, nursing homes and dozens of other health programs.

11 May 2011

Journal of Rheumatology publishes positive results from Cimzia Phase III trial in RA

UCB announced today results from a post hoc analysis of the RAPID 1 study published in the Journal of Rheumatology. The results suggest moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with Cimzia, the only approved PEGylated anti-TNF, together with methotrexate, achieved a rapid response associated with improved long-term outcomes one year after treatment began.

11 May 2011

Scientists to develop 'eTraining' system for doctors and healthcare providers

Many people use fitness studios to get back into shape after an injury. Fraunhofer researchers are now developing a system that will provide doctors with data on the exercises people do on the various machines. This should help them plan better training programs.

11 May 2011

Govt. audit finds antipsychotic drugs often overused in nursing homes

More than half of the antipsychotics paid for by Medicare in the first half of 2007 were "erroneous," the audit found, costing the program $116 million during those six months.

11 May 2011

Depressed patients with chronic illnesses less likely to adhere to medications

People who are depressed are less likely to adhere to medications for their chronic health problems than patients who are not depressed, putting them at increased risk of poor health, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

11 May 2011

Tenet rejects Community Health's 'best and final' offer

Hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Corp. on Monday rejected Community Health Systems Inc.'s latest buyout offer, which had been increased by about 21 percent. Community's latest offer had been set to expire Monday and had said the latest proposal represented its final offer. Tenet says the offer still undervalues the company.

11 May 2011

Single-payer bill slated for introduction

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., plans to introduce legislation to establish a single-payer health care system. His measure comes on the heels of a successful push within his state to implement single-payer. This step, however, adds to federal-level interest in allowing states waivers to pursue their own reforms.

11 May 2011

NCL launches new public education campaign on medication adherence

Today the National Consumers League launches a new public education campaign, Script Your Future, to raise awareness among patients about the consequences of not taking medication as directed.

11 May 2011

Roundup: Calif.'s Central Valley facing health problems; Baltimore launches campaign to attack causes of preventable deaths

A health care crisis is sweeping the Central Valley, devastating middle-class and poor families and threatening to overwhelm the region's fragile safety net. The deep recession has pushed the ranks of the uninsured here to unprecedented levels. At the same time, a dire state budget deficit has forced lawmakers to drastically scale back or eliminate key health care programs for the state's poorest residents.

11 May 2011

3M introduces Clean-Trace Hygiene Management System for healthcare facilities

As part of its effort to offer a wide range of environmental hygiene solutions for healthcare facilities, 3M Infection Prevention today announced its 3M™ Clean-Trace™ Hygiene Management System. This solution is designed to help hospitals assess the cleanliness of a surface and validate the efficacy of cleaning protocols and worker performance in less than one minute

11 May 2011

ICARIA study shows 6% of Spanish workers have high risk of cardiovascular disease

The first study into the prevalence of overall cardiovascular risk in the Spanish working population shows that 6% of workers have a high risk. This prevalence increases with age in both sexes, and is highest in the farming sector, followed by construction, industry and services.

11 May 2011

FDA clears Meridian's new C. difficile immunoassay

Meridian Bioscience, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio today announced that it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a new Clostridium difficile immunoassay named Premier C. difficile GDH.

11 May 2011

Viewpoints: NY Times warning on women's rights; WSJ on 'Romneycare'; Dutch model for Medicare

The ObamaCare preview that Massachusetts has been conducting for the last several years grows more ominous by the month, not that anyone in Washington is paying attention. A new survey released yesterday by the Massachusetts Medical Society reveals that fewer than half of the state's primary care practices are accepting new patients, down from 70% in 2007, before former Governor Mitt Romney's health-care plan came online.

11 May 2011

Researchers discover role of MAN2C1 protein in prostate cancer development

It's a disease affecting those closest to us - our fathers, brothers and sons. Prostate cancer impacts one in six men in Canada. Last year, roughly 24,600 men were diagnosed with the disease.

11 May 2011

Micromet first quarter total revenues decrease to $5.5 million

Micromet, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of next-generation antibodies for the treatment of cancer, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

10 May 2011

American hospitals search for new ways to cut costs and increase revenue

Facing reform-driven requirements to trim $155 billion in waste over the next decade, American hospitals are searching for new ways to cut costs and increase revenue.

10 May 2011

Abbott receives CE Mark approval for new blood glucose monitoring system

Abbott today announced that it has received CE Mark for its new FreeStyle InsuLinx Blood Glucose Monitoring System, the first blood glucose monitoring device from Abbott that includes a mealtime insulin calculator for calculating suggested insulin doses.

10 May 2011

Telemis releases new software for medical image-management system

Telemis, the specialist in medical imaging solutions, has released new software for its medical image-management system, which provides a full-featured dual-modality PET/CT viewer on any PC across any hospital using Telemis software.

10 May 2011