Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Purdue demonstrates efficacy of Butrans transdermal delivery system for chronic pain in opioid-naive patients

Physicians from Purdue Pharma LP, Stamford, CT, showcased study results that demonstrate the analgesic efficacy and safety of Butrans for the relief of moderate to severe chronic low back pain in opioid-naive patients. Butrans is a transdermal delivery system that provides systemic delivery of buprenorphine, a Schedule III medication, continuously over a 7-day period.

25 Mar 2011

State News: Study highlights problems in Mass. Connector

Los Angeles officials Thursday unveiled what Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa termed a landmark tentative labor agreement that would greatly increase healthcare and pension contributions for thousands of municipal workers and put an end to some furloughs caused by the city's budget crisis.

25 Mar 2011

Fraud updates sought by top Senate Finance members

Top members of the Senate Finance Committee have asked the Obama administration for frequent progress reports on its work to cut down on fraud and abuse in health programs.

25 Mar 2011

Emory plays key role in bringing advanced proton cancer therapy to Georgia

Emory Healthcare is a key player in plans to bring the world's most advanced radiation treatment for cancer patients to Georgia. In furtherance of that role, Emory Healthcare has signed a letter of intent with Advanced Particle Therapy, LLC, of Minden, Nevada, opening the door to a final exploratory phase for development of The Georgia Proton Treatment Center - Georgia's first proton therapy facility.

25 Mar 2011

IOM offers standards to develop clinical practice guidelines

Modern Healthcare reports that the Institute of Medicine has issued eight recommended standards to develop clinical practice guidelines. Meanwhile, it also reports on the findings of a national survey regarding medical mistakes.

25 Mar 2011

First Edition: March 25, 2011

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, John Goodman writes: "As governors across the land struggle with fiscal pressures and pepper the federal government with requests to scale back Medicaid - many people are losing sight of the fact that health care reform requires a huge expansion of Medicaid".

25 Mar 2011

FXB and Merck partner to improve systems for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Botswana

The Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center (FXB) of the University of Medicine and Dentistry (UMDNJ) School of Nursing will provide training to 150 clinicians in Botswana who will then train more than 6,000 healthcare workers thanks to a grant of nearly $375,000 from The Merck Company Foundation.

25 Mar 2011

Financial Times, other media outlets highlight key issues in Global TB fight

In recognition of World Tuberculosis Day on Thursday, the Financial Times published a series of stories on TB worldwide.

25 Mar 2011

Looking forward: Detailing the health law's next policy steps

In addition to timelines, explainers and answers, media outlets have detailed various developments, ranging from New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner's interest in seeking a health law waiver for New York City to GOP-backed transparency proposals.

25 Mar 2011

Wolters Kluwer Health offers free online resources to Japan for earthquake relief

In support of disaster relief efforts in Japan following the recent earthquake and tsunami, Ovid and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, part of Wolters Kluwer Health, are providing free online access to emergency, disaster, trauma, and radiation contamination resources to Japanese hospitals and healthcare institutions affected by the disasters via the Wolters Kluwer Health Emergency Resources Portal.

25 Mar 2011

Dabigatran etexilate is less costly, more effective for stroke treatment in patients with AF

A new economic analysis, published online in Thrombosis and Haemostasis, suggested that Boehringer Ingelheim's novel oral direct thrombin inhibitor dabigatran etexilate is cost-effective compared to current treatment options, particularly in real-world clinical practice.

25 Mar 2011

Contention continues a year later

News outlets remark on the continuing ferocity of the health overhaul debate — even a year later — as its advocates and detractors continue efforts to advance or block the measure's implementation.

25 Mar 2011

Accretive Health prices public offering of 6,500,000 shares of common stock

Accretive Health, Inc., a leading provider of services that help healthcare providers generate sustainable improvements in their operating margins and healthcare quality while also improving patient, physician and staff satisfaction, today announced the pricing of the public offering of 6,500,000 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $23.50 per share.

25 Mar 2011

Researchers find high rates of multi-drug resistant pathogen among LA population

Researchers with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health have found high rates of the multi-drug resistant pathogen, carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae among the patient population in long-term acute care hospitals compared to general acute care hospitals across the county.

25 Mar 2011

State roundup: Vt. closer to single payer plan

After a full day and evening of debate, the Vermont House gave preliminary approval to health care reform legislation that's designed to put the state on the path toward a single payer system. ... The heart of the bill is the creation of a five person Health Care Board, modeled after the Public Service Board, which will oversee virtually every aspect of health care in the state.

25 Mar 2011

Study finds risk of heart attack among patients with TIA

Patients who have suffered a "mini stroke" are at twice the risk of heart attack than the general population, according to research reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

25 Mar 2011

Study: Surgeon enthusiasm linked to high spinal procedure rates

Surgeons in some areas are more likely to recommend surgery for low back problems—and those differences in "surgeon enthusiasm" are a major factor driving regional variations in spinal surgery rates, suggests a study in the March 14 issue of Spine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

25 Mar 2011

Viewpoints: Sebelius, Vilsack, Weiner defend reform law; pro/con on seniors' access to health care

As former governors from states with large rural populations, we cheered this new health-care law. We knew that it would give Americans more freedom in their health-care choices, lower costs and improve the quality of care, especially for those in rural communities.

25 Mar 2011

Positive results from Tarsa's oral calcitonin Phase III trial against postmenopausal osteoporosis

Tarsa Therapeutics today announced that the Phase III ORACAL trial of its oral recombinant salmon calcitonin in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis was successfully concluded and yielded statistically significant, positive top-line results.

25 Mar 2011

First Edition: March 24, 2011

In today's headlines, more reports about how supporters and opponents of the health law are staking out positions and taking action to advance their causes. Meanwhile, a South Dakota abortion law becomes a flashpoint.

24 Mar 2011