Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Hologic receives FDA approval for hydroxyprogesterone caproate injection

Hologic, a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of premium diagnostics products, medical imaging systems and surgical products dedicated to serving the healthcare needs of women, announced today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Hologic's pharmaceutical named Makena, formerly known as Gestiva.

From Hologic, Inc. 4 Feb 2011

Governors get advice from Obama administration on how to handle Medicaid

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius provided information Thursday to state officials explaining ways in which current law allows them to change the federal-state program — to gain savings without slashing eligibility.

4 Feb 2011

Accelerated completes acquisition of SPTRS, Burkam

Gryphon Investors announced today that its outpatient physical therapy platform company, Accelerated Rehabilitation Centers, has completed the acquisition of two physical therapy companies - Wisconsin based Sports Physical Therapy & Rehab Specialists and Ohio based Burkam & Associates.

4 Feb 2011

DaVita enters definitive agreement to acquire DSI Renal for $690 million

DaVita, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire DSI Renal, for approximately $690 million, subject to adjustments. The company expects to close the transaction in the second or third quarter of this year.

4 Feb 2011

First Edition: February 4, 2011

Today's headlines include reports that Virginia's attorney general is asking the Supreme Court to expedite its review of the state's challenge to the health law. Meanwhile, the Obama administration is doling out advice to governors about how to handle Medicaid.

4 Feb 2011

Role of rehabilitation nurses in recovery

Brain Injury patients and their families spend the majority of their rehabilitation time with rehabilitation nurses and yet, not once has the role of the rehabilitation nurse been noted in all the recent media features about recovery.

4 Feb 2011

MEDfx announces Direct Project pilot to demonstrate health information exchange among providers

MEDfx Corporation today announced a Direct Project pilot that demonstrates health information exchange among providers using a combination of the standards and protocols supported by the Direct Project and the FHA CONNECT Gateway. MEDfx is participating in, and is a contributor to, the nationally-sponsored Direct Project under the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT.

4 Feb 2011

Positive results from KYTHERA's ATX-101 Phase IIb study for reduction of submental fat

KYTHERA Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has successfully completed a third Phase II clinical study with ATX-101, a first-in-class adipolytic agent that is under investigation for the reduction of submental ('under-the-chin') fat.

4 Feb 2011

Senate rejects health law repeal but approves amendment to undo 1099 provision

Senate Democrats successfully fought back an GOP-led effort to repeal the health law. News outlets report, though, that the Senate vote could not only help influence the courts' consideration of challenges to the law, but also be a factor "on the long March" to elections in 2012. In addition, though the Senate blocked the push for a broad repeal of reform, the chamber did approve a measure to delete a reporting provision in the law that triggered significant opposition from the business community.

4 Feb 2011

Medica Research Institute announces three initial projects in collaboration with University of Minnesota

The Medica Research Institute today announced its first three research projects. The projects will be conducted in collaboration with senior investigators from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

4 Feb 2011

EUREKA funds technical project to assist senior citizens

Massive Art Multimedia in Austria and CoSi Elektronik in Germany have a history of collaboration on successful technical projects. A brainstorming session between their developers produced the idea of bringing together many aspects of the modern computing world and applying them specifically to the one group in society that is least likely to already feel those benefits - senior citizens.

4 Feb 2011

Report examines how health worker shortages could keep developing countries from achieving universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment

A shortage of healthcare workers in developing countries may hold developing countries back from achieving the U.N. Millennium Development Goal to achieve universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment by 2015, according to a report by the WHO/Global Health Workforce Alliance, IRIN/PlusNews writes.

4 Feb 2011

New 'skin gun' treats burns with stem cells

A revolutionary new "skin gun" developed to treat burns could be the latest in a remarkable string of stem-cell breakthroughs poised to change the face of medicine, says Emerging Healthcare Solutions President and CEO Cindy Morrissey.

4 Feb 2011

Research findings show high potential to save neonatal live births in remote settings

Training community birth attendants in rural Zambia in a simple newborn resuscitation protocol reduced neonatal deaths by nearly 50 percent - a finding that shows high potential to save lives in similar remote settings, a team of Boston University School of Public Health international health researchers is reporting.

4 Feb 2011

Prognosis brings EHR success to providers across the country

Prognosis Health Information Systems is making good on its mission of bringing electronic health records success to providers across the country.

4 Feb 2011

Viewpoints: Dem lawmakers on fighting repeal; Debating Judge Vinson's impact; Medicaid cuts

Along with our Democratic colleagues in the Senate, we plan to review individual provisions in the law that may not work as intended. But we are not willing to allow a wholesale rollback of health care reform that could take away popular benefits from American families, jeopardize the health and well-being of millions and add more than a trillion dollars to the deficit.

4 Feb 2011

Bayer HealthCare's regorafenib receives orphan drug status for GIST treatment

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today that its investigational compound regorafenib has been granted orphan drug status for the treatment of patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

4 Feb 2011

Study: Worldwide prevalence of obesity has nearly doubled since 1980

The worldwide prevalence of obesity has nearly doubled since 1980, according to a major study on how three important heart disease risk factors have changed across the world over the last three decades. The study, published today in three papers in the Lancet, looked at all available global data to assess how body mass index, blood pressure and cholesterol changed between 1980 and 2008.

4 Feb 2011

AHRQ finds 3.4 million emergency department visits for back problems in the U.S.

Roughly 3.4 million emergency department visits - an average of 9,400 a day - were specifically for back problems at U.S. hospitals in 2008, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

4 Feb 2011

WorkSafeBC fines VIHA for failure to protect healthcare staff

WorkSafeBC has issued nine separate orders at two Victoria-area mental health facilities criticizing the failure of Vancouver Island Health Authority to protect the safety of staff.

4 Feb 2011