Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

SRI/Surgical Express reports total revenue of $25.79M for fourth-quarter 2009

SRI/Surgical Express, Inc., a leading provider of reusable surgical device reprocessing services supporting the healthcare industry, today announced financial results for its fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009.

11 Mar 2010

Comparative research lags far behind approval-driven evaluations

A new study has found that few drug evaluations compare treatments in ways that help doctors make better decisions, Reuters reports.

11 Mar 2010

Sebelius: Insurer's opposition to health measure works against them

The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius spoke earlier today at the America's Health Insurance Plans' national policy forum in Washington, D.C. and "warned health insurers Wednesday that opposing President Obama's health-care agenda and letting premium hikes continue would eventually hurt the health-care industry. ... Sebelius cautioned in stark terms that, if insurers opposed Democrats' health-care legislation, premiums hikes would continue and more small businesses would drop health coverage for their employees" (Yoest, 3/10).

11 Mar 2010

Majority of nurse practitioners recommend dietary supplements for overall health and wellness

Eighty-five percent of nurse practitioners agree that one of the roles of healthcare professionals is to provide their patients with information about dietary supplements, according to new research from the "Life...supplemented" 2009 Healthcare Professionals (HCP) Impact Study.

11 Mar 2010

MedPro Imaging installs GE Logic 9 ultrasound systems at Mount Sinai Hospital

MedPro Imaging announced it has recently installed two GE Logic 9 ultrasound systems at Mount Sinai Hospital in Chicago. With the acquisition of the systems, this busy, inner city provider of healthcare services will expand its vascular healthcare services at both Mount Sinai Hospital and Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital located across the street.

11 Mar 2010

XenaCare Holdings' Cobroxin to be available for purchase in Walgreens

XenaCare Holdings, Inc., a company specializing in the marketing and retail distribution of consumer healthcare products, has announced today that its over-the-counter (OTC) pain reliever, Cobroxin, will be available for purchase in Walgreens by May 1, 2010. Walgreens is considered one of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains with 7,162 drugstores located throughout the United States.

11 Mar 2010

Senate poised to pass COBRA subsidy extension, Medicare 'doc fix'

The Senate is set to vote Wednesday on a jobs bill that would extend the COBRA subsidy program and Medicaid funding for states and prevent a Medicare reimbursement cut for doctors.

11 Mar 2010

Cogent Healthcare, Seton Medical Center to develop exclusive hospitalist care delivery system

Cogent Healthcare today announced a new hospital medicine affiliation with 375-bed Seton Medical Center, located in Daly City, Calif., and the Daly City Hospitalist Medical Group, an existing Seton physician group, to develop a distinctive hospitalist care delivery system.

11 Mar 2010

GSK to offer flexible drug pricing in middle-income countries

Drug maker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) "plans to bolster earnings by selling to more people in middle-income countries after cutting prices in the world's poorest nations," Bloomberg/BusinessWeek reports.

11 Mar 2010

2010 AAOS meeting highlights advancements in back and spine treatment options

11 Mar 2010

Senate passes extension of COBRA and other unemployment benefits

The Hill: Six Senate Republicans joined most Democrats to approve a package of unemployment aid and tax provisions. The bill, which its backers say is "a necessary step during the economic recovery," passed on a 62-36 vote. "The bulk of the bill's cost -- about $80 billion -- goes toward prolonging increased levels of federal unemployment aid and COBRA healthcare benefits for the jobless through the end of December." The measure's remaining cost would extend "the current rate of Medicare payments to doctors, which is scheduled to see a 21 percent rate cut" as well as a number of tax breaks.

10 Mar 2010

California rescission settlement benefits few consumers

The Associated Press reports on a new California state assembly report that found fewer than 200 people out of the more than 6,000 affected have taken advantage of benefits won by a settlement between state regulators and health insurers that dropped sick policyholders.

10 Mar 2010

Pro- and anti-health reform groups wage last minute attacks

Stephan Payne protested abuses by health insurance companies and pushed for health care reform during a rally Tuesday. The rally was organized by Health Care for America Now and coincided with an annual conference for health insurance executives in D.C. (Jessica Marcy/KHN)

10 Mar 2010

Discovery Laboratories reports net loss of $6.1M for fourth-quarter 2009

Discovery Laboratories, Inc. today announces financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2009 and provides a business update.

10 Mar 2010

Today's OpEds: Congressional dealmaking, cutting 'honchos pay,' controlling costs

Legislators need pork to make things happen, especially in an age when chronic obstruction has so weakened the legislative process that policy breakthroughs are almost impossible. This does not excuse all kinds of deal making, nor should we ignore that deals sometimes go too far (Julian E. Zelizer, 3/10).

10 Mar 2010

FDA clears Oculus Innovative Sciences' Microcyn Skin and Wound HydroGel

Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc., a commercial medical technology company that develops, manufactures and markets a family of products based upon the Microcyn® Technology platform, today announced that it has received new 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for new dermatology indications for Microcyn® Skin and Wound HydroGel.

10 Mar 2010

Stason Pharmaceuticals to market Unilife's Unitract 1mL safety syringe in Japan, China and Taiwan

Unilife Corporation today announced that it has signed an exclusive five-year agreement with Stason Pharmaceuticals Inc, a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company, to market the Unitract™ 1mL safety syringe in Japan, China and Taiwan. Stason's Taiwan-based strategic alliance affiliate, Standard Chem. and Pharm. Co., LTD, will act as the primary distributor of the product within these designated territories.

10 Mar 2010

$Advances in back care and treatment options for slipped disc, spine surgery and vertebral fractures$

Advances in back care and treatment options for slipped disc, spine surgery and vertebral fractures

Approximately 21 million visits were made to physicians' offices due to back problems in 2006. While countless adults experience back pain and stiffness, many suffer from serious spine and back conditions -including injury, herniated discs and the deterioration of the vertebrae. Three new studies presented at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) detail advances in back care and treatment options for specific back and spine conditions.

10 Mar 2010

Cempra Pharmaceuticals completes Phase 1 clinical trials of CEM-101 macrolide

Cempra Pharmaceuticals today announced the successful completion of Phase 1 clinical trials of its oral formulation of CEM-101, which showed good tolerability in those studies. The company also announced plans to submit an IND to the FDA to begin a Phase 1 study with the company's intravenous formulation of CEM-101 in mid-2010.

10 Mar 2010

First Edition: March 10, 2010

Protests, million-dollar ad campaigns, deepening partisan fault lines and president's stepped-up health reform end game dominate today's health care headlines.

10 Mar 2010