Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Pennsylvania expands H1N1 vaccination program to everyone

Certified healthcare providers who have already immunized patients most at risk of complications from the H1N1 flu virus may now offer the vaccine to anyone who wants it, the Department of Health announced today.

16 Dec 2009

Cellular Dynamics International launches iCell Cardiomyocytes

Cellular Dynamics International (CDI) today announced the commercial launch of iCell(TM) Cardiomyocytes for use in testing of new drug candidates by the pharmaceutical industry.

16 Dec 2009

Senate Democrats vote against tax amendment

The Senate will vote today on an amendment which would send the healthcare bill back to the Finance Committee to strip out its numerous tax hikes on families making less than $250,000 per year. The vote sets up a showdown for Senate Democrats as President Barack Obama has made a "firm pledge" not to raise "any form" of taxes on these families.

16 Dec 2009

Comprehensive SIS Solution implemented at Barnes-Jewish Hospital

Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, MO recently went live with a perioperative solution from Surgical Information Systems (SIS), following a customized implementation that optimized the system according to the hospital's unique workflows.

16 Dec 2009

NEI study reports 66.4 percent increase in myopia in Americans

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the 66.4 percent increase in myopia in Americans since the 1970s, as reported in the recent National Eye Institute (NEI) study, is significant and will impact healthcare costs as well as vision quality.

16 Dec 2009

Post-surgical infections raise healthcare expenditures

Post-surgical infections significantly increase the chance of hospital readmission and death and cost as much as $60,000 per patient, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers who conducted the largest study of its kind to date.

16 Dec 2009

Prostate cancer tests promised but not delivered

Men's Health Network calls on Congress to ensure that healthcare reform does not override the prostate cancer testing benefit currently required of insurance companies in 37 states.

16 Dec 2009

MU researcher says older American women face unique barriers in healthcare

For Americans living in rural areas, obtaining and maintaining health care can be challenging. Aside from common barriers, including shortages of care providers and facilities, older women face additional challenges, according to Kay Libbus, a public health researcher at the University of Missouri. Libbus says that women ages 50-65 living in rural areas are at-risk for inadequate health care coverage and limited access to health information.

16 Dec 2009

SBi announces new joint venture with Khazanah Nasional Berhad and MTDC

Small Bone Innovations, Inc. (SBi), a leading, privately held orthopedics company focused exclusively on technologies and treatments for the small bones & joints, announced the formation of a joint venture with Khazanah Nasional Berhad (Khazanah) and Malaysian Technology Development Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (MTDC). The joint venture, SBi Asia Pacific Sdn. Bhd. (SBi APAC), is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

16 Dec 2009

PatientKeeper closes $13 million round of funding

PatientKeeper, Inc., the leading provider of Physician Information Technology, today announced that it has closed a $13 million round of funding comprised of equity and debt.

16 Dec 2009

Dendritic cell changes suggest new strategy to identify and treat debilitating lung disease

A new study links chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, with increased activity of cells that act as sentinels to activate the body's immune system.

15 Dec 2009

Hoyer: House could pass health bill without public option

"Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday the House can pass a healthcare bill without a public option," The Hill reports.

15 Dec 2009

FDA grants marketing approval for EnzySurge's new SilverStream solution for prescription use

EnzySurge Ltd. (EnzySurge), a provider of innovative solutions for the advanced chronic wound management market, announced today that it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its new SilverStream(TM) solution for prescription use. The FDA also cleared DermaSept, an Over-the-Counter version of the SilverStream product.

15 Dec 2009

Advanced Plasma Products launches its new TriClean Pro air sanitizer

Applied Science Products, Inc., announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, Advanced Plasma Products Inc., has introduced its new TriClean Pro air sanitizer product powered by the company's newest advanced plasma generator design.

15 Dec 2009

White House report says health reform will cut cost growth

The New York Times: The chair of the White House Council of Economics Advisers said Monday that the Senate health care reform bill would slow the grown of spending by 1 percent each year. "I want to tell you that what's going on on the floor of the Senate right now is probably the most important thing we can do for the long run fiscal health of this country," said Christina Romer, according to the Times.

15 Dec 2009

U.S. questions California's CHIP program; Milwaukee schools face rising retiree health care costs

News outlets report on California's children's health program, health care costs for Milwaukee's schools and indigent care in Minnesota.

15 Dec 2009

Also in Global Health news: Drug trafficking in Kenya; violence in S. Sudan; Uganda bill; sleeping sickness

Drug trafficking and use are fueling the spread of HIV/AIDS in Kenya, according to a recent report by the U.N. Security Council, the Nation reports. "A statement from the council's Presidency currently … states that Afghan heroin was being imported, causing a dramatic increase in heroin addiction and spreading HIV/AIDS in the slums of Nairobi and Mombasa, Kenya's two main cities," the newspaper writes.

15 Dec 2009

Pfizer to co-promote Actos with Tianjin Takeda Pharmaceuticals in China

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (“Takeda”) and Pfizer Inc. (“Pfizer”) announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Pfizer in China will co-promote Takeda’s Actos® (pioglitazone HCl) with Tianjin Takeda Pharmaceuticals in China.

15 Dec 2009

Democrats say victorious Lieberman flip-flopped on Medicare buy-in

CNN: Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., "an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, has emerged as the majority party's main obstacle to its efforts to get a health care bill through the Senate before Christmas. He ratcheted up his public opposition to the bill Sunday by threatening to join a Republican filibuster if the legislation contains either a government-run public health insurance option or a proposed alternative that would expand Medicare to people as young as 55" (Bash and Cohen, 12/14).

15 Dec 2009

Safe Life increases production of its A400 Series respirators

Safe Life Corp., an innovative antimicrobial company dedicated to developing novel technologies that prevent the spread of infection and disease, announced today that it is ramping production of its comfortable, breathable, A400 Series respirator to help healthcare providers and government agencies address the global shortage of N95 respirators during the H1N1 pandemic.

15 Dec 2009