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BIT Companies support Rays of Hope organization to help South African children

BIT Companies, developer/manufacturer of in-vitro diagnostic, clinical and hematology instrumentation, has announced its role as a supporter of Rays of Hope, a non-profit organization in South Africa which offers sustainable aid to underprivileged children in a small village on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa.

19 May 2012

DCI receives FDA approval for PERTZYE NDA to treat EPI

Digestive Care, Inc. (DCI), announced that the company has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of its New Drug Application (NDA) for PERTZYE, indicated for the treatment of Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI) due to cystic fibrosis (CF) or other conditions.

19 May 2012

The Millennium Village Project: a correction

Paul Pronyk, lead author of the Millennium Village paper, releases the following statement about the paper, Pronyk PM, Muniz M, Nemser B, et al, for the Millennium Villages Study Group. The effect of an integrated multisector model for achieving the Millennium Development Goals and improving child survival in rural sub-Saharan Africa: a non-randomised controlled assessment. Lancet 2012; published online May 8. DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60207-4.

18 May 2012

Promising updates in quest for early detection and treatments for lung cancer

LUNGevity Foundation, the nation's largest lung cancer-focused nonprofit, is pleased to note promising updates in researchers' quest for early detection and treatments for lung cancer during May, Lung Cancer Hope Month.

18 May 2012

Surgical community kicksoff Strong for Surgery initiative

Washington State's surgical community announces today the kickoff of the Strong for Surgery initiative. Strong for Surgery's goal is to educate the healthcare community on effective steps that can be taken to better prepare patients for surgery and provide the best outcomes possible. The initiative is led by the University of Washington's CERTAIN program and is working in partnership with the Surgical Care and Outcomes Assessment Program (SCOAP).

18 May 2012

Ventac and GIBH announce creation of CASiGEN Pharma

Ventac Partners and the Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences (GIBH) today announced the creation of CASiGEN Pharma Ltd. (CASiGEN) to bring new treatments for diabetes and other metabolic disorders to the global market.

18 May 2012

Cautious optimism over prevalence of PTSD

A decade after the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, studies have shown that the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among troops is surprisingly low, and a Harvard researcher credits the drop, in part, to new efforts by the Army to prevent PTSD, and to ensure those who do develop the disorder receive the best treatment available.

18 May 2012

PLoS blog responds to U.N.'s newly released maternal mortality estimates

Newly released "estimates of maternal mortality from the United Nations' Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG) are good news – but not good enough," Peter Byass, professor of global health at Umea University in Sweden and director of the Umea Centre for Global Health Research, writes in this post in the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog.

18 May 2012

Scientists map how XIAP protein activates vital component of immune defence system

Defects in the gene that encodes the XIAP protein result in a serious immune malfunction. Scientists used biochemical analyses to map the protein's ability to activate vital components of the immune system. Their results have recently been published in Molecular Cell, a journal of international scientific repute.

18 May 2012

Two major reasons to monitor medication use in older patients with chronic pain

Ameritox, the nation's leader in pain medication monitoring, announced today the presentation of a peer-reviewed scientific poster titled "Patterns of Drug Use in the Older Chronic Pain Population" at the American Pain Society Annual Meeting.

18 May 2012

Despite bishop's disapproval, Sebelius will speak at Georgetown University

The Health and Human Services secretary was invited in January to address graduates of the Public Policy Institute at the Jesuit institution.

18 May 2012

Migraine is a neurological, not vascular, disorder

The latest genetic and biological research shows that migraine is a neurological, not vascular, disorder and both acute and preventive treatments being developed target peripheral and central nervous systems, according to a prominent migraine expert addressing the American Pain Society (APS)today.

18 May 2012

Budget politics and posturing continues at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue

Even as congressional leaders met with President Barack Obama on budget matters, the Senate voted on -- and rejected -- a series of budget proposals. Meanwhile, House Speaker John Boehner draws a line in the sand regarding the next vote to raise the federal debt limit.

18 May 2012

ACO model may improve populations-based outcomes for pain management

How will pain care be influenced by the anticipated reforms in the U.S. healthcare system? Current models of healthcare delivery offer both obstacles and opportunities for achieving quality and effectiveness in pain-related care, according to Daniel Carr, MD, Tufts University in his keynote address at the American Pain Society Annual Scientific Meeting.

18 May 2012

One Blog interviews USAID deputy administrator about upcoming G8 Summit

ONE Blog interviews Ambassador Don Steinberg, current deputy administrator at USAID, about the upcoming G8 Summit.

18 May 2012

ArQule to present positive tivantinib Phase 2 clinical data for hepatocellular carcinoma

ArQule, Inc. and Daiichi Sankyo, Co., Ltd. today announced that an oral presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) will feature Phase 2 trial data with tivantinib as a single agent investigational second-line treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

18 May 2012

Urocortin 2 improves cardiac output in Phase II study for acute decompensated heart failure

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. today announced efficacy and safety results from a Phase II trial of urocortin 2 in 53 patients with acute decompensated heart failure. The UNICORN study was conducted over approximately a two year period by the Cardioendocrine Research Group from the University of Otago in Christchurch, New Zealand and included patients admitted to Christchurch Hospital with acute decompensated heart failure.

18 May 2012

Personal genetic test results don't drive overuse of expensive medical care

People have more and more chances to participate in genetic testing that can indicate their range of risk for developing a disease. Receiving these results does not appreciably drive up- or diminish-test recipients' demand for potentially costly follow-up health services, according to a new study in the May 17, 2012 early online issue of Genetics in Medicine.

18 May 2012

Huffington Post series of opinion pieces examines NGO priorities for G8

The Huffington Post is running "a series of blogs by leading NGOs to call attention to a range of issues that should be raised at the G8 summit at Camp David in rural Maryland from May 18-19," according to the news service. The following summarizes some of the posts published this week.

18 May 2012

Breast cancer vaccine that elicits powerful immune response also improves recurrence rates

A breast cancer vaccine already shown to elicit a powerful immune response in women with varying levels of HER2 expression has the ability to improve recurrence rates and is well tolerated in an adjuvant setting, according to new research from a clinical trial led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

18 May 2012