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State roundup: Georgia's child-only insurance policies; N.Y. exchange impasse

The Senate's Republican majority refused to agree to create a "health exchange," or state-based health insurance market required under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, for individuals and small businesses to insure more Americans.

29 Mar 2012

Avian and swine flu viruses hijack genetic regulators during human infection

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have identified a number of tiny but powerful "genetic regulators" that are hijacked by avian and swine flu viruses during human infection.

29 Mar 2012

Yogurt could be an excellent vehicle for delivery of heart-healthy n-3 fatty acids

Many consumers want to increase their intake of heart-healthy n-3 fatty acids, found naturally in fish and fish products, but find it difficult to consume the levels recommended by the American Heart Association.

29 Mar 2012

Albumin best choice for prevention of circulatory dysfunction in cirrhotic patients

Administration of albumin reduces morbidity and mortality in cirrhotic patients undergoing large-volume paracentesis due to severe ascites, according to a new meta-analysis published online today in Hepatology, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

29 Mar 2012

Recognizing the importance of working together to make an impact on global issues

In this post in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog, Robin Smalley, co-founder and international director of mothers2mothers, discusses how partnerships and access to a supportive network of individuals has helped mothers2mothers expand their efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV/AIDS.

29 Mar 2012

Evergreen utilizes spinal navigation system for Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion procedure

Evergreen Hospital, a statewide leader in minimally invasive spine surgery, today announced it had completed the first minimally invasive spinal surgery procedure in the region using a state-of-the-art spine navigation system.

29 Mar 2012

COPD Foundation to lead DRIVE4COPD campaign

The successful national campaign to increase public awareness of COPD changed organizational leadership effective March 23, 2012. Led since inception by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., a leader in developing medicines to treat COPD, the DRIVE4COPD campaign will now be led by the COPD Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the education, early diagnosis, research and enhanced therapy for people with lives impacted by COPD.

29 Mar 2012

Elekta receives EU CE marking for Connexion modular couchtop

Elekta's Connexion modular couchtop is CE marked and successfully released for sale in the European Union. Connexion meets the clinic's need to tailor patient set-up to accommodate the unique therapy requirements of the individual patient.

From Elekta 29 Mar 2012

Regulatory fight could turn ugly as Congress seeks to overhaul cosmetics regulations

In response to public pressure from recent scandals including mercury in face cream, lead in lipstick and formaldehyde in hair products, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee yesterday convened the first Congressional hearing in 30 years on the safety of cosmetics and personal care products.

29 Mar 2012

Ember adds Joslin's BMP7 technology to brown fat intellectual property portfolio

Ember Therapeutics, Inc., a company harnessing breakthroughs in brown fat biology and insulin sensitization to revolutionize the treatment of metabolic disease, today announced the completion of an agreement with the Joslin Diabetes Center to exclusively license intellectual property covering bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7), which has been shown to play a role in the regulation of brown fat development.

29 Mar 2012

Court wonders which parts of law -- if any -- can stand without the mandate

In exploring the severability question, the justices will ponder whether other parts of the health law can go forward if they void the individual mandate, considered the measure's central element. News outlets examine the "contingency plans" being explored by the law's supporters in case the mandate falls.

29 Mar 2012

BMI not associated with esophageal cancer patient survival

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., have found - contrary to previous studies linking inferior outcomes in patients with gastrointestinal malignancies to higher body mass index (BMI) - that in their study of BMI and negative outcomes, there was no such link. They concluded that BMI was not associated with either surgical complications or esophageal cancer patient survival.

29 Mar 2012

CRT, EIF create £50M Cancer Research Technology Pioneer Fund

Cancer Research Technology, (CRT) Cancer Research UK's commercial arm, and the European Investment Fund (EIF) have joined together to create a £50M investment fund to bridge the funding gap in the UK between cancer drug discovery and early development.

29 Mar 2012

Positive results from Nile's cenderitide Phase 1 trial on chronic heart failure

Nile Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that develops novel therapeutics for heart failure patients, today announced results from its recently completed Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating the pharmacokinetics (PK), pharmacodynamics (PD), safety and tolerability of subcutaneous bolus and subcutaneous infusion of cenderitide in patients with chronic heart failure.

29 Mar 2012

FDA extends review period for Almirall and Forest Labs' aclidinium bromide NDA

Forest Laboratories, Inc. and Almirall, S.A. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will require a three-month extension to complete its review of the data supporting the New Drug Application (NDA) for aclidinium bromide, a new long-acting antimuscarinic for the maintenance treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

29 Mar 2012

Nomir announces data from Noveon Laser pivotal trial on onychomycosis

Nomir Medical Technologies, Inc., a leader in novel photobiology and laser therapies, announced today that new data from its landmark pivotal onychomycosis trial first published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association (JAPMA) has once again been published in this prestigious journal. The new paper, which reports on a 270 day onychomycosis clinical trial, offers further scientific support for using the Noveon lasers as an effective therapeutic treatment.

29 Mar 2012

One-side parathyroid surgery has poorer long-term outcomes

Dr James Norman, MD and his partners at the Norman Parathyroid Center have published a landmark study in this week's Journal of the American College of Surgeons describing how the operation they developed and advocated for more than 19 years has significantly poorer long-term outcomes. The unilateral or "one-side" parathyroid surgical procedure to remove parathyroid tumors from patients suffering from hyperparathyroidism is a dramatic change from the large neck operation that it replaced.

29 Mar 2012

Minnesota Department of Health certifies ApeniMED as HDI

ApeniMED, a leader in healthcare interoperability and Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN) connectivity, today announced its certification as a Health Data Intermediary (HDI) by the Minnesota Department of Health.

29 Mar 2012

Ethiopia's workplace HIV/AIDS policy aims to help employers, employees nationwide

Ethiopia's new HIV/AIDS workplace policy, instituted in January by the government in cooperation with the country's main employees' and employers' associations, "is expected to protect job seekers from mandatory HIV tests, while facilitating voluntary counseling and testing and defending the right of employees living with HIV to medical leave or job re-allocation," PlusNews reports.

29 Mar 2012

anwerina, Ascendx Spine announce distribution partnership

Ascendx Spine, which recently received ISO 13485 Certification and CE marking approval for its Ascendx VCF Repair System and its Acu-Cut Vertebral Augmentation System to treat vertebral compression fractures (VCF), today announced an agreement with Switzerland-based anwerina AG to distribute the Ascendx Spine products in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

29 Mar 2012