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Second chance may be the last chance for heart attack patients

After he failed to heed the first big warning about his heart, John Magri was lucky to survive the second.

15 Feb 2012

Biological scaffold for heart valves can be freeze-dried for later use

The biological scaffold that gives structure to a heart valve after its cellular material has been removed can be freeze-dried and stored for later use as a tissue-engineered replacement valve to treat a failing heart, as described in an article in Tissue Engineering, Part C: Methods, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc..

15 Feb 2012

Feds recover record amounts from fraudulent Medicare claims

Federal authorities say they recovered $4.1 billion in health care fraud judgments last year, a record high which officials on Monday credited to new tools for cracking down on deceitful Medicare claims.

15 Feb 2012

World Economic Forum releases list of 'Important Technologies'

The World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies has just released its list of "Important Technologies" that will change the world in the years ahead. The list highlights technology trends most likely to impact on the state of the world in the near future and was developed by a cross section of experts from science, businesses, and public policy.

15 Feb 2012

Senate Republicans ask Supreme Court to strike mandate

In a brief filed Monday, 43 Senate Republicans said that if the Supreme Court allows the mandate to buy health insurance in the Democrats' health law to stand, then Congress could require Americans to buy almost anything.

15 Feb 2012

Ovarian cancer subtype may be susceptible to 'anti-angiogenic' drugs

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified a subtype of ovarian cancer able to build its own blood vessels, suggesting that such tumors might be especially susceptible to "anti-angiogenic" drugs that block blood vessel formation.

15 Feb 2012

Ability of the brain to rehearse is critical to make newly acquired memory more permanent

Edmonton-University of Alberta researchers have established that the ability of the brain to rehearse or repeat electrical impulses may be absolutely critical in order to make a newly acquired memory more permanent.

15 Feb 2012

VPCI announces successful petition to the FDA for removal from Import Alert

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) maintains strict labeling requirements for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). If an API does not maintain adequate labeling as per section 502(f)(1) of the Act, the FDA will consider the material to be misbranded. Foreign APIs which are misbranded are subject to detention without physical examination under FDA's Import Alert 66-66 "Red List."

15 Feb 2012

USAID improves health through access to clean water in Timor-Leste

In this post in USAID's "IMPACTblog," Carlos dos Reis, foreign service national environmental health officer for Timor-Leste, reports on a trip to the country's remote district of Oecusse with U.S. Ambassador Judith Fergin and USAID/Timor-Leste Mission Director Rick Scott to "inaugurate the new clean water supply system built with the support of USAID."

15 Feb 2012

Greenest supercomputer to advance study of human disease

Victoria will be home to one of Australia's fastest supercomputers and the world's greenest supercomputer, the IBM Blue Gene/Q, which will be housed at the Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative (VLSCI) hosted by the University of Melbourne, and is aimed at advancing the study of human disease.

15 Feb 2012

Fewer people getting health insurance through employer

Fewer people - 44.6 percent of all Americans - are getting health insurance through their employer, a new Gallup poll finds. In other news, as health care costs increase, giving birth at home is becoming a more attractive option despite doctors' concerns.

15 Feb 2012

DC-SIGN molecule appears to play a role in fighting allergy

Scientists at The University of Nottingham have discovered a new molecule that could offer the hope of new treatments for people allergic to the house dust mite.

15 Feb 2012

Chemists create new molecule that can tangle inside the DNA for up to 16 days

Chemists at The University of Texas at Austin have created a molecule that's so good at tangling itself inside the double helix of a DNA sequence that it can stay there for up to 16 days before the DNA liberates itself, much longer than any other molecule reported.

15 Feb 2012

23andMe, Cleveland Clinic to discover how genes and environment influence PD

In an effort to study the interactions between genomics and Parkinson's disease, Cleveland Clinic has joined the ongoing efforts of 23andMe, a leading personal genetics company, to recruit Parkinson's patients to participate in research by contributing their DNA to a research database and completing online surveys about their health.

15 Feb 2012

Humana, NextGen Healthcare to increase adoption and exchange of EHRs

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc., and leading provider of healthcare information systems and connectivity solutions, announced today it has entered into an agreement with Humana Inc. to accelerate the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and the exchange of critical health and billing information among health care providers.

15 Feb 2012

Medworxx announces expansion into the U.S.

On the heels of a year marking 36% growth in hospital beds served, Medworxx Inc., a leader in clinical patient flow solutions, announced today its expansion into the USA.

15 Feb 2012

Chemists adapt natural strategies to improve performance of DNA detectors

Over their 3.8 billion years of evolution, living organisms have developed countless strategies for monitoring their surroundings. Chemists at UC Santa Barbara and University of Rome Tor Vergata have adapted some of these strategies to improve the performance of DNA detectors. Their findings may aid efforts to build better medical diagnostics, such as improved HIV or cancer tests.

15 Feb 2012

Smart sensors can enable orthopaedicians to collect objective, quantifiable information

Imagine a smart sensor customized to provide vital, real-time information about a patient's recent orthopaedic surgery. Instead of relying on X-rays or invasive procedures, surgeons will be able to collect diagnostic data from an implantable sensor.

15 Feb 2012

Updated tool to track NTD funding, identify gaps

The Neglected Tropical Disease Control Program (NTD Control Program), funded by USAID and managed by Research Triangle Institute International (RTI International), has released an updated version of its NTD Funding Gap Analysis Tool (NTD-FGAT), which "helps users accurately estimate the costs and funding gaps of public health programs" and "is intended as a supplementary instrument to improve resource and strategic planning in an already existing national NTD plan," according to the Global Network for NTDs' "End the Neglect" blog.

15 Feb 2012

Scott & White earns Joint Commission's certification for VAD Program

The Scott & White Heart & Vascular Institute in Temple has earned The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval- as a hospital performing Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) as a destination therapy.

15 Feb 2012