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People with myotonic muscular dystrophy more likely to develop cancer

People who have the most common type of adult muscular dystrophy also have a higher risk of getting cancer, according to a paper published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

14 Dec 2011

Roundup: FBI reportedly questioning Prime Healthcare billers in Calif.; Uninsured ranks grow in Wash.

The FBI is interviewing witnesses about billing practices at Prime Healthcare Services, the hospital chain that has charged Medicare for treating elderly patients with rare medical conditions at far higher rates than other California hospitals. The FBI would neither confirm nor deny an investigation, but at least two former Prime medical coders say they were approached by the agency to discuss the chain's billing practices. ... A spokesman for Prime said the chain is unaware of an FBI probe.

14 Dec 2011

Top five tips for easy breathing during holiday season

Getting out the boxes of holiday decorations from years gone by is a time-honored tradition. But in addition to stirring up memories, it also stirs up allergies. "The dust from the boxes and on the decorations that have been packed away in dank basements or dusty attics is triggering reactions in my allergy and asthma patients," said Joseph Leija, MD, allergist at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital.

14 Dec 2011

Study highlights how technical swimsuits artificially enhanced athlete performance in 2009

Superstar swimmers and certain comic book superheroes have something unusual in common--when they wear special suits, they gain phenomenal abilities. A first-of-its-kind study from Northwestern Medicine highlights how now-banned technical swimsuits artificially enhanced athlete performance in 2009.

14 Dec 2011

Positive results from Aestus' ATx08-001 Phase II study on post-herpetic neuralgia

Aestus Therapeutics, Inc. today reported positive results from a Phase II clinical study evaluating the efficacy of its novel neuropathic pain therapeutic, ATx08-001, in the treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia.

14 Dec 2011

Baxter to acquire Synovis

Baxter International Inc. and Synovis Life Technologies, Inc. today announced a definitive agreement for Baxter to acquire Synovis, a leading provider of biological and mechanical products for soft tissue repair used in a variety of surgical procedures.

From Baxter International Inc. 14 Dec 2011

Statins linked with reduced risk of death among hospitalized flu patients

The two main ways to prevent and control influenza today are annual immunization and antiviral drugs. A team of investigators has found that statins, cholesterol-lowering drugs, may offer an additional treatment to complement these approaches and reduce mortality among patients hospitalized with influenza.

14 Dec 2011

Economic impact of PTSD in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has the world's highest recorded rates of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), ahead of war-hit regions such as Israel and Lebanon, at a yearly cost to the public purse of around £175 million, according to a major report by University of Ulster psychologists and Omagh-based trauma treatment experts.

14 Dec 2011

Study: Ex-smokers are more satisfied with their lives and feel healthier

Life without cigarettes is not all doom and gloom. In fact, successful quitters are more satisfied with their lives and feel healthier, both one year and three years afterwards, than those who continue to smoke. That's according to new research by Dr. Megan Piper, from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in the US, and her team.

14 Dec 2011

ImmusanT secures $20M in Series A financing

ImmusanT, Inc. announced today it has raised $20 million in Series A financing from Vatera Healthcare Partners LLC to advance development of the biotechnology company's immunotherapeutic vaccine Nexvax2, companion diagnostic and monitoring tool for celiac disease.

14 Dec 2011

Medicaid news: HHS grants Texas waiver for managed care, denies family planning request; Florida pilot program criticized

The federal government on Monday granted Texas a waiver that could mean billions more in Medicaid dollars to hospitals over the next few years in return for having them work together to provide better care for the poor. ... State lawmakers cut deeply into the Medicaid budget this year, in part by requiring all Texas Medicaid patients to be enrolled in private health maintenance organizations for their doctor care. In recent years, patients in most urban areas were covered by HMOs, while patients in many rural counties and the Rio Grande Valley had their doctor bills paid directly by Medicaid.

14 Dec 2011

Microwave ablation therapy may be safe, effective for pulmonary metastases

Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products, today announced that Radiology, the monthly journal of the Radiological Society of North America, has published a new research study led by Prof. Thomas J. Vogl, MD, entitled, "Microwave Ablation Therapy: Clinical Utility in Treatment of Pulmonary Metastases."

14 Dec 2011

Standard chemotherapy regimen may increase survival rates in limited stage Hodgkin's lymphoma patients

New research led by the NCIC Clinical Trials Group (CTG) at Queen's University has proven patients with limited stage Hodgkin's lymphoma have a better chance of long-term survival if they undergo a standard chemotherapy regimen as opposed to radiation-based treatment.

14 Dec 2011

Mandatory screening helps identify more athletes with SCT

In response to a lawsuit after a college football player died from complications due to sickle cell trait (SCT) during a workout, the NCAA implemented mandatory SCT screening of all Division I student-athletes.

14 Dec 2011

U.S. DoD awards $11M to study two different ways to treat PTSD in war veterans

A team of researchers who have pioneered novel treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been awarded an $11 million, four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to investigate the differences between virtual reality and traditional prolonged exposure therapy.

14 Dec 2011

Berwick places blame for health system's ills on delivery system

The now-former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is speaking out about what he might do next and what is wrong with the health care system.

14 Dec 2011

Vorinostat in addition to chemotherapy drugs improves remission rates in AML patients

Adding a drug that activates genes to frontline combination therapy for acute myeloid leukemia resulted in an 85 percent remission rate after initial treatment, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

14 Dec 2011

Indiscriminate expensive imaging has little clinical benefit in patients requiring epidural steroid injections

Johns Hopkins-led research suggests that routine MRI imaging does nothing to improve the treatment of patients who need injections of steroids into their spinal columns to relieve pain. Moreover, MRI plays only a small role in a doctor's decision to give these epidural steroid injections (ESIs), the most common procedure performed at pain clinics in the United States.

14 Dec 2011

New exercise and memory study for Parkinson's disease patients

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the Baltimore VA Medical Center have launched a study of exercise and computerized memory training to see if those activities may help people with Parkinson's disease prevent memory changes. The type of memory that will be examined is known as "executive function;" it allows people to take in information and use it in a new way.

13 Dec 2011

Mandatory vaccination policy increases healthcare worker flu vaccination rates

A California hospital raised its employee influenza vaccination rate above 90 percent by shifting from a voluntary vaccination program to one mandating all healthcare workers either get vaccinated or wear a mask at work for the entire flu season (December through March).

13 Dec 2011