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RaySearch releases version 2.5 of RayStation treatment planning system

RaySearch Laboratories announces that version 2.5 of RaySearch's RayStation treatment planning system has been released for clinical use in Europe and USA and is pending regulatory approval in Canada. The new version includes a wide range of new features and improvements.

12 Jan 2012

Medicaid cuts have patient advocates, states considering their options

Stateline reports that new federal rules that limit state options for cutting Medicaid have moved health care providers and patient advocates nearer to testing the legality of the cuts in court. In the meantime, Medicaid cuts and restructuring remain in play in dwindling state budgets as Oregon, Ohio and Kansas look for ways to save money in the state-federal health care program for the poor.

12 Jan 2012

Visual rehabilitation to continue to increase in near future

Visual rehabilitation will continue to increase in importance in the near future, particularly because the number of older patients is rising. Susanne Trauzettel-Klosinski summarizes the present state of knowledge in the current issue of the Deutsches Ärzteblatt International.

12 Jan 2012

Appeals court rules Texas can enforce abortion law while case is pending

A federal appeals court has ruled that while a controversial abortion law is decided in court, Texas can enforce a law that requires women who are seeking an abortion to be presented with a sonogram.

12 Jan 2012

Office-based medical practice can promote vaccination in adults

Promoting immunizations as a part of routine office-based medical practice is needed to improve adult vaccination rates, a highly effective way to curb the spread of diseases across communities, prevent needless illness and deaths, and lower health care costs, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

12 Jan 2012

Political cartoon: 'Appointment Scheduling'

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Appointment Scheduling" by Chris Wildt.

12 Jan 2012

Scientists discover how sense of touch is wired in skin and nervous system

Neuroscientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered how the sense of touch is wired in the skin and nervous system. The new findings, published Dec. 22 in Cell, open new doors for understanding how the brain collects and processes information from hairy skin.

12 Jan 2012

Trends in compulsory licensing of pharmaceuticals since Doha Declaration

In this PLoS Medicine research article, Reed Beall and Randall Kuhn of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver provide an analysis of trends in compulsory licensing (CL) of pharmaceuticals since the Doha Declaration.

12 Jan 2012

Insight into brain mechanism that limits rewarding impact of cocaine

Research published by Cell Press in the January 12 issue of the journal Neuron provides fascinating insight into a newly discovered brain mechanism that limits the rewarding impact of cocaine. The study describes protective delayed mechanism that turns off the genes that support the development of addiction-related behaviors.

12 Jan 2012

House Dems urge GOP to go back to work on payroll tax break, 'doc fix'

The problem continues to be how to pay for the solutions. Meanwhile, Rep. Wally Herger, R-Calif., a high-ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, announced he will not seek another congressional term. He has been a strong opponent of the administration's health overhaul.

12 Jan 2012

Caltech researchers devise new method to make complex molecules

A team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has devised a new method for making complex molecules. The reaction they have come up with should enable chemists to synthesize new varieties of a whole subclass of organic compounds called nitrogen-containing heterocycles, thus opening up new avenues for the development of novel pharmaceuticals and natural products ranging from chemotherapeutic compounds to bioactive plant materials such as morphine.

12 Jan 2012

Geisinger announces it will not hire smokers

Also in hospital news, a Denver Hospital will pay $6.3 Million to settle overbilling allegations and officials at the University of Louisville Hospital look to Kentucky's governor for a financial plan.

12 Jan 2012

First details of genetic alterations that fuel early T-cell precursor ALL

Researchers have discovered that a subtype of leukemia characterized by a poor prognosis is fueled by mutations in pathways distinctly different from a seemingly similar leukemia associated with a much better outcome. The findings from the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital - Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP) highlight a possible new strategy for treating patients with this more aggressive cancer.

12 Jan 2012

Viewpoints: Slowing health care growth; Competing views of Romney

The headline is that health care spending grew at only 3.9 percent in 2010 - just .1 percent more than the rate of growth in 2009. Combine the numbers from 2009 and 2010 and we're looking at the slowest two-year rate of growth since the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began keeping tabs on these numbers 51 years ago.

12 Jan 2012

Excess salt stimulates production of adrenalin and causes hypertension

A review article by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) debunks the widely-believed concept that hypertension, or high blood pressure, is the result of excess salt causing an increased blood volume, exerting extra pressure on the arteries. Published online in the Journal of Hypertension, the study demonstrates that excess salt stimulates the sympathetic nervous system to produce adrenalin, causing artery constriction and hypertension.

12 Jan 2012

State roundup: Ga. moves to keep docs; Ore. health plan could save $3.2B

The federal government sharply criticized New York's oversight of the developmentally disabled in a new report, saying the state agency charged with oversight lacks independence from the governor's office, failed to account for how it is spending public money and has broken several requirements of federal law.

12 Jan 2012

Drinking alcohol leads to release of endorphins in the brain

Drinking alcohol leads to the release of endorphins in areas of the brain that produce feelings of pleasure and reward, according to a study led by researchers at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco.

12 Jan 2012

Two emergency medicine physicians create weapon against lethal war injury

Two emergency medicine physicians with wartime experience have developed a weapon against one rapidly lethal war injury.

12 Jan 2012

Merger Sub II completes tender offer for outstanding shares of Pharmasset common stock

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced the successful completion of the tender offer by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Royal Merger Sub II Inc., for all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Pharmasset, Inc. a price of $137 per share, net to the seller in cash.

12 Jan 2012

Nature journal publishes Ember's brown fat biology data

Ember Therapeutics, Inc., a company harnessing breakthroughs in brown fat biology and insulin sensitization to revolutionize the treatment of metabolic disease, today announced the publication of key data supporting its lead brown fat biology program in the journal Nature.

12 Jan 2012