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Capsules: Trade group, other 'association' health plans to face rate hike scrutiny

On Kaiser Health News' blog, staff writer Julie Appleby writes: "Insurers who offer 'association health plans,' which are often sold through trade groups or other organizations of affiliated members, will face the same scrutiny of premium rate hikes as other types of insurance, federal officials said Thursday."

2 Sep 2011

Molecular Devices adds TUNE detection cartridge to SpectraMax Paradigm Detection Platform

Today, Molecular Devices, a leading provider of instruments, software, and consumables for drug discovery and life sciences research, announced the addition of the TUNE detection cartridge to the SpectraMax Paradigm Multi-Mode Microplate Detection Platform. The breakthrough technology of TUNE with wavelength flexibility in a monochromator device and up to 10x the sensitivity will benefit both the research and screening markets.

2 Sep 2011

Sand fly's salivary components play a critical role in process for Leishmania

For millions of people who live under the constant threat of Leishmania infection, a new discovery by Brazilian scientists may lead to new breakthroughs, preventing these parasites from taking hold in the body or reducing the severity of infections once they occur.

2 Sep 2011

Research roundup: Health IT and diabetes care; Kids' care on insurance exchanges; Medicare and the 'super committee'

Electronic Health Records And Quality Of Diabetes Care -- This study focuses on one chronic condition to examine how EHRs could improve the quality of health care. Researchers "analyzed data from a retrospective cohort of primary care practices of seven diverse health care organizations that publicly reported achievement of quality standards for adults with diabetes between July 2007 and June 2010."

2 Sep 2011

New federal study spotlights heavy soda use

CDC finds that half of Americans consume drinks containing sugar, such as soda and energy drinks, and that teenagers and young adults drink the most.

2 Sep 2011

More strides against childhood cancer

The treatment of childhood cancer is one of the great success stories of modern medicine. A few decades ago, only 20 percent of children survived the disease. Today, overall survival rates approach 80 percent. Yet cancer remains the leading cause of death from disease in U.S. children older than 1 year of age, and some types of pediatric cancer continue to have poor survival rates.

2 Sep 2011

Wis. patients getting tested for HIV after misuse of equipment

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that a nurse misused equipment to teach diabetic patients how to inject insulin. Meanwhile, researchers look at how hospital uniforms can carry germs.

2 Sep 2011

Using high-speed lasers to zap mosquitoes in the fight against malaria

In this post on CNN's Global Public Square, journalist Amar Bakshi interviews Nathan Myhrvold, former chief technology officer of Microsoft and co-founder of Intellectual Ventures, about an anti-malaria project "that use[s] lasers and digital image processing techniques to not only find mosquitoes.

2 Sep 2011

IEEE conference showcases advances in wearable mechanical prosthetics

The age-old fascination with machines mimicking humans has frequently manifested itself in science fiction literature and cinema, mainly because authors and directors could only wildly speculate about these "human robots" since none had been built yet. According to bionic limb experts at IEEE, the world's largest professional technical association, the distinction between science fiction and reality is increasingly becoming blurred.

2 Sep 2011

UNICEF, NGOs in West Africa work to encourage better sanitation in rural areas

UNICEF and non-governmental organizations "operating in West Africa say the main barrier to more pit latrines in rural areas is not poverty or lack of resources, but a lack of understanding about costs and benefits," IRIN reports.

2 Sep 2011

PTC restructures collaboration with Genzyme

PTC Therapeutics, Inc. and Genzyme, a Sanofi company, announced today the restructuring of their collaboration. Under the original agreement, PTC held commercial rights for the U.S. and Canada and Genzyme held commercial rights in all other countries.

2 Sep 2011

UnitedHealthcare to administer major Calif. physicians groups

UnitedHealth Group continues to expand its Optum health services division, entering into an agreement to handle non-clinical operations at one of California's largest physicians groups.

2 Sep 2011

New tool to predict survival after heart transplant

Johns Hopkins researchers say they have developed a formula to predict which heart transplant patients are at greatest risk of death in the year following their surgeries, information that could help medical teams figure out who would benefit most from the small number of available organs.

2 Sep 2011

NCD summit negotiations must get back on track to help millions worldwide

With negotiations over the outcomes for the U.N. High-level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) stalled, "[i]t is feared that sound proposals for clear goals and timelines to tackle these devastating diseases are being systematically deleted, diluted and downgraded by some U.N. Member States and urgent action is needed to put the negotiations back on track, when they recommence on September 1," Rob Moodie, chair of Global Health at the Nossal Institute of Global Health, writes in the Crikey health blog "Croakey."

2 Sep 2011

Western, Midwestern states register higher methamphetamine usage

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, today issued its annual report on U.S. worker drug use, the Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index.

From Quest Diagnostics 2 Sep 2011

Hospital growth slows, NLRB issues nursing home union decision

Hospital revenue growth continued to slow down in 2010 and is projected to cool further during the next few years... Median operating revenue and expense growth last fiscal year dropped to a pace not seen in the last decade, said [said Moody's Investors Service's] analysis of 401 not-for-profit hospitals that operate alone or within single-state health systems.

2 Sep 2011

Insomnia prevalent in 23% of US workers

Insomnia is costing the average U.S. worker 11.3 days, or $2,280 in lost productivity every year, according to a study in the September 1 issue of the journal Sleep. As a nation, the total cost is 252.7 days and $63.2 billion.

2 Sep 2011

Women smokers more likely to attempt quitting when bans are enforced

Many workplaces and households ban smoking and, for some women, the effects extend beyond their office building or family home. A new study finds that women smokers who live and work where bans are enforced, even those who did not make explicit plans to quit, are more likely to attempt quitting.

2 Sep 2011

NAIC members raise concerns about exchange waiver process

The nation's insurance commissioners are raising concerns about how much flexibility states will have to tweak their exchanges once the new insurance markets are up and running. Under the first set of exchange rules, released in July, states that want to alter their exchange plans would have to get permission from HHS.

2 Sep 2011

Researchers modify toxic chemical of marine cycyanobacteria to treat colon cancer

University of Florida researchers have modified a toxic chemical produced by tiny marine microbes and successfully deployed it against laboratory models of colon cancer.

2 Sep 2011