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If Berwick exits, is quality care 'in jeopardy?'

As Medicare is put under the microscope in the debt-ceiling talks, the clock is running out for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Donald Berwick to be confirmed by Congress.

13 Jul 2011

Apax Partners, CPPIB and PSP Investments to acquire KCI for $68.50 per share

Kinetic Concepts, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement under which a consortium comprised of funds advised by Apax Partners, together with controlled affiliates of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, will acquire KCI for $68.50 per share in cash in a transaction valued at $6.3 billion.

13 Jul 2011

Malaria parasite uses antibody camouflage to hide

Scientists from Rigshospitalet - Copenhagen University Hospital - and the University of Copenhagen have discovered malaria parasites use a type of antibody camouflage to hide from the immune system in the placentas of pregnant women, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a University of Copenhagen press release states.

13 Jul 2011

Illumina announces availability of new TruSeq Custom Enrichment kits

Illumina, Inc. today announced availability of its new TruSeq Custom Enrichment kits which enable researchers to economically design and target genomic regions of interest ranging from 700 kilobases (Kb) to 15 megabases (Mb) of cumulative DNA.

From Illumina, Inc. 13 Jul 2011

Scientists identify DNA variants linked with elevated risk of prostate cancer

Doctors have known for a long time that prostate cancer "runs in the family". Men with relatives who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer have an elevated risk of also developing this type of cancer. It was only last year that DKFZ scientists calculated that this risk rises with the number of affected direct family members and also depends on the relatives' age at outbreak of the disease.

13 Jul 2011

NIH grants $70M over five years to help search for HIV cure

NIH announced on Monday it will provide $70 million over five years to three collaborations searching for an HIV/AIDS cure, making it "the largest single investment yet … into finding a way to rid the virus from the body or at least reduce levels to the point that infected people can stop taking anti-HIV drugs - which many researchers until recently viewed as a hopeless quest," ScienceInsider reports.

13 Jul 2011

Study evaluates viewing distance and font size in smart phone users

Smart phone users reading text messages and internet pages hold their devices at a closer distance than they would for printed text—which may have important implications for prescribing vision correction, reports a study in the July issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.

13 Jul 2011

Obama administration rolls out rule for health exchanges

In a big step to carry out the new health care law, the Obama administration unveiled standards on Monday for insurance marketplaces that will allow individuals, families and small businesses in every state to shop for insurance, compare prices and benefits and buy coverage.

13 Jul 2011

JSPH, Worldwide Clinical Trials partner to meet demands of healthcare reform

Worldwide Clinical Trials Inc., a leading, global provider of clinical research services, and Thomas Jefferson University's School of Population Health (JSPH), under the direction of David B. Nash, MD, MBA, today announced that they have entered into an alliance to provide pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients with a broad range of outcomes research services including comparative effectiveness, burden of illness, and quality of life studies.

13 Jul 2011

Family planning essential for meeting world population's needs

"I'd like to pose the question: what more must we do to ensure the health, nutritional, and educational needs of all seven billion are met?" Scott Radloff, director of USAID's Office of Population and Reproductive Health, writes about World Population Day on the agency's "IMPACTblog."

13 Jul 2011

AHF applauds Gilead for licensing AIDS drugs to Medicines Patent Pool

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today lauded Gilead Sciences for being the first major AIDS drug company to share some drug patents with a new international Medicines Patent Pool, a move that will help ensure access to newer AIDS treatments in developing countries.

13 Jul 2011

Strength exercises boost bone density in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis

Women with osteoporosis - a skeletal disease that erodes bone density, weakens bone strength and increases the risk of fractures - might think taking it easy is the best way to prevent bone breaks.

13 Jul 2011

Local reaction offers insights into how states view the exchange reg

How the new rules will play out in Georgia remains unclear. Gov. Nathan Deal, though strongly opposed to the reform law, has formed a committee on health exchanges. It had its first meeting at the state Capitol in June.

13 Jul 2011

New insights into specific types of brain abnormalities

Postmortem analysis of the brains of ten professional athletes with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) provides new insights into the specific types of brain abnormalities associated with this diagnosis, reports a study in the July issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

13 Jul 2011

Global Health Partner acquires OPA

Global Health Partner has acquired OPA, Ortopædisk Privathospital Aarhus A/S in Århus, Denmark, a specialist clinic operating in the fields of orthopaedics and spine surgery.

13 Jul 2011

U.N. officials highlight concern about humanitarian situation in East Africa

"U.N. officials sounded the alarm Tuesday about a deepening crisis in East Africa, saying they are struggling to cope with the number of people on the move in the region because of the severe drought and continued fighting in Somalia," the Associated Press reports.

13 Jul 2011

Study about impact of drug shortages on U.S. health systems

Increasing drug shortages are impacting patient care and increasing costs to the nation's health system, according to a new study released today by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

13 Jul 2011

Proposed cuts in Medicare pay increase access-to-care concerns

A new government proposal would cut reimbursement rates for doctors who accept Medicare by 30 percent in 2012.

13 Jul 2011

Teenagers prefer beverages that contain caffeine

Research to be presented at the upcoming annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, indicates that caffeine added to sugar-sweetened, carbonated beverages teaches adolescents to prefer those beverages.

13 Jul 2011

Gilead becomes first company to license drugs to Medicines Patent Pool

"In the first agreement between a pharmaceutical company and the new international Medicines Patent Pool, Gilead Sciences announced Tuesday that it would license four of its AIDS and hepatitis B drugs to the pool," the New York Times reports.

13 Jul 2011