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HHS launches Hospital Value-Based Purchasing program

The Department of Health and Human Services today launched a new initiative which will reward hospitals for the quality of care they provide to people with Medicare and help reduce health care costs.

30 Apr 2011

Magellan reports net revenue of $692.8 million for first quarter 2011

Magellan Health Services, Inc. today reported financial results for the first quarter of 2011, as summarized below, and increased guidance for the full year.

30 Apr 2011

FDA approves Abbott's AndroGel for hypogonadism treatment in men

Abbott announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved AndroGel 1.62%, a clear, odorless, gel formulation shown to restore testosterone levels in hypogonadal men with half the volume of gel at the starting dose compared to AndroGel 1%.

30 Apr 2011

Noveko closes private placement for $595,104

Noveko International Inc. announces a first closing of $595,104 of its private placement. Additional closings are expected until May 23, 2011.

30 Apr 2011

Spectrum receives FDA approval for FUSILEV to treat colorectal cancer

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company with fully integrated commercial and drug development operations with a primary focus in oncology, received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on April 29, 2011, for the use of FUSILEV in combination with 5-fluorouracil in the palliative treatment of patients with advanced metastatic colorectal cancer.

30 Apr 2011

HMS first quarter revenue increases 27% to $82.5 million

HMS Holdings Corp. Reports Record First Quarter 2011 Results

30 Apr 2011

Reimbursement policy influences choice of IMRT for treating breast cancer

What Medicare would pay for and where a radiation oncologist practiced were two factors that strongly influenced the choice of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for treating breast cancer, according to an article published April 29 online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The use of IMRT and the cost of radiation therapy increased sharply over the period of the study.

29 Apr 2011

Oncothyreon prices underwritten public offering of common stock

Oncothyreon Inc. today announced that it has priced an underwritten public offering of 10,000,000 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $4.00 per share for gross proceeds of $40.0 million. The net proceeds from the sale of the shares, after deducting the underwriters' discounts and other estimated offering expenses payable by Oncothyreon, will be approximately $37.4 million.

29 Apr 2011

Annual mammogram sufficient follow-up after BCT for breast cancer patients

An annual mammogram is sufficient follow-up after breast conserving therapy (BCT) for breast cancer patients, according to a study presented today, at the Cancer Imaging and Radiation Therapy Symposium in Atlanta. This symposium is co-sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

29 Apr 2011

LifePoint Hospitals first quarter revenues increase 13.0% to $888.6 million

LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. today announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

29 Apr 2011

Amerigroup first quarter total revenues increase 12.3% to $1.54 billion

Amerigroup Corporation today announced that net income for the first quarter of 2011 was $70.5 million, or $1.37 per diluted share, versus net income of $42.2 million, or $0.82 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2010. Total revenues for the first quarter of 2011 increased 12.3% to $1.54 billion compared with $1.37 billion in the first quarter of 2010. Sequentially, total revenues increased 2.5% from the fourth quarter of 2010.

29 Apr 2011

Improved body armor needed to protect brain from 'shell shock' injuries

Stronger and tougher body armor to shield the chest, abdomen and back may be just what soldiers fighting in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars need to better protect their brains from mild injuries tied to so-called "shell shock," results of a Johns Hopkins study in mice suggest.

29 Apr 2011

Harvard Engineering School receives $100,000 grant to develop microbial-based cell phone charger

A project to use dirt-powered batteries to charge cell phones in Africa won a $100,000 grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today.

29 Apr 2011

Health Canada grants SQI license to market IgX PLEX Celiac Panel

SQI Diagnostics Inc., a medical systems automation company focused on evolving laboratory-based autoimmune biomarker testing, today announced it has received a license from Health Canada permitting the Company to market its IgX PLEX™ Celiac Panel, a quantitative 4-plex panel, which will run on SQI's automated SQiDworks™ Diagnostics Platform.

29 Apr 2011

Proton radiography imaging helps lower radiation dosage to pediatric cancer patients

Proton radiography imaging used prior to and during proton treatments for pediatric cancer patients provides for more accurate treatment delivery and a lower dose of radiation compared to standard diagnostic X-rays and cone beam CT, according to a study presented today at the Cancer Imaging and Radiation Therapy Symposium in Atlanta. The symposium is co-sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

29 Apr 2011

Pelvic MRI scan identifies local recurrence of prostate cancer at low PSA levels

A pelvic MRI scan with IV contrast and rectal balloon is highly effective in identifying local recurrence even at low PSA values in prostate cancer patients with a rising or persistently elevated PSA after prostatectomy, according to a study presented April 29, 2011, at the Cancer Imaging and Radiation Therapy Symposium in Atlanta. The symposium is co-sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

29 Apr 2011

Injecting tissue spacers reduces risk of radiation burns to rectum in prostate cancer patients

Injecting a tissue spacer in the prostate-rectal inter-space is an effective way to reduce the rectal dose for prostate cancer patients receiving radiation therapy, according to research presented April 30, 2011, at the Cancer Imaging and Radiation Therapy Symposium in Atlanta. This symposium is sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

29 Apr 2011

USAID announces shift in gender programming, organizational structure

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah this week announced the agency has transformed its Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade (EGAT) Women in Development Office into a new Office of Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, Devex reports (Leonzon, 4/27).

29 Apr 2011

Zimmer launches UniWallis Posterior Dynamic Stabilization System in Europe and Asia Pacific

Zimmer Holdings, Inc., a global leader in musculoskeletal care, today announced the launch of the next generation of its Wallis® Posterior Dynamic Stabilization System, the UniWallis™ System, in Europe and Asia Pacific. Since the debut of the Wallis System in 2000, feedback collected from surgeons revealed the need for a device that maintains all of the clinical advantages of the Wallis System, provides improved ease of use and offers a more anatomy-sparing procedure.

29 Apr 2011

China's census shows aging population; Officials say family planning policies to be maintained

China's latest census shows that the proportion of elderly people in the country has increased, while the proportion of young people dropped significantly, but "leaders are refusing to relax strict family planning controls that are part of the cause," the Associated Press reports (4/28).

29 Apr 2011