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Patent expiries, generic pricing policies may be factors in slow drug spending growth

Although drugs remain an important cost driver in Canada's health system, growth in spending has slowed to its lowest rate in 14 years, according to a new report released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

6 May 2011

AdvanSource Biomaterials enters multi-year supply agreement with global coated medical devices company

AdvanSource Biomaterials Corporation, a leading developer of advanced polymer materials for a broad range of medical devices, today announced it has entered into a multi-year supply agreement with an international medical diagnostics device company engaged in the business of developing medical device coatings and developing, manufacturing and selling coated medical devices.

6 May 2011

New SCAI position statement calls for changes in percutaneous coronary intervention care

A new position statement released today by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions calls for changes in the way quality of percutaneous coronary intervention care is measured and publically reported.

6 May 2011

Redfox, Microsoft and Elsevier introduce new e-learning netbook for nurses

Elsevier, Redfox Technologies and Microsoft today announced the launch of the iCitizen Nursing Skills Netbook, an integrated and affordable e-learning netbook for nurses and nursing students in The Philippines.

6 May 2011

Pacira to present EXPAREL data in postsurgical pain at two medical meetings

Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced that clinical and preclinical data highlighting the safety and efficacy of EXPAREL™ will be presented at two medical meetings.

6 May 2011

BD MAX Open System for molecular testing launched in Europe

BD Diagnostics, a segment of BD, today announced the European launch of the BD MAX™ Open System for molecular testing, which will enable laboratories to run both laboratory and BD- developed assays and offer enhanced testing services that elevate the standards of care at their institutions.

From BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) 6 May 2011

LRMC selects Allscripts as health information technology partner

Lakeway Regional Medical Center, a new physician/patient-focused acute care hospital in suburban Austin, has selected Allscripts as its health information technology partner to create a world-class care delivery infrastructure.

6 May 2011

Cell Therapeutics Board approves reverse stock split

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that the Company's Board of Directors approved a reverse stock split following the Company's receipt on May 3, 2011 of a notification of non-compliance from the staff of The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC.

6 May 2011

Omeros' PDE7 program expands addiction franchise

Omeros Corporation today announced that its phosphodiesterase 7 inhibitors demonstrated robust efficacy in animal models of nicotine addiction.

6 May 2011

Targeting Aurora A gene could halt rhabdoid tumor growth in children

There are no effective treatments for rhabdoid tumors - aggressive childhood cancers that usually strike children under three years old and affect the brain or kidneys. The disease is extremely rare - fewer than 10 cases are diagnosed each year in the U.S. - but is particularly difficult to treat and almost always fatal.

6 May 2011

Regence introduces flexible health plans for small employers in Oregon

Small employers are traditionally faced with a difficult choice when providing health coverage for their employees: they can either choose benefits that are affordable, or spend more and offer their employees a choice.

6 May 2011

House hearing will include effort to revive 'balance billing'

Testimony will come from the nation's largest physician organizations, which will tell a House subcommittee about the need to replace Medicare's current payment system. Meanwhile, on the personnel front, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has a new chief medical officer and Berwick is talking about his "service."

6 May 2011

Pregnant Latinas who endure partner violence more likely to suffer postpartum depression

Latinas who endure violence at the hands of a partner during or within a year of pregnancy are five times more likely to suffer postpartum depression than women who have not experienced such violence, according to a new study by researchers at the UCLA Center for Culture, Trauma and Mental Health Disparities.

6 May 2011

Bills to tighten abortion regulations advance in Texas, La.

As Texas senators gave final approval Tuesday to a bill requiring doctors to conduct sonograms before performing abortions, moving it closer to the governor's desk, a new fight is ramping up over another abortion-related bill.

6 May 2011

Maternal exposure to BPA during pregnancy linked to decrease in birth weight of children

Parental exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) during pregnancy is associated with decreased birth weight of offspring, compared with offspring from families without parental BPA exposure in the workplace, according to Kaiser Permanente researchers.

6 May 2011

First pelvic reconstruction surgery in cancer patient performed at Ohio State's Medical Center

In a rare and medically remarkable operation, a multi-disciplinary team of surgeons at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute removed the left leg, hip and pelvis of a cancer patient, and used the healthy, living bones from his amputated leg to completely rebuild the connection between his spine and remaining right pelvis to support a high-tech prosthetic leg.

6 May 2011

Study examines community-based HIV testing programs in Africa, Southeast Asia

If you want to improve HIV testing rates in remote rural areas, get the community involved, says UCLA's Thomas Coates, who has directed a new study examining HIV testing programs in communities in Africa and Southeast Asia.

6 May 2011

U.S. Physical Therapy first quarter net revenue increases 12.6% to $56,741,000

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc., a national operator of outpatient physical therapy clinics, today reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

6 May 2011

Colo. legislature close to final consideration of health exchange bill

Colorado's health insurance exchange bill is sailing toward final approval with backers hailing the measure as the only successful bipartisan exchange legislation in the country.

6 May 2011

Study finds clear link between children conceived during winter and risk of autism

An examination of the birth records of the more than 7 million children born in the state of California during the 1990s and early 2000s has found a clear link between the month in which a child is conceived and the risk of that child later receiving a diagnosis of autism.

6 May 2011