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Roundup: Calif. lawmakers mull bill to tighten hospital security; abortion measures continue to advance in various states

A California legislative committee gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a bill that would tighten security at hospitals and increase their requirements for reporting violent acts to the state.

24 Mar 2011

Hospitals show progress with acquisition, joint venture deals

Modern Healthcare reports on two hospital deals currently in the works.

24 Mar 2011

Individuals who smoke mentholated cigarettes do not develop lung cancer

Individuals who smoke mentholated cigarettes are no more likely to develop lung cancer or to die from the disease than smokers of non-mentholated cigarettes, according to a new study led by William Blot, Ph.D., professor of Medicine, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, Tenn., and colleagues at VICC, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, and the International Epidemiology Institute, Rockville, Md.

24 Mar 2011

Oramed reports successful completion of ORMD-0801 oral insulin toxicity study

Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc., a developer of oral delivery systems, announced today that it has successfully completed a comprehensive toxicity study for its flagship oral insulin capsule, ORMD-0801.

24 Mar 2011

New research can lead to better OA treatment

Arthritis researchers from North America and Europe will convene in Chicago this week to present new osteoarthritis research that could lead to better ways to detect, treat, prevent and cure osteoarthritis, which affects 27 million Americans.

24 Mar 2011

Researchers develop new epileptic seizure-detection method

Researchers at Concordia University have pioneered a computer-based method to detect epileptic seizures as they occur - a new technique that may open a window on the brain's electrical activity.

24 Mar 2011

New research: Methadone can affect brain and impair intellectual functions

Methadone has been used to treat heroin addicts for nearly 50 years. Yet we have surprisingly incomplete knowledge about possible harmful effects from prolonged use. New research from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health shows that methadone affects the brain and impairs the attention of experimental animals.

24 Mar 2011

IMS introduces new Institute for Healthcare Informatics

IMS Health today introduced the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics - a new initiative that will leverage collaborative relationships in the public and private sectors to strengthen the vital role of information in advancing healthcare globally.

24 Mar 2011

MicroRNAs may play a key role in future medicine

Since their discovery in the 1990s, microRNAs have proven to play a complex role in normal and abnormal functioning of many organ systems. In the April issue of Translational Research, entitled "MicroRNAs: A Potential New Frontier for Medicine," an international group of medical experts explores several themes related to our current understanding of microRNAs and the role they may play in the future of medicine.

24 Mar 2011

KaloBios commences KB004 Phase 1 trial in patients with leukemia

KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company, today announced treatment of the first patient in a Phase 1 clinical trial of KB004, its first-in-class Humaneered™ monoclonal antibody, in EphA3-expressing hematologic malignancies.

24 Mar 2011

Specific plant oil may reduce belly fat in humans

Scientists have known for years that belly fat leads to serious medical problems, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found a plant oil that may be able to reduce belly fat in humans.

24 Mar 2011

USPTO grants patent to ULURU's Altrazeal product

ULURU Inc. announced today that it has been issued U.S. Patent 7,910,135 – Hydrogel Wound Dressing and Biomaterials Formed In Situ and Their Uses.

24 Mar 2011

Simultaneous face and hand transplant announced in the UK

Following the first full face transplant in the U.S., one of the leading surgeons in the U.K. has announced that he’s preparing to carry out a the world’s second simultaneous face and hand transplant.

23 Mar 2011

Kenya’s condom shortage

Health authorities in Kenya have revealed that the country was facing a condom shortage and it has made an emergency order of 45 million more. A January consignment of 19 million condoms lasted for around six weeks.

23 Mar 2011

Sex and heart attack risk: Study

According to a study published March 23/30 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, sexual intercourse can trigger dangerous cardiac events and sudden heart attacks. In the two hours after sex, the chances of having a heart attack are dramatically higher than normal, warned the study from two researchers associated with the Tufts University Medical Center in Boston.

23 Mar 2011

Australia’s first transplanted hand starts moving

Peter Walsh, 65, a grandfather, with no hands or feet has been wriggling his new fingers after becoming the first Australian recipient of a hand transplant. He underwent a landmark nine-hour operation at St Vincent's Hospital this week after years of painstaking planning by Melbourne specialists.

23 Mar 2011

Drug resistance tuberculosis concerns

According to a report released Wednesday, the World Health Organization revealed that drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) accounts for about 440,000 cases and 150,000 deaths worldwide each year. The WHO called for better diagnosis and more funding for treatment of the drug-resistant disease that's harder to cure.

23 Mar 2011

Cell receptor recycling mechanism discovery opens up new class of therapeutic targets

Prof. Manojkumar Puthenveedu of Carnegie Mellon University studies the mechanisms by which membrane trafficking controls and co-ordinates the complex signalling pathways in the brain. Despite the fact that almost all diseases can be traced to a defect in how cells respond to signals, little is known about how signalling pathways are maintained in normal cells and the changes that occur in abnormal conditions.

23 Mar 2011

Contrast agent for tumor diagnostics

X-rays are not the only way: visible and especially infrared light can also be used to image human tissue. The effectiveness of optical imaging processes can be significantly improved with suitable dyes used as contrast agents. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a team led by Wenbin Lin at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, USA) has now introduced a novel contrast agent that marks tumor cells in vitro. The dye is a phosphorescent ruthenium complex incorporated into nanoparticles of a metal–organic coordination polymer, which allows an extraordinarily high level of dye loading.

23 Mar 2011

New insights into cancer genome may lead to designer drugs for myeloma

Patients with myeloma could benefit from ‘designer’ drugs in the future after new genome-mapping technology has allowed scientists to identify a full genetic blueprint of the mutations which drive the bone marrow cancer.

23 Mar 2011