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Dementia patients treated with neuroleptic drugs instead of anti-dementia medication: Study

Demented patients are often treated nonspecifically with psychoactive medications. Neuroleptic drugs are given even when they are not specifically indicated, as Tomislav Majic and his colleagues from the Charité Hospital, Berlin, show in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107[18]: 320-7).

21 May 2010

Studies identify new chemical compounds that could lead to development of new malaria drugs

Researchers have identified thousands of chemical compounds that could be used to develop new malaria drugs, two studies published in the journal Nature on Wednesday show, the Wall Street Journal reports.

21 May 2010

Aetna Foundation grants $331,133 for "Advancing Value-Based Purchasing in the U.S. Health System" project

As a nation we spend nearly $7,300 per person on health care each year - but are we getting the best possible value for our dollars? Exploring promising innovative approaches to getting high quality from health care purchases while ensuring that our annual $2.3 trillion in public and private health care spending is going as far as it should - in terms of top quality care, improved health outcomes and minimal waste - will be part of new work undertaken by the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings and supported by the Aetna Foundation.

21 May 2010

COTI reports positive results from first phase of HIV integrase inhibitor discovery program

Critical Outcome Technologies Inc. today announced positive results from the first phase of its HIV integrase inhibitor discovery program. These results provide novel intellectual property to the Company and further validation of the CHEMSAS® drug discovery technology.

21 May 2010

Not all small businesses will get tax benefits promised in health law

Tax credits to help small business pay for employee health coverage fall short of the "broad eligibility" White House officials promoted, The Associated Press reports. The credit was said to apply to firms "with fewer than 25 workers and average annual wages under $50,000 that provide health coverage," like Zach Hoffman's office supply company where 24 employees earn an average of $35,000.

21 May 2010

AORN develops new Comprehensive Surgical Checklist

The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) has developed a comprehensive surgical checklist to help reduce the number of wrong-site surgeries and other preventable mistakes that occur in U.S. operating rooms. The new AORN Comprehensive Surgical Checklist includes the safety checks outlined in the World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist, and also meets the safety checks included in The Joint Commission Universal Protocol that meet the accreditation requirements.

21 May 2010

MEDSEEK first-quarter net revenue up 38%

MEDSEEK, the industry's only provider of the eHealth ecoSystem, today announced the continuation of its record-setting pace in 2009 with the announcement of a first quarter net revenue increase of 38 percent over the same period last year.

21 May 2010

Lawmakers agree to extend COBRA benefits, delay Medicare cuts and give states more money for Medicaid

Democratic committee leaders unveiled a tax extensions package today that would continue to allow laid-off employees "to get subsidies to buy health insurance through the COBRA program" and would also "spare doctors from a scheduled 21 percent cut in Medicare payments," The Associated Press reports. It would also give states money to cover Medicaid costs (Ohlemacher, 5/20).

21 May 2010

Biocept granted US patent for cell separation technology using microfluidic device

Biocept, Inc., an emerging leader in rare cell capture, announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a patent for Biocept's cell separation technology using a microfluidic device. U.S. patent #7,695,956 entitled "Device for Cell Separation and Analysis and Method of Using" protects Biocept's microflow device to isolate cells from a bodily fluid using a flow path where straight-line flow is interrupted by transverse posts arranged in a random pattern.

21 May 2010

Narrow-band imaging could be novel tool for in vivo assessment of mucosal angiogenesis

Angiogenesis plays a crucial role in neoplastic and non-neoplastic chronic inflammatory disorders, including inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Several reports have shown that blockade of angiogenesis in preclinical models of IBD is a promising new therapeutic approach. Visualize angiogenesis in vivo may represent the first step for such a therapeutic approach. Narrow-band imaging (NBI) is a new endoscopic technology that highlights mucosal surface structures and microcapillaries.

21 May 2010

Medco: Big jump in kids' prescription drug use last year

Children's prescription drug use rose "several times faster" than adult use last year, "due in part to swine flu drugs and Type 2 diabetes medications, according to Medco Health Solutions Inc," The Associated Press reports. The "pharmacy benefits manager said a 5 percent increase in prescription drug use for children contributed to a 10.8 percent spending increase last year. In contrast, overall prescription drug use rose 1.3 percent, and drug spending climbed 3.7 percent. Medco released its annual drug trend report Wednesday" (Murphy, 5/19).

21 May 2010

AMT reports positive preclinical data from cholesterol targeting AAV gene therapy study

Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics a world leader in gene therapy, today reported positive preclinical data from a study using an AAV gene therapy product to lower cholesterol.

21 May 2010

Ariz. tax hike only a band-aid, and other state tales of budget woes

The Wall Street Journal: States are being squeezed by "shrinking state budgets and rising health-care costs" and often vulnerable residents are paying the price. Barbara Hickey, 67 of Florence, S.C., is one of them. She is confined to a motorized wheelchair, lives alone and "relies on certified nurse's assistants to get her in and out of bed, bathed, clothed and fed."

21 May 2010

McMaster University announces affiliation agreement with Centre for Drug Research and Development

McMaster University and the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) today announced that McMaster University has signed an affiliation agreement with CDRD that will facilitate seamless collaboration by and between McMaster's academic investigators and the industry experienced drug development professionals at CDRD.

21 May 2010

Role of voice in mate selection and attraction

Flirtation may seem largely visual - the preening, the coy eye contact - but voice plays a role, too.

21 May 2010

Today's Opinions and Editorials: Legal challenges to health reform; Medicare pay fix; California's budgetary 'Sophie's Choice'

We believe the reform law has been carefully framed to stay within constitutional bounds (5/19).

21 May 2010

EpiCept launches Ceplene in Germany

EpiCept Corporation today announced the commercial launch of Ceplene (R) (histamine dihydrochloride) in Germany. The launch is being conducted by Meda AB, as part of an exclusive commercialization agreement for Ceplene signed by the two companies in January 2010.

21 May 2010

Analysis looks at how Democrats won health reform battle

In an analysis in The New Republic, Jonathan Cohn examines how Democrats ultimately won the health reform battle. "Of course, we know how this narrative concludes, with Obama sitting in the East Room, inscribing his signature onto the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 — completing a quest that eluded Harry Truman and a trio of his successors.

21 May 2010

SurgiQuest granted FDA marketing clearance for AnchorPort Single Incision Laparoscopy Kit device

SurgiQuest, Inc., announced today that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") to market the Company's new line of advanced 5mm AnchorPort® Trocars indicated for use as a Single Incision Laparoscopy Kit (SILK).

21 May 2010

Medicare to evaluate how beneficiaries used personal health records

The Department of Health and Human Services is preparing to evaluate a 17-month-old pilot program that has tested whether beneficiaries use personal health records (PHR) in Utah and Arizona, Modern Healthcare reports.

21 May 2010

Medical News

Dementia patients treated with neuroleptic drugs instead of anti-dementia medication: Study

Studies identify new chemical compounds that could lead to development of new malaria drugs

Aetna Foundation grants $331,133 for "Advancing Value-Based Purchasing in the U.S. Health System" project

COTI reports positive results from first phase of HIV integrase inhibitor discovery program

Not all small businesses will get tax benefits promised in health law

AORN develops new Comprehensive Surgical Checklist

MEDSEEK first-quarter net revenue up 38%

Lawmakers agree to extend COBRA benefits, delay Medicare cuts and give states more money for Medicaid

Biocept granted US patent for cell separation technology using microfluidic device

Narrow-band imaging could be novel tool for in vivo assessment of mucosal angiogenesis

Medco: Big jump in kids' prescription drug use last year

AMT reports positive preclinical data from cholesterol targeting AAV gene therapy study

Ariz. tax hike only a band-aid, and other state tales of budget woes

McMaster University announces affiliation agreement with Centre for Drug Research and Development

Role of voice in mate selection and attraction

Today's Opinions and Editorials: Legal challenges to health reform; Medicare pay fix; California's budgetary 'Sophie's Choice'

EpiCept launches Ceplene in Germany

Analysis looks at how Democrats won health reform battle

SurgiQuest granted FDA marketing clearance for AnchorPort Single Incision Laparoscopy Kit device

Medicare to evaluate how beneficiaries used personal health records

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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