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Report: Baltimore cardiologist inserted 'medically unnecessary' stents

Abbott Laboratories, a $30 billion-a-year, Chicago-based pharmaceutical firm, ranked [Dr. Mark] Midei among its top-volume doctors in the Northeast and made plying him with research money and 'VIP trips' part of its business plan in late 2008 — about the time Midei's usage of Abbott-brand stents soared, the report said.

7 Dec 2010

Dartmouth awarded $2M grant for new Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center

Dartmouth recently received a $2 million pilot grant to fund the new Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center at Dartmouth. The grant is jointly funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Dartmouth's is one of six emerging centers nationally that are undertaking interdisciplinary research to assist public health professionals and policy makers in combating children's diseases caused by environment pollutants.

7 Dec 2010

MU researcher hopes to protect cardiac muscles for children with DMD

Children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy face a future of rapidly weakening muscles, which usually leads to death by respiratory or cardiac failure before their 30th birthday. While researchers are hopeful that gene therapy could eventually evolve into an effective treatment, few have targeted the heart of the problem as much as Dongsheng Duan, PhD.

7 Dec 2010

Bierman ABA opens new clinic for children with autism

Bierman ABA is proud to announce the opening of its new clinic for providing Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy to children with autism. After three years setting up home programs for children with autism, Bierman ABA has expanded to a clinic in Carmel, IN. The new location will serve families in Indianapolis and surrounding areas.

7 Dec 2010

Sequella files SQ109 IND for Phase 2 studies in H. pylori-related duodenal ulcers

Sequella, Inc., a clinical-stage company focused on commercializing novel drugs for treatment of infectious diseases, announced it has successfully filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to test SQ109 in patients suffering from H. pylori-related duodenal ulcers, and can now begin Phase 2 studies.

7 Dec 2010

Blocking quorum sensing would prevent bacteria from turning pathogenic

Bacteria are among the simplest organisms in nature, but many of them can still talk to each other, using a chemical "language" that is critical to the process of infection. Sending and receiving chemical signals allows bacteria to mind their own business when they are scarce and vulnerable, and then mount an attack after they become numerous enough to overwhelm the host's immune system.

7 Dec 2010

New study reveals that sick teens are more isolated than other kids

A new study reveals that sick teens are more isolated than other kids, but they do not necessarily realize it and often think their friendships are stronger than they actually are.

7 Dec 2010

Health experts, mobile service providers discuss potential for mobile health in Africa at summit

"Some 80 health professionals and telecom operators [met last week for the mHealth Africa Summit] in the Ghanaian capital Accra to explore ways to use mobile phones for better healthcare delivery," IRIN reports in an article that details a variety of successful projects relaying health information through cell phones in Africa. The article describes how mobile phones are being used in Africa to educate populations about HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and improve maternal health, as well as to track medicines and other health supplies, including mosquito nets.

7 Dec 2010

Investigator recommends screening mammogram during first week of menstrual cycle

Try to schedule your screening mammogram during the first week of your menstrual cycle. It might make breast cancer screening more accurate for pre-menopausal women who choose to have regular mammograms. This recommendation comes from an article published online December 3 in Radiology by Diana Miglioretti, PhD, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute.

7 Dec 2010

GOP's rallying cry on health reform: states' rights

A Republican senator is planning on introducing legislation this week that would allow state officials to challenge federal regulations before they go into effect. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) told The Hill that his states'-rights bill is in large part a reaction to Democrats' healthcare reform law, which Republicans claim would create 159 'boards, commissions, bureaus, programs and offices of the federal government.

7 Dec 2010

HDAC inhibitors may be used to fight against skin cancers

In a study published in the journal Developmental Cell, Sarah Millar PhD, professor of Dermatology and Cell & Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and colleagues demonstrate that a pair of enzymes called HDACs are critical to the proper formation of mammalian skin.

7 Dec 2010

Positron achieves highest possible compliance notice from Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Positron Corporation, a leading molecular imaging company specializing in the field of nuclear cardiology, today announced it had achieved the highest mark of compliance in a recent inspection by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

7 Dec 2010

New analysis of Soliris in patients with PNH presented at ASH Annual Meeting

Independent investigators reported today that patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria who were treated long-term with Soliris (eculizumab) achieved survival comparable to that of an age- and gender-matched normal population. Findings from this investigator-led analysis were reported in an oral presentation today at the 52nd American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition in Orlando.

7 Dec 2010

Outdoor exercise and physical activity increase risk of heat-related injuries

Outdoor exercise and physical activity increase the risk for heat-related injuries, including dangerous heat stroke. A new study finds that heat-injury rates are on the rise for all age groups, and football-playing boys are among the most vulnerable.

7 Dec 2010

Studies shows that social stress accelerates atherosclerosis development

Studies on genetically engineered mice show that social stress activates the immune system and accelerates the development of atherosclerosis. Commonly used drugs to reduce blood pressure, however, may stop this process. This is the conclusion of a thesis presented at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

7 Dec 2010

New analysis evaluates association between hemolysis, mortality in patients with PNH

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the presentation of an analysis from the National Data Registry in South Korea that evaluated the association between hemolysis and mortality in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.

7 Dec 2010

Emergency Medical Services' AMR segment to acquire Doctor's

Emergency Medical Services Corporation today announced that its American Medical Response segment has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Doctor's Ambulance Service. Founded in 1974, Doctor's provides emergency and non-emergency ambulance services in Orange County, California.

7 Dec 2010

FDA accepts for review Bristol-Myers Squibb's ORENCIA sBLA for severe RA

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for the subcutaneous formulation of ORENCIA® (abatacept), a treatment for adult patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) administered through an injection into the skin. Bristol-Myers Squibb submitted the sBLA to the FDA for the subcutaneous formulation of ORENCIA and received confirmation of its receipt on October 4, 2010.

7 Dec 2010

Researchers develop new drugs to prevent post-traumatic stress syndrome

Post-traumatic stress syndrome - when a severely stressful event triggers exaggerated and chronic fear - affects nearly 8 million people in the United States and is hard to treat. In a preclinical study, Northwestern Medicine scientists have for the first time identified the molecular cause of the debilitating condition and prevented it from occurring by injecting calming drugs into the brain within five hours of a traumatic event.

7 Dec 2010

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis face high risk of heart attack

The risk of having a heart attack is 60 per cent higher just a year after a patient has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, according to research published in the December issue of the Journal of Internal Medicine.

7 Dec 2010