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St. Jude Medical announces final results of AGA Medical stockholders' election

St. Jude Medical, Inc. today announced the final results of the elections of stockholders of AGA Medical Holdings, Inc. whose shares were validly tendered and acquired for payment in St. Jude Medical's previously announced exchange offer for AGA Medical common stock that expired on November 17, 2010.

23 Nov 2010

Gilead submits Truvada/TMC278 single-tablet regimen NDA to FDA

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for marketing approval of the single-tablet regimen of Truvada® (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) and Tibotec Pharmaceuticals' investigational non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor TMC278 (rilpivirine hydrochloride) for HIV-1 infection in adults. If approved, this would be the second product that contains a complete HIV treatment regimen in a single once-daily tablet.

23 Nov 2010

Vertex submits NDA for telaprevir for treating hepatitis C

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced that it has completed the submission of a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking approval for telaprevir, Vertex's investigational treatment for people with hepatitis C.

23 Nov 2010

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan faces new lawsuits, GOP in Florida looks to malpractice reform to help draw doctors to Medicaid program

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is facing a wave of lawsuits across the state accusing the insurance giant of pocketing millions of dollars in hidden fees from local governments and others to administer their health care plans.

23 Nov 2010

Kansas hospitals report sharp increases in uncompensated care

News outlets report on a dramatic increase in uncompensated care at Kansas hospitals because of the economic downturn and a new study that finds poor families with high-deductible plans often put off needed care.

23 Nov 2010

BioAlliance presents AMEP preclinical, phase I clinical results for melanoma at Electrochemotherapy Meeting

BioAlliance Pharma SA, a company dedicated to the supportive care and treatment of cancer patients, presented preclinical and promising preliminary phase I clinical results with its AMEP biotherapy at the "Electrochemotherapy 1st International Users' Meeting"(Bologna, Italy, November 19-20, 2010).

23 Nov 2010

FDA clears BG Medicine's Galectin-3 test to identify high risk patients with cardiovascular disease

BG Medicine, Inc., a U.S.-based life sciences company, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the company's Galectin-3 test for use in conjunction with clinical evaluation as an aid to assess the prognosis of patients diagnosed with chronic heart failure. This marks the first time the FDA has cleared a test to measure galectin-3 blood levels, and is the first novel cardiac test cleared by the FDA in five years.

23 Nov 2010

ViiV Healthcare awards $20 million to Idenix for GSK2248761 clinical milestone

Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of drugs for the treatment of human viral diseases, today announced that the Company will receive a payment of $20 million from the ViiV Healthcare Company for the achievement of a clinical milestone relating to GSK2248761.

23 Nov 2010

Government orders three Medicare advantage plans to stop marketing, enrolling new members

The U.S. government's Medicare program has ordered three health insurers Universal American Corp. (UAM), Health Net Inc. (HNT) and Arcadian Health to stop marketing to and enrolling new members in their Medicare Advantage health and prescription-drug plans, saying the companies violated regulations.

23 Nov 2010

Combination of caffeine and glucose can improve cognitive performance: Study

The combination of caffeine and glucose can improve the efficiency of brain activity, according to a recent study in which functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to identify the neural substrate for the combined effects of these two substances.

23 Nov 2010

ODS Security enters strategic partnership with TSSI

ODS Security and Tactical & Survival Specialties, Inc. have announced a strategic partnership that allows commercial, military and government customers to leverage the 700 person security guard force of ODS Security with over 100,000 security-related products and training provided by TSSI.

23 Nov 2010

Health on The Hill - November 22, 2010

Kaiser Health News staff writers Mary Agnes Carey and Julie Appleby talk with KFF's Jackie Judd about recent health policy developments, including the newly released Health and Human Services regulations dealing with the medical loss ratio and the status in Congress of the one-month patch to prevent physicians who see Medicare patients from having their payments reduced.

23 Nov 2010

Omni Bio receives U.S patent for treatment of viral infections

Omni Bio Pharmaceutical, Inc., today announced that U.S. Patent No.7,807,781, entitled "Inhibitors of Serine Protease Activity and Their Use in Methods and Compositions for Treatment of Viral Infections", was issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on October 5, 2010

23 Nov 2010

Today's Op-Eds: HMOs, the 'fixed' middlemen; you can't keep your coverage; the (in) effectiveness of medical cost control

Wouldn't it be better to let HMOs compete to offer the cheapest most innovative plans-rather than having the plans defined by new exchanges that must follow federal rules and meanwhile allow the HMOs a generous fixed middleman share of total health pie.

23 Nov 2010

Women view their weight wrong: Study

Researchers have found that among more than 2,200 women ages 18 to 25 seen at several Texas reproductive-health clinics there were many who did not know if they weighed normal or were overweight.

23 Nov 2010

Exercise combo best for type 2 diabetes: Study

A new study shows that a combination of aerobic exercise and resistance training may offer the biggest benefits for people with type 2 diabetes in helping them control their disease. This combination improved HbA1c levels much better than either form alone. HbA1c levels denote long term sugar or glycemic control in a diabetic patient. Normal HbA1c is 6% or less. People with diabetes are urged to keep their HbA1c below 7%.

23 Nov 2010

Northern Territory Law Society calls for ban on alcohol sponsorship of sports

According to the Northern Territory Law Society, pubs, bars and breweries should be stopped from sponsoring sport. The Society reports that alcohol abuse in the Territory has reached crisis point and is putting an enormous strain on the justice system.

23 Nov 2010

Men failing to protect eyes from injuries: Experts

A review looking at patients attending a Melbourne hospital’s emergency department with a serious eye injury shows that most of them could be prevented by proper eye protection. Men’s particular lack of eye protection while using power tools and lawn mowers, usually during routine house maintenance, were the other major factors in the injury cases say the researchers.

23 Nov 2010

Striking nurses’ agenda backed by doctors

The NSW nurses’ go on strike today (Wednesday) calling for improved nurse-to-patient ratios and the Australian Medical Association (AMA) has spoken up in their support. However the AMA does not support their decision to strike in defiance of the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC). The strike is taking place despite an IRC order the union call off the strike and government pleas for it to return to the negotiating table.

23 Nov 2010

Radical change to Alzheimer’s management

The first disease-modifying drugs are expected to launch from 2013, radically changing the way Alzheimer’s disease is treated. With the potential to successfully slow or halt the progression of Alzheimer’s, blockbuster revenues are beckoning for such pipeline drugs, claims independent market analyst, Datamonitor.

23 Nov 2010