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Regular exercise speeds learning, improves blood flow to the brain: Study

Regular exercise speeds learning and improves blood flow to the brain, according to a new study led by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine that is the first to examine these relationships in a non-human primate model. The findings are available in the journal Neuroscience.

27 Apr 2010

California Republican lawmakers continue to press for tort reform

The Contra Costa Times: "The effort to overhaul the nation's health care system has so far skirted the issue of tort reform, intensifying debate over the role malpractice lawsuits play in increasing premiums." Critics say the new health reform law does not do enough to address the high costs of medical lawsuits, but other experts say that malpractice suits do not contribute to increasing health costs.

27 Apr 2010

SuperGen's total revenues for 2010 first-quarter increased to $14.4M

SuperGen, Inc. today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

27 Apr 2010

Fluidigm releases protocol for Access Array System for sequencing amplicon libraries

Fluidigm Corporation today announced the release of a protocol for the Access Array™ System that enables sequencing of amplicon libraries using GS FLX Titanium Series reagents on the 454 GS FLX sequencing system. The Access Array integrated fluidic circuit (IFC) automatically generates emPCR-ready libraries by simultaneously combining 48 samples and 48 primer sets to produce 48 uniquely-barcoded samples per chip for approximately $7 (U.S.) per sample.

27 Apr 2010

Aetna Better Health, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia reach agreement for Medicaid program

Aetna Better Health in Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia announced today that they have reached agreement on a new contract that adds the hospital to the Medicaid provider's network in Pennsylvania. The new contract is effective immediately.

27 Apr 2010

Costs, effects on business questioned as health overhaul analysis continues

The Associated Press: The biggest unanswered question in the health overhaul debate remains what the new law will mean for ordinary Americans. "Many experts believe the law falls short on taming costs, and that will force Congress to revisit health care in a few years.

27 Apr 2010

Nearly 50% of adult U.S. population at risk from heart disease

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released an alarming new report on Monday. According to the CDC report almost 50% of the adult population of the United States have chronic conditions which could lead to heart disease. The pre-existing diagnosed conditions included high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.

27 Apr 2010

Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners regains compliance for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market

Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc. announced today that it has received notice from The NASDAQ Stock Market confirming that the Company has regained compliance with the $1.00 minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market.

27 Apr 2010

Virtual Radiologic's first-quarter 2010 revenues up 8% to $30.8M

Virtual Radiologic Corporation, a national radiology practice and a leader in the development of radiologist workflow technology, today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

27 Apr 2010

States struggle to balance budgets with Medicaid changes

Health News Florida: A provision in Florida's state budget bill that would have reformed the state's Medicaid system has been officially dropped by state legislators. "The House proposed a sweeping plan that gradually would have led to almost all Medicaid recipients enrolling in managed-care plans, while the Senate proposed a smaller expansion of a pilot managed-care program.

27 Apr 2010

Wellcare faces allegations about director's resignation; Wellpoint confronts reports regarding breast cancer recissions

"A prominent director at WellCare Health Plans Inc. resigned Wednesday and raised questions about accounting practices at the Medicare and Medicaid company. Regina Herzlinger, the head of the board's audit committee and a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, said internal audits found WellCare overbilled the Illinois Medicaid program by $1 million in 2009 and potentially overcharged states for almost $500,000 worth of maternity care."

27 Apr 2010

FDA grants NexMed clearance for HCC Phase 2 trial for PrevOnco

NexMed, Inc., a specialty CRO with a pipeline of products based on the NexACT® technology, today announced that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Company to proceed with the proposed Phase 2 trial of PrevOnco™, its proprietary cancer treatment for patients with advanced, unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), or liver cancer. The FDA granted PrevOnco™ orphan drug status in August 2008, and in March 2010, NexMed filed its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for the product candidate.

27 Apr 2010

A first step in the long road to health reform

Australia provides good health care to the majority of its citizens most of the time and compares well with like countries. The capacity for illness to destroy families financially, seen in the US and in many less economically advanced countries where governments make small or no contributions to the cost of health care, is much diminished by Medicare, public hospitals and subsidised pharmaceuticals.

27 Apr 2010

Fever in kids underestimated by Doctors: new study

In a new study researchers have found that some physicians may be missing the seriousness of an infection in a child presenting with fever. The study published in the British Medical Journal involved 16,000 children from 2004 to 2006 with fever and found that doctors could not diagnose up to one third of the potentially life-threatening illnesses in these children.

27 Apr 2010

Stinging FDA review for Acurox – the implications

The US FDA’s advisory panel’s decision to recommend against approval of Acura Pharmaceuticals/King Pharmaceuticals’ Acurox (oxycodone plus niacin) was based upon the view that data were lacking that niacin-induced flushing could potentially reduce misuse of Acurox with single-ingredient oxycodone. The panel also contended that clinical studies were not conducted in populations that might be likely to benefit from the drug’s purported abuse-deterrent properties, such as those with chronic pain and adolescents who are experimenting with drug use.

27 Apr 2010

Nitration and allergy

Food proteins are nitrated through various processes. Just how these processes affect food allergies, however, is only now coming to light. The latest findings of a research project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF are being presented today at an international symposium in Italy. The findings show that in the case of a particular food protein the nitrated form can trigger a stronger allergic reaction than the non-nitrated form. At the same time, however, this nitrated form of the protein is better digested and therefore rendered "harmless".

27 Apr 2010

Sportspeople warned: alcohol will affect recovery

The study featuring in The Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport (JSAMS), published by Sports Medicine Australia, investigated whether the consumption of alcohol post exercise has an effect on recovery.

27 Apr 2010

Chocolate and depression?

The ‘chocoholics’ of the world may also be the most depressed people around. A recent study found that those who were suffering from depression ate an average of 8.4 servings of chocolate a month, compared to just 5.4 servings eaten by those who were not depressed. And the people who suffered from major depression ate 11.8 servings per month.

27 Apr 2010

Nurses interrupted – leading to 12% rise in medication errors: study

In a study published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine on the 26th of April the causes of “procedural failure and clinical error” by nurses in Australian hospitals were analyzed. The study found that nurses made at least one mistake or oversight in a whopping 80.2% of cases where they were administering drugs or other therapy to patients. These mistakes could range from not checking the patient’s identity before giving the drug to not washing hands. Researchers say that in some cases these mistakes could be fatal.

27 Apr 2010

NHS funding a major issue in the coming election

The state of the British economy has made the cut backs in NHS funding a major issue in the coming election. However no matter what the posturing is right now, and no politician wants to be seen making cuts here, there may be no other viable alternatives. No matter who forms the government after 6th May, they will be under great strain to keep their earlier promises of no health fund cuts.

27 Apr 2010