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Roche NimbleGen announces NewGene as first certified service provider in the UK

Roche NimbleGen announces that Newcastle-based genomic services provider NewGene Ltd. has officially become a Certified Service Provider (CSP) for NimbleGen Sequence Capture. They will provide services for NimbleGen Sequence Capture Arrays with sequencing on the Genome Sequencer FLX System from 454 Life Sciences, a Roche Company.

1 Dec 2010

Rush University enrolls first U.S. patient in international clinical trial for melanoma

Rush University Medical Center has just enrolled the first U.S. patient in an international clinical trial testing a novel drug to treat certain kinds of melanoma, a deadly skin cancer that in its advanced stages currently has few effective treatments.

1 Dec 2010

Vets compare VA hospitals online; Government doctors may face pay freeze

Government Health IT: The Veterans Affairs Department's Hospital Compare website, www.hospitalcompare.va.gov, is "providing online tools so veterans can compare how well the VA's 153 hospitals perform, with the ultimate goal of spurring further improvements at those facilities." Veterans and their families can go online to compare the "relative strengths" and weaknesses of VA hospitals, ranked by color codes.

1 Dec 2010

Research on patients' immune system may lead to new diagnostic tool for HIV treatment

Mayo Clinic researchers have shown why, in a minority of HIV patients, immune function improves despite a lack of response to standard anti-retroviral treatment. In these cases, researchers say, the virus has lost its ability to kill immune cells. The findings appear in the online journal PLoS Pathogens.

1 Dec 2010

Diabetes Health profiles Echo Therapeutics' Symphony noninvasive glucose monitoring system

Echo Therapeutics, Inc., a company developing its needle-free Symphony™ tCGM System as a non-invasive, wireless, transdermal continuous glucose monitoring system and its Prelude™ SkinPrep System for transdermal drug delivery, today announced that its Symphony System was profiled in the November 29, 2010 issue of Diabetes Health magazine.

1 Dec 2010

Medicare often overpays for wheelchairs, durable medical equipment

(Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Sun-Sentinel: Medicare continues to pay high prices - often three times the cost on the private market - for power wheelchairs and other high-cost equipment. "As for the prices, the government is well aware that Medicare often pays too much. The Medicare reimbursement rate for wheelchairs ranges from $490 to $1,750 for the 13-month rental period, depending on the type of chair.

1 Dec 2010

Willpower can be learned

Good things come to those who wait. A scientist who showed that willpower can be learned–and that it carries lifelong benefits–has won the 2011 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Psychology.

1 Dec 2010

Alpha II integrates CodeWizard software with First Medical Suite

Alpha II, a leader in healthcare coding, compliance and reimbursement, announced today the integration of Alpha II's CodeWizard software with First Medical Solutions' First Medical Suite, a combination of FirstEMR and First Medical Office (PMS) software.

1 Dec 2010

Underwood-Memorial Hospital joins Jefferson Neuroscience Network as New Jersey participant

Underwood-Memorial Hospital of Woodbury, New Jersey has joined the Jefferson Neuroscience Network (JNN) as one of the first New Jersey participants. Through this collaboration, Jefferson and Underwood will provide some of the most sophisticated care and expertise available to patients with time-sensitive neurovascular diseases.

1 Dec 2010

African agriculture fund designates $135M to expand food production

The African Agriculture Fund (AAF) announced Monday that it has designated $135 million for expanded food production, agricultural processing and distribution, especially for small holder farms, PANA/Afrique en ligne reports.

1 Dec 2010

Health law causing ripples in Congress, insurance industry, among doctors

The Washington Post: "One of the most significant savings envisioned in the new health- care law - limiting payments to the private health plans that cover 11 million older Americans under Medicare - is, so far, bringing little of the turbulence that the insurance industry and many Republicans predicted. ... Early clues to the actual effects have now materialized, as elderly Americans may sign up for a health plan for 2011 during an enrollment period through the end of the year, and the warnings of swift, serious damage to the program are not borne out.

1 Dec 2010

Array BioPharma achieves $10 million clinical research milestone in Celgene collaboration

Array BioPharma Inc. announced today that a $10 million clinical research milestone was achieved in its collaboration with Celgene Corporation. Celgene and Array entered into this research collaboration in September 2007. Array anticipates initiating a Phase 1 dose escalation trial in cancer patients with ARRY-382, a small molecule cFMS inhibitor, during the first quarter of 2011.

1 Dec 2010

Scientists create couch potato mouse model to study muscle function

Daniel Kelly, M.D., and his colleagues at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) at Lake Nona have unveiled a surprising new model for studying muscle function: the couch potato mouse.

1 Dec 2010

Living Donor Paired Exchange becomes first Canada-wide organ donation registry

Yesterday, the Living Donor Paired Exchange performed the first match run to include kidney patients and donors from all across Canada. In doing so, it became the first Canada-wide organ donation registry.

1 Dec 2010

ProAssurance acquires American Physicians Service Group

ProAssurance Corporation today announced the completion of its previously announced acquisition of American Physicians Service Group, Inc.. APS shareholders overwhelmingly approved the transaction at a special meeting on November 29, 2010.

1 Dec 2010

Flawed health care system fuels low life expectancy rank for U.S., researchers say

The U.S. spends more on health care than any other nation but ranks 49th in life expectancy which has led researchers to conclude that the problem is the health care system.

1 Dec 2010

Research shows anti-microbial medications lead to acute liver failure

New research shows that anti-microbial medications are a common cause of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) leading to acute liver failure (ALF), with women and minorities disproportionately affected.

1 Dec 2010

The complexity involved in efforts to dismantle the health law

The last time lawmakers repealed a major piece of health care legislation was more than 20 years ago, when vehement opposition to a 1988 measure providing new Medicare prescription drug coverage in exchange for higher income taxes led to repeal 16 months later, CQ HealthBeat reports. Polls are more evenly divided on the newest health care overhaul, and due to the law's unprecedented complexity, "efforts to unwind the measure are as fragmented as the health care system itself."

1 Dec 2010

Study finds boosting glucose levels can reduce aggressive behavior

A spoonful of sugar may be enough to cool a hot temper, at least for a short time, according to new research. A study found that people who drank a glass of lemonade sweetened with sugar acted less aggressively toward a stranger a few minutes later than did people who consumed lemonade with a sugar substitute.

1 Dec 2010

GenSpera expands G-202 Phase I safety trial to CTRC at University of Texas Health Science Center

GenSpera, Inc. announced its intention to expand its Phase I safety trial to study G-202 in relapsed, refractory cancer patients to the Cancer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in San Antonio, TX. The expansion is dependent upon a successful review of the clinical protocol by the Health Science Center Institutional Review Board (IRB). The company anticipates admitting the first patient at this site in the first quarter of 2011.

1 Dec 2010