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Federal inspectors crack down on corrupt drug company executives

"Federal inspectors want to prevent drug-company executives from doing business with the U.S. government when their companies are convicted of Medicare fraud," The Washington Post reports. New guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services say "executives can be barred from contracting with federal health programs when they knew, or if the inspector general concludes they should have known, about fraud at their firms."

10 Nov 2010

BSD Medical awarded two grants under QTDP Program

BSD Medical Corporation announced today that it has received the maximum award provided by the U.S. government for a single program for two separate grants under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project ("QTDP") Program.

10 Nov 2010

MicroAire and Arthrex enter agreement to settle ECTR patent infringement suit

MicroAire Surgical Instruments LLC and Arthrex Inc. announced today that they have entered an agreement to settle a suit accusing Arthrex of patent infringement and breach of contract. At issue was the patented technology that MicroAire owns for minimally invasive treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

10 Nov 2010

Doctors urge Congress to delay pay cuts — again

Doctors are renewing their campaign to get Congress to block a 23 percent cut to Medicare reimbursements that would begin Dec. 1, the Los Angeles Times reports. The cuts — part of a 1997 law designed to control Medicare costs — are a lingering issue that Congress and doctors typically address at least once a year.

10 Nov 2010

Biovista and Pfizer enter pilot research collaboration

Biovista announced today that it has entered into a pilot research collaboration agreement with Pfizer. The aim of the collaboration is to identify new indications for a number of undisclosed Pfizer development candidates, using Biovista's Clinical Outcome Search Space (COSS) technology.

10 Nov 2010

Boston Scientific announces first implantation of Vercise Deep Brain Stimulation System in Parkinson's disease trial

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced the first implantation of its Vercise™ Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) System as part of the VANTAGE clinical trial. VANTAGE is a multi-center, prospective trial designed to examine the improvement of motor function in approximately 40 European patients implanted with the Vercise DBS System for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

10 Nov 2010

CRi adds TRIO to Nuance multispectral imaging product family

Cambridge Research & Instrumentation, Inc. (CRi), a leader in multicolor imaging solutions for preclinical and clinical research, today announced the newest addition to the award-winning Nuance™ multispectral imaging product family for multicolor tissue and cell-based imaging. The TRIO system is compact, multipurpose and affordable, offering a simplified interface and versatile design to fit any microscope with a camera-mount.

10 Nov 2010

Gov't health IT spending attracts investments from all over

As part of its foray into health IT, AT&T has partnered with WellDoc, a Baltimore-based company that makes an FDA-approved mobile-phone application to help manage diabetes, The Baltimore Sun reports. "The telecommunications giant launched a new business segment last week that will focus on technology solutions for the health care industry. And WellDoc's software will be pitched by AT&T's huge marketing muscle to commercial clients ranging from hospitals to insurers to employers" (Sentementes, 11/8).

10 Nov 2010

Phytomedics awarded $244,000 QTDP grant for development of RA drug

Phytomedics, Inc., a transformational healthcare company developing a novel portfolio of drugs and consumer products solely derived from plant sources, announced today that it has been awarded a grant in the amount of $244,000 under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) Program to advance the development of its lead product PMI-001 for Rheumatoid Arthritis. PMI-001 is presently in Phase 2b/3 development.

9 Nov 2010

Nursing homes fear Medicaid cuts under GOP-led House

The nursing home industry is concerned about pending Medicaid cuts, news outlets report.

9 Nov 2010

$Long-term androgen deprivation therapy increases risk of fracture in older men with prostate cancer$

Long-term androgen deprivation therapy increases risk of fracture in older men with prostate cancer

Men with history of fracture and comorbidities are at an increased risk of fracture after long-term use of androgen deprivation therapy, and initiating this therapy should be carefully considered in older men with localized prostate cancer.

9 Nov 2010

NeuroDerm commences enrollment in ND0801 Phase 2a clinical study of ADD/ADHD in adults

NeuroDerm, Ltd. announced today that patient enrollment has begun in a Phase 2a clinical study of ND0801, a new product for the treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD) in adults. ND0801, based on a new, proprietary combination with nicotinic actions, is being developed as a dermal patch and will be evaluated for the treatment of cognitive impairment in several disorders including Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and advanced Parkinson's disease, among others.

9 Nov 2010

Insuring your health: OTC medicines cut from 2011 flexible spending accounts

In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: "The health-care overhaul has taken some of the flex out of flexible spending accounts, which let workers pay medical expenses with pretax dollars. Starting in January, you'll no longer be able to use your FSA for over-the-counter drugs and medicines unless you have a doctor's prescription" (11/9).

9 Nov 2010

EntreMed to present data of ENMD-2076 Phase 1 study in multiple myeloma and leukemia at ASH 2010

EntreMed, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, today announced presentations for its Phase 2 oncology drug candidate, ENMD-2076. Data for the ENMD-2076 Phase 1 studies in multiple myeloma and leukemia will be presented by EntreMed investigators at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) to be held December 4-7 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

9 Nov 2010

Poll: Economy -- not health law -- topped voters' concerns

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz reports: "Health care ranked fourth among factors that influenced how people voted last week, according to the monthly Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll that was released Tuesday" (Kaiser Health News).

9 Nov 2010

Baxa launches ExactaMix 1200 Automated Compounding Device

Baxa Corporation, a leading provider of medical devices and systems that automate pharmacy operations, today introduced the ExactaMix 1200 Automated Compounding Device (ACD) for small- to mid-sized hospital pharmacies in need of an automated approach to compounding large-volume parenteral doses.

9 Nov 2010

Health advice on NHS website saves £44 million per year

The latest study has shown that as more people self diagnose using the NHS Choices website, Britain’s national healthcare service saves millions of pounds every year. The website was launched three years ago. Last year more than 100 million visits were recorded at the site which offers patients a quick reference guide to illnesses, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. Overall, there was a 10% increase in the number of visits to the website in 2010 compared to 2009. Some 19 million people logged on to NHS Choices for information on swine flu.

9 Nov 2010

Stressed out Americans

The American Psychological Association’s (APA) have released the results of the 2010 Stress in America survey that shows up the long-term impact that chronic stress could have on physical and emotional health and the health of the families. The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive in August 2010. It showed some worrying trends of stress among parents as well as children.

9 Nov 2010

Cholera cases continue to rise in Haitian capital

Officials have recorded more than 70 cholera cases in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince and fear for a substantial rise in numbers if the epidemic continues. Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Deputy Director Jon Kim Andrus said, “As of Monday, the Ministry of Health was reporting more than 9,100 hospitalized cases and some 583 deaths in some 240 communities… These include 73 cases reported in Port-au-Prince. We expect these numbers to continue to rise as more cases are detected.”

9 Nov 2010

Hypernetworking and hypertexting bad for kids in more ways than one: Study

According to a new study adolescents who text excessively or who are hooked on social networking sites are more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors like smoking and binge drinking than their peers who are not similar users. Scientists at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine surveyed 4,257 high school students from an urban county in the Midwest to look at the health effects of communications technology usage.

9 Nov 2010