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Malpractice claims against hospitals pick up

The pace of malpractice claims against hospitals is picking up, according to a recent report from Aon Risk Solutions and the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management.

18 Oct 2010

TOPS program helps in losing weight: Study

In the battle against obesity, new research has found that it may not be necessary to spend a lot on a weight loss program when cheaper, nonprofit alternatives may work just as well.

18 Oct 2010

Royal Cornwall Hospital receives grant to study Hepatitis E

Researchers from the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro have received a grant of -337,000 to carry out a two-year study with partners in Glasgow and Norwich into a rare form of Hepatitis - Hepatitis E. The grant has come from the Chief Scientist's Office for Scotland and will be divided between the three centres taking part in the study.

18 Oct 2010

Teva Pharmaceutical announces new data from PreCISe study

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. today announced new data from the five-year extension of the PreCISe study demonstrating that earlier initiation of treatment with Copaxone (glatiramer acetate injection) in patients presenting with first signs of multiple sclerosis (MS), provided greater effects in delaying conversion to clinically definite MS (CDMS) compared to later treatment initiation after diagnosis of CDMS or after three years on the study.

18 Oct 2010

FDA approves BOTOX as prophylactic treatment for Chronic Migraine

Allergan, Inc. today announced the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved BOTOX(onabotulinumtoxinA) for the prophylactic (preventive) treatment of headaches in adults with Chronic Migraine.

18 Oct 2010

Silver studded bacteria could help treat common cold and flu

Finally scientists may have found a potential cure for common cold. They have found “silver bullets” in yogurt that could destroy viruses and provide a cure for the flu and common cold.

18 Oct 2010

Opinions: PR for U.S. foreign aid; African food security

Foreign aid is a much cheaper way of conducting a country's foreign policy than the military - and in many cases it can be much more effective, too, Reuters' Felix Salmon writes on his blog.

18 Oct 2010

Today's Op-Eds: Critiques of 'Obamacare,' Skyrocketing brand name drug prices, pay-for-performance

People are less negative about some of the specifics than they are about the package as a whole. But does this imply that those who understand the law like it better. Despite their political views, the well-informed share a strong opposition to the new law.

18 Oct 2010

Hands only CPR effective: New guidelines

According to latest changes made to CPR guidelines rescuers need to start with hard, fast chest presses before giving mouth-to-mouth. The change is termed as “the simplest step first” for traditional CPR, said Dr Michael Sayre, an emergency doctor at Ohio State University Medical Centre and co-author of the guidelines issued by the American Heart Association.

17 Oct 2010

Victorian abortion clinics ask for exclusion zones

There is a proposal for exclusion zones around Victorian abortion clinics to stop protesters harassing patients and staff.

17 Oct 2010

Elective surgeries routed to private health system to ease burden

According to the Australian Medical Association, the ACT Government's elective surgery plan is not a long term solution. The plan will see 200 public patients undergoing elective surgery at two private health facilities. The Government has planned to clear up the backlog of elective surgery by using the private health system. At present there is a focus on ear, nose and throat procedures, urology and orthopedic procedures.

17 Oct 2010

Change to WA organ donor laws tabled

Under a new proposal Western Australia could become the first state in Australia to introduce ‘opt-out’ organ donor laws. At present people need to opt in to be a part of national organ donor register. However, only 16 per cent of West Australians have signed to date. Under this proposal all West Australians will automatically donate their organs after they die unless they register their objection.

17 Oct 2010

AMA selects Quest Diagnostics' Care360 EHR for new online physician platform

Quest Diagnostics' healthcare information (IT) technology subsidiary MedPlus and the American Medical Association (AMA), the nation's largest physician organization, today announced they are partnering to expand the adoption of health information technology by offering Care360™ EHR, a web-based electronic health record, on the AMA's new online platform for physicians.

From Quest Diagnostics 15 Oct 2010

Tips to help keep teeth and gums healthy

Good nutrition and healthy eating habits are essential to maintaining optimal oral and overall health. With Halloween just around the corner, the Pennsylvania Dental Association (PDA) encourages parents to be mindful of the amount of candy their children are consuming, and to use this holiday as an opportunity to remind them about the importance of taking care of their teeth and gums.

15 Oct 2010

Births in Italy and Germany from eggs tested by CGH

Two women taking part in the world's first controlled study of a comprehensive genetic screening test before IVF have given birth to healthy babies. The babies, twin girls born in Germany in June and a singleton boy born in Italy in September, are the first deliveries in a pilot study of comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH) by microarray, a new method of screening oocytes for IVF for a full range of chromosomal disorders.

15 Oct 2010

Novel approach to automated detection of bacterial pathogens in food

Researchers from the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and the Bindley Bioscience Center at Purdue University have developed a novel approach to automated detection and classification of harmful bacteria in food. The investigators have designed and implemented a sophisticated statistical approach that allows computers to improve their ability to detect the presence of bacterial contamination in tested samples.

15 Oct 2010

Heavy drinking during pregnancy associated with serious developmental defects in fetus

Scientific data continue to indicate that higher intake of alcohol during pregnancy adversely affects the fetus, and could lead to very severe developmental or other problems in the child. However, most recent publications show little or no effects of occasional or light drinking by the mother during pregnancy.

15 Oct 2010

New analysis examines guiding principles for policymakers to fight health care fraud

In light of the recent historic Medicare fraud bust, a new analysis that examines the "Seven Guiding Principles for Policymakers" to fighting health care fraud invites new questions about legislative efforts to reduce accountability and oversight of independent pharmacies, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) said today.

15 Oct 2010

Neuroprotective properties of laquinimod for RRMS presented at 26th ECTRIMS Congress

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Active Biotech announced today that data providing further evidence of the neuroprotective properties of laquinimod in animal studies were presented at the 26th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) in Gothenburg, Sweden.

15 Oct 2010

CDC: Hispanics more likely to have HIV than whites, but live longer

The Associated Press: Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "estimate that 1 in 22 black Americans will be diagnosed with the AIDS virus in their lifetime — more than twice the risk for Hispanics and eight times that of whites. ... the lifetime risk is 1 in 52 for Hispanics, and 1 in 170 for whites. Asian-Americans had the lowest lifetime risk, at about 1 in 222" (10/14).

15 Oct 2010