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State News: Wash. adults could lose Medicaid coverage for prescriptions, Michigan restores services

Detroit Free Press: "Michigan has reopened through Nov. 30 a program that provides free or nearly free medical care to adults 21 and older. The benefits could help as many as 58,000 poor people — some who couldn't previously get help because the Adult Medical Program, as it is called, had been frozen since May 31, 2009, because of state budget cuts.

15 Oct 2010

Study reveals copy number variants exclusive to obese children

A new study by pediatric researchers has added to the evidence that genes have a strong influence on childhood obesity.

15 Oct 2010

FibroGen announces initiation of FG-3019 phase 2 study for reversing liver fibrosis

FibroGen, Inc. today announced initiation of a phase 2 study to compare the efficacy of FG-3019, a human monoclonal antibody against connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), with placebo in reversing liver fibrosis (scarring of the liver) due to chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV).

15 Oct 2010

Genzyme reports five-year patient data from Phase 2 multiple sclerosis trial

Genzyme Corporation today reported five-year patient data from its completed Phase 2 multiple sclerosis (MS) trial. This sub-group analysis found that nearly 90 percent of alemtuzumab-treated patients were free of sustained accumulation of disability, and that patients receiving alemtuzumab also maintained improved mean disability scores and a low risk of relapse over the 60-month follow-up period.

15 Oct 2010

ACS awards Research Scholar Grant to Rensselaer researcher for breast cancer study

A recent Research Scholar Grant from the American Cancer Society acknowledges the potential of Rensselaer researcher Lee Ligon's work on breast cancer. Ligon is investigating interactions between cells as breast cancer spreads within the body.

15 Oct 2010

VertiFlex enrolls patients in Superion IDE clinical trial

VertiFlex, Inc., a leading innovator of minimally invasive and motion preserving spinal surgery technologies, today announced that 200 patients have been enrolled in its pivotal IDE clinical trial of the Superion Interspinous Spacer (ISS).

15 Oct 2010

New, affordable technology for cervical cancer screening

Current cervical cancer screening is time consuming and expensive, but now new breakthrough technology developed by European researchers should allow large-range screening by non-medical personnel with almost immediate results and at a much lower cost.

15 Oct 2010

IRIN examines forthcoming U.N. child malnutrition program; IPS reports on FAO Latin American report

IRIN looks at a planned U.N. initiative to combat early childhood malnutrition and the questions surrounding it.

15 Oct 2010

ARTS protein increases apoptosis mechanism to balance stem cells' regenerative power: Research

Stem cells, the prodigious precursors of all the tissues in our body, can make almost anything, given the right circumstances. Including, unfortunately, cancer. Now research from Rockefeller University shows that having too many stem cells, or stem cells that live for too long, can increase the odds of developing cancer.

15 Oct 2010

Costs for end-of-life care rising, hospice care may be an antidote

Health care costs at the end of life show no signs of leveling off, according to new research from the United States and Canada published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

15 Oct 2010

Scientists identify mechanism that regulate nuclear size

Size matters when it comes to the nucleus of a cell, and now scientists have discovered the signals that control how big the nucleus gets. Nuclear size varies not only among different species, but also in different types of cells in the same species and at different times during development. In addition, cancer cells are known to develop larger nuclei as they become more malignant. Screening for cervical cancer, for example, involves looking for grossly distorted nuclei in cervical cells collected during a Pap smear.

15 Oct 2010

Lantheus announces Canadian launch of ABLAVAR injection

Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc., a worldwide leader in diagnostic medical imaging, today announced the Canadian launch of ABLAVAR (gadofosveset trisodium injection), a unique, injectable magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) blood pool imaging agent.

15 Oct 2010

BIOTRONIK announces European release of TI Trend Chart

BIOTRONIK SE Co. & KG, leading manufacturer of cardiovascular devices, has announced the European release of its Thoracic Impedance (TI) Trend Chart via its pioneering BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring technology and Lumax 540 implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) series.

15 Oct 2010

FDG positron emission tomography allows early diagnosis of gall bladder cancer

Researchers at the University of Granada and the Department of Nuclear Medicine, Hospital Virgen de las Nieves at Granada found that the metabolic imaging diagnosis technique based on the analysis of a structural analog of glucose labeled with a positron-emitting compound (18F) allows early diagnosis of gall bladder cancer, a relatively rare disease with high mortality rates among most patients suffering from it.

15 Oct 2010

Study finds TMS is an effective treatment solution for major depression

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), the treatment delivers a series of electrical pulses to the part of the brain associated with depression and other mood disorders. The pulses generate an electric current in the brain that stimulates neurons to increase the release of more mood-enhancing chemicals like serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.

15 Oct 2010

NIH awards two new grants to develop Avidocin platform

AvidBiotics today announced the receipt of two new grants totaling $1 million dollars from the National Institutes of Health that further the development of the company's novel Avidocin™ platform for narrow spectrum antibacterial proteins against important health care threats. These grants add to three previous grants covering AvidBiotics' anti-infectious disease technologies, which provide approximately $3.4 million in currently active funding for the company.

15 Oct 2010

IOM Report: Food nutrition labels should be simple, on front

The food industry should provide simple, clearly-worded nutrition information on the front of food packages, according to a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

15 Oct 2010

Moores Cancer Center files IND application for topical NexACT-based formulation

Apricus Biosciences, backed by a revenue generating CRO business and seeking to leverage its multi-route NexACT drug delivery technology and internal pipeline through out-licensing partnerships, today announced that the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) has filed an Investigational New Drug Application with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration ("FDA") for approval to test Nupen, Apricus Bio's proprietary, topical NexACT-based formulation of filgrastim (Neupogen).

15 Oct 2010

SAMHSA awards grants to provide integrated substance abuse and HIV/AIDS prevention services

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is awarding up to $52.5 million for up to five years in cooperative agreements (grants) to provide integrated substance abuse and HIV/AIDS prevention services to at-risk, traditionally underserved populations.

15 Oct 2010

Prolong Pharmaceuticals receives $30 million from private investor group

Prolong Pharmaceuticals today announced that the company has received a commitment of $30 million in funding from a private investor group. The monies will be dedicated to the company's continuing research and development efforts and clinical programs targeting anemias resulting from oxygen deficiency.

15 Oct 2010