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Exposure to pesticide chlorpyrifos associated with early childhood developmental delays: Study

Exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos-which is banned for use in U.S. households but is still widely used throughout the agricultural industry-is associated with early childhood developmental delays, according to a study by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

20 Mar 2010

GOP trying to derail, challenge health reform legislation

The Wall Street Journal: "Republicans are looking beyond Sunday's expected vote on the Democrats' health-care overhaul to focus on strategies for striking back should it pass, ranging from challenges to the measure by individual states to a national repeal campaign. ... GOP leaders hope at a minimum that they can energize conservative activists and turn the electorate against the Democrats in the crucial period after the law's enactment, when both parties would be fighting to define it in the public's mind before the November elections."

20 Mar 2010

Research roundup: Insurance crisis tough on middle class; Hospitals' profit margins on private patients up

Private-Payer Profits Can Induce Negative Medicare Margins - "Hospitals' profit margins on privately insured patients have risen dramatically in recent years, while profit margins on Medicare patients have fallen," write the authors, who all work for MedPAC.

20 Mar 2010

New Virtuoso LigoLab interface to be demonstrated at USCAP Annual Meeting

BioImagene, Inc., the leading provider of end-to-end digital pathology solutions, and LigoLab, innovative provider of clinical laboratory information system, today announced the development of an interface between Virtuoso™, BioImagene’s digital pathology workflow software, and LigoLab’s anatomic pathology module of laboratory information system (LIS). The new interface gives labs using Virtuoso and LigoLab shared access to critical information and functionality from both systems, optimizing the clinical workflow.

20 Mar 2010

SoCalBio to host forum on latest medical devices for treating obesity

The Southern California Biomedical Council will host a discussion on the latest medical devices for treating obesity during its networking forum on Thursday, March 25th (7:00 - 9:30 am) at the UC Irvine University Club.

20 Mar 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet study performed a systematic review of HIV prevention and treatment services targeting injecting drug users (IDUs) globally based on the availability of "core interventions for IDUs: needle and syringe programmes (NSPs), opioid substitution therapy (OST) and other drug treatment, HIV testing and counselling, antiretroviral therapy (ART), and condom programmes." The authors conclude, "although the number of countries with core HIV prevention services is growing … worldwide, there are few countries in which the level of intervention coverage is sufficient to prevent HIV transmission" (Mathers et al., 3/20).

20 Mar 2010

BioDelivery Sciences International announces filing of Annual Report with U.S. SEC

BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. has filed its Annual Report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009. Such Form 10-K is available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

20 Mar 2010

Student loan provisions help offset health costs in reconciliation bill

"Without the inclusion of a student loan overhaul, the healthcare reconciliation bill would likely have been blocked in the Senate, according to an analysis of preliminary CBO estimates," Congress Daily reports.

20 Mar 2010

Today's OpEds: Wash Post, Economist support health bill, others articulate opposition

But if legislators are asked to cast an up-or-down vote in the next few days, our advice would be to vote yes. With trepidation, we would say that the benefits of acting outweigh the risks (3/19).

20 Mar 2010

Novus Scientific's TIGR Matrix Surgical Mesh: Initial results of First-in-Man study

Novus Scientific Pte. Ltd today announced the presentation of initial results of the First-in-Man study for TIGR™ Matrix Surgical Mesh. The study results were presented today at the American Hernia Society Meeting in Orlando, Florida by Dr. Fernando Ruiz-Jasbon, Consultant Surgeon at Kungsbacka Hospital / Gothenburg University, Sweden.

20 Mar 2010

AMA, AARP announce support for health care legislation

The New York Times Prescriptions Blog reports: "In a major end-game endorsement for Democrats, the American Medical Association, which represents the nation's doctors, reiterated its support for the health care legislation on Friday. The announcement was immediately hailed by the White House. ... While some groups like the United States Chamber of Commerce are openly fighting the legislation, it is helpful to the White House and Democratic leaders that the doctors are not throwing their weight behind the opposition" (Herszenhorn, 3/19).

20 Mar 2010

Bovie Medical receives FDA marketing clearance for BOSS bipolar sintered steel coagulation device

Bovie Medical Corporation, a manufacturer and marketer of electrosurgical products, today announced the Company received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its proprietary BOSS™ bipolar sintered steel coagulation device. The BOSS™ is the latest device based on Bovie’s saline enhanced sintered steel technology.

19 Mar 2010

Major study shoots for personalized breast cancer drugs

Mutations in BCRA1 and BCRA2 genes are mainly associated with increased risk of breast cancer in women. Recently many other genetic variants have been found to be associated with breast cancer.

19 Mar 2010

Bondi rescue? smoking ban coming

Bondi beach, a popular tourist hangout is under the scanner for smoking. The Waverly Council came up with a unanimous decision to ban smoking within 10 meters of the outdoor cafés in this popular tourist spot starting July this year.

19 Mar 2010

Melancholy - not just a ‘state of mind’ but maybe a mental illness

Melancholia was first identified by the Greek physician Hippocrates, who described sufferers as being plagued with ''fears and despondencies''. But due to lack of exact biochemical and clinical features this condition has been struck off the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders used worldwide to diagnose mental illnesses.

19 Mar 2010

Safe to smoke?

Some Australian scientists have found that there is a new agent that can protect the lungs of mice from the harmful effects of cigarette smoke.

19 Mar 2010

Divisions within pro-life groups on overhaul ease opposition

A previously steadfast coalition opposed to abortion - which feared that the health overhaul could divert federal money to support the procedure - is beginning to crack, The Christian Science Monitor reports. "Increasingly, abortion foes - including high-profile Catholic organizations and members of Congress - are saying that while the language aimed at preventing use of federal funds for abortion is not perfect, the bill is still worth passing as a first step."

19 Mar 2010

National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day: NIAID Director issues statement

Following is a statement of Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases National Institutes of Health on National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, March 20, 2010:

19 Mar 2010

Comprehensive community-based solution to help achieve 'meaningful use'

Navigating the Challenges of Meaningful Use to Identify Benefits, March 31, 2010, 2 p.m. CT, a Webinar hosted by Informatics Corporation of America, will explore how to practically implement a community-wide solution that assists its healthcare participants to achieve the proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s criteria for meaningful use and bridge gaps in the adoption of electronic health records by its provider community.

19 Mar 2010

Prevent Blindness America, Real Kids Shades partner to promote children's eye protection

In an effort to educate parents about the need to protect children's eye health, Prevent Blindness America, the nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization, and Real Kids Shades a leading manufacturer of quality eyewear for infants and children, are teaming up to ensure that 5 million children have healthy eyes for healthy futures. The joint effort supports "Star Pupils," a national program of Prevent Blindness America designed to arm parents with the information they need to help their children achieve a lifetime of healthy vision.

19 Mar 2010