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China Nepstar Chain Drugstore second-quarter revenue increases 5.8% to RMB565 million

China Nepstar Chain Drugstore Ltd., the largest retail drugstore chain in China based on the number of directly operated stores, today announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010.

11 Aug 2010

Common soluble proteins become insoluble and form aggregates while aging: Study

In neurodegenerative diseases, clumps of insoluble proteins appear in patients' brains. These aggregates contain proteins that are unique to each disease, such as amyloid beta in Alzheimer's disease, but they are intertwined with small amounts of many other insoluble proteins that are normally present in a soluble form in healthy young individuals. For years, these other proteins were thought to be accidental inclusions in the aggregates, much as a sea turtle might be caught in a net of fish.Now, in a surprising new finding, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, report that many of the proteins present as minor components of disease aggregates actually clump together as a normal part of aging in healthy individuals.

11 Aug 2010

Payment practices investigated; Texas docs team with hospitals on payment reform

The New York Times: The Obama administration is investigating widespread practices that don't pay nurses and other employees at hospitals and nursing homes properly for overtime they work. "Hospitals around the country have paid millions of dollars in back wages to settle claims by the government and their employees. And many more hospitals are fighting class-action lawsuits that raise the same issues." Settlements have been reached in St. Louis, Boston and California.

11 Aug 2010

AssureRx Health achieves CAP accreditation for laboratory pharmacogenetic testing services

AssureRx Health, Inc. today announced that it has received accreditation from the College of American Pathologists for the delivery of high-quality, reliable laboratory pharmacogenetic testing services that meet or exceed regulatory laboratory standards and ensure commitment to patient care.

11 Aug 2010

Intellect Neurosciences receives patent for Alzheimer's disease vaccine

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc a biopharmaceutical company with an internal preclinical and clinical-stage pipeline and licenses with major pharmaceutical companies covering products in late-stage clinical trials, announced that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office related to RV01 and RV02, the Company's two lead vaccine candidates. The Notice of Allowance is a written communication stating that the patent application has been allowed and will be granted as a new patent. RV01 and RV02, generated using the Company's RECALL-VAX technology, have the potential to delay the onset of or prevent Alzheimer's disease in individuals susceptible by age, genetic or other risk factor.

11 Aug 2010

Medical error tab nearly $20 billion; Study says Catholic hospitals give better care

The Wall Street Journal Health Blog: A study by the Society of Actuaries has put the cost of medical errors in 2008 at nearly $20 billion. The study was "carried out by the actuarial and consulting firm Milliman, [and] is based on insurance claims data. The cost estimate includes medical costs, costs associated with increased mortality rate and lost productivity, and covers what the authors describe as a conservative estimate of 1.5 million measurable errors.

11 Aug 2010

Cogent Healthcare announces new hospital medicine affiliation with Allegiance Health

Cogent Healthcare today announced a new hospital medicine affiliation with Allegiance Health, a 411-bed health system located in Jackson, Mich.

11 Aug 2010

Researchers identify perforant path brain passage associated with Alzheimer's disease

With the help of volunteers aged 18 to 89, UC Irvine researchers have identified for the first time in humans a long-hidden part of the brain called the perforant path. Scientists have struggled for decades to locate the tiny passage, which is believed to deteriorate gradually as part of normal aging and far more quickly due to Alzheimer's disease.

11 Aug 2010

Insuring your health: Health law expands Medicare coverage of preventive care

In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: "Preventive health care is important at any age, but never more so than as we get older.

11 Aug 2010

Genmab reports top-line interim results from ofatumumab Phase II study in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma

Genmab A/S announced today top-line interim results from an initial Phase II single arm open label study of ofatumumab to evaluate the treatment of relapsed Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma in patients ineligible for or relapsed following a stem cell transplant.

11 Aug 2010

Acute aortic dissection program reduces diagnosis time in AAD patients

Using a standardized protocol within a regional health network, a multidisciplinary acute aortic dissection (AAD) program resulted in a 43 percent reduction in time to diagnosis for all AAD patients over the course of five years, based on study results published in the July edition of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.

11 Aug 2010

Columbia Laboratories announces repurchase of 3.3 million common stock

Columbia Laboratories, Inc. has repurchased 3,333,330 shares of its Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share, from investment funds for which Perry Corp. or an affiliate acts as investment advisor and/or general partner at $0.90 per share for an aggregate total purchase price of approximately $3 million. This transaction reduces the total issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock by about 4% from approximately 84.1 million to 80.8 million. This transaction also reduces the Company's previously forecast 2010 year-end cash balance to approximately $20 million.

11 Aug 2010

House returns from recess to vote on extra Medicaid help for states

The House will vote today on a package that includes $16.1 billion in extra federal Medicaid money for states who say they need to close budget gaps.

11 Aug 2010

SMI/Omega development team receives fund to develop prototype fast multispectral endoscope

Cascade Technologies, Inc., announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary Spectral Molecular Imaging, Inc. (SMI) will receive NIH research funding through a collaboration with Omega Optical of Brattleboro, Vermont. This effort will accelerate development of a new class of medical endoscopes enhanced with proprietary multispectral imaging technology. The principal investigators on the project are Dr. Gary Carver, Director of Research at Omega Optical, and Dr. Daniel L. Farkas, Chairman and CEO of SMI.

11 Aug 2010

Trigemina reports positive results from TI-001 Phase IIa clinical trial for Chronic Daily Headache

Trigemina, Inc., a Mountain View, CA based pharmaceutical company, reports positive results from its Phase IIa proof-of-concept clinical trial for TI-001 in Chronic Daily Headache. The trial is a collaborative effort between Trigemina and Dr. Egilius Spierings of MedVadis Research Corporation located outside of Boston, and compares intranasal TI-001 with placebo in patients suffering from CDH.

11 Aug 2010

StemCells second-quarter net loss decreases to $4.61 million

StemCells, Inc., a leading stem cell company developing and commercializing novel stem cell therapeutics and tools for use in stem cell-based research and drug discovery, today reported financial results and business highlights for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010.

11 Aug 2010

Stoecker and Associates develops new software for early diagnosis of malignant melanoma

Detection of malignant melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, will soon be quicker and easier thanks to the work of researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology.The research, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health, recently received a patent titled "Automatic Detection of Critical Dermoscopy Features for Malignant Melanoma Diagnosis." The patent applies to a method for computer-aided analysis of photographs of skin lesions to detect the cancer. Melanoma can be cured if it is diagnosed early enough.

11 Aug 2010

Magnetic resonance image analysis helps assessment of prostate cancer severity

Rutgers researchers are developing methods that can accurately assess the severity of prostate cancer by analyzing magnetic resonance images and spectra of a patient's prostate gland. This may help physicians decide more confidently which patients need aggressive treatment and which are better served by "watchful waiting," and could even postpone or eliminate invasive biopsies in patients with low-grade tumors.

11 Aug 2010

Dems continue push to sell health reform's benefits, GOP pushes back

The administration has struggled to sell senior citizens on the new health law, Politico reports. Here's why: "They know little about the early benefits the law has offered but remember last year's heated town halls, replete with death panels and rationing. And anti-health-reform rhetoric is generally proving to have considerable staying power."

11 Aug 2010

iMedX acquires MedTech Transcriptions

iMedX Inc., a leading healthcare software and services company, announced today that it has acquired the assets of MedTech Transcriptions Inc., a medical transcription company serving medical clinics in Louisiana for over 15 years. With the acquisition of MedTech, iMedX extends its customer base into Louisiana. MedTech's production and customer service teams will augment iMedX's staff to continue to provide superior services to clients across the United States.

11 Aug 2010

Medical News

China Nepstar Chain Drugstore second-quarter revenue increases 5.8% to RMB565 million

Common soluble proteins become insoluble and form aggregates while aging: Study

Payment practices investigated; Texas docs team with hospitals on payment reform

AssureRx Health achieves CAP accreditation for laboratory pharmacogenetic testing services

Intellect Neurosciences receives patent for Alzheimer's disease vaccine

Medical error tab nearly $20 billion; Study says Catholic hospitals give better care

Cogent Healthcare announces new hospital medicine affiliation with Allegiance Health

Researchers identify perforant path brain passage associated with Alzheimer's disease

Insuring your health: Health law expands Medicare coverage of preventive care

Genmab reports top-line interim results from ofatumumab Phase II study in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma

Acute aortic dissection program reduces diagnosis time in AAD patients

Columbia Laboratories announces repurchase of 3.3 million common stock

House returns from recess to vote on extra Medicaid help for states

SMI/Omega development team receives fund to develop prototype fast multispectral endoscope

Trigemina reports positive results from TI-001 Phase IIa clinical trial for Chronic Daily Headache

StemCells second-quarter net loss decreases to $4.61 million

Stoecker and Associates develops new software for early diagnosis of malignant melanoma

Magnetic resonance image analysis helps assessment of prostate cancer severity

Dems continue push to sell health reform's benefits, GOP pushes back

iMedX acquires MedTech Transcriptions

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging

How cohesin mechanics and nanotracker tech are redefining DNA research

Todd Bauman and Chris Povich

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