Medical News

RSS

GHI won't compromise PEPFAR, Global AIDS Coordinator says at House Foreign Affairs' Committee hearing

During a House Committee on Foreign Affairs' hearing on the future of PEPFAR Wednesday, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby assured lawmakers that the decision by President Barack Obama to make PEPFAR part of the president's Global Health Initiative (GHI) would not compromise "the widely praised plan," CQ HealthBeat reports.

1 Oct 2010

UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center wins $11.5M grant for pancreatic cancer research

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, in collaboration with the University of Minnesota, has won an $11.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to explore groundbreaking pancreatic cancer research, prevention and treatment.

1 Oct 2010

North Shore-LIJ Health System granted approval to extend cardiac surgery program to Southside Hospital

The New York State Hospital Review and Planning Council today approved North Shore-LIJ Health System's request to extend its open-heart surgery program to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, bringing one of New York's most renowned cardiothoracic surgery programs to Suffolk County's south shore. The council's action will be forwarded to State Health Commissioner Richard Daines, MD, for final approval.

1 Oct 2010

Neb. insurer launches pilot program to cut costs, improve health; W.Va. Medicaid official defends no-bid contract

Lincoln Journal Star: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, the state's largest health insurer, is establishing a new pilot program that seeks to give doctors better patient information so that they can deal more effectively with patients' needs and help lower costs. The pilot will use a web-based program that officials hope can take disparate medical records and produce "tailored patient checklists" that doctors can use.

1 Oct 2010

Achillion initiates ACH-1625 Phase II dosing for HCV infection

Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the discovery and development of small molecule drugs to combat the most challenging infectious diseases, today announced that the Company has initiated patient dosing in a Phase II clinical trial of ACH-1625 for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. ACH-1625 is a potent small molecule inhibitor of HCV protease, an enzyme necessary for viral replication. The drug candidate was discovered and is being advanced by Achillion.

1 Oct 2010

FDA takes action against unapproved single-ingredient oral colchicine

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration took action against companies that manufacture, distribute, and/or market unapproved single-ingredient oral colchicine, a medication commonly used for the daily prevention of gout, to treat acute gout flare-ups, and for the treatment of Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF).

1 Oct 2010

House passes health bill for 9/11 workers, grandfathering resolution fails in Senate

The Hill's Healthwatch Blog: The House Wednesday approved a bill to cover the health care costs for emergency workers who responded to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. "The tally was 268 to 160, with 17 Republicans supporting the measure and three Democrats voting against it. … House passage followed months of contentious debate over whether the federal government has an obligation to pay emergency workers sickened by the smoke, debris and toxic fumes caused by the attacks of 9/11.

1 Oct 2010

Hundreds of experts including Nobel laureates say Medicare's bidding system for durable medical equipment will fail

Medicare's bidding program for durable medical equipment will fail, say 166 leading experts on auctions and competitive bidding systems.

1 Oct 2010

McDonald’s says reform law provision threatens employee health coverage

The Wall Street Journal: "McDonald's Corp. has warned federal regulators that it could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers unless regulators waive a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul. The move is one of the clearest indications that new rules may disrupt workers' health plans as the law ripples through the real world.

1 Oct 2010

HHS announces grants for teen pregnancy prevention programs

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today that $155 million in teen pregnancy prevention grants are being awarded to states, non-profit organizations, school districts, universities, and others.

1 Oct 2010

DMC recommends continuation of enrollment in Celsion's Phase III ThermoDox HEAT study for primary liver cancer

Celsion Corporation, a leading oncology drug development company, announced that after reviewing data from 401 patients enrolled in its pivotal Phase III ThermoDox ® clinical study (the HEAT study) for primary liver cancer, the Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) has unanimously recommended that the trial continue to enroll patients with the goal of reaching the 600 patients required to complete the study.

1 Oct 2010

Researchers study gene interactions for personalized drug prescriptions

The University of Alaska Fairbanks will study how the genetics and diet of Yup'ik Eskimos affect the blood-thinning properties of a common drug used by heart and stroke patients.

1 Oct 2010

Health law's boost for ACOs gains momentum but faces possible legal hurdles

News outlets report on possible obstacles to the formation of accountable care organizations - hospitals and physicians working together to improve the quality of patient care while controlling costs.

1 Oct 2010

NIH funds $1.5M for research into prediction of stroke risk in pediatric patients with sickle cell disease

A researcher from the biomedical engineering department operated by Georgia Tech and Emory University has received a $1.5 million NIH Director's New Innovator Award to support a project aimed at reducing the incidence of stroke in children with sickle cell disease. Manu Platt, an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, will use the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding to develop models for identifying which children with the disease are at risk for stroke.

1 Oct 2010

HHS announces $473 million grant to help people make effective healthcare decisions

HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality today announced the award of $473 million in grants and contracts to support projects that will help people make health care decisions based on the best evidence of effectiveness. The funding announced today covers all of AHRQ's allocation and $173 million administered for the HHS Secretary by AHRQ.

1 Oct 2010

New RF detection device may help eliminate retained surgical sponges in patients after surgical procedure

Using the same technology found in clothing tags used in retail store tracking systems, a study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows that surgical sponges with implanted radio frequency (RF) tags may be an effective adjunct to manual counting and X-ray detection in preventing sponges from being left behind in patients following a surgical procedure.

1 Oct 2010

Study finds benefits of mammograms for women in their 40s, sparking disagreement

The New York Times: "Researchers reported Wednesday that mammograms can cut the breast cancer death rate by 26 percent for women in their 40s. But their results were greeted with skepticism by some experts who say they may have overestimated the benefit.

1 Oct 2010

Experts to discuss impact of health information technology on pediatric practice

David Blumenthal, MD, will discuss the impact of health information technology on pediatric practice during a "Pediatrics for the 21st Century" symposium at 1 p.m. PT Friday, Oct. 1, as part of the National Conference and Exhibition of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in San Francisco.

1 Oct 2010

Antiretroviral therapy does not reduce risk of HIV transmission

For married couples in which one partner is HIV-positive and the other is HIV-negative, antiretroviral therapy (ART) does not reduce the risk of transmitting HIV to the uninfected partner, according to a study from China in the October issue of JAIDS: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

1 Oct 2010

Medicare now required check for fraud before paying claims

The Miami Herald: "The behemoth Medicare bureaucracy will have to act more like a credit card company in flagging suspicious bills under a new federal law that could save taxpayers billions of dollars a year in wasteful government healthcare spending.

1 Oct 2010

Medical News

GHI won't compromise PEPFAR, Global AIDS Coordinator says at House Foreign Affairs' Committee hearing

UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center wins $11.5M grant for pancreatic cancer research

North Shore-LIJ Health System granted approval to extend cardiac surgery program to Southside Hospital

Neb. insurer launches pilot program to cut costs, improve health; W.Va. Medicaid official defends no-bid contract

Achillion initiates ACH-1625 Phase II dosing for HCV infection

FDA takes action against unapproved single-ingredient oral colchicine

House passes health bill for 9/11 workers, grandfathering resolution fails in Senate

Hundreds of experts including Nobel laureates say Medicare's bidding system for durable medical equipment will fail

McDonald’s says reform law provision threatens employee health coverage

HHS announces grants for teen pregnancy prevention programs

DMC recommends continuation of enrollment in Celsion's Phase III ThermoDox HEAT study for primary liver cancer

Researchers study gene interactions for personalized drug prescriptions

Health law's boost for ACOs gains momentum but faces possible legal hurdles

NIH funds $1.5M for research into prediction of stroke risk in pediatric patients with sickle cell disease

HHS announces $473 million grant to help people make effective healthcare decisions

New RF detection device may help eliminate retained surgical sponges in patients after surgical procedure

Study finds benefits of mammograms for women in their 40s, sparking disagreement

Experts to discuss impact of health information technology on pediatric practice

Antiretroviral therapy does not reduce risk of HIV transmission

Medicare now required check for fraud before paying claims

Exploring the nanoscale: How AFM is transforming cosmetic science

Innovating Texture and Culture in Plant-Based Foods

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

Latest News