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HHS announces grants to implement and evaluate patient safety approaches, medical liability reforms

The Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality today announced grants to support efforts by States and health systems to implement and evaluate patient safety approaches and medical liability reforms. The demonstration and planning grants are part of the patient safety and medical liability initiative that President Obama announced during a September 9, 2009 address to a joint session of Congress.

11 Jun 2010

DRIVE4COPD initiative aims to raise awareness of COPD

In just four months since its launch, DRIVE4COPD has already encouraged more than 100,000 people to be screened to see if they may be at risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The country's newest health initiative that aims to raise awareness of COPD in the hopes that people will talk to their doctor and get diagnosed instead of suffering in silence. Currently, half of the estimated 24 million Americans who may have COPD remain undiagnosed and untreated, and most are not diagnosed until they have lost half their lung function.

11 Jun 2010

Dems to seniors: The Medicare checks are in the mail

The Obama administration began mailing $250 checks Thursday to seniors who hit the Medicare prescription drug doughnut hole - a notorious gap in coverage - as part of the health overhaul, The Columbus Dispatch reports. "The tax-free, one-time rebate is the first tangible benefit of the new health-care law and the initial step toward phasing out the coverage gap for Medicare recipients with Part D drug coverage and who do not qualify for additional assistance" (Candisky, 6/11).

11 Jun 2010

Accident Fund Insurance wins ACORD Most Compelling Case Study Award

Accident Fund Insurance Company of America, a leading national workers compensation insurance company, was recently honored at the annual ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, NV. Accident Fund won a Most Compelling Case Study Award in the Property, Casualty & Surety Market category.

11 Jun 2010

White blood cells with receptors for both virus and nerve proteins may assault nerves after fighting infection

A virus infection can incite the body to attack its own nerve tissue by activating unusual, disease-fighting cells with receptors for both viral and nerve proteins. The dual-receptor observation suggests a way brain and spinal cord nerve damage might be triggered in susceptible young adults afflicted with multiple sclerosis.

11 Jun 2010

States keep watch over insurers rate hikes, solvency as overhaul sets roots

Massachusetts officials are imposing stricter oversight on insurers they say are financially unstable after refusing to allow them to increase premium rates, The Boston Globe reports.

11 Jun 2010

FDA grants orphan drug designation for ICT-107

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation for ICT-107, the company's dendritic cell-based cancer vaccine candidate which targets glioblastoma multiforme. As a result of the orphan drug status, ImmunoCellular will be eligible to receive a number of benefits, including access to grant funding for clinical trials, tax credits, accelerated FDA approval and allowance for marketing exclusivity after drug approval for a period of up to seven years.

11 Jun 2010

Phase II study results of riociguat for CTEPH and PAH published online

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the study "Riociguat for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary arterial hypertension: a phase II study" was published online this week by the European Respiratory Journal. Results of this study to assess the safety, tolerability and the feasibility of individual dose titration of riociguat were previously presented at the 2009 International Conference of the American Thoracic Society.

11 Jun 2010

Castlight Health raises $60M in Series C funding

Castlight Health, the first company to empower consumers with information to effectively navigate the health care system, today announced that it has raised $60 million in Series C funding. The round included new investors Morgan Stanley Investment Management, The Wellcome Trust, U.S. Venture Partners, and Cleveland Clinic, as well as existing investors Maverick Capital, Oak Investment Partners and Venrock.

11 Jun 2010

Senate continues consideration of 'tax extenders,' Democrats push for COBRA subsidy

CongressDaily: The Senate is continuing work on a $140 billion package of tax breaks that includes some unemployment benefits and a temporary fix of the payments to Medicare physicians. "Final passage is not expected until next week on what is likely to be a partisan vote. But there are areas of agreement across the aisle.

11 Jun 2010

Ambulatory Surgery Center industry responds to infection control concerns raised in JAMA

As leading organizations representing the Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) industry, we wish to address concerns raised in this month's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) highlighting data from a 2008 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) pilot study. The industry underscores its strong commitment to patient safety and its nationwide efforts to provide high-quality, patient-centered care at a low cost to the health care system.

11 Jun 2010

Thousands of Minnesota nurses strike for one day

More than 12,000 nurses launched a one-day strike Thursday at 14 Minnesota hospitals in a dispute over nurse-patient ratios levels and pension benefits. Nurses say they are being asked to care for too many patients at a time, and strict ratios are necessary to protect patient safety. The hospitals, all in the Minneapolis area, counter that patients are safe and that the walkout is a headline-grabbing stunt to build membership and clout for a national nurses union.

11 Jun 2010

PRA International to host interactive round-table sessions on drug development, lifecycle management

PRA International, a leading Clinical Research Organization, will host five interactive round-table sessions on drug development and lifecycle management at the Drug Information Association's annual meeting in Washington, D.C. 13-17 June 2010.

11 Jun 2010

Gulf cleanup volunteers are putting themselves at risk of long-term health effects

With more oil from the BP spill in the Gulf washing ashore, regional communities will have a huge job of cleaning up after this vast environmental disaster. As kind-hearted volunteers participate in the effort to save both wildlife and the local environment, they will be putting themselves at risk of long-term health effects.

11 Jun 2010

Boston Scientific announces event schedule at 17th Cardiostim World Congress

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced the schedule of the Company's key events and sponsored research at the 17th Cardiostim World Congress, June 16 – 19 in Nice, France.

11 Jun 2010

Phase 2b RESTORE-CLI clinical trial in patients with CLI reaches statistical significance

Richard J. Powell, M.D., section chief of vascular surgery at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH and a principal investigator of the U.S. Phase 2b RESTORE-CLI clinical trial sponsored by Aastrom Biosciences, will present the full results from the interim analysis at today's session of the annual meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery.

11 Jun 2010

Researchers demonstrate efficacy of routine psychotherapeutic treatment for depression

Depression is one of the most common forms of psychiatric disorder. It can occur at any time of life and it may affect children and adolescents as well as the elderly. However, depression can usually be suitably managed with the help of cognitive behavioral therapy. Researchers based at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have been able to demonstrate both the efficacy and the extent of the beneficial effect of routine psychotherapeutic treatment for depression.

11 Jun 2010

Waismann Method survey: 88% of individuals taken prescription painkillers for chronic pain relief

According to a recent survey conducted by the Waismann Method of opiate detoxification, doctors prescribing medication for the treatment of chronic pain were found to be the leading source of prescription painkiller use. Approximately 88 percent of all respondents stated they began taking prescription painkillers for chronic pain relief, with an astounding 70 percent of these individuals believing that they experience the same or a greater amount of pain than when originally prescribed painkillers.

11 Jun 2010

Excess Re introduces unlimited annual maximums on stop-loss policies

Excess Reinsurance Underwriters Agency, Inc. (Excess Re), a stop-loss managing general underwriter and wholly-owned subsidiary of National Financial Partners Corp., a provider of benefits, insurance and investment services, announced today that it is introducing unlimited annual maximums on its stop-loss policies.

11 Jun 2010

PharmaTrust to demonstrate MedCenter technology at Annual Healthcare Conference

PharmaTrust has been invited to participate in the Private Company forum of the Goldman Sachs 31st Annual Healthcare Conference in Los Angeles, June 14th to 17th. The company will demonstrate its revolutionary Healthcare…Everywhere MedCenter which will connect conference 'patients' in Los Angeles to PharmaTrust pharmacists in Toronto.

11 Jun 2010

Medical News

HHS announces grants to implement and evaluate patient safety approaches, medical liability reforms

DRIVE4COPD initiative aims to raise awareness of COPD

Dems to seniors: The Medicare checks are in the mail

Accident Fund Insurance wins ACORD Most Compelling Case Study Award

White blood cells with receptors for both virus and nerve proteins may assault nerves after fighting infection

States keep watch over insurers rate hikes, solvency as overhaul sets roots

FDA grants orphan drug designation for ICT-107

Phase II study results of riociguat for CTEPH and PAH published online

Castlight Health raises $60M in Series C funding

Senate continues consideration of 'tax extenders,' Democrats push for COBRA subsidy

Ambulatory Surgery Center industry responds to infection control concerns raised in JAMA

Thousands of Minnesota nurses strike for one day

PRA International to host interactive round-table sessions on drug development, lifecycle management

Gulf cleanup volunteers are putting themselves at risk of long-term health effects

Boston Scientific announces event schedule at 17th Cardiostim World Congress

Phase 2b RESTORE-CLI clinical trial in patients with CLI reaches statistical significance

Researchers demonstrate efficacy of routine psychotherapeutic treatment for depression

Waismann Method survey: 88% of individuals taken prescription painkillers for chronic pain relief

Excess Re introduces unlimited annual maximums on stop-loss policies

PharmaTrust to demonstrate MedCenter technology at Annual Healthcare Conference

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