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Are 'mini-med' plan waivers a good idea?

Kaiser Health News staff writer Andrew Villegas asks two experts with differing views whether it was a good idea for the Obama administration to grant one-year waivers to about 30 insurers, employers and union health plans to continue offering what are dubbed "mini-med" insurance plans.

11 Oct 2010

Anti-HER2 antibody-drug conjugate effective as first-line therapy for advanced breast cancer: Research

A new type of breast cancer treatment has shown encouraging activity as a first-line therapy in HER2-positive metastatic disease, researchers reported at the 35th Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) in Milan, Italy.

11 Oct 2010

Discovery can lead to new approach for treating MS in early stages

A deficiency in one of the immune system's enzymes affects the severity of autoimmune diseases such as MS, and explains why the course of these diseases can vary so much. New findings give an insight into how this enzyme deficiency can be diagnosed, and could lead to new medicines, reveals a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy.

11 Oct 2010

Cell Cure, Teva Pharmaceutical enter license option agreement for OpRegen product

BioTime, Inc., Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd., and Hadasit Bio-Holdings Ltd. jointly announced today that Cell Cure and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. have entered into an exclusive license option agreement to develop and commercialize Cell Cure's OpRegen product for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

11 Oct 2010

Opinions: Learning to live with malaria; U.S. food aid policy; foreign aid reform

Recent discoveries of a possible wild reservoir for humankind's most malignant malaria, some 130 years after the discovery of the malaria parasite, could mean that it will be impossible to eradicate malaria,Sonia Shah, the author of The Fever, How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years,observes in an International Herald Tribune opinion piece.

11 Oct 2010

Political Ads, rhetoric on health law heating up races in Alaska, Nevada, Pennsylvania

Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller said this week that his family took benefits years ago from Medicaid and a state program for low-income children and pregnant women despite his criticism of entitlement programs, The Associated Press reports.

11 Oct 2010

Meridia – weight loss pill off the shelves in US

Abbott Pharmaceuticals has announced the withdrawal of weight loss drug Meridia from shelves in the United States and urged patients to stop taking it after regulators questioned its safety. The withdrawal happened last Friday in the US. In January, Meridia sales were suspended in Europe.

10 Oct 2010

Bathing better than pethidine as pain relief during labor: Survey

According to a large survey of new mothers, a bath or a shower relieves pain in childbirth more effectively than anaesthetic gas or pethidine. The survey also found that breathing techniques, massage, hot packs and hypnotherapy were more effective than pethidine, a strong analgesic given by injection, and nitrous oxide, that is an anaesthetic gas. The survey has renewed the debate of drug overuse during child birth that could potentially harm babies.

10 Oct 2010

Some herbal remedies for anxiety disorders effective

Two herbal remedies from passion flower extract and kava have shown to be effective in alleviating anxiety say scientists. The results came from an analysis of 24 studies involving more than 2,000 participants which also showed that combinations of the amino acids L-lysine and L-arginine may be useful anxiety remedies.

10 Oct 2010

“Black Death” of the Middle ages blamed on bacteria

Black Death or plague that killed an estimated one-third of Europe's population in the Middle Ages has been ascribed to a bacteria called Yersinia pestis by anthropologists.

10 Oct 2010

Weight loss pill off shelves due to heart attack risk

Final verdict on a popular weight loss drug Reductil is to be delivered today. It is being debated whether the pill should be taken off the shelves in Australia and New Zealand. The drug Sibutramine sold as Reductil is linked to increased risk of heart attacks.

10 Oct 2010

Integra LifeSciences to feature Inforce Reinforcement Matrix at ASSH Annual Meeting

Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation announced today that it is featuring the Inforce Reinforcement Matrix at the 65th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) on October 7-9, in Boston, Massachusetts.

8 Oct 2010

Japanese MHLW approves CryoLife's BioGlue Surgical Adhesive for aortic dissections

CryoLife, Inc. an implantable biological medical device and cardiovascular tissue processing company, today announced that its BioGlue Surgical Adhesive has received Shonin approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) for use in the repair of aortic dissections.

8 Oct 2010

Tobacco consumption raises risk of death in comparison with non-smokers

Researchers from the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT) estimate that each pack of cigarettes really costs €107 for men and €75 for women, when premature death is taken into account. These figures confirm previous studies, and are of key importance in the cost-benefit analysis of smoking-prevention policies.

8 Oct 2010

Young adults continue to represent Americans without health insurance

Young adults continue to represent one of the largest groups of Americans without health insurance, with nearly 15 million people aged 19-29 uninsured in 2009-an increase of more than 1 million over 2008, according to a Commonwealth Fund report released today. However, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is poised to make a significant difference for this population, as up to 12.1 million could gain subsidized insurance once all of the law's provisions go into effect in 2014.

8 Oct 2010

UBM Medica presents virtual conference for radiologists, imaging professionals

UBM Medica presented Diagnostic Imaging LIVE, a virtual conference for radiologists and imaging professionals, on September 29, 2010.

8 Oct 2010

Fish located near coal-fired power plants can pose public health problems

A new study from North Carolina State University finds that fish located near coal-fired power plants have lower levels of mercury than fish that live much further away. The surprising finding appears to be linked to high levels of another chemical, selenium, found near such facilities, which unfortunately poses problems of its own.

8 Oct 2010

Knowledge about ecology of disease limits spread of infection

Common frog (Rana temporaria) populations across the UK are suffering dramatic population crashes due to infection from the emerging disease Ranavirus, reveals research published in the Zoological Society of London's (ZSL) journal Animal Conservation.

8 Oct 2010

Non-GMO Day to raise awareness on genetically modified organisms in food supply

On Sunday, Oct. 10, Whole Foods Market and retailers across the country will celebrate Non-GMO Day to raise consumer awareness about the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the food supply. Driven by the nonprofit Non-GMO Project, this Sunday's events are designed to send a wakeup call to consumers across the country.

8 Oct 2010

Kaiser Permanente employees calls for new election

One year and seven months ago, an absolute majority of 43,500 Kaiser Permanente employees in California presented petitions to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), asking for a vote to leave the incumbent union SEIU and form their own union, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW). When ballots were counted today, 11,364 were for NUHW, and 18,290 were for SEIU and workers are calling for a new election

8 Oct 2010