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WHO provides medicines, related health supplies to flood-affected areas in Pakistan

The worst floods on record in Pakistan are placing the health of hundreds of thousands of people at risk, with a high threat of waterborne disease outbreaks and immense damage to health facilities. WHO is coordinating the response of health partners and supporting Pakistani authorities by sending medicines and related health supplies capable of treating more than 200 000 people to the affected areas in the northwestern region of the country.

4 Aug 2010

Prairie dog study holds significant implications for understanding spread of infectious diseases

Prairie dogs, once abundant in the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains, have been decimated in recent decades by plague - a virulent bacterial disease spread by fleas.Plague outbreaks periodically sweep through large prairie dog towns with thousands of inhabitants, killing virtually the entire population within months. Other prairie dogs move in and build a new colony, which eventually is wiped out when the disease returns.

4 Aug 2010

Carfilzomib could become new option for patients with relapsed myeloma, IMF says

The International Myeloma Foundation, the oldest and largest foundation dedicated to improving the life and care of myeloma patients, today said promising data suggest a new drug called carfilzomib could become an important new option for patients whose myeloma stops responding to other therapies.

4 Aug 2010

Senate vote on Medicaid help for states delayed because of cost underestimate

Senate Democrats Monday delayed a scheduled vote on a provision to aid states and local governments after the Congressional Budget Office said the bill would increase spending. The CBO analysis further complicates efforts to extend enhanced federal Medicaid funding to states.

4 Aug 2010

Researchers identify TACI; MyD88 activates immune system against infection

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found a new mechanism that explains how certain immune cells are activated to create protective antibodies against infections or pathological antibodies such as those present in autoimmune diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. The research is published online in the September issue of Nature Immunology.

4 Aug 2010

Neoprobe commences process for listing on NYSE: AMEX stock exchange

Neoprobe Corporation, a diversified developer of innovative oncology surgical and diagnostic products, announced today it has initiated the application process for listing on the NYSE: AMEX stock exchange.

4 Aug 2010

Study shows link between fructose and pancreatic cancer proliferation

Pancreatic cancers use the sugar fructose, very common in the Western diet, to activate a key cellular pathway that drives cell division, helping the cancer to grow more quickly, a study by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found.

4 Aug 2010

Siteman Cancer Center to test radiotherapy system from ViewRay

Researchers at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, a national leader in the early adoption and use of advanced treatments for cancer patients, will soon become the first in the world to test an innovative radiotherapy system from ViewRay, Inc. The ViewRay system is designed to improve the accuracy of cancer treatments through a combination of medical imaging and radiotherapy delivery.

4 Aug 2010

Merck-Chimie to commercialize CardioGenics' proprietary paramagnetic beads

CardioGenics Holdings Inc., developer of the ultra-sensitive QL Care™ Point-Of-Care (POC) analyzer and products for the immunoassay segment of the In-Vitro Diagnostics market, announced that CardioGenics Inc. and Merck Chimie S.A.S. have agreed on a plan to commercialize CardioGenics' proprietary paramagnetic beads, with shipments to Merck-Chimie's customers scheduled to start mid-September 2010.

4 Aug 2010

Study shows oral contraceptive use increases risk of breast cancer in African American women

Investigators from the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University School of Medicine have reported that African American women who use oral contraceptives have a greater likelihood of developing breast cancer than nonusers. The study results, recently published on-line in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, were based on data from the Black Women's Health Study, a large follow-up study of 59,000 African American women from across the U.S. conducted by investigators at the Slone Epidemiology Center since 1995.

4 Aug 2010

Powered by Medicare Advantage, Humana profits jump 21% in second quarter

The Louisville, Ky., health insurer both "increased its Medicare Advantage membership," "benefited from patients' recent lower demand for health-care services" and also "sought to get out in front of an anticipated effect of the federal health-care overhaul, taking a charge related to new requirements for its medical-loss ratio," in attaining 21 percent profits, The Wall Street Journal reports.

4 Aug 2010

Proton therapy to treat patient’s tumor without compromising quality of life

The radiation oncologist's mantra is to deliver the maximum dose of radiation to the malignant tumor, while limiting damage to healthy surrounding tissue. In proton therapy, this balance is achieved by using proton particles, accelerated to nearly the speed of light, to mimic the shape of a tumor and effectively deposit their energy within the confines of it with sub-millimeter precision.

4 Aug 2010

Senate Dems circulate new version of proposal to extend enhanced federal Medicaid payments

Tuesday morning, the Republican Policy Committee sent a memo "to staffers highlighting the major changes in the Senate bill that extends enhanced federal Medicaid funding to states for six months." On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tabled an earlier version of this measure after "it received a bad score from the Congressional Budget Office.

4 Aug 2010

Periodontal disease may increase risk of cognitive dysfunction: Researchers

NYU dental researchers have found the first long-term evidence that periodontal (gum) disease may increase the risk of cognitive dysfunction associated with Alzheimer's disease in healthy individuals as well as in those who already are cognitively impaired.

4 Aug 2010

Victory Pharma acquires assets of MiddleBrook Pharmaceuticals

Victory Pharma, Inc. today announced that it has completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of MiddleBrook Pharmaceuticals, Inc..

4 Aug 2010

Scientists discover single-chain protein to destroy GBM cancer cells

A major breakthrough in how to target and destroy the most malignant and aggressive brain cancer cells has been made by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.Scientists have identified a way to target and destroy Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cells without harming healthy cells.

4 Aug 2010

National Research acquires OCS through stock purchase agreement

National Research Corporation today announced it has acquired, via stock purchase agreement, Outcome Concept Systems, Inc., a privately-held healthcare informatics firm, in an all-cash transaction.

4 Aug 2010

Masimo second-quarter product revenue increases 25.6% to $88.0 million

Masimo Corporation, today announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2010.

4 Aug 2010

Mass. towns find savings in municipal-based health insurance plans; Conn. hospitals' earnings improve; Free dental clinic in Virginia

"Fourteen cities and towns that have moved their employees, retirees, and elected officials from their own municipal-based health care insurance plans into the state's much larger, more flexible system collectively saved more than $30 million their first year in the program, according to a new report. … The study relies on self-reported fiscal data on the communities' first year in the Group Insurance Commission, the state health care program, which covers some 300,000 state employees, retirees, and elected officials" (Murphy, 8/3).

4 Aug 2010

MMIC Group expands insurance services to long term care providers

Medical professional liability insurance specialist MMIC Group has expanded its insurance services to the growing population of long term care providers.

4 Aug 2010