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WellPoint to accept results of HITRUST CSF assessments

WellPoint, Inc., the nation's largest health insurer by medical membership, announced today it will accept the results of HITRUST Common Security Framework assessments as a way to evaluate and verify its business partners' capabilities for protecting health information.

29 May 2010

RNAi therapy shuts down gene critical to RSV, prevents virus replication

John DeVincenzo, MD, professor and researcher in the Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Sciences at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), has proven for the first time that a totally new concept in drug design can be used to treat human disease. Dr. DeVincenzo, who also serves as a children's infectious diseases specialist at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, conducted his study at the Children's Foundation Research Center, a UT Health Science Center partner located at Le Bonheur.

29 May 2010

SAMHSA study reveals daily underage drinking-related visits to hospital emergency departments increase

A new study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reveals that daily underage drinking-related visits to hospital emergency departments are 11 percent higher during the Memorial Day weekend than they are on an average day. The latest Drug Abuse Warning Network report estimates that on an average day, there are 519 hospital emergency department visits involving underage alcohol use.

29 May 2010

U.S. Bankruptcy Court approves Plan of Reorganization for GSI Group

GSI Group Inc. today announced that the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the "Court") entered an order on May 27, 2010 approving and confirming the Final Fourth Modified Joint Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization for the Company (and certain of its subsidiaries), as filed with the Court on May 24, 2010 and as supplemented on May 27, 2010, paving the way for the Company to emerge from Chapter 11 protection in the summer of 2010.

29 May 2010

Consent forms become more accurate over time, but increased length interferes with comprehension

The consent forms that people sign before participating in research are widely considered difficult to understand and sometimes inaccurate. The lack of clarity was implicated in a high-profile legal settlement in April between Arizona State University and a Native American tribe, which claimed that blood samples that its members provided for genetic research were used for purposes not stated in the consent form. Efforts have been made to improve the forms, but how effective are they?

29 May 2010

Advances in cancer care help people diagnosed with cancer survive the disease

Ed Gardella, a police officer for 31 years, thought he was pretty tough. But then the 70-year old Worcester, Mass. resident was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. "You never forget that moment, where you were that moment you were told you have cancer," said Gardella. "I never thought I was a particularly brave man, nor did I think I was a coward. I was a police officer, a chief of police, but this disease brings everyone to their knees — no one is tougher than cancer."

29 May 2010

Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science's LABCON2010 to be held in Edmonton

LABCON2010, the national congress of the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science (CSMLS), will bring together laboratory professionals from across the country. The conference will be held in Edmonton, AB from May 28 - June 1, 2010 at the Mayfield Inn & Suites.

29 May 2010

Senate passes supplemental spending bill that includes Haiti relief, recovery funding

The Senate has passed a nearly $60 billion supplemental spending bill that includes funding for Haiti relief and recovery from the January 12 earthquake, Roll Call reports (Brady, 5/27). The total amount included in the bill for Haiti is $2.8 billion dollars, Agence France-Presse reports (5/28).

29 May 2010

Surveys find increased awareness about tobacco marketing among young women in Bangladesh, Thailand, Uruguay

"With half of all men in some developing countries already hooked on cigarettes, the tobacco industry is now courting lucrative new customers - young women," according to a report published Thursday in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the Associated Press/Los Angeles Times reports.

29 May 2010

Advances in women's health, practice of obstetrics and gynaecology to be discussed at SOGC

The 66th Annual Clinical Meeting of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. Leading international and Canadian experts will meet to discuss the latest knowledge and advances in women's health and in the practice of obstetrics and gynaecology.

29 May 2010

Study demonstrates protection against Ebola infection in nonhuman primates using RNAi

Scientists using tiny particles of genetic material to interfere in the replication process of the deadly Ebola virus have successfully prevented monkeys exposed to that virus from dying of hemorrhagic fever. The proof-of-concept study, published in this week's issue of The Lancet, suggests that such protection also should be possible in humans.

29 May 2010

ICA hosts forum to improve quality of healthcare and lives of people with IC

The Interstitial Cystitis Association is hosting a forum and interactive webcast on Saturday, June 5, 2010 at the Hutton Hotel in Nashville. The event, "Finding Better Relief: Working with an IC Healthcare Team", gives interstitial cystitis patients the opportunity to learn about innovative treatment approaches from top IC doctors.

29 May 2010

Local charities invited to apply for $100,000 grant through Humana Communities Benefit

Local charities are being invited to apply for a $100,000 grant through Humana Communities Benefit, an award program sponsored by health benefits company Humana Inc.

29 May 2010

Preimplantation Factor essential for pregnancy to succeed: Study

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine and their colleagues at the Society for the Investigation of Early Pregnancy have helped clarify the function of a unique protein called Preimplantation Factor, which is produced by healthy embryos to direct embryo attachment and help the mother adapt to pregnancy.

29 May 2010

Developing countries must have food production capacity to avoid food price crisis, U.S. official says

Factors that resulted in higher food prices in several countries in 2008, such as food scarcity and the use of land for biofuels, are still present and could cause prices to rise again without food production improvements in developing countries, Ertharin Cousin, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. food agencies in Rome, said in an interview with Reuters.

29 May 2010

State roundup: Employees' insurance rates, a hospital merger, Florida and Mass. public health issues

Today's roundup of state news includes changes in insurance rates for Kansas state employees, problems with EMT certification in Massachusetts and a hospital merger in the Washington D.C. area.

29 May 2010

Patients with stage IIIA NSCLC who receive lobectomy have increased overall survival: Research

There's debate about the best treatment approach for patients with certain stages of non-small cell lung cancer, which accounts for about 80 percent of all lung cancers. Patients with early stages of NSCLC are typically treated with surgery, but those with stage IIIA present more of a challenge because they are such a diverse group.

29 May 2010

HSV-1 may cause cognitive deficits: Study

Exposure to the common virus that causes cold sores may be partially responsible for shrinking regions of the brain and the loss of concentration skills, memory, coordinated movement and dexterity widely seen in patients with schizophrenia, according to research led by Johns Hopkins scientists.

29 May 2010

Bioheart to establish two Centers of Excellence to provide cell therapy procedures for patients with CHF, PAD

Bioheart, Inc., announced today plans for establishing two Centers of Excellence in the Middle East to provide its cell therapy procedures to patients suffering from congestive heart failure and peripheral arterial disease. Dr. Karl E. Groth, Chairman and CEO, and Peggy A. Farley, Chief Operating and Financial Officer, are now in that region holding discussions and performing site inspections.

29 May 2010

AMS issued U.S. patent covering surgical methodology for implanting AdVance Male Sling

American Medical Systems, a leading provider of world-class devices and therapies for both male and female pelvic health, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent Number 7,686,760 covering the surgical methodology for implanting the AMS AdVance® Male Sling. This patent provides AMS with broad patent coverage on transobturator surgical procedures to treat male incontinence.

29 May 2010

Medical News

WellPoint to accept results of HITRUST CSF assessments

RNAi therapy shuts down gene critical to RSV, prevents virus replication

SAMHSA study reveals daily underage drinking-related visits to hospital emergency departments increase

U.S. Bankruptcy Court approves Plan of Reorganization for GSI Group

Consent forms become more accurate over time, but increased length interferes with comprehension

Advances in cancer care help people diagnosed with cancer survive the disease

Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science's LABCON2010 to be held in Edmonton

Senate passes supplemental spending bill that includes Haiti relief, recovery funding

Surveys find increased awareness about tobacco marketing among young women in Bangladesh, Thailand, Uruguay

Advances in women's health, practice of obstetrics and gynaecology to be discussed at SOGC

Study demonstrates protection against Ebola infection in nonhuman primates using RNAi

ICA hosts forum to improve quality of healthcare and lives of people with IC

Local charities invited to apply for $100,000 grant through Humana Communities Benefit

Preimplantation Factor essential for pregnancy to succeed: Study

Developing countries must have food production capacity to avoid food price crisis, U.S. official says

State roundup: Employees' insurance rates, a hospital merger, Florida and Mass. public health issues

Patients with stage IIIA NSCLC who receive lobectomy have increased overall survival: Research

HSV-1 may cause cognitive deficits: Study

Bioheart to establish two Centers of Excellence to provide cell therapy procedures for patients with CHF, PAD

AMS issued U.S. patent covering surgical methodology for implanting AdVance Male Sling

Modular, Scalable, Intelligent: How n6 Is Rethinking NGS Library Prep

Evolving spectrophotometry for modern biopharma workflows

Scaling B-cell cloning workflows for antibody development

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