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Feds crack down on health care fraud in California, Florida

The Sacramento Bee reports: "Three Sacramento-area residents are among 11 people, including five doctors, accused of participating in a Medicare fraud ring. ... From February 2006 through August 2008, the defendants are alleged to have operated three health-care clinics -- in Sacramento, Carmichael and Richmond -- that submitted more than $5 million in allegedly fraudulent claims to Medicare" (Locke, 5/25).

27 May 2010

Kensey Nash granted FDA 510(k) clearance for Meso BioMatrix ECM product

Kensey Nash Corporation, a leading medical technology company that provides innovative resorbable biomaterial technology for a wide range of medical procedures, today announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its second extracellular matrix (ECM) product, the Meso BioMatrix™ product.

27 May 2010

More on Queensland Nurses pay bungle

The Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) is bristled and protesting against the fact that even 12 weeks after the Queensland health staff pay bungle, nothing has been done to fix the problem.

27 May 2010

Sen. McConnell blasts Medicare brochure touting health overhaul

Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, is blasting the Obama administration for using flyers to tout the new health law to seniors, The Hill reports. "McConnell took offense to the flyers for saying the new law will 'preserve and strengthen' Medicare. And he pointed out that the Department of Health and Human Services lambasted private Medicare Advantage plans when they used similar communications to their members to raise concerns with the health reform law before it was passed" (Pecquet, 5/25).

27 May 2010

FDA accepts Horizon Pharma's DUEXA NDA for review

Horizon Pharma, Inc., a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative medicines for pain-related diseases and inflammation, today announced that its New Drug Application (NDA) for DUEXA®, a proprietary tablet formulation containing a fixed-dose combination of ibuprofen and high-dose famotidine, was accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for review.

27 May 2010

Experimental Hendra virus treatment offered to mother and daughter

After recent reports of a horse being put down for being infected with the deadly Hendra virus, new reports of an experimental treatment have surfaced. At Queensland's Sunshine Coast a mother and daughter duo, Rebecca Day and her 12 year old girl Mollie, who had been exposed to the virus, have been offered the experimental treatment.

27 May 2010

Important milestone in development of ORMD-0801 published in DOM journal

Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc., a developer of alternative drug delivery systems, announced today that the paper entitled, "Open-label study to assess the safety and pharmacodynamics of five oral insulin formulations in healthy subjects," authored by Dr. Roy Eldor, Dr. Miriam Kidron and Dr. Ehud Arbit, was accepted and published in the Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism journal.

26 May 2010

Abbott's TREK Coronary Dilatation Catheter receives European approval

Abbott today announced the European approval and launch of its TREK™ Coronary Dilatation Catheter for the treatment of coronary artery disease. The TREK system represents a new approach to balloon catheter design, and provides physicians with a high-performing option for treating challenging lesions and difficult-to-reach blockages. Abbott received CE Mark for the TREK system earlier this year.

26 May 2010

Cardiovascular Systems initiates enrollment in ORBIT II IDE clinical trial of Diamondback 360 System

Cardiovascular Systems, Inc., announces the first patient enrollment in its ORBIT II Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of its Diamondback 360® System in treating coronary arteries. The patient was treated by Dr. P.K. Khanna, an interventional cardiologist with Eisenhower Medical Center in Palm Springs, Calif. Dr. Khanna also treated patients in the 2008 ORBIT I coronary study of 50 patients in India.

26 May 2010

Synovis Life Technologies' second-quarter 2010 net revenue up 19%

Synovis Life Technologies, Inc., today reported record revenue for the second quarter ended April 30, 2010.

26 May 2010

Anadys Pharmaceuticals to raise $12.5 million through registered direct offering

Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has entered into definitive agreements with certain institutional investors to raise approximately $12.5 million in gross proceeds in a "registered direct" offering through the sale of a total of 5,813,954 shares of its common stock at an offering price of $2.15 per share. Anadys estimates that net proceeds from the offering will be approximately $11.3 million, after deducting placement agents' fees and estimated offering expenses.

26 May 2010

Investment banker with Brachial Plexus Palsy climbs all Seven Summits

Paul Fejtek has successfully achieved his goal of being the first person with Brachial Plexus Palsy to climb all Seven Summits (the highest mountain on each continent). With wife Denise by his side, Paul reached the earth's highest peak and paused for a moment to take it all in. "Standing on the summit of Mt. Everest was truly amazing," he said. "It was the experience of a lifetime."

26 May 2010

Study looks at firearm-related mortality among children and adolescents in the U.S.

Children in the U.S. are just as likely to die from gunshot wounds if they live in the largest cities or the smallest towns. However, teens living in the most urban counties are more likely to die from gun violence, while children in the most remote areas of the country are more likely to die in gun-related accidents or suicides, according to new research by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

26 May 2010

Lymphoma Foundation Canada applauds Ontario government's decision to publicly fund Rituxan for CLL

Lymphoma Foundation Canada (LFC) applauds Ontario's recent decision to publicly fund Rituxan (rituximab) in combination with Fludarabine-based chemotherapy for patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

26 May 2010

Research findings offer possible applications in diagnosis and treatment of patients with atherosclerosis

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine have shown that use of magnetic resonance imaging in an animal model can non-invasively identify dangerous plaques. The findings, which appear in the May issue of Circulation Cardiovascular Imaging, offer possible applications in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with atherosclerosis.

26 May 2010

St. Jude Medical to evaluate cost-effectiveness of FFR for multivessel coronary artery disease

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, announced today at EuroPCR it will evaluate the incremental cost-effectiveness of Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR)-guided treatment for patients with multivessel coronary artery disease in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Canada. The analysis will also determine FFR's potential health and budget impact for each of the seven countries.

26 May 2010

New book summarizes current state of research on NF-κB

NF-κB is a critical signaling molecule in the immune system that regulates cell survival and cell death, lymphocyte responses, and inflammation. Acting as a transcription factor that can receive several inputs, it coordinates distinct gene expression programs in response to a wide variety of stimuli.

26 May 2010

TASE approves new listing of PROLOR Biotech's common stock

PROLOR Biotech, Inc.,, a company developing next generation biobetter therapeutic proteins, today announced that the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) has approved the new listing of PROLOR's common stock on the TASE beginning on Thursday, May 27, 2010. At that time, the company's common stock will be listed on both the NYSE Amex in the United States and the TASE in Israel.

26 May 2010

EMEND indication helps women prevent CINV

More women fighting cancers such as breast, lung, colorectal and ovarian can now help prevent the nausea and vomiting associated with their treatment of moderately emetogenic (vomit-inducing) cancer chemotherapy. Although new treatment entities have been developed in the past 10 years for control of chemically-induced nausea and vomiting, CINV remains a significant problem in the context of current practice.

26 May 2010

CTRC starts enrolment in Phase 2 combination trial of REOLYSIN and gemcitabine for advanced pancreatic cancer

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. announced today that the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio (CTRC) has started patient enrolment in a U.S. Phase 2 clinical trial using intravenous administration of REOLYSIN(R) in combination with gemcitabine (Gemzar(R)) in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. The Principal Investigator is Dr. Monica Mita of the CTRC.

26 May 2010