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Senate Democrats hang hopes for state Medicaid money on Maine Republican votes

On Wednesday morning, the Senate took up a state aid package, which includes Medicaid assistance. What follows are summaries of the news coverage in advance of a vote scheduled to begin at 10:40 a.m.

5 Aug 2010

West Michigan Business Review names DCC as 2010 Michigan Innovator

Dynamic Computer Corporation was named a 2010 Michigan Innovator by the West Michigan Business Review on July 28th for their Hand-Hygiene Compliant solution using Radio Frequency Identification. This HHC solution was developed in an effort to reduce the number of healthcare-associated infections that the US healthcare industry is pained with annually.

5 Aug 2010

Certain proteins, genes play key role in regenerating lost body parts: Research

Another option may be on the horizon for patients who lose limbs due to war, accident, or disease. Instead of using artificial legs or arms, patients actually may regrow their own missing limbs. An article in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS' weekly newsmagazine, focuses on research efforts to turn the long-standing dream of human limb regeneration into reality.

5 Aug 2010

Amputation can be prevented when patients are treated by podiatric physicians: Study

Amputation, one of the most devastating and costly consequences of diabetes, can be prevented when patients are treated by podiatric physicians. That's the finding of a national, large-scale study co-authored by Dr. James Wrobel, DPM, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.

5 Aug 2010

Harden Healthcare acquires Voyager HospiceCare, combined company to provide healthcare services in 13 states

Harden Healthcare announced today the purchase of Voyager HospiceCare. Headquartered in Austin, the combined company will provide healthcare services in 13 states and will employ approximately 32,000 full-time and part-time associates in nearly 200 locations.

5 Aug 2010

Alnylam second-quarter revenues increase to $26.6 million

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, today reported its consolidated financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010, and company highlights.

5 Aug 2010

Shire proposes acquisition of Movetis for fully diluted equity purchase price of EUR428 million

Shire plc, the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announces that a Luxembourg incorporated wholly-owned subsidiary of Shire plc will launch a voluntary public takeover offer for all the shares in Movetis NV, the Belgium-based European specialty gastrointestinal (GI) company. Movetis is listed on Euronext and focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing innovative treatments for GI conditions with a high unmet medical need.

5 Aug 2010

Injecting PAP may reduce chronic pain: Research

A study published in the Aug. 4, 2010 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience introduces an enzyme that could pack a big punch in the battle against chronic pain. Its name is prostatic acid phosphatase or PAP for short. According to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, PAP blocks pain in animal models by siphoning off a molecule called PIP2—a critical component of the chemical cascade behind chronic pain.

5 Aug 2010

Missouri voters reject health reform law's 'individual mandate' to buy insurance

"Missouri law now contains a direct challenge to the federal health care law passed earlier this year. Primary voters approved Proposition C by a wide margin Tuesday. ... The measure is intended to invalidate in Missouri a key element of the federal health care law passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama in March. That law requires individuals to purchase health insurance beginning in 2014."

5 Aug 2010

Pakistan floods prompt food shortages, devastate farmland

Pakistanis in the northwest part of the country face "life-threatening shortages" of food after flooding has killed 1,400 and "devastated the lives of more than three million people," Reuters reports. World Food Programme spokesman Amjad Jamal said, "People have lost their food stocks. The markets are not up and running. Shops have collapsed. People are definitely in the greatest need of food" (Ali, 8/4).

5 Aug 2010

Affymax reports second-quarter net income of $17.3M against loss last year

Affymax, Inc. today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010. Net income for the second quarter of 2010 was $17.3 million compared to a net loss of $22.1 million for the second quarter of 2009. The company received milestone payments of $30.0 million from Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited for database lock of the Hematide/peginesatide Phase 3 clinical trials.

5 Aug 2010

ECRI Institute and Silverchair relaunch AHRQ's updated NGC, NQMC Web sites

ECRI Institute, an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, and its technology subcontractor, Silverchair, today announce the relaunch of two key healthcare Web sites they have developed for the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The National Guideline Clearinghouse™ (NGC™), www.guideline.gov, and the National Quality Measures Clearinghouse™ (NQMC™), www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov, now feature updated design elements, enhanced search functionality, and easier access to all content.

5 Aug 2010

HGC publishes guidelines to protect people using DIY genetic tests

A set of guidelines has been published to protect people using DIY genetic tests for inherited diseases, such as certain types of breast cancer.The guidelines have been drawn up by the Human Genetics Commission (HGC), which hopes to provide the public with greater confidence in genetic testing kits.Companies - many of which are based in the US - have started to sell DIY testing kits over the internet, providing users with an estimate of their risk of inheriting diseases.

5 Aug 2010

New assist system for the operating theatre

With the new Trimano 3D support arm, Maquet, the workflow specialists, are able to further expand their already extensive product portfolio in the field of assist systems and OR accessories. The assist system is deployed as a “third hand” for the surgeon, in orthopaedics and traumatology. It has been specially developed for operations to the shoulder and upper arm area.

5 Aug 2010

Optimer second-quarter net loss decreases to $10.4 million

Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010. Optimer reported a net loss for the second quarter of 2010 of $10.4 million, or $0.27 per share, which was in line with the Company's expectations. This compares to a net loss for the second quarter of 2009 of $12.4 million, or $0.37 per share. The decrease in net loss was primarily due to lower research and development expenses offset by an increase in general and administrative expenses.

5 Aug 2010

Scientists identify tiny RNA molecule that increases blood stem cells

Investigators have identified a new mechanism that controls the number of hematopoietic stem cells - cells that give rise to all blood and immune system cells. In a report in the online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute identify a tiny RNA molecule that increases the number of these blood stem cells, an advance that may improve treatment of blood system cancers.

5 Aug 2010

Study says quality not hurt when nurse anesthetists work without doc guidance

A new study published Tuesday in Health Affairs suggests that nurse anesthetists' quality of work is not lower when they aren't supervised by a doctor, The Wall Street Journal Health Blog reports. "The background for this is that Medicare won't reimburse for anesthesia services unless a physician is supervising what's going on.

5 Aug 2010

Life Technologies launches AutoMate Express Forensic DNA Extraction System

Life Technologies Corporation today announced the commercial availability of the Applied Biosystems AutoMate Express™ Forensic DNA Extraction System, which is designed to streamline sample preparation and improve downstream DNA profile quality. The system, designed and validated as part of the complete Applied Biosystems human identification workflow to provide optimal efficiency and data quality, has already been adopted by all 48 government forensic laboratories in Japan.

5 Aug 2010

Lux Biosciences receives CRL for Voclosporin

Isotechnika Pharma Inc. today announced that their partner, Lux Biosciences, Inc., has received a Complete Response letter (CRL) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding their New Drug Application (NDA) for voclosporin. Lux's NDA, filed in February 2010, seeks approval for voclosporin in the treatment of non-infectious uveitis involving the intermediate or posterior segments of the eye.

5 Aug 2010

ImmunoGen fourth-quarter 2010 net loss increases to $13.4 million

ImmunoGen, Inc., a biotechnology company that develops targeted anticancer products using its antibody expertise and Targeted Antibody Payload (TAP) technology, today announced financial results for the three-month period and fiscal year ended June 30, 2010.

5 Aug 2010