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Sebelius: Medicare Advantage cuts won't hurt plans

Will the health law curb private Medicare insurance plans, known as Medicare Advantage, or won't it? Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told reporters Monday that it won't, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. "Ms. Sebelius said the decision by a large Massachusetts insurer to leave the Medicare Advantage market is not a harbinger of the program's decline.

6 Oct 2010

Medtronic launches new KYPHON Express Curette for scraping or scoring bone in the spine

Medtronic Inc. today announced the launch of the new KYPHON® Express™ Curette for scraping or scoring bone in the spine, including during treatment of vertebral compression fractures with minimally invasive KYPHON® Balloon Kyphoplasty.

6 Oct 2010

Researchers find exposure to air pollution increases severity of asthma symptoms

Exposure to dirty air is linked to decreased function of a gene that appears to increase the severity of asthma in children, according to a joint study by researchers at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley.

6 Oct 2010

Cancer cells utilize energy-rich intermediates of sugar metabolism: Research

Cancer research is facing a radical change of direction. Cancer cells do not obtain their energy from the breakdown of sugar to carbon dioxide and water, but from energy-rich intermediates of sugar metabolism instead.

6 Oct 2010

Today's OpEds: ACOs, Health care honesty and the sanctity of health insurance

This year, some workers might see a new acronym in the alphabet soup of HMOs and PPOs. This one is called ACO, and it might be just the thing our health care system needs (Dr. Paul Grundy, 10/5).

6 Oct 2010

Researchers develop new method to assess stress vulnerability

An impressive body of knowledge has linked stress to illness vulnerability. Yet stress is inextricably linked to everyday life. A group of researchers of the University of Bologna headed by Prof. Giovanni Fava has developed a new method for assessing it that is described in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

6 Oct 2010

Novel invasive surgery for children with scoliosis may eliminate need for spinal fusion

A novel minimally invasive surgery for young children living with a difficult-to-treat progressive form of scoliosis, known as juvenile idiopathic scoliosis, may eliminate the need for spinal fusion later in adolescence, according to new research by surgeons from Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Mo. The study was presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco.

6 Oct 2010

Weight loss success linked to amount of sleep: Study

A new study released Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that sleeping may help one to lose fat. The study compared two groups of people who were trying to lose weight. One group was assigned to sleep 5.5 hours each night for two weeks, while the other was able to sleep 8.5 hours. The scientists found that the sleep deprived people had higher levels of ghrelin. It may be this hormone that drives appetite that leads to excess eating, believe researchers.

6 Oct 2010

Altravax receives two SBIR grants for antibody-inducing vaccines research on HIV-1

Altravax, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded two SBIR grants totaling $1.2 million from the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for research on antibody-inducing vaccines for HIV-1.

6 Oct 2010

New approach method could simplify study and treatment of human diseases

Therapeutic antibodies can be an efficient alternative when common drugs do not work anymore. However, antibodies obtained from blood of animals such as mice could not be used: The human immune system recognizes them as foreign and rejects them.

6 Oct 2010

Lixte, NCI collaborate for clinical evaluation of LB-100 compound

Lixte Biotechnology Holdings announced today that the National Cancer Institute Experimental Therapeutics (NExT) Program Senior Advisory Committee (SAC), Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), signed a NExT Material Transfer Agreement formalizing a collaboration with Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc. for clinical evaluation of LB-100, one of Lixte's lead anti-cancer compounds.

6 Oct 2010

Knome announces winners of KnomeDISCOVERY Awards

Knome, Inc. today announced the winners of its inaugural KnomeDISCOVERY Awards, a program designed to spur new genetic insights into health.

6 Oct 2010

Isogenica, NovaBiotics to accelerate the development of peptide anti-infective technology

Isogenica Ltd, today announced that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with NovaBiotics, a leading clinical-stage biotechnology company to fast-track the development of NovaBiotic's platform peptide anti-infective technology.

6 Oct 2010

CPR without mouth to mouth works: Study

According to a new study people who suffered cardiac arrest and received chest compressions from bystanders had higher survival rates than those given standard resuscitation that included mouth-to-mouth breathing.

5 Oct 2010

Hygiene ‘scores on doors’ idea not wanted by SA restaurants

As an independent MP ‘eggs’ on the procedure to come down tough on eateries’ health standards across South Australia (SA), restaurants feel it is futile effort. Bob Such conducted research which found that 712 food outlets had been warned or fined for health breaches so far this year. As per current SA regulations, councils are prevented from highlighting offending outlets unless they have been convicted. Dr. Such feels differently.

5 Oct 2010

Religion fading in the eyes of Gen Y: Study

A new study by the Church of England including people born after 1982 shows that religion in its traditional form is largely irrelevant to the young Briton. Results show that less than one in five young people believes in a God “who created the world and hears my prayers”. Most adolescents were more likely to believe in the “nicer” parts of religious doctrine than the devil and punishment.

5 Oct 2010

Administaff extends arrangement for medical and dental coverage with UnitedHealthcare

Administaff, Inc., a leading provider of human resources services for small and medium-sized businesses, today announced that it has extended its arrangement for medical and dental coverage with UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group company. This new, three-year arrangement reflects the company's success in moderating the rate of health care cost increases on behalf of its covered worksite employees, as well as a further strengthening of its business relationship with UnitedHealthcare.

5 Oct 2010

CCHIT certifies Allscripts Professional EHR Version 9.2

Allscripts announced today that Allscripts Professional™ EHR, Version 9.2 is 2011/2012 compliant and was certified as a Complete EHR on Sept. 30, 2010 by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), an Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB), in accordance with the applicable eligible provider certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

5 Oct 2010

Walgreens September sales increases 5.3% to $5.64 billion

Walgreens had September sales of $5.64 billion, an increase of 5.3 percent from $5.36 billion for the same month in fiscal 2010. Duane Reade stores, acquired in April 2010, contributed 2.8 percentage points to the total sales increase for the month.

5 Oct 2010

Apricus Bio raises over $9.3 million in securities offering

Apricus Biosciences, backed by a revenue generating CRO business and seeking to leverage its multi-route NexACT® drug delivery technology and internal pipeline through out-licensing partnerships, today announced that the Company has closed its previously announced securities offering, raising over $9.3 million in gross proceeds. Apricus Bio intends to use the proceeds from this offering for product and technology development and general corporate purposes. Dawson James Securities acted as the exclusive placement agent for the offering.

5 Oct 2010