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Medicare fraud round-up: N.D. beneficiaries getting illegal phone calls, doctor indicted in Ohio

The Bismarck Tribune reports on a new scheme "asking seniors to pay up for not having Part D coverage. The scammers have been calling beneficiaries saying they owe a penalty for not having the Part D prescription drug coverage and that they need to pay the fine right away, said a release from the office of the Insurance Commissioner" (1/20).

21 Jan 2010

Brown: Mass. voters shouldn't have to pay for national health reform

The Washington Post: "While many are describing the election to fill the late Edward M. Kennedy's Senate seat as a referendum on national health-care reform, the Republican candidate rode to victory on a message more nuanced than flat-out resistance to universal health coverage: Massachusetts residents, he said, already had insurance and should not have to pay for it elsewhere." The Post notes that Scott Brown "voted for the state's health-care legislation, which was signed by then-Gov. Mitt Romney (R)" and has "not disavowed his support for the state's law."

21 Jan 2010

Trustmark Mutual Holding to acquire HealthFitness for over $96M

Trustmark Mutual Holding Company and Health Fitness Corporation today announced a definitive merger agreement, pursuant to which Trustmark will acquire HealthFitness, an award-winning provider of integrated health and fitness management services, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $97 million.

21 Jan 2010

News outlets focus on Pelosi, Nelson, Grassley, Harkin, Snowe and McCaskill

News outlets report on some of the major players in the health care debate, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., Iowa Sens. Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

21 Jan 2010

Democrats consider scaling back health reform package

ABC News interviewed President Barack Obama, who said: "The Senate certainly shouldn't try to jam anything through until Scott Brown is seated. People in Massachusetts spoke. He's got to be part of that process. ... I think point number two is that it is very important to look at the substance of this package and for the American people to understand that a lot of the fear mongering around this bill isn't true. I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements of the package that people agree on" (Stephanopoulos, 1/20).

21 Jan 2010

Today's selection of opinions and editorials

For now it appears that Washington's polarizing ways, and public anxiety about change, have again left Americans with the most expensive, least reliable health care system in the developed world. No matter who you are, that's hardly cause to celebrate (1/21).

21 Jan 2010

Stem Cell Assurance, MDwerks announce financing and marketing partnership

Stem Cell Assurance, Inc. and MDwerks, Inc. announced today a financing and marketing partnership today wherein MDwerks, through it's Xeni Finance subsidiary, has provided the first tranche of financing to Stem Cell for the purchase of various medical devices from Cytori Therapeutics, Inc.

21 Jan 2010

World’s first Cs-131 implant for colorectal cancer performed at Weill Cornell Medical Center

IsoRay, Inc., announced today that on October 10, 2009, Dr. Bhupesh Parashar, Dr. A Gabriella Wernicke and Dr. KS Clifford Chao from the Department of Radiation Oncology, and Dr. Jeffery Milsom from the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, at Weill Cornell Medical Center performed the world’s first Cesium-131(Cs-131) implant for the treatment of colorectal cancer.

21 Jan 2010

Depomed receives second $500,000 milestone payment from Covidien

Depomed, Inc. announced today that it has received a second $500,000 milestone payment under its worldwide license agreement with Covidien focusing on the exclusive development of four acetaminophen/opioid analgesic combination products utilizing Depomed’s Acuform® gastric retentive drug delivery technology. The most recent payment from Covidien, which was received in December 2009, relates to the development of a formulation for the second product candidate under the collaboration.

21 Jan 2010

ResCare chooses GuardianEdge to assist in HIPAA compliance

GuardianEdge, the leader in endpoint data protection, today announced that ResCare, one of the nation's leading providers of services to people with disabilities and the elderly, has selected GuardianEdge to secure the company's more than 6,000 endpoint devices and to assist in Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance. To ensure that sensitive patient data is secure, ResCare has deployed GuardianEdge Hard Disk Encryption, GuardianEdge Removable Storage Encryption and GuardianEdge Device Control.

21 Jan 2010

MDRNA to receive European patent for its intranasal insulin formulation

MDRNA, Inc., a leading RNAi-based drug discovery and development company, today announced that the European Patent Office intends to grant a patent for application EP06826368 covering formulations for the intranasal delivery of rapid acting insulin, and its use for the treatment of diabetes.

21 Jan 2010

CPRIT awards the first $61M in grants for cancer research

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) awarded on January 20th the first $61 million in grants for cancer research projects at academic institutions and private companies throughout Texas. These are the inaugural grants of the $3 billion to be invested in cancer research in Texas over the next ten years.

21 Jan 2010

Phase Forward releases Empirica Signal version 7.2 signal detection and management software

Phase Forward, a leading provider of data solutions for clinical trials and drug safety, today announced the availability of version 7.2 of its Empirica™ Signal product, a significant new release of the company’s flagship signal detection and management software. The Empirica Signal solution is a state-of-the-art data mining and knowledge management tool and a cornerstone component of Phase Forward’s Empirica Suite of pharmacovigilance and risk management products.

21 Jan 2010

Ipsen and Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals form strategic partnership

Celtic Pharmaceutical Holdings L.P. ("Celtic Pharma") today announced the formation of a strategic partnership between Ipsen and Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals ("Inspiration") to create a world leading hemophilia franchise, an important milestone for the Celtic Pharma portfolio.

21 Jan 2010

Symbollon Pharmaceuticals to launch IoGen women's breast health dietary supplement in February

Symbollon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced today that the retail launch of IoGen™, its dietary supplement for women's breast health, will commence in February. IoGen™ is the first dietary supplement formulated to promote breast health for women. Initially, the Company plans to market IoGen™ through its own retail web site, which is currently being developed by Atech Solutions.

21 Jan 2010

Amgen announces results of two Phase 3 studies evaluating Vectibix for mCRC

Amgen today announced that detailed results from two pivotal Phase 3 studies evaluating Vectibix® (panitumumab) in combination with chemotherapy for the first and second-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) (the PRIME '203' and '181' trials, respectively) will be presented at the 2010 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in Orlando, Florida from Jan. 22-24, 2010.

21 Jan 2010

Rules for patient data security remain widely unenforced

"As the federal government prepares to spend up to $27 billion in stimulus funds to promote electronic medical records, a health technology industry survey suggests that a number of hospitals, health clinics, and insurance firms are violating federal security rules on patient data and putting sensitive health information at risk," The Center for Public Integrity reports.

21 Jan 2010

Genomic Health announces global commercial availability of its Oncotype DX colon cancer test

Genomic Health, Inc. today announced worldwide commercial availability of its Oncotype DX® colon cancer test, the first multigene expression test developed for the assessment of risk of recurrence in patients with stage II disease. The 12-gene advanced diagnostic test is clinically validated to predict individual recurrence risk in stage II colon cancer patients following surgery, as reported at the 2009 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting.

21 Jan 2010

China Pharma Holdings announces completion of clinical trials for Candesartan

China Pharma Holdings, Inc., which develops, manufactures, and markets specialty pharmaceutical products in China, today announced that the Company has completed clinical trials for Candesartan, an anti-hypertension drug, and submitted the generic drug production application to the SFDA.

21 Jan 2010

Health IT news: Grassley queries hospitals, Microsoft's CEO sees need to boost tech for doctors, hospitals

Modern Healthcare: "Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has sent a letter asking 31 hospitals to report on their relationships with healthcare IT vendors, focusing on errors caused by IT systems and on so-called 'gag order or non-disclosure clauses' in vendor contracts that might prohibit the hospitals from disclosing information about system flaws." Grassley made a similar request to the IT vendors themselves last fall, and said his new letter was prompted by concern about taxpayers' investment in health IT as part of the economic stimulus (Conn, 1/20).

21 Jan 2010