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Employers: Health insurance coverage to remain, but costs may rise

Business Insurance reports that, in the wake of health reform, 88 percent of employers "responding to a Towers Watson & Co. survey said they definitely or likely will continue providing coverage to employees. Just 3% said they are likely to drop coverage and instead pay the annual $2,000-per-full-time-employee penalty that starts in 2014.

27 May 2010

New study may lead to better outcomes for kids born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome

A trial on shunts used to direct blood flow to the lungs, led by researchers at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, will lead to better outcomes for kids worldwide born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, the most common severe heart birth defect.

27 May 2010

Impulse Monitoring signs agreement to provide Tufts Medical Center IONM services

Impulse Monitoring, Inc. (IMI), a leading provider of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) services to hospitals, today announced that it has signed an agreement with Tufts Medical Center, Boston to provide comprehensive IONM services, including real-time physician oversight.

27 May 2010

FDA, Drugs.com collaborate to expand online distribution of Agency's consumer health information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that it will collaborate with the Web site Drugs.com to expand access to the FDA's consumer health information.

27 May 2010

Demand rises for graduates of health information technology programs

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the Atlanta Technical College is expanding its health information technology program because demand for graduates is expected to grow by 20 percent through 2018.

27 May 2010

Bacteria may play wider role in people predisposed to obesity: Researchers

Bacteria may play more of a role in people predisposed to obesity than previously thought, according to studies presented today by University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers at the 110th general meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego.

27 May 2010

ZIOPHARM proposes underwritten public offering of common stock

ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. today announced that it is offering to sell shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. Jefferies & Company, Inc. is acting as the sole book-running manager for this offering. The co-manager for this offering is JMP Securities LLC. The offering is subject to market conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the offering.

27 May 2010

Stimulus package leaves states limited options to cut Medicaid

News outlets report on the limited options states can employ to reduce Medicaid costs, including cutting adult dental care.

27 May 2010

Restanza shows greater efficacy against species of Plasmodium that cause malaria

Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of novel drugs in the therapeutic areas of infection, oncology and respiratory diseases, today announced positive results from in vitro and in vivo studies assessing the efficacy of Restanza (cethromycin), its novel oral antibiotic, against the species of Plasmodium that cause malaria.

27 May 2010

Logical Therapeutics closes $16.9 million Series C equity financing round

Logical Therapeutics, Inc., a private, clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today it had closed on a $16.9 million Series C equity financing. The round was led by existing investor SV Life Sciences, and included Burrill & Company, Novo A/S and Novitas Capital.

27 May 2010

OpEds: Missouri vote on insurance mandate, Sacramento's 'rabbit hole,' Venter on synthetic cells

A group of organizations with self-funded insurance plans is putting pressure on Southern Nevada's hospitals to improve care. The Health Services Coalition wants better quality and is asking for ideas on how it could provide incentives for good care (5/26).

27 May 2010

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