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WellPoint to begin offering 'electronic' house calls

The Indianapolis Star: "Indianapolis-based health insurance giant WellPoint unveiled a new program to give its members access to doctors and other health-care providers via the Internet. The house call would be initiated by a patient logging in for a video chat from work to describe a sore throat, or a parent at home texting about a child with poison ivy.

16 Jun 2010

New research may help unravel cellular brain activity involved in human decisions

Crayfish make surprisingly complex, cost-benefit calculations, finds a University of Maryland study, opening the door to a new line of research that may help unravel the cellular brain activity involved in human decisions.

16 Jun 2010

Cytokine PharmaSciences completes misoprostol vaginal insert Phase II study

Cytokine PharmaSciences, Inc. today announced the completion of a Phase II study of the misoprostol vaginal insert (MVI), a proprietary, controlled-release and retrievable polymer chip containing prostaglandin E(1) (PGE1). Results of the dose-finding study in pregnant women at term gestation confirm the efficacy and safety of this investigational product and suggest that the MVI may reduce time to delivery after induction, support more natural labor, and reduce the rate of cesarean delivery.

16 Jun 2010

Researchers examine rates of cancer in British white and British Indian population

British Indians have fewer cases of many different cancers including breast, prostate, colon and lung than the British white population, according to new research published in the British Journal of Cancer1 today (Wednesday).

16 Jun 2010

Aeterna Zentaris announces $12.1 million registered direct offering

Aeterna Zentaris Inc., a late-stage drug development company specialized in oncology and endocrinology, announced today that it has received commitments from institutional investors to purchase US$12.1 million of securities in a registered direct offering.

16 Jun 2010

AMA: 20 percent of medical claims paid incorrectly, wastes billions

The American Medical Association said Monday that private insurers pay 20 percent of physician claims incorrectly in its third annual 'report card' on the insurance industry, The Associated Press reports.

16 Jun 2010

Elite medical schools rate poorly on social mission

A new study ranking the social mission of medical schools puts historically black colleges on top and some Northeast private schools at the bottom.

16 Jun 2010

FDA cautions on infant overdose risk with liquid Vitamin D

The Food and Drug Administration today alerted parents and caregivers that some liquid Vitamin D supplement products are sold with droppers that could allow excessive dosing of Vitamin D to infants.

16 Jun 2010

Teva prices $2.5 billion debt offering

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited announced today that it successfully priced the offering, by its special purpose finance subsidiaries, of a debt offering in three tranches:

16 Jun 2010

Cheers, jeers for new federal rules on changes in health benefits

Kaiser Health News staff writers Phil Galewitz and Mary Agnes Carey report on the new "grandfather" rule: "Business groups gave mixed reviews Monday to new Obama administration rules limiting how much employers and insurers can change their health insurance plans - while remaining exempt from potentially costly new consumer protections.

16 Jun 2010

UIC receives $3M grant to evaluate comprehensive process for responding to patient harm events

The University of Illinois at Chicago's Institute for Patient Safety Excellence has received a $3 million grant to evaluate its comprehensive process for responding to patient harm events at nine other Chicago area hospitals.

16 Jun 2010

FDA clears Halt 2000GI Electrosurgical System for soft tissue ablation

Halt Medical, Inc., today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Halt 2000GI™ Electrosurgical System for soft tissue ablation using radiofrequency energy. "This clearance to market is a major milestone for our customers, employees and investors," said Russ DeLonzor, President and Chief Operating Officer.

16 Jun 2010

High vitamin B levels in blood reduce lung cancer risk: Study

Regular intake of Vitamin B complex can reduce the risk of getting lung cancer, researchers have found. The research paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association however emphasized that quitting smoking was the best method to reduce the risk of lung cancer. It is too early to say that vitamin supplements can actually prevent lung cancer say researchers. Lung cancer kills nearly 1.3 million people globally each year according to the World Health Organization and 10 to 15 percent of smokers develop lung cancer.

15 Jun 2010

Expected 97% accuracy in ovarian cancer detection: Study underway

Now scientists in Melbourne have found a more effective test to detect ovarian cancer and hope to commence trials soon. This new test will check for two additional biomarkers that may indicate ovarian cancer in addition to conventional tests.

15 Jun 2010

“Devastating” evidence against Dr. Jayant Patel

Dr. Jayant Patel, 60, is pleading not guilty to the manslaughter of Mervyn Morris, Gerry Kemps and James Phillips and grievous bodily harm to Ian Vowles during his time as director of surgery at the Bundaberg Base Hospital between 2003 and 2005. In new developments the Brisbane Supreme Court heard many medical specialists give evidence against Patel’s decision to operate on Mr. Phillips in May 2003 who later died.

15 Jun 2010

eHGT announces eHealth Access Indexing

eHealth Global Technologies, Inc. (eHGT) announces eHealth Access Indexing™. This latest service further simplifies the way physicians obtain clinical records using eHGT's already successful eHealth AccessTM Record Retrieval Service. Having patients' records fully indexed and organized, by date and type of report, and delivered in digital format, saves valuable staff time. This provides physicians the ability to quickly and easily access critical clinical data in minutes instead of hours.

15 Jun 2010

TYRX successfully implants AIGISRx device in 10,000 patients in the U.S.

TYRX, Inc. announced today that it has successfully implanted its AIGISRx device in 10,000 patients in the United States. The AIGISRx device is an antibacterial mesh technology that securely holds a pacemaker or implantable cardioverter defibrillator in place to create a stable environment, while delivering antimicrobial agents, rifampin and minocycline. These antimicrobial agents have been shown to reduce infections associated with medical devices in multiple randomized controlled trials.

15 Jun 2010

Biogen Idec initiates enrollment in Phase II BG-12 combination trial for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

Biogen Idec today announced enrollment of the first patient in a multicenter Phase II clinical trial designed to evaluate its investigational oral therapy BG-12 (dimethyl fumarate) in combination with commonly used first-line treatments in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).

15 Jun 2010

BIOTRONIK announces commercial availability of new ProMRI Pacing Systems

BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG, a leading manufacturer of high-quality implantable cardiac devices and pioneer of wireless remote monitoring technologies, announced today the commercial availability of its new ProMRI Pacing Systems — Evia pacemaker series and Safio pacing leads — providing European patients the first portfolio of bradycardia systems that are compatible with Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans under specific conditions.

15 Jun 2010

Epocal receives FDA marketing clearance for new lactate test on epoc Blood Analysis System

Epocal, Inc., a leading edge provider of point of care technology, announced today that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance to market its new lactate test on the epoc Blood Analysis System. Lactate measurements from the epoc System are used to evaluate acid-base status and for diagnosis and treatment of lactic acidosis (abnormally high acidity of the blood).

15 Jun 2010