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Number of new active TB cases increases from 2007 to 2008, WHO says

The WHO's Stop TB Department released data on Thursday at the 40th Union World Conference on Lung Health indicating that the number of new active TB cases worldwide rose from 9.27 million in 2007 to 9.4 million in 2008, Reuters reports. Experts, who were gathered for the conference in Cancun, Mexico, "called for more research funding to develop better diagnostic tests, vaccines and drugs for tuberculosis, which killed 1.8 million people around the world last year," according to the news service.

4 Dec 2009

Janssen-Cilag submits MAA to the European Medicines Agency for paliperidone palmitate

Elan Drug Technologies, a business unit of Elan Corporation, plc announced that Janssen-Cilag has submitted a Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) to the European Medicines Agency for paliperidone palmitate for the treatment of Schizophrenia.

4 Dec 2009

Joint Commission's Accreditation for Shared Imaging

Shared Imaging, LLC, an independent provider of CT, MRI and PET/CT systems and service programs for hospitals and healthcare providers, is excited to announce it has received The Joint Commission's Accreditation for Ambulatory Health Care, a nationally-recognized, prestigious gold seal of approval for quality and safety in patient care.

4 Dec 2009

BMS amends and extends MJN common stock exchange offer

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Mead Johnson Nutrition Company today announced that Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (“BMS”) has amended and extended its offer to exchange up to 170.0 million shares of common stock of Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (“MJN”) for outstanding shares of BMS common stock that are validly tendered and not validly withdrawn at an exchange ratio determined by a formula described in a registration statement filed by MJN on Form S-4 (Reg No. 333-163126).

4 Dec 2009

FDA approves Zyprexa in tablet form for schizophrenia and manic treatment

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved Zyprexa® (olanzapine) in tablet form as an option for the treatment of schizophrenia and manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder in adolescents aged 13-17 years old.

4 Dec 2009

Too early to declare end of H1N1 pandemic, WHO says

Though there are signs the H1N1 (swine flu) has peaked in the U.S. and Canada, a WHO flu expert said Thursday it is too early to declare the pandemic over, Canadian Press reports.

4 Dec 2009

Rituximab drug may reduce long-term complications of type 1 diabetes

New findings by UT Southwestern researchers suggest that a drug already used to treat autoimmune disorders might also help slow the destruction of insulin-producing cells in patients recently diagnosed with insulin-dependent (type 1) diabetes.

4 Dec 2009

Application for regulatory approval of apixaban in Europe to be submitted

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Pfizer today announced that the companies are planning to submit an application for regulatory approval of apixaban in Europe for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after orthopedic surgery in the first half of 2010.

4 Dec 2009

Measles deaths decline worldwide by 78%, experts warn against complacency

Measles deaths fell from 733,000 in 2000 to 164,000 in 2008 - 78 percent - thanks, in part, to increased vaccination efforts that reached an estimated 700 million children, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S.-based Measles Initiative, Reuters reports.

4 Dec 2009

Foreign Policy examines 'philanthrocapitalism' trend

Foreign Policy examines "a revolutionary idea for how to remake charity in the 21st century [that] is taking off: philanthrocapitalism." The magazine writes: "Unlike their colleagues in government bureaucracies and tried-and-true NGOs, the philanthrocapitalists are a nimble, business-minded stock."

4 Dec 2009

Amber Pharmacy receives ACHC accreditation

Amber Pharmacy announced today that it received accreditation by the Accreditation Commission for Health Care, Inc. (ACHC) for specialized pharmacy services.

4 Dec 2009

ACAMP hosts health and medical seminar

Today ACAMP hosted a health & medical seminar, explaining how technologies like nanotechnology, biomaterials and microfluidics can play a powerful role in the creation of innovative healthcare products that help promote health and improve the quality, cost and outcomes of patient care, while opening new markets for Alberta companies worldwide.

4 Dec 2009

SQI Diagnostics closes brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $6,594,786

SQI Diagnostics Inc. (TSX-V: SQD), a medical systems company focused on evolving laboratory-based biomarker testing, today announced that it closed its previously announced, brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") for gross proceeds of $6,594,786.

4 Dec 2009

First patient treated in Carticept Medical's Cartiva SCI study

Carticept Medical, Inc., a developer of innovative products for the treatment of cartilage injuries and osteoarthritis, today announced that the first patient has been treated in an international, multi-center study of the Company's Cartiva Synthetic Cartilage Implant (SCI). The study aims to determine the effectiveness of Cartiva SCI in comparison to arthrodesis (joint fusion), the current standard of care, for reducing the debilitating pain associated with osteoarthritis of the first metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint.

4 Dec 2009

New York Times examines HIV testing program in China

The New York Times examines an HIV prevention program in China aimed at promoting blood screening that has led "more than 110,000 people" to be tested so far: "On any given night, in 14 cities around the country, hundreds of people flock to makeshift blood collection centers in bars, bathhouses and apartments where workers test for syphilis and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS."

4 Dec 2009

Thermography, an ideal screening tool for breast cancer

Thermographic Diagnostic Imaging (TDI), part of a Health & Wellness Center in Marlton, New Jersey continues to provide superior quality infrared imaging of the breast, neuromuscular system, thyroid, dental, TMJ and sinus regions to assist in the early diagnosis of problems associated with these areas.

4 Dec 2009

Doubling of global investments in family planning, birth control could cut maternal, newborn deaths, report says

By doubling investments in family planning and birth control, developing countries could nearly halve newborn deaths and reduce maternal deaths by 70 percent, a new report said Thursday, Reuters reports.

4 Dec 2009

Recent releases in Global Health

Ahead of the U.N. Climate Change conference in Copenhagen next week, a Lancet comment examines the health consequences associated with climate change and the case for linking climate and health goals. "The issue now is not whether climate change is occurring, but how we can respond most effectively. ... Responding to climate change is not a distraction from the business of protecting health: it is part of the same agenda," the author writes (Chan, 12/5).

4 Dec 2009

Study shows smiles and scowls provide cues for gender identification

"Why is it that men can be bastards and women must wear pearls and smile?" wrote author Lynn Hecht Schafran. The answer, according to an article in the Journal of Vision, may lie in our interpretation of facial expressions.

4 Dec 2009

Senators offer cost-constainment amendment; Senate continues to discuss abortion, public option

The Associated Press: "Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, along with Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., unveiled a package of amendments Friday that would reward Medicare patients for picking efficient doctors, require insurance companies to make public more information about claims denials and speed up programs shifting from paying providers for services to paying them for performance

4 Dec 2009