Medical News

RSS

Report on current state of research in information security and privacy in healthcare

Information security and privacy in the healthcare sector is an issue of growing importance but much remains to be done to address the various issues raised by healthcare consumers regarding privacy and security and the providers' perspective of regulatory compliance.

17 Jul 2010

Montana hospitals to get increased Medicare payments; Federal funding for New Orleans health clinics is expiring

"Come this fall, several of Montana's hospitals will start benefitting financially from an obscure provision in the federal health reform bill that ups Medicare payments in 'frontier states.' It's worth up to $4.5 million a year for some of Montana's largest hospitals, which for years have been getting paid less for Medicare-covered patients than hospitals in urban areas. Hospitals in Billings, Missoula and Kalispell are the big beneficiaries. While the money may not seem like much in Montana's multibillion-dollar health industry, it's certainly helpful, hospital executives say — and it's part of the bill's overall effort to improve what many believe is an imperfect system of paying for health care" (Dennison, 7/15).

17 Jul 2010

Lorillard calls upon FDA TPSAC to employ dispassionate science in evaluation of menthol in cigarettes

With the words of Food and Drug Commissioner Margaret Hamburg on the screen beside him, a Lorillard Tobacco Company scientist today called upon the FDA's Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) to employ a "truly science-based, data-driven" process in its evaluation of menthol in cigarettes. Earlier this week Hamburg made headlines when she told an FDA science panel to "Follow the science wherever it leads and the rest will fall into place."

17 Jul 2010

People needing non-emergent care can now turn to walk-in centers

For many, summer time means cook-outs, family hikes, and trips to the beach. However, while the good weather brings an increase in outdoor activities, for some it can also mean a trip to the local emergency room.

17 Jul 2010

Cetuximab recommended for colorectal cancer tumors without mutation in KRAS gene

In a report published in the July 2010 issue of the American Society for Clinical Oncology Post, new recommendations on the use of the drug cetuximab have been issued after officials halted enrollment in a phase III clinical trial in patients with spread of colon cancer into regional lymph nodes whose tumors had been surgically removed.

17 Jul 2010

Patient advocacy groups, home medical associations call for end to Medicare competitive bidding program

In a letter signed by 58 patient advocacy groups and home medical equipment associations, the American Association for Homecare urged Congress to pass H.R. 3790, a bill to repeal the Medicare competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment in a budget-neutral manner. The bill currently has 252 cosponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives.

17 Jul 2010

New Jersey District Court denies Teva's motion to overturn jury verdict in generic Protonix litigation

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey denied Teva's motion to overturn an April 23, 2010, jury verdict finding the patent in suit not invalid. The Court also denied Wyeth and Nycomed's request for FDA to reset the date of Teva's final approval to January 2011, based on the fact that Teva has patent defenses remaining at the District Court, including patent misuse.

17 Jul 2010

GOP wants to know if Supreme Court nominee Kagan would recuse herself from health reform case

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee want more information on if Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan would recuse herself from considering a health reform case because of her involvement with the Obama administration.

17 Jul 2010

CCTP focuses on identifying, testing drugs for cancer stem cell treatment

Cancer and stem cell biology researchers at the University of Colorado are launching the nation's first program focused on identifying and testing drugs that target and destroy cells thought to be at the root of cancer-cancer stem cells (CSCs).The Cancer Stem Cell-Directed Clinical Trials Program (CCTP) is a collaboration between the University of Colorado Cancer Center and the Charles C. Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology, both located at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

17 Jul 2010

Maxygen's option and licensing arrangement with Cangene expires

Maxygen, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development of improved protein drugs, today announced that its option and licensing arrangement with Cangene Corporation has expired. Under the agreement, Maxygen had granted Cangene an option to obtain an exclusive license to Maxygen's proprietary MAXY-G34 protein therapeutic for use in treating acute radiation syndrome.

17 Jul 2010

Medicaid directors worried over expansion, Indiana's says federal government is not giving enough guidance

The new health law calls for dramatic increase in Medicaid programs, the joint federal-state health coverage for low-income residents. Some state Medicaid directors say they are worried about how that expansion will work and some are complaining that they are not getting enough guidance from federal officials.

17 Jul 2010

DOJ-HHS Medicare Fraud Strike Force charges 94 people for $251 million in false claims

Ninety-four people have been charged for their alleged participation in schemes to collectively submit more than $251 million in false claims to the Medicare program in the continuing operation of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in Miami; Baton Rouge, La.; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Detroit and Houston, announced Attorney General Eric Holder, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General of HHS.

17 Jul 2010

AMPK may regulate epigenetic mechanism: Research

AMP-activated protein kinase, or AMPK, is a master regulator protein of metabolism that is conserved from yeast to humans. When a cell is low on fuel, AMPK shuts down processes that use energy and turns on processes that produce energy.Biologists have been studying how AMPK works for several decades and know that once it is activated, AMPK turns on a large number of genes by passing the "make more energy" message through numerous signaling cascades in the cell. What was not known, until now, was that AMPK also works via an epigenetic mechanism to slow down or stop cell growth.

17 Jul 2010

New Hampshire launches accountable care pilot ahead of schedule

Five separate groups of New Hampshire hospitals and other health care providers are forming "accountable care organizations" as part of a pilot program intended to keep patients healthy and costs down, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. The program "attempts to tackle what many consider to be a big problem in the current system: having accountability spread across hospitals, doctors' offices, insurance carriers and employers with no one group responsible for the overall management of care."

17 Jul 2010

New microfluidic device for effective HIV diagnosis

UC Davis biomedical engineer Prof. Alexander Revzin has developed a "lab on a chip" device for HIV testing. Revzin's microfluidic device uses antibodies to "capture" white blood cells called T cells that are affected by HIV. In addition to physically binding these cells the test detects the types and levels of inflammatory proteins (cytokines) released by the cells.

17 Jul 2010

JANA Partners sends detailed critique of Charles River's revised investor presentation on WuXi acquisition

JANA Partners LLC today sent Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. a detailed critique of Charles River's revised investor presentation released earlier this week, in which Charles River once again seeks to persuade shareholders of the merits of its proposed acquisition of WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc..

17 Jul 2010

BioRadar develops TransFMDV for Foot and Mouth Disease

BioRadar UK Ltd. predicted one year ago the current severe Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreaks after recording an increase of the Replikin Count (ref. 1) of the FMD Virus (FMDV) to its highest level in 52 years. Based on these findings, a new synthetic Replikins Trans-Strain FMD Vaccine, called TransFMDV(TM), has been developed and is now available. The announcement was made at the recent Biorbis Conference on Vaccine Production and Manufacturing in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The conference was attended by major pharmaceutical company executives to examine how vaccine production could be accelerated in view of the problem last year of responding "too little, too late" to the H1N1 influenza pandemic.

17 Jul 2010

InformedDNA named finalist for Best Practices in Health Care Consumer Empowerment and Protection Awards

Informed Medical Decisions, Inc. (InformedDNA) has been selected as one of 30 finalists for the Best Practices in Health Care Consumer Empowerment and Protection Awards. URAC, the nation's leading accreditation organization, will honor the finalists during their 11th Annual Quality Summit, October 5-7, 2010 in Chicago, IL.

17 Jul 2010

Roper's Senior Subordinated Convertible Notes due 2034 to accrue contingent interest

Roper Industries, Inc. announced today that its Senior Subordinated Convertible Notes due 2034 will accrue contingent interest for the period of July 16, 2010 to January 15, 2011 at an annual rate of 0.25% of the average market price of the Notes for the five trading days ended July 13, 2010.

17 Jul 2010

Proton therapy treatment for anal canal cancer performed for first time in US

The INTEGRIS Cancer Institute of Oklahoma and the ProCure Proton Therapy Center announce a breakthrough treatment approach for anal canal cancer. For the first time in the United States proton therapy is now being used to treat this type of cancer.

17 Jul 2010

Medical News

Report on current state of research in information security and privacy in healthcare

Montana hospitals to get increased Medicare payments; Federal funding for New Orleans health clinics is expiring

Lorillard calls upon FDA TPSAC to employ dispassionate science in evaluation of menthol in cigarettes

People needing non-emergent care can now turn to walk-in centers

Cetuximab recommended for colorectal cancer tumors without mutation in KRAS gene

Patient advocacy groups, home medical associations call for end to Medicare competitive bidding program

New Jersey District Court denies Teva's motion to overturn jury verdict in generic Protonix litigation

GOP wants to know if Supreme Court nominee Kagan would recuse herself from health reform case

CCTP focuses on identifying, testing drugs for cancer stem cell treatment

Maxygen's option and licensing arrangement with Cangene expires

Medicaid directors worried over expansion, Indiana's says federal government is not giving enough guidance

DOJ-HHS Medicare Fraud Strike Force charges 94 people for $251 million in false claims

AMPK may regulate epigenetic mechanism: Research

New Hampshire launches accountable care pilot ahead of schedule

New microfluidic device for effective HIV diagnosis

JANA Partners sends detailed critique of Charles River's revised investor presentation on WuXi acquisition

BioRadar develops TransFMDV for Foot and Mouth Disease

InformedDNA named finalist for Best Practices in Health Care Consumer Empowerment and Protection Awards

Roper's Senior Subordinated Convertible Notes due 2034 to accrue contingent interest

Proton therapy treatment for anal canal cancer performed for first time in US

Squid™ Full Range Pipette: Reduce pipette changes, bench clutter, and calibration burden

Advancing Menopause Care: Non-Hormonal Treatments for Vasomotor Symptoms

Building quality into drug development for safer, faster medicines

Latest News