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Those who understand insurance coverage more cost-conscious, study says

The Associated Press/The Boston Herald: "Workers who better understand their health insurance plans — from their share of premiums to co-payments for doctor office and emergency room visits — are more likely to make more cost-efficient decisions, a new study finds. The study, which surveyed about 1,500 government workers in Massachusetts," was published in The American Journal of Managed Care.

9 Apr 2010

Fate Therapeutics to acquire Ottawa biotechnology company Verio Therapeutics

Fate Therapeutics, Inc. announced today a definitive agreement to acquire Verio Therapeutics Inc., a privately held biotechnology company based in Ottawa, Ontario, which is developing drug candidates targeting the activation of endogenous stem cells. Verio Therapeutics is advancing the work of several of Canada's leading stem cell scientists, including Michael Rudnicki, Ph.D., FRSC, and Lynn Arthur Megeney, Ph.D., who have made breakthrough discoveries relating to muscle and pancreatic regeneration.

9 Apr 2010

PSA test distress, study urges caution

A new study wants men to be informed about risks associated with screening for prostate cancer. The research has brought out that the prostate cancer tests can cause significant psychological distress to the men undergoing the screening. 330 men were studied by the University of Bristol as they underwent the tests and after they finished.

9 Apr 2010

Roughly 100,000 people are dropped from Tennessee's Medicaid program

Kaiser Health News: "About 100,000 people -- mostly elderly or disabled residents -- have been dropped [from Tennessee's Medicaid program] since January 2009, including approximately 37,000 who had relied on the state program for all their health care needs. Coverage for 8,000 children was also reassessed, but a TennCare spokeswoman said the number of children ultimately cut from the program could not be verified.

9 Apr 2010

Cell Therapeutics receives FDA Complete Response Letter for Pixuvri NDA

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it had received a Complete Response Letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding its New Drug Application for Pixuvri™ (pixantrone dimaleate) for relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma ("NHL").

9 Apr 2010

ReVision Optics initiates US clinical trial of PresbyLens corneal inlay

ReVision Optics, a leading company in the research, development and manufacture of custom optical products to correct and maintain vision, announced today that it has begun its US clinical trial of the PresbyLens® corneal inlay. The clinical trial will evaluate the PresbyLens® corneal inlay for the correction of presbyopia, the age-related loss of near vision. The study began on April 6th with the treatment of three subjects by clinical investigator Dr. Stephen Slade of the Slade & Baker Vision Center in Houston, Texas.

9 Apr 2010

Much debate over Brumby health plan

Victorian Premier John Brumby on Thursday proposed an alternative plan to the Prime Minister’s idea of gaining 30% of the GST revenues and give funding control to local hospital networks. According to the alternative 31-page health manifesto put forth by Brumby States should retain control of their hospitals. The Commonwealth proposed to cover the entire bill for primary health care and pick up 60 per cent of the tab for public hospitals. It will retain one-third of GST revenue to help pay for the reforms. Mr Brumby is holding out for extra money from the Commonwealth and a 50-50 funding model for public hospitals.

9 Apr 2010

New CMS web site shines light on Medicare spending

A new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Web site is making more claims data available to the public, Modern Healthcare reports. The so-called "CMS Dashboard" reveals Medicare spending for the top 25 conditions in hospitals, and allows users to compare spending by state, conditions by spending and to review the top-10-spending states for each condition. Medicare Advantage patients are not included in the data set (Evans, 4/7).

9 Apr 2010

More states join lawsuits against federal health reforms

Business Week: Eighteen states are now challenging the new health law. "Indiana, North Dakota, Mississippi, Nevada and Arizona will be added to the suit filed March 23 by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, he said today in a statement."

9 Apr 2010

Connectyx Technologies Holdings Group, Consult A Doctor sign joint venture

Connectyx Technologies Holdings Group Inc. is pleased to announce that the Company has signed a joint marketing agreement with Consult A Doctor to provide MedFlash® Personal Health Manager (PHM) to the more than 36 million Americans who are currently being treated via Telemedicine.

9 Apr 2010

12 infected with Hepatitis C by a doctor at clinic in Victoria

Hepatitis C is a vial infection that is spread much like HIV with shared needles, blood or body fluids. The Victorian Police has been brought in to investigate a cluster of 12 hepatitis C positive cases who attended a late-term abortion clinic in Melbourne.

9 Apr 2010

HSR waiting period for Abbott's tender offer to purchase outstanding shares of Facet Biotech expires

Abbott today announced that the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR) applicable to Abbott's cash tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Facet Biotech Corporation expired last night at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.

9 Apr 2010

Superbugs on the decline in Scottish hospitals

The number of cases of hospital infections is on the decline in Scotland. Clostridium difficile, the hospital super bug which brings down a number of patients each year have halved in the last year. In the last 3 months of last year the patients over 65 years reported 672 cases of Clostridium difficile. This is a 48% decline from the 1,299 cases reported in the last three months of 2008.

9 Apr 2010

Miami Medicare case spotlights federal probes into HIV therapy fraud

A new Miami Medicare fraud case spotlights federal investigations of massive scams using HIV therapies.

9 Apr 2010

LA BioMed to receive $9.7M federal grant for construction of new Chronic Disease Clinical Research Center

With a goal of creating jobs and enhancing chronic disease studies, the federal government is awarding a $9.7 million grant of stimulus funds to the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) for the construction of a new Chronic Disease Clinical Research Center on its campus, David I. Meyer, PhD, the institute's president and CEO, announced today.

9 Apr 2010

Ribavirin Biopartners 200mg film-coated tablets granted EU marketing approval

Biopartners GmbH has announced that it has received EU marketing authorization from the European Commission for Ribavirin Biopartners 200mg film-coated tablets. The product is intended for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection as part of a combination regimen with peginterferon alfa-2b or interferon alfa-2b.

9 Apr 2010

Democrats, Republicans using health reform votes to plot November strategies

The Associated Press: Vulnerable Democrats around the country are "tiptoeing" during the recess as they prepare for midterm elections. "Tough votes for Obama's health care plan have further complicated the re-election prospects of dozens of already vulnerable freshman and second-term Democrats. There's even a chance the party could lose control of one or both houses in the midterm elections."

9 Apr 2010

The Harvard Drug Group sold to Court Square Capital Partners

H.I.G. Capital, L.L.C., a leading global private equity investment firm, today announced the successful sale of The Harvard Drug Group, LLC to Court Square Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in New York, NY.

9 Apr 2010

Mass. Judge says he will decide by Monday whether state erred in rejecting premium increases

A Suffolk Superior Court judge today "promised to make a decision by Monday afternoon in a high-stakes showdown between the [Gov. Deval] Patrick administration and the state's top health insurers" over proposed premium increases rejected by the state's Division of Insurance, the Boston Herald reports (McConville, 4/8).

9 Apr 2010

QuadraMed introduces Quantim ICD-10 Coding Simulator

QuadraMed® Corporation, a leading provider of healthcare technologies and services that help turn quality care into positive financial outcomes, today announced the general availability of the industry's first ICD-10 Simulator developed to help coders prepare for the transition to ICD-10. The Quantim ICD-10 Coding Simulator, which is available today as a component of the ICD-10 Countdown Program, is a unique solution that duplicates the ICD-10 coding environment for accelerated training and practice purposes.

9 Apr 2010