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U.S. Marshals seizes unapproved drug products

At the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Marshals on March 31 seized a range of consumer products, including creams, capsules, tablets, gum, throat spray, and shampoos from a Haywood, Wis., manufacturer.

6 Apr 2010

Humana adopts radiology benefit management programs to reduce unnecessary radiation exposure

Humana Inc. has reduced unnecessary radiation exposure for its members by the equivalent of more than five million chest x-rays since 2004, demonstrating how health benefits companies can lead the way in improving the quality and safety of health.

6 Apr 2010

Research may help scientists understand the mechanism behind cellular differentiation

Multipotent stem cells have the capacity to develop into different types of cells by reprogramming their DNA to turn on different combinations of genes, a process called "differentiation."

6 Apr 2010

Perrigo, Cobrek Pharmaceuticals agree to settle all Hatch-Waxman litigation

Perrigo Company today announced that, together with its partner Cobrek Pharmaceuticals, Inc., it has agreed to settle all Hatch-Waxman litigation relating to betamethasone valerate foam brought by Stiefel Laboratories, a GSK Company, against Cobrek by taking a royalty bearing license under all relevant patents.

6 Apr 2010

Qutenza 8% patch now available for pain associated with PHN: NeurogesX

NeurogesX, Inc. announced today that Qutenza® (capsaicin) 8% patch, the first and only product containing prescription-strength capsaicin, is now available. Clinical studies have shown that a single one-hour Qutenza application can provide three months relief from pain associated with postherpetic neuralgia, the nerve pain that can occur after shingles.

6 Apr 2010

Alpha cells in pancreas can convert into insulin-producing beta cells: Study

Alpha cells in the pancreas, which do not produce insulin, can convert into insulin-producing beta cells, advancing the prospect of regenerating beta cells as a cure for type 1 diabetes. The findings come from a study at the University of Geneva, co-funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, that is published today in the online edition of the scientific journal Nature.

6 Apr 2010

Preventive care, illegal immigrants and other health law notes

Reports continue to explore elements of the health reform debate such as the politically contentious issue of illegal immigrants' coverage, health care coverage for young adults, disease prevention and the next tanning-salon tax.

6 Apr 2010

FDA-approved contrast agent improves optical imaging of stem cells

A study published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (19:1) has found that using the FDA-approved contrast agent Indocyanine Green (ICG) to label human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) substantially improved efforts to optically track stem cells after transplanting them into heart tissues.

6 Apr 2010

SCYNEXIS' SCY-635 inhibitor abstracts accepted for presentation at EASL Annual Meeting

Drug discovery company, SCYNEXIS, Inc. today announced that multiple abstracts related to the Company's cyclophilin inhibitor, SCY-635, were accepted for presentation at the 45th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Vienna, Austria, April 14-18, 2010.

6 Apr 2010

Older riders more likely to die from motorcycle accidents

Motorcycle riders across the country are growing older, and the impact of this trend is evident in emergency rooms daily. Doctors are finding that these aging road warriors are more likely to be injured or die as a result of a motorcycle mishap compared to their younger counterparts.

6 Apr 2010

Prescription drug abuse reaches epidemic proportions

Poisoning is now the second leading cause of unintentional injury death in the U.S. While several recent high-profile Hollywood celebrity cases have brought the problem to public attention, the rates of unintentional poisoning deaths have been on the rise for more than 15 years.

6 Apr 2010

Web-based version of Point of Care Guidelines launched

The Clinical Practice Model Resource Center, an Elsevier company and leader in developing clinical practice guidelines for healthcare, today launched its first Web-based version of Point of Care Guidelines(TM).

6 Apr 2010

Older Americans susceptible to fatal injuries

The risk of dying from injuries is increasing for Americans ages 65 and older according to a new report from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Injury Research and Policy.

6 Apr 2010

Officials focus on inequalities in medical research

"After years of individual cancer centers exploring ways to recruit more people from minority populations for cancer studies, $3.8 million in federal stimulus money has been awarded to five institutions — including M.D. Anderson (Cancer Center at the University of Texas) — to work on the issue together for the next two years. The National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, part of the National Institutes of Health, funded the project."

6 Apr 2010

Exposure to certain chemicals may lead to early pubertal development

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that exposure to three common chemical classes-phenols, phthalates and phytoestrogens-in young girls may disrupt the timing of pubertal development, and put girls at risk for health complications later in life.

6 Apr 2010

Unilife's Unitract 1mL Insulin Syringes receive 510(k) market clearance

Unilife Corporation today announced it has received from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) market clearance for the Unitract™ 1mL Insulin Syringes assembled at its Lewisberry, PA manufacturing facility.

6 Apr 2010

World Health Day to focus on making cities healthier

As part of this year's World Health Day, the WHO on Wednesday will launch a program to encourage cities to become more healthy to help mitigate the health risks associated with rapid urbanization, Agence France Presse/Inquirer.net Global Nation reports.

6 Apr 2010

Rice University's nano-bio-chip 93% specific in detecting patients with premalignant lesions

The gentle touch of a lesion on the tongue or cheek with a brush can help detect oral cancer with success rates comparable to more invasive techniques, according to preliminary studies by researchers at Rice University, the University of Texas Health Science Centers at Houston and San Antonio and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

6 Apr 2010

Ardea Biosciences proposes underwritten public offering of common stock

Ardea Biosciences, 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 sole book-running manager in this offering.

6 Apr 2010

Some Democrats facing resistance at home - from both sides - for health reform votes

Rep. Betsy Markey, D-Colo., "a first-term Democrat in a Republican district, was one of just eight House members who switched their votes from 'no' to 'yes' when President Obama's health-care bill finally passed Congress.

6 Apr 2010