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Underestimated cancer risks related to radon exposure

A report recently released by the President's Cancer Panel focuses on underestimated cancer risks related to environmental contaminants and other harmful exposures, including radon.

24 May 2010

Economist features special report on water

In a special report on water the Economist examines the causes of and growing concerns over increasing scarcity around the world.

24 May 2010

Groundwater contaminants present potential health concern

More than 20 percent of untreated water samples from 932 public wells across the nation contained at least one contaminant at levels of potential health concern, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.

24 May 2010

Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals presents Phase 3 clinical data on gadobutrol

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced presentation of data in a poster titled "Results from a multicenter, open-label Phase 3 study to determine the safety and efficacy of gadobutrol, a macrocyclic 1.0 molar GBCA in patients referred for contrast-enhanced MRI of the central nervous system (CNS)" at the 48th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR) in Boston, MA.

24 May 2010

Baucus: No guarantee of Berwick confirmation hearing by July 4

Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee "said Thursday he hopes to have a confirmation hearing on the nomination of Donald Berwick to become administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services before the Fourth of July recess.

24 May 2010

Europe's leading stem cell bank launches innovative service for liposuction market

Cryo-Save today announced the European introduction of Cryo-Lip, a new product that allows the collection, processing and storage of a rich mixture of adult stem cells from liposuction aspirate (fatty tissue that is normally discarded).

24 May 2010

Countries agree to fight the harmful use of alcohol with global strategy

For the first time, delegations from all 193 Member States of World Health Organization (WHO) reached consensus at the World Health Assembly on a resolution to confront the harmful use of alcohol -- which contributes to poor health globally, can devastate families and damage the structure of communities.

24 May 2010

Feed the Future Guide for Obama administration's food security plan released

The "full details of how the money will be spent" has not yet been released, but the guide said the initiative would aim to increase "access to products such as fertilisers and new technology, including agriculture biotechnology," the Financial Times reports.

24 May 2010

Scientists identify new gene candidates that regulate aggregate formations in Huntington's disease

They might not be known for their big brains, but fruit flies are helping to make scientists and doctors smarter about what causes Huntington's disease and how to treat it. New research, published in the journal GENETICS (http://www.genetics.org) describes a laboratory test that allows scientists to evaluate large numbers of fruit fly genes for a possible role in the formation of plaque-like protein aggregates within cells.

24 May 2010

Intuit acquires NC-based company, Medfusion

Intuit Inc. has completed its acquisition of privately held Medfusion, a Cary, N.C. based leader in patient-to-provider communications. The cash transaction, announced May 10, is valued at approximately $91 million.

24 May 2010

Medicaid news: Early expansion unlikely in Ohio, Florida disputes managed care

"A tight state budget will make an expansion of health care coverage for the poor and disabled unlikely in Ohio this year, an option given to states under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, the state's Medicaid chief said Thursday. ... it's unclear how many will use Medicaid to fill coverage gaps before 2014, when most of the health care provisions take effect. So far, only Connecticut and the District of Columbia submitted such proposals to the federal government."

21 May 2010

Overall proportion of hospital patients died after heart attack fell by 37%: AHRQ

The overall proportion of hospital patients who died in the hospital after a heart attack fell by 37 percent between 2000 and 2007, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The rate fell from from 106 per 1,000 patients to 67 per 1,000 patients during the period

21 May 2010

West Physics Consulting, Digirad announce exclusive arrangement

West Physics Consulting, the leading national provider of medical and health physics consulting and testing services, announced today that it has entered into an exclusive arrangement with Digirad Corporation to provide all radiation safety oversight and technical consulting services for Digirad's diagnostic imaging leasing services division, Digirad Imaging Solutions, Inc.

21 May 2010

Bristol-Myers Squibb announces positive results from Phase 2 study of ipilimumab in patients with NSCLC

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company today announced positive results from a randomized Phase 2 study evaluating ipilimumab in combination with standard chemotherapy in previously untreated patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

21 May 2010

Today's OpEds: Wyden on bipartisanship health reform; How to spend prevention funds; CLASS Act

I still think I had a pretty good idea for health reform — despite its rejection by significant Democratic and Republican leaders — but so did Bob Bennett. I was on the Senate floor three years ago when Bob walked across the center aisle to tell me he was willing to work with me on health reform (Sen. Ron Wyden, 5/21).

21 May 2010

Young Faces of ALS campaign to raise awareness on ALS

The ALS Therapy Development Institute announced today that it is supporting a new awareness campaign driven by several ALS patients diagnosed with the progressive neurodegenerative disease commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease before the age of 30. This campaign, called "Young Faces of ALS," is designed and led by a group of seven young men and women and will consist of a group effort to visit each of the 30 Major League Baseball parks during the 2010 baseball season.

21 May 2010

In survey, employers say health reform will increase costs - somewhat

"More than 40 percent of employers surveyed by the consulting firm Mercer expect health care reform to raise health care costs by a modest 2 percent or less next year," the Associated Press reports.

21 May 2010

Research aims to describe women's experience of living with MS

The women who I asked would like to have time and opportunity to express grief and vulnerability in contact with health services. They also expect a response based on their individual situation and needs, "said Malin Olsson, Ph.D. at Luleå University of Technology.

21 May 2010

Deals brighten restaurant workers' prospects for health insurance

Tribune Newspapers/Chicago Tribune reports that a new partnership between UnitedHealth Group Inc. and the National Restaurant Association aims "to make coverage more accessible to millions of restaurant workers without health benefits, three years ahead of when the health care overhaul would require everyone to have insurance."

21 May 2010

Women exposed prenatally to BPA or DES at increased risk of breast cancer: Study

A study in mice reveals that prenatal exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, like bisphenol-A and diethylstilbestrol, may program a fetus for life. Therefore, adult women who were exposed prenatally to BPA or DES could be at increased risk of breast cancer, according to a new study accepted for publication in Hormones & Cancer, a journal of The Endocrine Society.

21 May 2010