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UnitedHealthcare receives Business Insurance magazine’s Readers Choice Award

UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group company, has been named the “Best Health Plan Provider” by the readers of Business Insurance in the magazine’s fifth annual Readers Choice Awards.

19 Nov 2009

NIMS’ Exer-Rest acceleration therapeutic platform awarded Japanese patent

Non-Invasive Monitoring Systems, Inc. announced that the Nogawa Patent Office in Japan issued Patent number 4391595 to NIMS on October 16, 2009. This patent, entitled “Reciprocating Movement Platform for Shifting Subject To and Fro In Headwards-Footwards Direction,” relates to the comprehensively researched technology underlying NIMS’ Exer-Rest acceleration therapeutic platform.

19 Nov 2009

MONITORING FORCE files for Flibanserin orphan drug status designation with the EMEA

MONITORING FORCE GmbH announced that they have filed on November 16th, 2009 Flibanserin in the indication treatment-relevant levodopa-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease for orphan drug status designation with the European Medicines Agency (EMEA). Levodopa-induced dyskinesia is a complication of the mainstay treatment in advanced Parkinson's and a serious burden to some of those affected, since it may be disabling for the patients and preventing them from receiving optimal treatment for Parkinson's.

19 Nov 2009

Senate health bill released, another step toward Democratic-backed reforms

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid set the stage for a climactic debate in the Senate over health care by unveiling a 10-year, $848 billion bill that would extend insurance to 31 million Americans without coverage," The Wall Street Journal reports.

19 Nov 2009

Aware to introduce its new AccuRad ImageShare Platform at the 2009 RSNA meeting

Aware, Inc., a global provider of imaging and biometrics software, today announced it will showcase its new AccuRad ImageShare Platform, a standards-based cross-enterprise image sharing platform for health information exchange (HIE), at the RSNA 2009 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting.

19 Nov 2009

Reid tries to balance many interests in Senate health bill

Kaiser Health News staff writers Mary Agnes Carey and Phil Galewitz write about last night's big news. "In one of the most anticipated events in the health reform debate, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., tonight released the bill expected to go to the Senate floor. Reid added new taxes and modified major provisions of health bills passed by two Senate panels in his quest to meet President Barack Obama's target of health legislation that would cost less than $900 billion and win 60 votes in the Senate" (11/18).

19 Nov 2009

AcroMetrix introduces the OptiQual HPV Genotype Panel

AcroMetrix, a leading manufacturer of quality control material for clinical diagnostic and blood testing laboratories, announced today the launch of its OptiQual HPV Genotype Panel. Designed to help clinical laboratories comply with CLIA guidelines for qualitative molecular assays that detect Human Papillomavirus (HPV), this addition to AcroMetrix’s line of women’s health products can assist laboratorians with the validation and verification of their molecular HPV tests.

19 Nov 2009

CBO: Senate health bill would reduce deficit $130 billion over a decade

Democratic leaders were jubilant that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office determined that the Senate bill would cut federal deficits by $130 billion over the next decade. That projection, released shortly before midnight Wednesday, represents the biggest cost savings of any legislation to come before the House or Senate this year, but the measure's effective date also was pushed back by one year, to 2014.

19 Nov 2009

Insurers say they won't alter mammogram coverage despite new guidelines

Insurance companies say mammogram coverage is unlikely to change despite the debate over the effectiveness of breast cancer screenings for women in their forties.

19 Nov 2009

SPG establishes a nationwide sales force to meet demand for its Zip-Outs

StreamWorks Products Group, Inc. (SPG), renowned for developing innovative consumer products across several industries, has announced that its new PlugsSafety™ division, a cutting-edge line of hearing protection solutions, has contracted with seven regional sales groups across the country to establish a nationwide sales force following the tremendous debut of the company’s newest product, Zip-Outs™.

19 Nov 2009

Daschle still making voice heard on health care

The Hill reports that former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle helped Obama Administration officials strategize to win health care reform votes from Senators on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

19 Nov 2009

Advanced Cell Technology files an IND with the FDA for study using embryonic stem cells to treat SMD

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. announced today that it filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) Application with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate a Phase I/II multicenter study using embryonic stem cell derived retinal cells to treat patients with Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy (SMD). Among the most common causes of untreatable blindness in the world are degenerative diseases of the retina.

19 Nov 2009

A look at how key provisions compare in the House and Senate bills

The New York Times reports that "the health care proposals from the House and the Senate are broadly similar but differ on some major issues." It reports on five issues - the public plan, employer contribution, abortion, illegal immigrants and financing - and puts differences in bold type (11/19).

19 Nov 2009

Aegera Therapeutics commences AEG35156 Phase 2B study for AML

Aegera Therapeutics Inc. announced today the dosing of the first patient in a randomized Phase 2B study of AEG35156, a targeted antisense therapeutic in mid-stage development for multiple oncology indications.

19 Nov 2009

A selection of today's opinions and editorials

Everyone has been trying to come up with a good nickname for the 10 years we're concluding next month. Terror Era really sounds like too much of a downer. How about the Decade of Medical Backtracking? Somewhere between the reports that Pap smears and tests for prostate cancer aren't all they were cracked up to be and the news that a high fiber diet doesn't do anything to prevent cancer, the health establishment began looking decidedly nonomniscient. Then this week, a federal task force reported that most women don't need annual mammograms (Gail Collins, 11/18).

19 Nov 2009

Senate bill draws immediate reactions from GOP, interest groups

Republicans quickly rebuked Senate Democrats' health overhaul bill after its release last night, Roll Call reports. They said it would result in higher insurance premiums, tax hikes, and Medicare cuts, and complained that it was drafted behind closed doors, and that they have not yet had a chance to read it.

19 Nov 2009

Democrats' continue efforts to win over moderates

Wavering moderates, including Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., control the key votes needed to bring the health overhaul bill to the Senate floor, so securing their agreement to go forward has become a priority for the Democratic leadership.

19 Nov 2009

Vicor Technologies' PD2i nonlinear algorithm and software: a promising diagnostic for in-field trauma triage

David H. Fater, CEO of Vicor Technologies, Inc., today announced that Andriy Batchinsky, MD, a researcher with the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR), identified Vicor's proprietary PD2i® nonlinear algorithm and software as the most promising diagnostic for in-field trauma triage during a presentation before several hundred attendees at the American Heart Association's Resuscitation Science Symposium 2009 on November 14, 2009 in Orlando, Florida.

19 Nov 2009

Adamas Pharmaceuticals expands its Phase 2 TCAD therapy study for influenza A

Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held company, announced today that it has expanded its Phase 2 clinical study of a proprietary investigational triple-combination antiviral drug therapy for influenza to include centers in the United States, Canada and Europe. The study, which was initiated in August 2009 in the Southern Hemisphere, is designed to investigate Adamas' triple combination antiviral drug (TCAD) therapy as a treatment for influenza A, including novel influenza A/H1N1, the cause of the current flu pandemic.

19 Nov 2009

Senate leaders consider timeline for health bill votes

Roll Call reports: "Senators may keep slogging through debate on their health care overhaul until the day before Thanksgiving, according to an adjournment resolution the House approved Wednesday. That measure provided for the Senate to adjourn Friday — or next Wednesday. The House is set to break on Thursday or Friday of this week." The Senate must first vote on a motion to proceed - to move the bill to the floor (Newmyer, 11/18).

19 Nov 2009