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Bayfront Medical Center to implement CareFocus clinical surveillance solution from Thomson Reuters

Bayfront Medical Center has selected Clinical Xpert CareFocus from Thomson Reuters as its clinical surveillance solution for improving Core Measures outcomes and patient safety indicator (PSI) scores while also supporting infection control and pharmacy intervention initiatives.

10 Nov 2009

State News: State budgets and Medicaid continue to draw headlines

The Associated Press/The Houston Chronicle reports that Texas lawmakers will add $5 million to expand mental health services — specifically veteran-to-veteran peer support groups — in the state. "Gov. Rick Perry on Monday announced the plan that calls for directing money from the state Health and Human Services Commission budget toward mental health treatment programs for veterans and their families" (11/9).

10 Nov 2009

Teva Pharmaceutical's generic lansoprazole does not infringe patent No. 5,464,632: U.S. Court

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware has issued a decision in its litigation over the Company's Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) to market its generic version of Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc.'s Prevacid® (Lansoprazole) SoluTab.

10 Nov 2009

Abortion restrictions in House health reform bill triggering outrage from the Left

ABC News reports that the abortion amendment to the House health reform bill has reignited a fiery debate on one of the most controversial issues in the country." Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, "said in a statement that the restrictions the amendment would place on a woman's right to choose 'sets a terrible precedent and marks a significant step backwards.'

10 Nov 2009

Abortion clash moves to Senate as Centrists seek House-like provision in health bill

Roll Call reports that the impending fight has also sparked the attention of the abortion-rights lobby. "Abortion-rights advocates, who were outmaneuvered in the House's health care reform vote, are banking on tougher Senate rules and targeted lobbying to keep restrictive abortion language out of that chamber's bill."

10 Nov 2009

Colorcon acquires exclusive rights to market ARmark's micro-tag authentication technology

ARmark Authentication Technologies, LLC, and Colorcon, Inc. announced today an alliance in the development and introduction of ®mark® On-Dose ID(TM), an authentication technology that incorporates microscopic covert micro-tags into the immediate-release film coatings of solid oral dosage forms (SODFs) to prevent counterfeiting.

10 Nov 2009

AGRA, NEPAD agree to partnership to expand food security in Africa

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has entered into an "historic" partnership with the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) "to work towards increasing food production and food security in Africa," PEACE FM Online reports (11/9).

10 Nov 2009

Science-based health policies could prevent nearly 4m maternal, child deaths in Africa, report says

Nearly 4 million deaths among women and children in sub-Saharan Africa could be prevented annually if relatively inexpensive, "science-based health policies" reached 90 percent of families, according to an African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI) report (.pdf) published Monday, Nature News reports.

10 Nov 2009

Cerimon Pharmaceuticals acquires rights to develop and commercialize diclofenac sodium patch in Europe

Cerimon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced today that it has acquired exclusive rights to develop and commercialize its once-daily topical diclofenac sodium patch in Europe, including most countries in the European Union, Turkey, Switzerland, Norway, the Balkan countries and Iceland. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Cerimon initially acquired the U.S. rights to develop and commercialize the patch formulation of diclofenac in 2005.

10 Nov 2009

Recent 'death panel' uproar echoes age-old controversy

Kaiser Health News staff writer Christopher Weaver details events similar to this summer's "death panel" controversy, but that happened decades ago. "It was early summer. A senior federal health official wrote a memo suggesting that living wills -- documents that can convey patients' wishes about when to end life support -- could help curb health-care costs.

10 Nov 2009

Report finds hospitals rebound from recession

Hospitals are beginning to rebound from the recession, which many economists think ended last month. The Dallas Morning News reports: "Thompson Reuters Corp., a New York-based financial information company, tracked 439 hospitals nationwide - 37 in Texas - covering small, medium and large community hospitals and teaching hospitals" to create a report released Monday that showed the change.

10 Nov 2009

Life Technologies to acquire BioTrove

Life Technologies Corporation, a provider of innovative life science solutions, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire BioTrove, Inc. for an undisclosed amount.

10 Nov 2009

U.S. DOD grant to study vigabatrin in combination with opiates to manage pain

Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc. today reported that a team of neuroscientists at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System (LIJ) has received a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to conduct an animal study of the use of vigabatrin in combination with opiates to effectively manage pain while reducing the potential for opiate addiction.

10 Nov 2009

House health bill votes stir political action, ads

The Washington Post reports that "the House's passage Saturday of a sweeping health-care bill has pushed the advertising battle over reform into a new phase, as competing groups have taken to the airwaves to thank or punish Democrats for their votes."

10 Nov 2009

No protection for 90% of Africans from secondhand smoke

As African nations are poised to undergo the highest increase in the rate of tobacco use among developing countries, nearly 90 percent of people on the continent remain without meaningful protection from secondhand smoke, according to a new report released at a regional cancer conference today.

10 Nov 2009

Clinton delivers health reform pep talk to Senate Dems

The Associated Press reports on Former President Bill Clinton's pep talk to Senate Democrats today. Stressing what he said was "an economic imperative," he told "anxious Senate Democrats ... to pass a health care bill soon because the U.S. economy can't resist the toxic combination of exorbitant medical costs and nearly 50 million uninsured for much longer."

10 Nov 2009

Dutch health minister critiques U.S. health system

The New York Times interviews Ab Klink, the Dutch health minister, about the Dutch view of U.S. health care: "The health system in the United States may be twice as expensive as those in Europe, and the population may be less healthy, but at least Americans have access to many more choices of doctors and insurers.

10 Nov 2009

Texting linked to pain in neck and shoulders among college students

The world record for fastest text message typing is held by a 21-year old college student from Utah, but his dexterous digits could mean serious injury later on. Most adults aged 18-21 prefer texting over e-mail or phone calls, and ergonomics researchers are starting to wonder whether it's putting the younger generation at risk for some overuse injuries - once reserved for older adults who have spent years in front of a computer.

10 Nov 2009

GSK to donate 50M H1N1 vaccine doses to WHO in coming months

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline announced plans on Tuesday to donate 50 million doses of its H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine to the WHO for use in developing countries within the next few months, Reuters reports. "We expect to start receiving [the first of the H1N1 doses] at the end of the month or early December and that the full 50 million will come by the end of spring," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said, adding, "We hope it is the first of many donations."

10 Nov 2009

Six universities aim to expand drug access in developing countries

Six universities have agreed to an effort to "encourage companies to give poor countries better access to drugs and medical products stemming from discoveries made on their campuses," Bloomberg reports (Lauerman, 11/9).

10 Nov 2009