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MedPac urges Feds to cut payments to private insurers

Reuters: The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPac) on Monday issued nonbinding recommendations that Medicare "cut U.S. government payments to private insurers and home healthcare providers." The panel, which is an independent body set up to advise Congress on Medicare, "repeated its earlier call for the federal government to pay private insurers that offer coverage known as Medicare Advantage the same as it pays when Medicare reimburses providers directly."

2 Mar 2010

Opeds: GOP ideas, HSAs, calls for 'yes' on health bill

It turns out that, when someone is spending his own money alone for routine expenses, he is far more likely to ask the questions he would ask if purchasing any other good or service: "Is there a generic version of that drug?" (Gov. Mitch Daniels, 3/1).

2 Mar 2010

Study shows high rate of shoulder dislocation in young males and elderly women

An article published in the March 2010 issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery reveals that the majority of all shoulder dislocations occur during sports activities and young males are at a higher risk. The study also shows a high rate of shoulder dislocation in elderly women.

2 Mar 2010

New treatment guidelines demonstrate that best care does not always cost more

Arizona Oncology is proud to be a part of the larger network that just completed a recently conducted study by US Oncology and Aetna that finds evidence-based care for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) results in an average cost savings of 35 percent over 12 months while demonstrating equivalent health outcomes.

2 Mar 2010

Getting pregnant the "traditional" way or by assisted reproduction does not affect birthing process or the baby

Whether a women gets pregnant the "traditional" way or by assisted reproduction has no effect on the birthing process itself or the baby, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have found.

2 Mar 2010

Researchers proceed to develop vaccination to reverse neurological damage seen with Parkinson's disease

Researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center have taken a significant step forward in developing a vaccination approach to reverse the neurological damage seen with Parkinson's disease.

2 Mar 2010

$Visceral fat can increase fracture risk in obese teenage girls$

Visceral fat can increase fracture risk in obese teenage girls

According to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), obese teenage girls with a greater ratio of visceral fat (fat around internal organs) to subcutaneous fat (fat found just beneath the skin) are likely to have lower bone density than peers with a lower ratio of visceral to subcutaneous fat.

2 Mar 2010

Medical identify theft on the rise

NPR/WBUR: Medical identity theft - in which thieves use stolen social security numbers, names and insurance information to seek treatment under an assumed identity - is on the rise. "Over the past 12 months, [CoxHealth Hospital in Missouri] has seen nine instances of identity theft — four in the past 45 days, says Betty Breshears, vice president of corporate integrity at the hospital."

2 Mar 2010

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals' investigational pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor receives FDA and EMA orphan drug designation

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that its investigational pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor, AP24534, has been granted orphan drug designation by both the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). In the U.S., the orphan designation of AP24534 is for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL) and in the E.U., its orphan designation is for CML and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

2 Mar 2010

Quark Pharmaceuticals commences dosing in clinical study of QPI-1007 for NAION

Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a world leader in the discovery and development of RNAi-based therapeutics, announced today the dosing of the first patient in a Phase I study of the investigational neuroprotective agent, QPI-1007.

2 Mar 2010

AnaptysBio announces strategic collaboration to generate novel antibodies for specified disease target

AnaptysBio, Inc., a privately-held therapeutic antibody platform and product company, today announced a strategic collaboration with an undisclosed leading global pharmaceutical company to generate novel antibody therapeutics to a specified disease target. This is the third collaboration with a leading pharmaceutical company announced by AnaptysBio during 2010.

1 Mar 2010

WHO Director-General calls for greater efforts to reduce tobacco use

In a speech on Friday marking the fifth anniversary of an international tobacco control treaty, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan called for government officials worldwide to increase efforts to protect their population from the harmful effects of tobacco, Reuters reports. "Tobacco kills more than 5 million people a year from cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes and other chronic illnesses, including about 600,000 from second-hand smoke, according to the United Nations agency," the news service writes.

1 Mar 2010

Health votes pose imminent test for Pelosi; Hutchison pledges to stay in Senate as long as reform debate continues

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's latest test on a health reform overhaul will come in the form of living up to the words that she has the votes on a health reform package, Politico reports.

1 Mar 2010

Aventyn launches healthKrypt security technology for health information and trusted transaction processing

Aventyn Inc., an innovative provider of secure connected clinical information processing solutions, today announced the introduction of healthKrypt™, patent pending technology for securing health information and trusted transaction processing. This announcement was made jointly at HIMMS in Atlanta, GA and RSA2010 in San Francisco, CA.

1 Mar 2010

PARI Respiratory Equipment launches new aerosol delivery system

Today, PARI Respiratory Equipment launched their newest aerosol delivery system, the Vios. Paired with PARI's gold standard reusable nebulizers, Vios delivers fast treatments, small particle size, and high respirable drug dose to the lungs. Vios also features an extended warranty and Timestrip, an easy to use reminder for patients to replace their nebulizer every six months.

1 Mar 2010

Drugmakers' business practices draw scrutiny

Three top California Medicaid officials in charge of pharmacy issues failed to disclose trips paid for by drug-industry funded business groups, California Watch/San Francisco Chronicle reports. Officials who are directly involved in setting drug policy and negotiating payments took about 12 trips paid for by these nonprofit business groups. The nonprofits hold conferences such as the those attended by the Medicaid officials and raise their money through fees from drug representatives who attend conferences, too.

1 Mar 2010

Massive earthquake hits Chile

"Shell-shocked Chileans struggled to deal with the aftermath of a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake that ripped through the southern half of the country early Saturday morning," the Wall Street Journal reports.

1 Mar 2010

Olympus America signs nonexclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Omnyx

Olympus America Inc. has signed a nonexclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Omnyx, LLC, a joint venture of GE Healthcare and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, allowing Omnyx to access an extensive portfolio of Olympus America patents in the field of virtual microscopy and digital pathology, to help develop solutions in the digital pathology field.

From Evident Corporation - Life Sciences 1 Mar 2010

AbSorber expands business portfolio by acquiring Olerup

AbSorber strengthen its position on the important US market by acquiring NorDiag’s share of Olerup Inc. AbSorber buys the company together with SSP Primers and after the transition will AbSorber own 50 percent of Olerup Inc. and SSP Primers 50 percent.

1 Mar 2010

Acorda Therapeutics' AMPYRA now available in the U.S. and Puerto Rico

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that AMPYRA™ (dalfampridine) Extended Release Tablets, 10 mg is now available by prescription in the United States and Puerto Rico. AMPYRA was approved on January 22, 2010 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment to improve walking in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). This was demonstrated by an increase in walking speed. AMPYRA is indicated for use in all types of MS, and can be used either alone or with existing therapies, including disease-modifying agents.

1 Mar 2010