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Florida, California, Kansas eyeing cuts in Medicaid funding

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that as the recession continues to increase the number of people without jobs, many more are seeking health care through the state's Medicaid program, "driving up costs and playing a major role in a potential $3 billion state budget shortfall next year.

27 Jan 2010

Obese children face increased risk of stroke and heart disease

By as early as 7 years of age, being obese may raise a child's risk of future heart disease and stroke, even in the absence of other cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

27 Jan 2010

FDA approves Victoza to treat type 2 diabetes in some adults

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Victoza (liraglutide), a once-daily injection to treat type 2 diabetes in some adults.

27 Jan 2010

Antibiotics may be effective in fighting MRSA infections

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Israel's Weizman Institute of Science have found that two antibiotics working together might be more effective in fighting pathogenic bacteria than either drug on its own.

27 Jan 2010

Veterans with PTSD could receive more benefits

The Associated Press/New York Times: "The military has agreed to expedite a review [of] the records of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans discharged with post-traumatic stress disorder to determine whether they were improperly denied benefits.

27 Jan 2010

ERYtech Pharma receives ODD for its GRASPA from FDA

ERYtech Pharma announces that FDA has granted an Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) for GRASPA®, the company’s lead product in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.

27 Jan 2010

HZI researchers explore novel therapies to keep the immune system young and functional for healthy aging

By comparing the immune responses of both, young and old mice, to bacterial infection they found that the number of macrophages, one of the major cell populations involved in the elimination of infecting bacteria, decreases rapidly in aged mice. This decline in the number of fighters and the associated weakness of the immune defense may be responsible for the age-associated increase in susceptibility to infections.

27 Jan 2010

Waytronx, Ingenion Design announce development agreement for GasPT2 device

Waytronx, Inc., a platform company dedicated to the acquisition, development, and commercialization of new, innovative technologies, today announced that it has reached an agreement with British-based Ingenion Design Ltd. ("Ingenion") to develop and build its second generation Gas Quality Inferential Measurement Device (GasPT2).

27 Jan 2010

Ecolab and AvidBiotics to develop new technology to reduce E. coli in red meat products

Ecolab Inc. has entered into an agreement with AvidBiotics Corp. under which they will jointly work to develop a new technology that could significantly reduce the presence of the pathogen E. coli O157:H7 in red meat products.

27 Jan 2010

Symmetry Medical signs supply agreement with Indiana-based bio-science company

Symmetry Medical Inc., a leading independent provider of products to the global orthopedic device industry and other medical markets, announced today it has entered into an exclusive five-year supply agreement with OrthoPediatrics Corp., a Warsaw, Indiana-based bio-science company that develops, designs and distributes anatomically appropriate orthopedic implants and solutions for pediatric and small stature patients.

27 Jan 2010

NNSA awards $9M for B&W TSG's medical isotope production program

Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Group, Inc. has been awarded approximately $9 million from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) for the company’s medical isotope production program. Awarded under a cooperative agreement, the funding will be used for further development of B&W TSG’s patented reactor technology for medical isotope production using low enriched uranium. B&W TSG is an operating unit of The Babcock & Wilcox Company.

27 Jan 2010

Universite de Montreal researchers are developing leptin-based pill to control hunger

A Universit- de Montr-al research team is developing a pill composed of leptin, the protein that tells our brain to stop eating. "Mice deprived of leptin will not stop eating. They become so big they have trouble moving around," says Mo-se Bendayan, a pathology professor at the Universit- de Montr-al Faculty of Medicine who has studied the leptin protein extensively.

27 Jan 2010

Twenty nations meet in Montreal to discuss Haiti recovery; Haitian officials increase Port-Au-Prince death toll estimate

Officials from 20 countries are meeting in Montreal, Canada, Monday "to discuss long-term reconstruction and arrangements for a donor conference to be held in March," the U.N. said, Bloomberg reports (Gaouette/Craze, 1/25). "U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and others will examine eventual debt forgiveness and" a strategy for rebuilding Haiti at the one-day gathering, according to Reuters (Palmer, 1/25).

27 Jan 2010

Hoyer: Options to advance health reform have 'pluses and minuses'

The Washington Post / Reuters: In a National Press Club speech today, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., outlined various options including that of not passing a bill. "The Democratic leader said another option would be to try to pass a scaled-backed measure 'that will make modest improvements for Americans, assuming Republicans want to work with us.'

27 Jan 2010

Testing DBS for treating severe long-term depression

Bewernick and colleagues administered DBS treatment in ten patients with severe long-term depression who had not responded to multiple other antidepressant treatments, including psychotherapy, drug treatments and electroconvulsive treatment. After one year of DBS, all patients showed some improvement, and half of them experienced significant improvement in their symptoms of depression, astonishing considering they had not responded to any prior antidepressant treatment. In addition, the patients showed reduced ratings of anxiety and had only minor side effects. Importantly, none of their overall brain functioning was impaired by the DBS treatment.

27 Jan 2010

Care to Care granted license to manage outpatient diagnostic imaging services in Virginia

Care to Care, a radiology benefits management company, has been granted a license by the Virginia Department of Health to manage outpatient diagnostic imaging services in the State of Virginia as a Private Review Agent (PRA).

27 Jan 2010

Regrouping Democrats consider next steps on health overhaul

Democrats are trying to regain health reform momentum during the week of the president's State of the Union address.

27 Jan 2010

Thoratec expands MCS portfolio with innovative catheter pump technology

Thoratec Corporation, a world leader in device-based mechanical circulatory support (MCS) therapies to save, support and restore failing hearts, said today that it has acquired an innovative catheter pump technology that it plans to use in the development of a minimally invasive, acute cardiac axial flow pump that can be delivered percutaneously in the cardiac catheterization lab and operating room.

27 Jan 2010

Phadia's ImmunoCAP Rapid System receives FDA marketing clearance

Phadia, the world leader in allergy blood testing diagnostics, today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the ImmunoCAP® Rapid Reader II, a part of the ImmunoCAP Rapid System, used to aid in the diagnosis of allergy in the physician’s office.

27 Jan 2010

APHA urges Congress to press ahead and send comprehensive health reform legislation to the president

The American Public Health Association today urged Congress to press ahead and send comprehensive health reform legislation to the president in the coming weeks.

27 Jan 2010