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Research report focuses on key influencers within employer health care market

Health Industries Research Companies' Employer & Coalition Service has released its spring 2010 market research. HIRC finds that employers are increasingly concerned about cancer medications and report sustained interest in health, wellness, and disease management initiatives.

15 Apr 2010

FICO's Insurance Fraud Manager to be incorporated in Emdeon's healthcare revenue and payment cycle solutions

FICO, the leading provider of analytics and decision management technology, and Emdeon Inc, a leading provider of healthcare revenue and payment cycle management solutions, today announced a commercial agreement aimed at preventing fraud, waste and abuse in the health insurance system.

15 Apr 2010

Study: Activation of Lhx2 gene promotes hair growth

Activation of the gene Lhx2 leads to increased hair growth. This is shown by Leif Carlsson's research team at Umeå University in Sweden in an article in the latest Web edition of the respected scientific journal PLoS Genetics. The findings partly refute earlier research results in the field.

15 Apr 2010

M2010 to encompass broader spectrum of HIV prevention research

HIV prevention researchers, policy makers and community advocates from more than 35 countries will be in Pittsburgh, May 22-25 to attend the 2010 International Microbicides Conference.

15 Apr 2010

Toothpaste with triclosan/copolymer kills harmful germs

The human mouth is home to an estimated 800 to 1,000 different kinds of bacteria. The warm and moist environment, along with hard tooth surfaces and soft tissues, prove to be optimal factors in boosting germ growth. Many of these bacteria are harmful and can form a film on teeth called "dental plaque," which causes cavities, gingivitis and eventually more severe kinds of gum disease.

15 Apr 2010

Rush University Medical Center's Orthopedic Building awarded Gold LEED certification

The U.S. Green Building Council has awarded the Orthopedic Building at Rush University Medical Center Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

15 Apr 2010

Loyola University internist advises patients to complete their living wills

On April 16, Americans are being urged to complete living wills and other types of "advance directives" in observance of National Health-care Decisions Day.

15 Apr 2010

Lawyer suggests tips on insurance and well being

"You've just found out that your insurance co-pays or coinsurance to see your physician are going to be higher this year. You may think, 'I'll just not see my doctor unless I get really sick.' This way of thinking may reduce a few co-pays to save money but a recent study found that deferring regular care is actually increasing the amount of money and time patients are spending for inpatient care," says Frank N. Darras, the nation's top insurance lawyer.

15 Apr 2010

EGEE User Forum to highlight role of grid computing techniques in diagnosing cancer and heart diseases

Cancer, heart and circulatory system diseases cause two thirds of all deaths in Europe. Three research projects at this week's Enabling Grids for E-sciencE (EGEE) User Forum in Uppsala, Sweden, are demonstrating ways that modern computing techniques can investigate today's biggest killers.

15 Apr 2010

Kenta Biotech presents positive Phase IIa results of panobacumab

Kenta Biotech has presented positive Phase IIa results of its lead drug candidate, panobacumab (KBPA101), with all patients completing the treatment for hospital-acquired pneumonia and ventilator-acquired pneumonia caused by P. aeruginosa achieving an effective clearance of pneumonia as well as a 100% survival rate.

15 Apr 2010

WebMD Health announces final results of 5.8M share purchase tender offer

WebMD Health Corp. announced today the final results of its tender offer to purchase up to 5,800,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $46.80 per share, which expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time on April 8, 2010. Based on the final tabulation by American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the Depositary for the tender offer, 5,172,204 shares of WebMD common stock were properly tendered and delivered.

15 Apr 2010

Medicare doc payment cut looms with new deadline: Tomorrow

Congress has already missed the deadline for new legislation to block cuts of 21% in Medicare payments to doctors. The pay reduction officially took effect April 1, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — the federal agency that oversees the giant health systems — put a hold on processing physician payments for 10 business days, effectively pushing off the bite on payments for physicians' services until April 15.

15 Apr 2010

MU researcher compiles evidence that supports Darwin's theory of sexual selection

In 1871, Charles Darwin sparked debate that continues today when he proposed that human sex differences evolved based on sexual selection. Sexual selection is Darwin's theory that certain physical, mental or psychological traits evolved because they aid in competition among individuals for access to preferred mates or because they are enhancements of traits that help to attract mates.

15 Apr 2010

In Italy and in second life, hospitals succeed by challenging status quo

The Wall Street Journal: "As the U.S. debates the proper roles for the public and private sectors in health care, Italy's Lombardy region suggests a way that encouraging competition between the two can improve health care overall. For the past 10 years, public and private hospitals in Lombardy have competed directly for patients, and in doing so have created what is considered by many to be one of Europe's most efficient health-care systems" (Stancati, 4/13).

15 Apr 2010

Rigorous FDA approval process presents problems for percutaneous heart valve device manufacturers

According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, the rigorous FDA approval process is creating major hurdles for percutaneous heart valve device manufacturers.

15 Apr 2010

FDA: Seven MDIs for treating asthma and COPD to be phased out

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced, in accordance with longstanding U.S. obligations under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, seven metered-dose inhalers (MDI) used to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) will be gradually removed from the U.S. marketplace. These inhalers contain ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are propellants that move medication out of the inhaler and into the lungs of patients.

15 Apr 2010

Researchers develop new method to identify genetic variation in active genes

Researchers at Uppsala University have developed a new method for identifying genetic variation, including mutations, in active genes. Hopes are strong that the method represents an important research tool that will lead to the development of new diagnostic tests.

15 Apr 2010

A renewed effort to reduce global toll of maternal and child deaths

Widespread global use of known and proven maternal and childcare techniques, practices, and therapies could save the lives of millions of women, newborns and children each year, according to a new analysis prepared for a mid-April meeting of world leaders and technical experts on maternal and child health.

15 Apr 2010

Combivent Inhalation Aerosol's "essential use" status effective through 2013

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (BIPI) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that the "essential use" status of Combivent® (ipratropium bromide and albuterol sulfate) Inhalation Aerosol will be effective through December 31, 2013. With this ruling, COMBIVENT will remain on the market and available to the more than two million chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients who rely on it as a bronchodilator.

15 Apr 2010

BRAMS selected to provide DSP tools to investigate brain plasticity in humans

Sonomax Technologies Inc. has been selected by Montr-al's International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research to provide miniaturized, real-time, in-ear, digital signal processing devices to investigate experience-dependent brain plasticity in humans.

15 Apr 2010