Medical News

RSS

Neurosurgeons perform world's first operation on 'habenula' to treat depression

A team of neurosurgeons at Heidelberg University Hospital and psychiatrists at the Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim have for the first time successfully treated a patient suffering from severe depression by stimulating the habenula, a tiny nerve structure in the brain.

8 Jan 2010

Health Canada clears Zargis Cardioscan device for sale in Canada

Zargis Medical Corp., a majority-owned subsidiary of Speedus Corp. (Nasdaq: SPDE), today announced that Health Canada, the Canadian equivalent of the U.S. FDA, has cleared the Zargis Cardioscan(TM) device for sale in Canada.

8 Jan 2010

VA expected to move soon to cover more effects of Agent Orange

The Department of Veterans Affairs may need to pay heavily to treat veterans who have been adversely affected by Agent Orange. McClatchy/Beaufort (S.C.) Gazette report: "The cost of war -- on veterans' health and taxpayer wallets -- will loom a little larger in the new year when the Department of Veterans Affairs issues a final rule to claim adjudicators to presume three more diseases of Vietnam veterans, including heart disease, were caused by exposure to Agent Orange.

8 Jan 2010

Possible loopholes, insurance costs in Senate health bill

"A critical loophole in the current version of the Senate health-care bill would allow insurers to charge more for those who don't participate in wellness programs, essentially negating the measure's key goal of eliminating higher costs for those with pre-existing conditions, a group of health experts said Thursday," MarketWatch reports.

8 Jan 2010

Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT II to acquire the Center for Neurosurgery and Spine in Sartell

Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT II, Inc. today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the Center for Neurosurgery and Spine, a 36,600-square-foot, two-building medical office portfolio in the St. Cloud suburb of Sartell. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and the satisfaction of other requirements as detailed in the agreement.

8 Jan 2010

AUA updates clinical practice guideline on female stress urinary incontinence

A complete evaluation, including an assessment of post-void residual volume, is key when evaluating a female patient for surgery to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI), according to a new clinical practice guideline released today by the American Urological Association (AUA).

8 Jan 2010

Funxional Therapeutics completes Phase I study of FX125L

Funxional Therapeutics Ltd (Funxional) has announced today the successful completion of the Phase I programme of its novel anti-inflammatory, FX125L, an orally available small molecule that belongs to a new therapeutic class named Broad Spectrum Chemokine Inhibitors (BSCIs).

8 Jan 2010

Hurdles to clear in the Senate's reform endgame, and possible 2010 consequences

President Barack Obama met Thursday with Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn., the chairmen who steered the Senate's version of the health overhaul through the finance and health committees, Roll Call reports. It is one sign of Obama becoming an increasingly active participant as the debate nears its endgame (Drucker and Koffler, 1/7).

8 Jan 2010

Genentech's ACTEMRA approved to treat RA

Genentech, Inc., a wholly owned member of the Roche Group, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ACTEMRA® (tocilizumab) for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have had an inadequate response to one or more tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonist therapies.

8 Jan 2010

Sybaritic to stop production and distribution of medical devices

Sybaritic Inc., a medical device maker, has agreed to stop producing and distributing its medical products used in laser surgery, dermatology, and spa treatments until it is in compliance with FDA quality standards.

8 Jan 2010

TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals commences its TL32711 SMAC mimetic Phase 1 clinical trial

TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals announced today that the Company has completed dosing of the first cohort in a Phase 1 clinical trial of its selective SMAC mimetic, TL32711. The Phase 1 trial is an open-label, dose-escalation study evaluating the safety and tolerability of TL32711 in adults with solid tumors or lymphoma refractory to standard therapies. The study will also assess the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and anti-tumor activity of TL32711.

8 Jan 2010

Synta Pharmaceuticals announces pricing of public offering of shares

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp., a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing small molecule drugs to treat severe medical conditions, today announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 5,555,556 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $4.50 per share for gross proceeds of approximately $25 million.

8 Jan 2010

Three new retail stores of China Yongxin Pharmaceuticals opened in 2009

China Yongxin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("China Yongxin Pharmaceuticals" or the "Company"), is a leading manufacturer, distributor and retailer of Chinese traditional medicines, pharmaceutical products, natural health products, health food, cosmetics, and medical equipment in Northeastern China. The Company today announced that it had opened three new stores in 2009.

8 Jan 2010

Health policy research roundup: Long-term care, diabetes disparities, health IT

Annals of Internal Medicine: Cultural Competency Training and Performance Reports to Improve Diabetes Care for Black Patients - In this study, researchers measure the effects cultural competency training and performance training for physicians has on the clinical outcomes for black patients with diabetes.

8 Jan 2010

IMRIS obtains regulatory approval to market surgical imaging systems in South Korea

IMRIS Inc. ("IMRIS" or the "Company") today announced that it has gained regulatory approval from the Korea Food & Drug Administration permitting the Company to immediately begin marketing its 1.5 Tesla and 3.0 Tesla IMRISneuro systems in South Korea.

8 Jan 2010

CDC encourages public to receive H1N1 vaccine; PBS examines arrival of vaccine in developing countries

During a media briefing Thursday, Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, warned against complacency over the H1N1 (swine flu), and encouraged Americans who had not yet received the H1N1 vaccine to do so, CNN reports.

8 Jan 2010

A holistic approach to weight loss

When your New Year's resolution to lose weight crumbles as fast as the cookie touching your lips, it's time to admit that diets don't work. More successful is a holistic approach to losing weight that lets you feel good about feeding your body the nourishment it craves.

8 Jan 2010

Japanese MHLW approves Abbott's XIENCE V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System

Abbott announced today that the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) has approved its XIENCE V® Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System for the treatment of coronary artery disease.

8 Jan 2010

White House rallies Democratic governors around health reform

Politico: "One day after California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, delivered a stinging attack on federal health care reform, Obama administration officials huddled with his Democratic counterparts to address their complaints about the legislation — and enlist them in the public campaign to support it.

8 Jan 2010

New findings may provide a standardized way to diagnose autism in children

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) process sound and language a fraction of a second slower than children without ASDs, and measuring magnetic signals that mark this delay may become a standardized way to diagnose autism.

8 Jan 2010