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Obama presses health overhaul case to country

President Barack Obama is continuing his anti-insurance, pro-health reform pitch to town hall meetings and in his weekly address to the country.

16 Aug 2009

Keeping asthma under control

A new nationwide telephone survey of 1,001 asthma patients, conducted by AstraZeneca, found that while most patients with asthma understand the risks associated with uncontrolled asthma, they don't always act accordingly.

16 Aug 2009

Lawmakers investigate hospital purchasing practices

Health care institutions spend $60 billion a year on medical supplies, but little information is available about how that money is spent – often through "group purchasing organizations" that hospitals join – because of opaque contracting and negotiating practices, the New York Times reports.

16 Aug 2009

Obama criticizes media coverage, insurance companies during Montana Town Hall meeting

Reuters: "U.S. President Barack Obama, pushing for healthcare reform during a trip to conservative Montana, said on Friday the country was 'held hostage' by insurance companies that deny coverage to sick people." In what Reuters described as a "half-work, half-play trip with his family," Obama will highlight the benefits of his "$1 trillion plan to overhaul the insurance industry, expand healthcare coverage and cut costs to consumers."

16 Aug 2009

Clinton concludes African tour in Cape Verde

"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Cape Verde on Friday, the final stop on her seven-nation Africa tour in which she emphasized good governance and urged officials to implement reforms," CNN reports (8/14).

16 Aug 2009

New microneedle-based injection device from Nanopass

Following the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of a swine flu pandemic, NanoPass Technologies Ltd. (NanoPass) announced today that it has successfully developed a microneedle-based injection device that could dramatically enhance both the effectiveness and supply of pandemic flu vaccines.

14 Aug 2009

Doctors overiding end of life counseling see benefit in current controversy

The paragraphs, buried deep in the 1,000-page House health reform bill, appear innocuous, but they have ignited a firestorm among critics predicting government-sponsored euthanasia.

14 Aug 2009

New study suggests possible genetic link between environmental toxins and myeloma

The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) today said newly published data may provide a possible genetic link between environmental toxins and bone disease in multiple myeloma. Myeloma, also called multiple myeloma, is a cancer of cells in the bone marrow that affect production of blood cells and can damage bone.

14 Aug 2009

Pharmathene reports Q2 2009 financials

PharmAthene, Inc. (NYSE Amex: PIP), a biodefense company developing medical countermeasures against biological and chemical threats, today reported financial and operational results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2009.

14 Aug 2009

Pregis Corporation announces Q2 2009 financials

Pregis Corporation, a leading international manufacturer, marketer, and supplier of protective packaging products and specialty packaging solutions, today announced its 2009 second quarter financial results.

14 Aug 2009

New immune therapy for kidney cancer tested

Researchers at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) have opened a clinical trial to evaluate whether the standard treatment for a common form of kidney cancer works better by itself or when combined with a certain type of blood cell that comes from a patient’s relative. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

14 Aug 2009

Researchers study sleep paralysis

Professor Chris French, has co-authored a paper on sleep paralysis with Julia Santomauro, both of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London, which is published in Issue 22 (August 2009) of The Psychologist.

14 Aug 2009

Updated, evidence-based guidelines highlight primary care needs of HIV patients

With HIV patients living longer thanks to advances in treatment, the primary care needs of those living with HIV have never been more important. Updated, evidence-based guidelines from the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) are designed to help providers manage the care of those living with this complex chronic infection.

14 Aug 2009

Mylan Pharmaceuticals receives final FDA report on Morgantown, W.Va., manufacturing facility

Mylan Inc. (Nasdaq: MYL) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released its official and final report regarding the agency's review of allegations made in a July newspaper article concerning the company's Morgantown, W.Va., manufacturing facility.

14 Aug 2009

Verizon introduces new security capabilities for health care industry

As the health care industry moves from paper-based to electronic record-keeping, protecting confidential patient information becomes vastly more complex. To address this issue, Verizon is unveiling two new capabilities designed to help safeguard the growing exchange of electronic patient data between hospitals, clinics, physicians, insurers and patients.

14 Aug 2009

Scientists create new method to detect genetic causes of complex diseases

Computational biologists at Carnegie Mellon University have developed an analytical technique to detect the multiple genetic variations that contribute to complex disease syndromes such as diabetes, asthma and cancer, which are characterized by multiple clinical and molecular traits.

14 Aug 2009

Gay people more likely to have mental health or substance use disorders

Members of ‘sexual minorities’ are around twice as likely as heterosexuals to seek help for mental health issues or substance abuse treatment. A model of treatment-seeking behavior, described in the open access journal BMC Psychiatry supports the idea that lesbian, gay and bisexual people may have specific treatment needs.

14 Aug 2009

Obesity leads to worse prostate cancer in both black and whites equally

A new look at a large database of prostate cancer patients shows that obesity plays no favorites when it comes to increasing the risk of recurrence after surgery: Being way overweight is equally bad for blacks and whites, say researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

13 Aug 2009

Trimeris Reports Q2 2009 financials

Trimeris, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRMS) today announced financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, reporting net income of $1.3 million, or $0.06 per share compared with $590,000, or $0.03 per share for the quarter ended June 30, 2008. This result was primarily driven by decreased operating expenses offset, in part, by decreased FUZEON® sales and an increase in tax expense.

13 Aug 2009

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow misleading viewers on who's funding the anti-Obama health care ads

The National Republican Trust PAC announced Monday a national television ad buy hammering official Washington on irresponsible spending and the trillions planned for government-run health care. NRTP accepts no corporate money and is funded solely by the donations from average Americans, mostly in the amounts of $25 to $50. During the 2008 campaign season, the Center for Responsive Politics noted that in just one month of activity, NRTP surpassed left-wing billionaire George Soros' MoveOn.org in independent expenditures.

13 Aug 2009