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SBi secures $30mm credit facility to fund business expansion

Small Bone Innovations, Inc. (SBi), a leading, privately held orthopedics company focused exclusively on technologies and treatments for the small bones & joints, has closed on a $30mm credit facility to fund accelerated business expansion and refinance existing indebtedness.

15 Dec 2009

Scientists create Pandemic Influenza Planning Tool to model the spread of pandemic influenza

As communities brace for rising wintertime influenza cases, scientists are developing a mathematical and visual analytic toolkit to help health officials quickly analyze pandemics and craft better response strategies.

15 Dec 2009

Hospital records show consistent rate of lacerations and accidental ingestion of ornament fragments by children

A new study from Children's Hospital Boston's Division of Emergency Medicine has found that holiday decorations, particularly glass ornaments, are one more safety hazard parents must consider during the season.

15 Dec 2009

Manchester Pharmaceuticals' Chenodal now available for patients suffering from gallstones

Manchester Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(TM) announced today the availability of Chenodal(TM) 250 mg (chenodiol tablets). On October 22, 2009, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Chenodal, an important therapy for patients suffering from gallstones in whom surgery poses an unacceptable health risk due to disease or advanced age.

15 Dec 2009

Long-term care proposal raises cost, sustainability concerns

"Embedded in sweeping health legislation passed by the House and being debated on the Senate floor is a major new federal insurance program," called the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, or Class Act, The New York Times reports.

15 Dec 2009

Demystifying Psychiatry: A resource for patients and families

Psychiatric disorders are underdiagnosed, poorly treated and highly stigmatized, according to psychiatrists Charles F. Zorumski, M.D., and Eugene H. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D. So these Washington University physicians have written a book to address those problems.

15 Dec 2009

Being obese increases the risk for developing OSA in adolescents, study shows

A study in the Dec. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine shows that being overweight or obese increases the risk for developing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in adolescents but not in younger children.

15 Dec 2009

Bio-Quant becomes wholly-owned subsidiary of NexMed

NexMed, Inc., a developer of products based on the NexACT® technology, today announced the closing of its acquisition of Bio-Quant, Inc., a privately-held leading research organization for in vitro and in vivo contract drug discovery and pre-clinical development services, headquartered in San Diego, CA. Upon closing, Bio-Quant became a wholly-owned subsidiary of NexMed.

15 Dec 2009

Teen smoking continues to decline, but mild increase in smokeless tobacco

New data announced in today's Monitoring the Future study shows that while teen smoking rates are continuing their slow decline, an old threat has once again emerged - the use of smokeless tobacco.

15 Dec 2009

New reports highlight health care costs

Several new studies on health care costs reveal interesting findings.

15 Dec 2009

Women's health becomes political issue in health care debate

"The heated Capitol Hill debate over health care coverage for mammograms has exploded onto the political scene, shaping the 2010 electoral landscape and recalibrating the battle for a crucial constituency: the women's vote," Politico reports.

15 Dec 2009

Researchers to receive more than $4.5 million in grants to study Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Researchers at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) expect to receive more than $4.5 million in grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act.), including nearly $1 million from the highly competitive Challenge Grant program for a study that seeks to reduce the number of children who die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, it was announced today.

15 Dec 2009

Regular exercise can reduce mortality rate for patients with colorectal cancer

Men who have been treated for colorectal cancer can reduce their risk of dying from the disease by engaging in regular exercise, according to a new study by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The findings are published in the December 14 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

15 Dec 2009

Primary care shortage affecting communities as hospitals struggle to keep up

CNN reports that five years ago "roughly half the doctors leaving medical school entered the work force as primary-care physicians; just 20 percent of current medical students are planning to work in primary care."

15 Dec 2009

UT Southwestern Medical Center performs minimally invasive procedures for sinuses and chronic rhinosinusitis

Only about one in 2,000 people in the United States get a sinus tumor, but Johnnie Wilcox was one of the unfortunate few.

15 Dec 2009

Microbicide does not reduce women's risk of HIV infection, study shows

Pro 2000, a vaginal microbicide gel designed to reduce women's risk of HIV infection, showed "no evidence that it reduces the risk of HIV infection," according to the results of a series of clinical trials in Africa, Britain's Medical Research Council (MRC) said on Monday, Reuters reports.

15 Dec 2009

AIDS develops more rapidly in individuals who express HLA B*35-Px, shows study

Immune proteins called HLA molecules help to activate killer T cell responses against pathogens. But according to a study that will be published online on December 14th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org), one particular group of HLA molecules cripples this activation, perhaps explaining why HIV-infected individuals who express these HLAs progress to AIDS more rapidly than others.

15 Dec 2009

Champagne improves blood flow and reduces risk of cardiovascular diseases

Research from the University of Reading suggests that two glasses of Champagne a day may be good for your heart and circulation. The researchers have found that drinking Champagne wine daily in moderate amounts causes improvements in the way blood vessels function.

15 Dec 2009

Congress must include health workforce planning body in health reform, urges AAHC

Congressional leaders must ensure that health reform includes a health workforce planning body with sufficient authority to ensure implementation of an integrated, coordinated national health workforce policy, according to Dr. Steven A Wartman, president and CEO of the Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC).

15 Dec 2009

KHN column: Why $75-a-day matters to caregivers

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Howard Gleckman writes: "In the ongoing congressional debate over the CLASS Act—the proposed national long-term care insurance program—critics and supporters have been arguing over whether a benefit of $50- or even $75-a-day is worthwhile.

15 Dec 2009