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Cardium Therapeutics reports positive findings from Excellarate Phase 1/2 clinical study

Cardium Therapeutics today announced the publication of positive findings from the open label multi-center Phase 1/2 clinical study of Excellarate(TM) (GAM501, Ad5PDGF-B / 2.6% collagen), its product candidate for the potential treatment of non-healing diabetic foot ulcers.

19 Oct 2009

DFG Research Centre to be funded for a further four-year period

The DFG Research Centre for Renewable Therapies at the Technical University of Dresden ("Renewable Therapies: From Cells to Tissues to Therapies - Engineering the Cellular Basis of Regeneration ", CRTD), following a very successful first funding period, is being extended and will be funded for a further four years.

19 Oct 2009

Government closely monitors swine flu vaccine

The government is closely monitoring the safety of the new H1N1 swine flu vaccine amid people's concerns.

19 Oct 2009

Legislation only modestly addresses medical errors

Health care legislation largely fails to address the issue of medical errors that were detailed in a 10-year old landmark federal study, "To Err Is Human," which proposed several key solutions.

19 Oct 2009

Wellness provisions advance in reform legislation

Employers could incentivize wellness if provisions passed by the Senate finance and health committees become law. The Washington Post reports: "By more than doubling the maximum penalties that companies can apply to employees who flunk medical evaluations, the legislation could put workers under intense financial pressure to lose weight, stop smoking or even lower their cholesterol."

19 Oct 2009

Mallinckrodt TaperGuard and TaperGuard Evac endotracheal tubes launched by Covidien

Covidien, a leading global healthcare products company and recognized innovator in mechanical ventilation and respiratory care devices, today announced the global launch of Mallinckrodt™ TaperGuard™ and TaperGuard™ Evac endotracheal tubes.

19 Oct 2009

Novel HIV drug to be studied in cell cultures and patients

A $6 million, five-year federal grant to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute will enable researchers to investigate a novel approach in treating HIV infection---a unique class of drugs focused on developing therapies for psychological and neurological effects in AIDS.

19 Oct 2009

Elected officials have no excuse for failing to enact comprehensive smoke-free workplace laws: IOM

A landmark report released today by the Institute of Medicine provides powerful new evidence that elected officials have no excuse for failing to enact comprehensive smoke-free workplace laws. The IOM report concludes smoke-free laws reduce the number of heart attacks and save lives. The report also confirms that there is conclusive scientific evidence that secondhand smoke causes heart disease, including heart attacks, and finds there is compelling evidence that even relatively brief exposure to secondhand smoke can lead to a heart attack.

19 Oct 2009

Leading Blue Dog suggests extending Medicare to uninsured

Leading Blue Dogs wrestle over options to increase coverage for the uninsured and extend Medicare. The Hill reports that Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., "who had emerged as a leader among centrist Blue Dog Democrats opposing the public health insurance option, has suggested something his colleagues consider even more drastic - opening Medicare to those under 65 without insurance. He made the suggestion in meetings with House Democratic leaders and brought the idea to the closed-door House Democratic Caucus meeting Thursday."

19 Oct 2009

Medicare advantage premiums could climb 25% next year

"Premiums that seniors pay for Medicare Advantage plans will increase an average of 25% next year, largely because insurers, in response to new federal requirements, are canceling many plans that carry no premiums, a top Medicare official said Wednesday," The Wall Street Journal reports.

19 Oct 2009

Leahy's funds help physicians and independent pharmacies to adopt health information technology

More Vermont physicians will be using electronic prescribing and other health information technology to improve patient care, under a $1 million federal grant secured by U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy.

19 Oct 2009

NCCN program on Discovery Health Channel profiles patients battling lung cancer

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer and leading cause of cancer-related deaths in both men and women. Although tobacco use is the strongest known risk factor for lung cancer, many people who never smoked also develop the disease.

19 Oct 2009

CCID Consulting releases article on China’s portable medical electronics field

CCID Consulting, China’s leading research, consulting and IT outsourcing service provider, and the first Chinese consulting firm listed in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: HK08235), released its article on China’s portable medical electronics field.

19 Oct 2009

Lobbying efforts heat up on health care

All sorts of special interest groups are stepping up lobbying efforts and spending millions to shape health legislation.

19 Oct 2009

Clemson University receives a $9.3M NIH grant to establish a tissue regeneration center

Clemson University has received a $9.3 million, five-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to establish a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) for Tissue Regeneration. Faculty from the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina also will collaborate, providing expertise in medicine and developmental biology.

19 Oct 2009

Gloomy health care statistics in Texas top state news

New outlets report on a variety of health issues at the state level including gloomy health statistics and the rising cost of premiums for sick workers in Texas, a Medicaid program that could provide a model for national health care reform in North Carolina and Medicaid cuts in Michigan.

19 Oct 2009

Health debate in Congress could last well into December

Roll Call reports that after the Senate canceled the Columbus Day recess in October, it "will not be in session Nov. 11-13 and will take off the entire week of Thanksgiving, even though the chamber could be in session until Christmas to deal with health care reform.

19 Oct 2009

Insurer's "triple-barreled assault" triggers counter attacks

A "triple-barreled" insurance industry attack on the Senate Finance Committee's health legislation - including separate reports sponsored by America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, as well as television advertisements in six states - is "a reminder that the insurance industry has enormous financial stakes in a health care overhaul and will not sit by while its interests are threatened," the New York Times reports (Seelye, 10/14).

19 Oct 2009

Concierge medicine for the masses could succeed where insurance-based health care fails

Concierge medicine for the masses -- in which patients pay an annual fee or retainer directly to their physicians -- could succeed where insurance-based health care fails, former "New York Times" business reporter Lawrence Fisher argues in the latest "Milken Institute Review."

19 Oct 2009

Biogen Idec and Biovitrum to conduct rFIXFc clinical trial in hemophilia B patients

Biogen Idec and Biovitrum AB (STO: BVT) today announced that they plan to advance the companies’ long-acting, fully-recombinant Factor IX Fc fusion protein (rFIXFc) into a registrational clinical trial in hemophilia B patients.

19 Oct 2009