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Newborn screening website to support quality health care for children

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) today launched the Newborn Screening Coding and Terminology Guide (http://newbornscreeningcodes.nlm.nih.gov), an important step toward efficient electronic exchange of standard newborn screening data.

16 Sep 2009

House Democrats hold 'friendly' heartings in an effort to refocus health bill debate

House Democrats tried Tuesday to reframe the debate over health care legislation. Meanwhile, a key House committee chairman says that some of the president's proposals from last week's health care speech are complicating efforts to finalize House legislation.

16 Sep 2009

Phthalates & Parabens Profile helps identify exposure levels to chemicals

Personal care products that we use everyday contain chemicals that act as endocrine disruptors, which hinder the normal functions of our hormone systems. Phthalates, also known as plasticizers, are added to plastics to make them flexible to mold into shapes for product packaging and as fragrance for perfumes and air fresheners. Parabens are added to personal care products, such as cosmetics, to extend shelf-life and eliminate fungi and bacteria.

16 Sep 2009

Novartis presents Phase II results of the QVA149 bronchodilator for the treatment of COPD

Sosei Group Corporation ("Sosei"; TSE Mothers Index: 4565) announce that Novartis have presented the results of their two Phase II studies evaluating the efficacy, safety and tolerability of QVA149 at the annual congress of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) in Vienna.

16 Sep 2009

Clinical trial data of Lipsovir presented at ICAAC

Medivir presented Lipsovir (ME-609) at a poster session on 14th September at the ongoing ICAAC (Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy) meeting.

16 Sep 2009

DaVita achieves target fistula usage rate in Virginia

DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA), a leading provider of kidney care services for those diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD), has been recognized in the state of Virginia for reaching the End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Network's patient quality improvement goal.

16 Sep 2009

Device makers, late to the table, object to new fees in health bills

"The $100 billion medical-device industry is scrambling to reverse billions of dollars in fees proposed by the Senate Finance Committee, but it faces trouble because its reluctance to offer concessions alienated some lawmakers," the Wall Street Journal reports.

16 Sep 2009

Kaiser Permanente's new ad focuses on its commitment to member's health and well-being

Kaiser Permanente's innovative "Thrive" advertising campaign has been extended with the launch of a new ad titled "Invest." The 30-second spot, which focuses on the organization's commitment to the health and well-being of members at every stage of life, is reminiscent of themes found in earlier "Thrive" ads, including the popular "Kid Wisdom" and "Saturday."

16 Sep 2009

Laser technology lowers manufacturing cost of artificial joints and arterial stents

Researchers are developing technologies that use lasers to create arterial stents and longer-lasting medical implants that could be manufactured 10 times faster and also less expensively than is now possible.

16 Sep 2009

AMRI files two new patent infringement lawsuits

AMRI announced today that it has filed two new patent infringement lawsuits in U.S. District Court in New Jersey against Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Ltd., Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Inc. and Sandoz, Inc. (“the defendants”) for infringement of AMRI’s U.S. Patent Number 7,390,906. The recently issued patent relates to the manufacturing process for the active ingredient in sanofi-aventis’s Allegra and AllegraD drug products.

16 Sep 2009

Wisconsin town offers low cost, quality care model

A Wisconsin clinic offers a better model that provides high-quality care and saves the federal government money. CQ HealthBeat reports on the Marshfield Clinic where nurses are readily available, doctors offer coordinated care to manage chronic conditions, and staff follows best practices based on convincing data.

16 Sep 2009

Study reveals ineffectiveness of insulin and metformin against inflammatory biomarkers

In patients with recent onset type-2 diabetes, treatment with insulin or the diabetes drug metformin did not reduce inflammatory biomarkers, such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, although the treatment did improve glucose control, according to a study in the September 16 issue of JAMA.

16 Sep 2009

Poll: Majority of doctors support public option

"Most doctors — 63 percent — say they favor giving patients a choice that would include both public and private insurance," NPR reports.

16 Sep 2009

Study shows 29 percent patients experienced angina chest pain once a week

The world's largest quality of life study of chronic angina patients has revealed that almost one in three experience frequent chest pain, which affects their daily life.

16 Sep 2009

IncentOne and Discern Consulting to establish standardized framework for health incentive programs

IncentOne (http://www.incentone.com), the leading provider of incentive solutions to the healthcare industry, and Discern Consulting, a firm specializing in the development and implementation of provider pay-for-performance programs, have partnered to deliver "the science of health incentives".

16 Sep 2009

Urgent vaccine requirements for treating epidemic diseases voiced at ECI 2009

As a result of dominant media coverage of new epidemic threats such as swine influenza, other infection risks receive less public attention than they deserve. "We would like to bring to everybody's attention that the infectious diseases with the most severe consequences continue to be old acquaintances such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, malaria and hepatitis C. About six million people worldwide die of these diseases every year," says Professor Dr. Dr. h. c. Stefan H. E. Kaufmann, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, at the 2nd European Congress of Immunology ECI 2009.

16 Sep 2009

Checking in with Dr. Abraham Verghese on the importance of the bedside manner

Kaiser Health News' Jessica Marcy talked with Dr. Abraham Verghese about a range of issues related to health reform and the practice of medicine. Verghese, a senior associate chair at Stanford University's School of Medicine and a best-selling author, spoke about "how medical educators are addressing the shortage of primary care physicians and the 'battle of stories' in the health care reform debate" (Marcy, 9/15).

16 Sep 2009

Long-term implications of severe acute kidney problems

Hospitalized patients who experience acute kidney problems that require dialysis are at increased risk of receiving chronic dialysis once discharged, but do not have an increased risk of death, according to a study in the September 16 issue of JAMA.

16 Sep 2009

IASIS Healthcare's Sentillion SSO impementation drastically reduces help desk calls

Sentillion today announced that IASIS Healthcare, a leading owner and operator of acute care hospitals, has implemented its enterprise single sign-on (SSO) solution to provide caregivers with improved access to the health system’s electronic health record (EHR) system. Seven of IASIS’ 15 acute care facilities are currently live with SSO.

16 Sep 2009

Cardiac MRI exams gain prominence in the medical imaging market

Developments in imaging technology and software continue to help cardiac MRI exams gain prominence in the medical imaging market by meeting the demand for faster scan times and the ability to view areas of the body that were previously deemed impossible to image, according to "Medical Imaging Markets: MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and Ultrasound" by healthcare market research firm Kalorama Information.

16 Sep 2009