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Senators take to trenches for Finance Committee health bill mark up

As they consider chairman Max Baucus' health proposal, Senate Finance Committee Republicans and Democrats are debating costs, subsidies and the future of Medicare.

24 Sep 2009

ADAGIO clinical trial results demonstrating AZILECT's efficacy published

Results from the ADAGIO trial, published online today in The New England Journal of Medicine, demonstrated that Parkinson’s disease patients receiving AZILECT (rasagiline) 1mg/day at the start of the study (early-start group) experienced superior benefit over 18 months compared with those who started the exact same treatment nine months later (delayed-start group).

24 Sep 2009

G20 preview: Obama to propose phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies; HIV/AIDS protesters take to streets in Pittsburgh

During the G20 summit opening Thursday in Pittsburgh, President Obama will propose countries around the world phase out government subsidies that promote the production and use of fossil fuels "that spew carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas," the Associated Press reports (Borenstein, 9/23).

24 Sep 2009

States extend, create new programs for vulnerable; In Texas, home health a problem

New outlets report on a variety of health stories at the state level including a new program that provides prescription drug help and routine medical care to low-income people in Iowa, an assurance that poor children will be able to keep their insurance in California and recognition that home health agencies waste Medicare dollars in Texas.

24 Sep 2009

LibertyHealth implements EDIMS' nursing documentation and charge capture systems

EDIMS LLC, a leading provider of interoperable emergency department (ED) information management systems for hospitals, announced today that LibertyHealth, a two-hospital health system in northern New Jersey, has launched EDIMS’ nursing documentation and charge capture systems to help improve care quality and streamline operations.

24 Sep 2009

Handheld diabetic test from MSGI's Nanobeak

MSGI Security Solutions Inc. (OTCBB: MSGI) today reported that the Company is launching its first product derived from NASA technology, a handheld test for Diabetes, which uses breath instead of blood.

24 Sep 2009

46 million Americans uninsured

The uproar at this summer's raucous town hall meetings, Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst in Congress and the endless debate over whether some opposition to healthcare reform is racially-tinged are a major disservice to the millions of Americans who need healthcare reform. Rep. Wilson doesn't worry about costs if a member of his family falls ill; he is covered. The majority of the people screaming and waving signs at town hall meetings don't worry either. They are covered. Their family members walk into a doctor's office or hospital emergency room, flash insurance cards and receive the best treatment available.

24 Sep 2009

SPIRIT IV trial data demonstrates superior efficacy of XIENCE V stent system

Late-breaking data from the SPIRIT IV trial demonstrated that Abbott's market-leading XIENCE V(R) Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System achieved superiority in the key safety and efficacy measures of target lesion failure (TLF) and target lesion revascularization (TLR) compared to the TAXUS(R) Express2(TM) Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System (TAXUS) at one year.

24 Sep 2009

Website for family caregivers to find senior care facilities

AgingCare.com, a website and community forum for people taking care of elderly parents, has created a directory tool that lets family caregivers find senior care facilities in their local area. The directory, www.agingcare.com/Find-Senior-Care/ is free to use, and quickly connects caregivers with local senior care services and providers. The Directory includes assisted living facilities, home health care services, nursing homes, hospice, geriatric care managers and independent living residences.

24 Sep 2009

FDA endorses Covidien's REMS program for EXALGO tablets

Covidien (NYSE:COV), a leading global provider of healthcare products, today announced that it presented information to members of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Advisory Committee on the New Drug Application and proposed Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) program for EXALGOTM (hydromorphone HCl extended release) tablets, an opioid formulation.

24 Sep 2009

Two new studies test conventional wisdom about physician behavior

Two new studies test classic assumptions about doctor behavior, including whether fatigue, stress and even full moons impede their work. Meanwhile, separate reports investigate would-be physicians' behavior far from the exam room or operating table -- on Facebook, YouTube, and private blogs.

24 Sep 2009

NIH awards $2.5 million grant to University of Utah cardiologist

A pioneering model that a University of Utah cardiologist proposes as a cause of heart disease is the kind of creative thinking the National Institutes of Health (NIH) likes to see-and reward with one of its most prestigious honors, a $2.5 million 2009 Pioneer Award.

24 Sep 2009

Results of Phase III clinical trial of HIV vaccine released

A Phase III clinical trial involving more than 16,000 adult volunteers in Thailand has demonstrated that an investigational HIV vaccine regimen was safe and modestly effective in preventing HIV infection. According to final results released by the trial sponsor, the U.S. Army Surgeon General, the prime boost combination of ALVAC(R)( )HIV and AIDSVAX(R) B/E( )lowered the rate of HIV infection by 31.2% compared with placebo.

24 Sep 2009

Rescuing immune system cells can reduce risk of prostate cancer

Immune therapies have been explored as a way to treat cancer after it develops. But a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center suggests that genetic risk of prostate cancer can be reduced by rescuing critical immune system cells.

24 Sep 2009

NIHR to fund patient panel for skin disease research

People who suffer from skin disease are being asked to help make research more effective by joining a new 'Patient Panel'.

24 Sep 2009

Medivation commences patient treatment in clinical trial of MDV3100 in advanced prostate cancer

Medivation, Inc. (Nasdaq: MDVN) today announced treatment of the first patient in a Phase 3 clinical trial of the investigational drug MDV3100 in advanced prostate cancer. Known as AFFIRM, the trial will evaluate the novel androgen receptor antagonist MDV3100 in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer who were previously treated with docetaxel-based chemotherapy.

24 Sep 2009

ProVation MD software for GI procedures

Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading global provider of information for healthcare professionals and students, announced today that Outpatient Surgery Center of Jonesboro has selected its ProVation® MD software for procedure documentation and coding. The software will be used to document Gastroenterological (GI) procedures at the facility.

24 Sep 2009

Computational models form basis to design the device for recreating kidney function

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine and two other academic institutions have received federal funding to systematically assemble functional human kidney tissue from tissue modeled on a computer. If successful, the research-which ties together several emerging technologies including virtual tissue modeling and nanofabrication-could lead to a more predictable way for researchers to engineer tissue outside the body and, consequently, to screen for new drugs.

24 Sep 2009

Study on leisure experiences of women with intellectual disabilities in group homes

Brenda Rossow-Kimball, who did post-graduate research with Donna Goodwin, in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, investigated the leisure experiences of five women with intellectual disabilities in two group homes. They found major differences in how leisure was experienced in each group home. In one, the women were provided with support and encouraged to make their own decisions about how they used their leisure time; there was a genuine interest in the women engaging in independent spontaneous leisure, according to Rossow-Kimball. In the other home leisure was supervised by the staff, scheduled into the activities of the home, and managed by the staff, which, the researchers say, doesn't teach the women how to discover what they like to do for leisure.

24 Sep 2009