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Many high health costs remain mysterious, including the cost of reform

Health care's high costs are a main reason lawmakers are taking on health reform, but it's also a challenge to identify and target the many reasons care is so expensive. NPR takes a look at medical devices, like plastic tubes and scalpels, that boast surprisingly big price tags. A $2,000 dollar metal stent must be tiny and flexible, a $60 plastic catheter must bend in exactly the right way and "the market is still sorting itself out" on the appropriate price of relatively new specialty scalpels used for heart surgery (Joffe-Walt 9/4).

5 Sep 2009

Winner of 2009 Gerald A. Beathard Fellowship award announced

Lifeline Vascular Access(SM), the nation's leading provider of vascular access management services, today announced that Dr. Stephen Osaguona has been awarded the 2009 Gerald A. Beathard Fellowship in Interventional Nephrology.

5 Sep 2009

New tool for easy assessment of pesticide effects on water bodies

Leipzig: The long-term effects of pesticides on living organisms in rivers and on water quality can now be assessed more easily. Researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) have developed a tool that can estimate the harmful effect of pesticides, such as those flushed into rivers and streams from agricultural land, within minutes.

5 Sep 2009

Health bills would maintain COBRA, offer more help for unemployed

The health care reform bills would keep provisions from the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) that allow workers who lose their jobs to buy health insurance through their old plan, The Plain Dealer reports in answer to a reader's question. But the Cleveland paper notes that other options could also be available.

5 Sep 2009

Book for young life insurance beneficiaries

Anthem Life kicks off Life Insurance Awareness Month by enhancing the support services already available to its group life insurance beneficiaries by offering a new book to help children who are affected by the loss of a loved one - The Healing Book: Facing the Death and Celebrating the Life of Someone You Love (written by Ellen Sabin and published by Watering Can Press).

5 Sep 2009

Catholics for Choice supports coverage of reproductive healthcare services in healthcare policy

"Catholics believe that healthcare is a right, not a privilege. However, our vision for healthcare reform is different than the US bishops and their conservative allies, who seek to marginalize issues of reproductive health-as if people's reproductive health can be separated from their overall health. People in the United States need coverage of reproductive healthcare services, and efforts to deny this coverage based on the opinions of a small but vocal minority are unjust.

5 Sep 2009

Olympic gold medalist Shannon Miller to campaign for Stemcyte

StemCyte, Inc., one of the world's preeminent cord blood banks, today announced that Shannon Miller, a 7-time Olympic Medalist and 9-time World Medalist, has signed an endorsement partnership agreement and will appear in a series of advertising and public awareness campaigns for the company.

5 Sep 2009

Sinovac to purchase H1N1 vaccine for the national stockpiling plan

Sinovac Biotech Ltd. (NYSE: SVA), a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China has issued the initial order to Sinovac to purchase H1N1 vaccine for the national stockpiling plan.

5 Sep 2009

Averion files information statement with SEC for going private transaction

Averion International Corporation (OTC BB: AVRO), today announced that it has filed an information statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its plan to go private.

5 Sep 2009

MSMC's revenue bonds affirmed as BB+ by Fitch Ratings

Fitch Ratings affirmed the 'BB+' rating on approximately $260 million of the City of Miami Beach Health Facilities Authority Hospital Revenue Bonds, series 1998, 2001A and 2004 issued on behalf of Mount Sinai Medical Center of Florida (MSMC). The Rating Outlook is revised to Stable from Negative.

5 Sep 2009

Over 2,800 people worldwide have died from H1N1, WHO reports

The WHO on Friday announced the H1N1 (swine) flu virus has killed at least 2,837 people - the result of an continued increase in the number of H1N1 cases worldwide, not the virulence of the virus, Reuters reports. "There is no sense that the virus has mutated or changed in any sense," WHO spokesperson Gregory Hartl said during a news conference (Nebehay/MacInnis, 9/4).

5 Sep 2009

MRF announces winners of six 2009 research grants

The Migraine Research Foundation (MRF), the only nonprofit organization devoted solely to funding migraine research, today announced the winners of the 2009 research grants. This year's grantees will explore such important areas as pediatric migraine, the genetic association between migraine and cardiovascular events, and why opioids enhance migraine pain.

5 Sep 2009

Proposed Medicare cuts worry seniors and nursing homes

As Congress prepares to reconvene next week following an August recess replete with wide-ranging local discussion of how to fund health care reform, new polling finds both seniors and the public at large are strongly opposed to slashing Medicare-funded nursing home care to pay for the plan. Meanwhile, at events in Florida and Pennsylvania - states with large concentrations of Medicare beneficiaries - seniors and caregivers are urging their respective state congressional delegations to help preserve, protect and defend quality nursing home care as the legislative debate resumes Tuesday on Capitol Hill.

5 Sep 2009

Victim’s longevity with the deadly disease inspires thousands of dying patients

When Jerry Lewis takes the stage again on Labor Day 2009 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon, thousands of people who suffer from the same lung disease as he will be watching - and not just to hear the funny things he'll say. They'll be looking for inspiration from the funny man who suffers from a not-so-funny and little known fatal lung disease.

5 Sep 2009

Abbott is again the top-ranked health care company in BusinessWeek's "50 Best Places to Launch a Career"

For the fourth consecutive year, Abbott (NYSE: ABT) has been named one of the "50 Best Places to Launch a Career" by BusinessWeek magazine. The list highlights companies that excel at offering a superior workplace for entry-level employees. This year, Abbott moved up to No. 13, and was once again the top-ranked health care company on the list. Abbott has been included on the list every year since BusinessWeek initiated the list in 2006.

5 Sep 2009

Flu vaccinations now available at all 22 Target Clinic locations

Target(R) announces that flu vaccinations are now available at all 22 Target Clinic locations in Minnesota. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends nearly everyone protect themselves against this potentially serious illness.

5 Sep 2009

Experience of Seattle's Group Health raise questions about co-ops' role in reform

An examination of Seattle's Group Health raises questions about the role of health co-ops in insurance reform. Seattle Weekly reports: "Two weeks ago, as the national debate over health care began to fixate on cooperatives like Seattle's Group Health as a possible model for reform, Eugene and Yukiko Gatlin filed for bankruptcy protection.

5 Sep 2009

Neusoft Medical launches three of its flagship medical products

Today, Neusoft Medical Systems Co., Ltd. ("Neusoft Medical"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of China's leading IT solutions & services provider, Neusoft Corporation (600718.SH), held a press conference for its development strategy and new products, officially launching three of its flagship products to the globe, including NeuViz 16 multi-slice CT scanner, Sparkler 1.5T superconductive MRI, and NeuLife linear accelerator (LINAC) system, and the first two products also marked as the first of their kinds in China.

5 Sep 2009

Worthington Industries obtains Structural Composites Industries

Worthington Industries, Inc. (NYSE:WOR) announced today that its Worthington Cylinders business segment has purchased Structural Composites Industries, LLC (SCI).

5 Sep 2009

Aflac Ford Fusion to sport 13-year-old cancer patient's paint scheme

On September 6(th), at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion will sport a colorful new look inspired by a 13-year-old patient at the Aflac Cancer Center. Aflac invited children at the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service to "Color Carl's Car" for the Labor Day weekend race.

5 Sep 2009