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Sonosite acquires Cardiodynamics

SonoSite, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONO) today announced that on August 14, 2009, it completed the acquisition of CardioDynamics International Corporation (NASDAQ:CDIC), a leader in impedance cardiography (ICG) for noninvasive hemodynamic assessment.

17 Aug 2009

New consortium to tackle African sleeping sickness and Leishmaniasis

A new consortium has been formed to boost drug development for the treatment of two deadly diseases, African sleeping sickness and Leishmaniasis, which affect millions of people worldwide.

17 Aug 2009

Infant sleep environments depicted in magazines targeted to women of childbearing age

More than one third of photos in women's magazines depicted babies in unsafe sleep positions, according to a new study in Pediatrics. Additionally, the study found that two-thirds of sleep environments depicted in these magazines were also unsafe.

17 Aug 2009

Disabled woman assaulted at health care town hall meeting

After releasing our article on Friday discussing how violence at health care town hall meetings could escalate, we attended a health care protest at Senator Dianne Feinstein's office in West Los Angeles, where we met a disabled woman, Kimberly King.

17 Aug 2009

Mother's immune system may block fetal treatments for blood diseases

Pediatric researchers have resolved an apparent contradiction in the field of prenatal cell transplantation - a medical approach that holds future promise in correcting sickle cell disease and other serious congenital blood disorders. In a new study in animals, the researchers showed that the mother's immune response interferes with the offspring's earlier ability to tolerate transplanted donor cells.

17 Aug 2009

Aeterna Zentaris announces results from trials of Cetrorelix in benign prostatic hyperplasia

AEterna Zentaris Inc. today reported Phase 3 results for its North American efficacy trial Z-033 and the safety trial Z-041 in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), with its lead endocrinology compound for urology, cetrorelix pamoate. As announced on March 6, 2009, sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC entered into an agreement with AEterna Zentaris for the development, registration and marketing of cetrorelix in BPH for the U.S. market.

17 Aug 2009

Astronauts test nutritional supplement formulas in space

After nearly four years of joint research of Houston-based AmeriSciences and NASA / Johnson Space Center (JSC), a senior NASA medical officer has confirmed that two of the resulting nutritional supplement formulas were used and tested in space by the astronauts of mission STS-125 of May 11, 2009 and the mission STS-127 of July 15, 2009 and are now in use and testing aboard the International Space Station.

17 Aug 2009

Ad audit: Club for growth's anti-government message

An anti-tax group goes after health care proposals in Congress, alleging they would lead to health care rationing and crushing government deficits. But the campaign includes some dubious comparisons with the British health system, and the group’s recommended solutions are open to question.

17 Aug 2009

Cognitive behavioral therapy improves sleep and pain in osteoarthritis

A study in the Aug. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine shows that the use of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is an effective treatment for older patients with osteoarthritis and comorbid insomnia.

16 Aug 2009

Discovery of inherited gene variants that account for 37 percent of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have identified inherited variations in two genes that account for 37 percent of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), including a gene that may help predict drug response.

16 Aug 2009

Abuse, self-neglect places seniors at increased risk for premature death

Older adults who are subjected to abuse or self-neglect face a greater risk of premature death than other seniors, according to a study published in the medical journal JAMA.

16 Aug 2009

New target for Alzheimer's disease

For close to a decade, pharmaceutical researchers have been in hot pursuit of compounds to activate a key nicotine receptor that plays a role in cognitive processes. Triggering it, they hope, might prevent or even reverse the devastation wrought by Alzheimer’s disease.

16 Aug 2009

Obama administration officials soften stance on public plan

Associated Press: "President Barack Obama's administration signaled on Sunday it is ready to abandon the idea of giving Americans the option of government-run health insurance as part of his ambitious health care proposal.

16 Aug 2009

PEPFAR partners with BD to improve blood collection safety in Africa

PEPFAR and the global medical technology company BD announced an iniative Tuesday that will work to improve blood collection safety in clinics and hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa – an issue that PANA/Afrique en ligne reports has "become more critical than ever in sub-Saharan nations and other developing countries severely impacted by the HIV/AIDS pandemic" (8/12).

16 Aug 2009

Grassley's doubts, coupled with cost control issues, could complicate Dems' overhaul efforts

Politico reports that, despite saying last week that he was "confident" President Obama was working towards a bipartisan health bill, Sen. Charles Grassley "told local voters, 'I'm not walking away from the table; I'm being pushed away from the table.' ... Grassley's Iowa road show shows just why Democrats feared this August recess.

16 Aug 2009

Lawmakers reconsider Town Hall format, continue to confront reform fervor

Some lawmakers are canceling town hall meetings or holding them over the telephone or with selected groups of people in an effort to avoid shouting confrontations over health care reform, which have greeted lawmakers returning home for the August recess, USA Today reports.

16 Aug 2009

New biomarker predicts response to hepatitis C treatment

Researchers have identified the first genetic marker that predicts response to hepatitis C treatments, and a single letter of DNA code appears to make a huge difference. Duke University Medical Center scientists says the biomarker not only predicts who is most likely to respond to treatment and who isn't, but also may explain why there are such different rates of response among racial and ethnic groups, a phenomenon that has puzzled physicians for years.

16 Aug 2009

Novel treatment reduces swollen livers

Viruses need living cells for replication and production of virus progeny. Thus far, antiviral therapy primarily targets viral factors but often induces therapy resistance. New improved therapies attempt to targets cellular factors that are essential for viral replication.

16 Aug 2009

New strategy for inhibiting virus replication

16 Aug 2009

Ratio of health lobbyists to lawmakers tops 6:1

"If there is any doubt that President Barack Obama's plan to overhaul U.S. health care is the hottest topic in Congress, just ask the 3,300 lobbyists who have lined up to work on the issue," Bloomberg reports, noting that the number amounts to six lobbyists for each member of Congress.

16 Aug 2009