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State News Round-up: States trim budgets, experiment with reform ideas

News outlets report on a variety of state health stories including the Connector in Massachusetts, mental health care in Texas, hospital payments in Vermont, increased health insurance coverage in California and Republican efforts with employer insurance in Florida.

17 Sep 2009

Expo East 2009 conference to focus on integrative cancer care model

People diagnosed with cancer have a number of treatment options to choose from and increasingly, alternative and complementary therapies such as yoga, meditation, healing touch, music therapy, and nutritional supplementation are among them.

17 Sep 2009

NCSBN's new book examines instances of nursing practice breakdown

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) announces the release of "Nursing Pathways for Patient Safety," a new book which advocates an innovative approach to examining instances of nursing practice breakdown.

17 Sep 2009

ColoMarker assay achieves 100 percent detection rate for colon cancers

Marking a major milestone in the early detection and management of colon cancer, EDP Biotech Corporation (EDP), a developer of immunodiagnostic tests for humans and animals, announced today that its ColoMarker assay achieved 100 percent detection rate for colon cancers presented at stages I through III in pre-clinical trials.

17 Sep 2009

Speaker Pelosi remarks on benefits for children in health insurance reform

Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks at an event for the Children's Health Fund this afternoon on the West Front Lawn of the Capitol to raise awareness for the more than 21 million children who will benefit from health insurance reform.

17 Sep 2009

Unemployed and uninsured to have easy access to free medicines from GSK

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) today announced that it is making free medicines easier to obtain for patients who are unemployed, uninsured or struggling to make ends meet.

17 Sep 2009

Multi-detector row computed tomography predicts malignancy of IPMNs

A clinical research article to be published on August 28, 2009 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses the role of multi-detector row computed tomography (MDCT) in predicting malignancy of IPMNs preoperatively. The research team led by Prof. Wang DB from Ruijin Hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine recruited a total of 20 patients with pathologically-confirmed IPMNs in their study. Axial MDCT images combined with CT angiography (CTA) and multiplanar volume or curved reformations (MPVR or CR) were preoperatively acquired.

17 Sep 2009

Educational events for physicians who diagnose and treat prostate cancer

iCAD, Inc., an industry-leading provider of advanced image analysis and workflow solutions for the early identification of cancer, today announces a series of educational events designed for radiologists, urologists, oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons, technologists and other referring physicians who diagnose and treat patients with prostate cancer.

17 Sep 2009

IPTi tool with SP medicine helps prevent malaria in African infants

A third (30%) of malaria cases can be avoided in African infants using a safe, affordable and simple tool called Intermittent Preventive Treatment of malaria in Infants (IPTi) with the medicine sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), which can be delivered alongside existing childhood vaccination programmes.

17 Sep 2009

APP Pharmaceuticals announces FDA marketing approval of Deferoxamine Mesylate

APP Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fresenius Kabi Pharmaceuticals Holding, Inc., (NASDAQ:APCVZ) announced today that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market Deferoxamine Mesylate for Injection, USP, in two dosage strengths. Deferoxamine Mesylate is therapeutically equivalent to the reference-listed drug Desferal®, which is marketed by the innovator Novartis.

17 Sep 2009

CDC awards manufacturing contract to Arrayit Corporation

Arrayit Corporation (OTCBB: ARYC), a proprietary life sciences technology leader, announces that on September 11th, 2009, on the eighth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, the company won a competitive bid from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia to manufacture devices designed to combat global bioterrorism.

17 Sep 2009

Health plans will continue working with members of Congress to enact bipartisan legislation: AHIP

"Senator Max Baucus has led an unprecedented and rigorous bipartisan process to enact health care reform this year and challenged all stakeholders to contribute to this process. The introduction of legislation in the Finance Committee is a very important step in the health care reform process.

17 Sep 2009

Study: Therapy addition reduces risk of stroke and other cardiovascular events

Data from the independent KYOTO HEART study, presented recently at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress in Barcelona, Spain, and published online in the European Heart Journal demonstrated the addition of the angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) Diovan (valsartan) to a non-ARB-based treatment regimen for high blood pressure provided a significant 45% relative risk reduction in cardiovascular events(1) including stroke, compared to conventional non-ARB treatment regimen.(1)

17 Sep 2009

Genentech releases Phase III PRIMA study findings

Genentech, Inc., a wholly-owned member of the Roche Group and Biogen Idec, today announced that a Phase III study (PRIMA) showed that patients with follicular lymphoma who continued receiving Rituxan (rituximab) alone after responding to Rituxan and chemotherapy lived longer without their disease worsening (progression-free survival or PFS) than those who did not continue to receive Rituxan.

17 Sep 2009

Survey: Average cost of employer health plan up 5%

The average cost of an employer-provided family plan is now $13,375, up 5 percent from 2008, according to a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research & Educational Trust.

17 Sep 2009

Successful eye surgery involves eyetooth implant in eye

Blind for nine years, Sharron “Kay” Thornton has just regained her sight through a first-in-the-U.S. surgical procedure at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The procedure -- modified osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis (MOOKP) -- implanted her eyetooth in her eye, as a base to hold a prosthetic lens.

17 Sep 2009

FDA provides 510(k) marketing clearance for the FlexStent Biliary Self Expanding Stent System

Flexible Stenting Solutions Inc. (“FSS”), a leading developer of next generation peripheral arterial and biliary stents, received 510(k) clearance for the FlexStent® Biliary Self Expanding Stent System.

17 Sep 2009

Fully-insured members of Capital BlueCross to receive coverage for administration fee for H1N1 Flu vaccine

Capital BlueCross announced today that it will cover an administration fee for the H1N1 Flu vaccine for fully-insured members and those with individual coverage during the upcoming 2009-2010 flu season. Self-funded groups may opt to have their coverage customized to include this benefit.

17 Sep 2009

US NetMark project helps build African and international businesses

The NetMark project, a $67 million, USAID-funded public-private partnership to prevent malaria, ends September 30, but the bed net market continues to thrive in seven countries where it operated-Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Zambia. Not only did the U.S. investment help spur major spending by private companies-for every $1 in public funds, African and international businesses spent $1.30-the new commercial sector now exists.

17 Sep 2009

Researchers investigate individual's ability to get rid of Hepatitis C

More than seventy percent of people who contract Hepatitis C will live with the virus that causes it for the rest of their lives and some will develop serious liver disease including cancer. However, 30 to 40 percent of those infected somehow defeat the infection and get rid of the virus with no treatment. In this week's Advanced Online Publication at Nature, Johns Hopkins researchers working as part of an international team report the discovery of the strongest genetic alteration associated with the ability to get rid of the infection.

17 Sep 2009