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Discovery may help explain how anti-inflammatory steroid drugs work

A gene long presumed dead comes to life under the full moon of inflammation, Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have found.

23 Jul 2013

Federal judge grants Hobby Lobby a temporary injunction against health law's birth control coverage requirement

A federal judge has temporarily exempted Hobby Lobby Stores Inc from a requirement in the 2010 healthcare law that it offer workers insurance coverage for birth control, which the retailer said violated its religious beliefs. The preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton in Oklahoma City, where Hobby Lobby is based, covers the arts and crafts chain and its affiliated Mardel Christian bookstore chain (Stempel, 7/19).

23 Jul 2013

Serum Institute of India secures license to patents, technologies related to tuberculosis vaccine

Hopes are high for a new and improved tuberculosis vaccine: Serum Institute of India is planning on taking a promising vaccine - originally developed in Germany - and introducing it into the clinical setting.

23 Jul 2013

Novaliq receives CE mark approval for EyeSol technology

Novaliq GmbH, a drug delivery company with a focus on the topical application of ophthalmic technologies for poorly soluble drugs, today announced the successful CE mark approval for the first topical eye lubricant based on Novaliq's proprietary technology EyeSol.

23 Jul 2013

GNC Holdings expands retail presence in China

GNC Holdings, Inc., a leading global retailer of health, wellness and sports nutrition products, today announced that it is expanding its retail presence in China by opening the first stand-alone GNC store in Shanghai.

23 Jul 2013

Defining '20 weeks' of pregnancy -- states and doctors don't agree

NPR reports that the way most states define what constitutes 20 weeks of pregnancy in their abortion laws isn't the same way most doctors define it. In the meantime, Mexican abortion pill sellers just across the border from Texas expect a boon after that state's new abortion restrictions.

23 Jul 2013

Study upends common perception that urban areas are more dangerous than small towns

Large cities in the U.S. are significantly safer than their rural counterparts, with the risk of injury death more than 20 percent higher in the country. A study to be published online tomorrow in Annals of Emergency Medicine upends a common perception that urban areas are more dangerous than small towns ("Safety in Numbers: Are Major Cities the Safest Places in the U.S.?").

23 Jul 2013

New version of RaySearch's RayStation treatment planning system released for clinical use

RaySearch Laboratories AB announces that version 4.0 of RaySearch's RayStation treatment planning system has been released for clinical use in several European countries, USA, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and is scheduled for market release in Canada, China, and South Korea.

23 Jul 2013

D.C., Minnesota march forward with online insurance marketplace

With less than three months until its go-live date, District officials say the city's health insurance exchange is already functioning as planned by one important measure: prices. City insurance regulators announced Friday that they have finishing granting approval to the plans set to be offered on the exchange, known as D.C. Health Link, starting Oct. 1. Four insurers are offering 301 different plans, and three of the four lowered their prices from their initial proposals after learning what their competitors were planning to charge (DeBonis, 7/19).

23 Jul 2013

Loyola sports medicine physician's advice for parents of high school athletes: Don't let them play football

Prominent sports medicine physician Dr. Pietro Tonino of Loyola University Medical Center has some blunt advice for parents of high school athletes who want to play football this fall: Don't let them do it.

23 Jul 2013

Incentives for Ontario surgeons drive greater use of laparoscopic colon cancer surgery

Financial incentives for Ontario surgeons are likely a key factor driving greater use of laparoscopic colon cancer surgery, says a study led by a McMaster University surgeon.

23 Jul 2013

GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences launches new office to improve medical care

The GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences is pleased to announce the establishment of the Office of Clinical Practice Innovation. The new office will serve as the organizational home for developing and evaluating clinical interventions to improve medical care.

23 Jul 2013

Understanding cancer at source could improve disease prevention

A new disease is affecting developing countries, deadlier than malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis combined. With changes in lifestyles, cancer is spreading in southern countries.

23 Jul 2013

Capsules: Humana fills blank spots in Mississippi Obamacare map

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Jay Hancock reports: "Filling a potential coverage void, Humana Inc. said Friday it will sell health insurance in 36 Mississippi counties that might have otherwise been left out of a marketplace for subsidized policies sold under the Affordable Care Act" (Hancock, 7/19).

23 Jul 2013

Potential breakthrough to help prevent diabetes

The resistance to insulin seen in type 2 diabetics is caused partly by the lack of a protein that has not previously been associated with diabetes. This breakthrough could potentially help to prevent diabetes.

23 Jul 2013

Research findings on brain development may shed light on neurological disorders

Dennis O'Leary of the Salk Institute was the first scientist to show that the basic functional architecture of the cortex, the largest part of the human brain, was genetically determined during development.

23 Jul 2013

Investigating one of the 'fundamental flaws' in the pricing of health care

The Washington Post investigates how the use of data plays into what some view as a distortion in physician pay.

23 Jul 2013

Study helps explain why some people contract bacterial super-infections

A recent study published in the July issue of the Journal of Immunology helps explain why some humans contract bacterial super-infections like pneumonia with influenza. The research was led by Le Bonheur Pediatrician-in-Chief Jon McCullers, MD - an infectious disease specialist who is also chair of the Department of Pediatrics for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and adjunct faculty at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

23 Jul 2013

New life for 'Death Panel' bill, but same fights loom

One lawmaker has reintroduced his bill that would pay Medicare doctors for having "end-of-life" conversations with patients -- an idea that has bitterly divided Congress in the past. In the meantime, another lawmaker wants to change -- and simplify -- Medicare's reimbursement coding system.

23 Jul 2013

Study documents reversal of established medical practices in last decade

While there is an expectation that newer medical practices improve the standard of care, the history of medicine reveals many instances in which this has not been the case. Reversal of established medical practice occurs when new studies contradict current practice. Reporters may remember hormone replacement therapy as an example of medical reversal. A new analysis published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings documents 146 contemporary medical practices that have subsequently been reversed.

23 Jul 2013