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FDA to impose stricter medical device safety standards

FDA on Thursday released recommendations for improving post-market surveillance of medical devices, the AP/Los Angeles Times reports.

13 Nov 2006

Congress to focus on labor-HHS, other unfinished appropriations Bills during Lame-Duck session

Congress likely will focus on the fiscal year 2007 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill and other unfinished spending bills during a lame-duck session that began on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reports.

13 Nov 2006

Why we all carry on with those bad habits

If you have ever wondered why so many people continue to ignore public warnings and advertisements about the dangers of smoking, drinking alcohol and other habits that we know to be bad for us, a Canadian researcher may have the answer.

13 Nov 2006

Inhibiting a particular cancer-causing gene improves radiation effectiveness

Inhibiting a particular cancer-causing gene can enhance the cell-killing effects of radiation, a team of radiation oncologists and cancer biologists at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia has found.

8 Nov 2006

Shaped-beam radiosurgery treats tiniest lung tumors

Patients with metastatic cancer tumors in their lungs are much more likely to live disease-free if they have an experimental treatment involving shaped-beam radiosurgery rather that conventional treatment, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study.

8 Nov 2006

WHO to tackle counterfeit medical products

On 15 November, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners will officially launch the first ever International Medical Products Anti-counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT) and unveil the global plan to combat counterfeit medical products.

6 Nov 2006

MRI technology breaks new ground in molecular imaging

Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have developed a new technique for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that allows for detection of signals from molecules present at 10,000 times lower concentrations than conventional MRI techniques.

6 Nov 2006

Formulation of functionalized PLGA-PEG nanoparticles for in vivo targeted drug delivery

Though researchers have made substantial progress in developing drug-ferrying nanoparticles that successfully target tumor cells in living animals, including humans, investigators have only now started the detailed work needed to identify formulation parameters that would optimize drug delivery to malignant cells.

6 Nov 2006

Cancer Research Technology to present discovery updates at BioEurope 2006

Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT), the oncology-focused development and commercialisation company, today announce that Phil L'Huillier, the Director of Business Management, will present at the BioEurope 2006 Annual International Partnering Conference.

6 Nov 2006

Mini artificial liver grown from stem cells

Scientists in Britain have grown the first artificial liver from stem cells, which is the first step in a process which within 10 years could see livers being grown in a laboratory for human transplants.

1 Nov 2006

Polymer and ceramic biodegradable materials that carry bone growth enhancing substances

Rapid and guided healing of bones has moved a step closer with research by two biomedical engineering students who have found new ways to deliver bone growth enhancers directly to broken or weakened bones.

31 Oct 2006

Breast cancer patients may benefit from new accelerated treatment

Women with early-stage breast cancer may benefit from a new, accelerated approach to radiation therapy making their course of treatment shorter, according to a new study released today in the International Journal for Radiation Oncology-Biology-Physics, the official journal of ASTRO.

31 Oct 2006

Bright light band aid - high tech way to treat skin cancer

Scientists in Scotland have come up with a revolutionary way of treating common skin cancers.

31 Oct 2006

World's first fully digital neuroscience center at Singapore General Hospital

BrainLAB has signed a contract with Singapore Health Services (SingHealth), the largest healthcare group in Singapore, for the establishment of the world's first fully digital neuroscience center at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), one of Asia's leading teaching hospitals.

30 Oct 2006

Former HHS Secretary Thompson says states will take lead on health care reform

Former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, chair of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions and a partner at the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, on Thursday told reporters that states likely will take the lead on health care reform in the absence of federal action, CQ HealthBeat reports.

30 Oct 2006

Proposal to construct Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility in South Carolina might delay Omnibus Bill

A proposal by to build a $70 million medical facility in Charleston, S.C., could stall efforts to pass an omnibus Department of Veterans Affairs bill before the end of the lame-duck session next month, CQ Today reports (Yoest, CQ Today, 10/27).

30 Oct 2006

Health care IT bill could increase costs by $416 million

America's Health Insurance Plans released a new study that found a provision in a health care information technology bill (HR 4157) passed earlier this year by the House could increase U.S. health care costs by as much as $416 million, CQ HealthBeat reports (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 10/27).

30 Oct 2006

New initiative to combat corruption in medicines procurement

Huge amounts of money - up to $50 billion - are spent every year on pharmaceutical products, a market so large that it is extremely vulnerable to corruption. Recent estimates have shown that as much as 25% of medicines which are procured can be lost to fraud, bribery and other corrupt practices.

30 Oct 2006

Diagnostics for tuberculosis: Global demand and market potential

A significant and largely untapped global market exists for more effective and affordable tests to diagnose tuberculosis in low and middle income countries, where most TB cases today occur.

26 Oct 2006

Increased access to contraception not linked to decrease in numbers of unplanned pregnancies, abortions

The belief that increased access to contraception will "reduce rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion" has "intuitive appeal, but the data prove otherwise," Susan Wills, associate director for education for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, writes in a Washington Post letter to the editor in response to a Post opinion piece by William Saletan, science and technology reporter for Slate magazine.

24 Oct 2006