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House passes repeal of tax on medical devices

The bill, which is likely to hit tough opposition in the Senate, would roll back a tax in the 2010 health law designed to help pay for the expansion of coverage to people who do not have insurance.

8 Jun 2012

Young adults, adolescents with mental health disorders more likely to become long-term opioid users

Long-term use and abuse of opioid painkillers, such as OxyContin and Vicodin, has markedly increased in the United States in the last two decades. Of note, prescription opioids constitute 86.9 percent of prescription drug misuse among high school students. And last week in a two-day U.S. Food and Drug Administration public meeting, officials questioned the use of long-term opioids for chronic pain due to a lack of evidence for the effectiveness and concerns about the potential risk for addiction.

7 Jun 2012

Life expectancy gap narrows between blacks and whites

The life expectancy gap between blacks and whites has narrowed thanks to fewer black deaths due to AIDS and heart disease, a new study finds.

7 Jun 2012

Viewpoints: Wis. vote cements walker plan to raise state workers' health costs; Treating addiction; Obama's silence on insurance mandate

Many of those voters also expect that, going forward, the dividends for Wisconsin residents, their school districts and other governments will continue to grow. As old labor contracts expire, public officials will write into the new contracts the other Walker-inspired personnel provisions -; such as higher (but still relatively inexpensive) employees' contributions to their pension and health plans -; that have lowered government expenses. New labor pacts, that is, should keep reducing government costs across Wisconsin.

7 Jun 2012

Pisgah receives USPTO Notice of Allowance for drug abuse solution

Pisgah Laboratories, Inc. received Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for its patent application entitled "Opioid Salts and Formulations Exhibiting Anti-Abuse and Anti-Dose Dumping Properties."

2 Jun 2012

State roundup: Federal judge rejects Calif. request to end oversight of prison health care; States push prescription drug databases; Medicare drug benefit at issue in Utah Senate race

A federal judge rejected a request by California prison officials Wednesday to regain control of inmate health care, which has been under court-supervised receivership for six years, and said the state must first show it can provide adequate medical treatment. ... The current receiver, Clark Kelso, has reported improvements in the prisons' medical staff and facilities, and said a "turnaround plan" he proposed for the system in 2008 is about 80 percent complete.

1 Jun 2012

First Edition: May 31, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about various health-related measures currently on the move in Congress.

31 May 2012

U.S. House poised for a series of health-related votes

Included on the list is a bill to repeal the health law's medical device tax and another to repeal the OTC ban. The device-tax issue has already emerged as a hot topic in many congressional races.

31 May 2012

State roundup: Minn. defends Medicaid billing; Cigna, N.H. Group form joint venture; Health coupons in Mass.

Top Minnesota health officials pushed back Tuesday against a congressional committee probing allegations that the state overbilled federal taxpayers for Medicaid services to cover losses from in other state-run public health programs. In a letter to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Minnesota Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson defended reforms implemented under DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, saying "our focus has been on changing course rather than investigating the past."

31 May 2012

FDA accepts NDA filing for KYNAMRO to treat HoFH

Genzyme, a Sanofi company, and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted for filing the New Drug Application for KYNAMRO (mipomersen sodium) for the treatment of patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH).

29 May 2012

Illinois legislature passes bill with deep Medicaid cuts

The $1.6 billion in budget cuts would also cut deeply into other Illinois health programs.

25 May 2012

Viewpoints: Bill could make universal health care possible via states; The need to change how physicians are paid

Universal coverage, Medicare for all, single payer -- call it what you will. It's clear that conservative forces are determined to prevent such a system from ever being introduced at the national level. So it's up to the states.

25 May 2012

FDA reauthorization bill sails through Senate

Showing unusual bipartisan spirit, the Senate passed a massive FDA user-fee reauthorization bill Thursday designed to prevent drug shortages and speed federal approval of medicines, including lower-cost generic versions.

25 May 2012

NIH Consortium selects UBM among 11 CoEPEs

With more Americans than ever living with chronic pain, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pain Consortium wants the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and 10 other health professional schools to teach the next generation of health care providers to be better equipped to manage and treat such patients.

25 May 2012

USPTO issues patent to QRxPharma’s MoxDuo for treatment of acute and chronic pain

QRxPharma Limited announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued the Company U.S. Patent No. 8,182,837, which does not expire until 2023.

24 May 2012

Viewpoints: The promise and perils of prostate screening; Presidential candidates shy away from frank discussion of spending

After an exhaustive process, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has announced its final recommendation on PSA-based prostate cancer screening. It finds that the known harms of screening outweigh the potential benefits for men who have no cancer symptoms. It notes that all screening studies have demonstrated considerable harms associated with screening, but only one major study found evidence that screening saves lives -- and that study has some internal inconsistencies.

24 May 2012

NIH Pain Consortium selects 11 health professional schools as CoEPEs

The National Institutes of Health Pain Consortium has selected 11 health professional schools as designated Centers of Excellence in Pain Education (CoEPEs).

23 May 2012

HCCI's report shows facility prices outpaced general inflation for the privately insured under 65

Rising prices for care were the chief driver of health care costs for privately insured Americans in 2010, according to the first report from the newly formed Health Care Cost Institute.

21 May 2012

JAT accepts five scientific articles co-authored by UCSD doctoral pharmacy students

The Millennium Research Institute (MRI), a nonprofit national research center formed in 2010, and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) announced today five scientific articles co-authored by UCSD doctoral pharmacy students have been accepted by the Journal of Analytical Toxicology.

19 May 2012

Two major reasons to monitor medication use in older patients with chronic pain

Ameritox, the nation's leader in pain medication monitoring, announced today the presentation of a peer-reviewed scientific poster titled "Patterns of Drug Use in the Older Chronic Pain Population" at the American Pain Society Annual Meeting.

18 May 2012

Prescription Drug News and Research

House passes repeal of tax on medical devices

Young adults, adolescents with mental health disorders more likely to become long-term opioid users

Life expectancy gap narrows between blacks and whites

Viewpoints: Wis. vote cements walker plan to raise state workers' health costs; Treating addiction; Obama's silence on insurance mandate

Pisgah receives USPTO Notice of Allowance for drug abuse solution

State roundup: Federal judge rejects Calif. request to end oversight of prison health care; States push prescription drug databases; Medicare drug benefit at issue in Utah Senate race

First Edition: May 31, 2012

U.S. House poised for a series of health-related votes

State roundup: Minn. defends Medicaid billing; Cigna, N.H. Group form joint venture; Health coupons in Mass.

FDA accepts NDA filing for KYNAMRO to treat HoFH

Illinois legislature passes bill with deep Medicaid cuts

Viewpoints: Bill could make universal health care possible via states; The need to change how physicians are paid

FDA reauthorization bill sails through Senate

NIH Consortium selects UBM among 11 CoEPEs

USPTO issues patent to QRxPharma’s MoxDuo for treatment of acute and chronic pain

Viewpoints: The promise and perils of prostate screening; Presidential candidates shy away from frank discussion of spending

NIH Pain Consortium selects 11 health professional schools as CoEPEs

HCCI's report shows facility prices outpaced general inflation for the privately insured under 65

JAT accepts five scientific articles co-authored by UCSD doctoral pharmacy students

Two major reasons to monitor medication use in older patients with chronic pain

Leveraging the power of automation to boost research

Automating research - solutions and best practices

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

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