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Insurers' stocks rise on new HHS rules designed to protect consumers, increase insurer spending on care

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius unveiled regulations requiring insurers to spend 80 to 85 percent of premiums collected on medical care, Politico reports. "The rules will have vast implications for how insurance companies spend money as well as for other aspects of the health care industry. Insurers' worries that the Department of Health and Human Services would rule against them on a number of issues were unfounded, and many of the nation's largest insurance companies' stocks rose on the news Monday."

24 Nov 2010

Massachusetts makes drug and medical device company payments public

The Boston Globe: "Massachusetts health officials published online yesterday the most comprehensive state database in the country listing payments drug companies and medical device makers have made to doctors, nurses, pharmacists, hospitals, and other health care providers. The report lists $35.7 million in payments from hundreds of companies for the six months between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2009 … About half of that money, or $16.4 million, went to physicians. This is the first time Massachusetts has made such information public.

24 Nov 2010

iPrEx oral PrEP study achieves major milestone in HIV prevention research

This is a great day in the fight against AIDS. The positive results of the iPrEx oral PrEP study are a major milestone in HIV prevention research and provide important information about how antiretroviral drugs might be used for prevention by HIV-negative people at high risk for HIV infection, said AVAC Executive Director Mitchell Warren.

24 Nov 2010

Researchers find link between acrolein and multiple sclerosis

Researchers have found evidence that an environmental pollutant may play an important role in causing multiple sclerosis and that a hypertension drug might be used to treat the disease.

24 Nov 2010

AP reports on 'significant' clarification of Pope's comments on condoms to prevent HIV

The Associated Press/Washington Post reports that after questions arose about Pope Benedict XVI's comments on the use of condoms to prevent HIV, which one translation "implied that he was referring primarily to homosexual sex, when condoms aren't being used as a form of contraception," Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi "told reporters Tuesday that he asked the pope whether he intended his comments to only apply to male prostitutes.

24 Nov 2010

Meningitis immunization program to launch in 3 African countries next month

At a press conference in London, health officials said that the anticipated roll-out of the MenAfriVac for meningitis in three African countries will start on Dec. 6, the BBC reports.

24 Nov 2010

Daily oral antiretroviral reduces HIV infection risk in MSM by 44%, study finds

A study that included nearly 2,500 HIV-negative men and transgender women who have sex with men has shown that a daily dose of Truvada, a pill containing the AIDS drugs emtricitabine and tenofovir, "can reduce risk of contracting [HIV] by an average of 44% - and by more than 70% if the subjects" follow the regimen closely, Los Angeles Times reports (Maugh, 11/23).

24 Nov 2010

Lifestyle-related diseases will be costly down the road; Americans rate their healthcare highly

Increased efforts to prevent several lifestyle-related diseases could save the United States billions of dollars a year in medical costs, according to a study scheduled to run in the American Journal of Public Health.

24 Nov 2010

Study estimates cost savings associated with global polio eradication; global post examines vaccination efforts in Africa

Research published in the November issue of the journal Vaccine found that a global campaign to eliminate polio could save between $40 billion and $50 billion over the next few decades if the crippling disease is wiped out within five years Bloomberg reports.

24 Nov 2010

Health spending proposals, health law repeal divide lawmakers

The Wall Street Journal reports that proposals for cuts in health spending by President Barack Obama's deficit-reduction commission are drawing opposition from health companies, doctors and some consumer groups. "How to tackle health costs has become a sticking point for the 18-member committee, which last week concluded three days of meetings without a firm agreement among members.

24 Nov 2010

Less affluent cancer patients more likely to develop life-threatening health problems

CANCER patients from deprived backgrounds are more likely to develop life-threatening health problems, research published today (Wednesday) in the British Journal of Cancer shows.

24 Nov 2010

XenoPort receives grant from Michael J. Fox Foundation to support Parkinson's disease therapies

XenoPort, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded a grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research to support a preclinical study of the efficacy and safety of a novel, orally administered prodrug of acamprosate in reducing L-Dopa induced dyskinesias (LID) in a pre-clinical model of Parkinson's disease.

24 Nov 2010

Two surveys show 'huge variation' in health costs in U.S.

The Wall Street Journal: Two studies out Monday - one is a country-by-country survey by the International Federation of Health Plans, and the second from Change: healthcare - "attempt to bring some clarity to how costs stack up, both between different countries and among U.S. providers that might be just a few blocks apart."

24 Nov 2010

UNAIDS report finds new HIV infections dropped by 20% over 10 years, deaths from AIDS-related illness dropped by 20% over 5 years

The number of new HIV infections has dropped by about one-fifth over the past decade but millions of people are still missing out on major progress in prevention and treatment, according to the annual UNAIDS report released Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reports.

23 Nov 2010

Insuring your health: Retirees can find insuring young adult children difficult

In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: "According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the key is whether the retiree health plan is made up only of retirees and their dependents or a mix of both active and retired employees and dependents.

23 Nov 2010

Disrupting estrogen pathway can halt expansion of breast cancer stem cells: Research

Breast cancer stem cells (CSCs), the aggressive cells thought to be resistant to current anti-cancer therapies and which promote metastasis, are stimulated by estrogen via a pathway that mirrors normal stem cell development.

23 Nov 2010

'Telehealth' devices allow patients to track illnesses from home

Thousands of seriously ill patients are relying on computerized health trackers to help keep them safe at home.

23 Nov 2010

Feds recover $3 billion in health care fraud and other settlements

CNN: "Government lawyers have recovered a near-record $3 billion this year from health care fraud and other settlements, the Justice Department announced Monday." Assistant Attorney General Tony West said the funds included "a record $2.5 billion in recoveries from huge health care fraud cases against giant pharmaceutical firms. Only in 2006, when the federal government recovered $3.2 billion in total settlements, had recoveries previously hit the $3 billion mark" (Frieden, 11/22).

23 Nov 2010

Gilead submits Truvada/TMC278 single-tablet regimen NDA to FDA

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for marketing approval of the single-tablet regimen of Truvada® (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) and Tibotec Pharmaceuticals' investigational non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor TMC278 (rilpivirine hydrochloride) for HIV-1 infection in adults. If approved, this would be the second product that contains a complete HIV treatment regimen in a single once-daily tablet.

23 Nov 2010

Vertex submits NDA for telaprevir for treating hepatitis C

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced that it has completed the submission of a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking approval for telaprevir, Vertex's investigational treatment for people with hepatitis C.

23 Nov 2010

Research News and Research

Insurers' stocks rise on new HHS rules designed to protect consumers, increase insurer spending on care

Massachusetts makes drug and medical device company payments public

iPrEx oral PrEP study achieves major milestone in HIV prevention research

Researchers find link between acrolein and multiple sclerosis

AP reports on 'significant' clarification of Pope's comments on condoms to prevent HIV

Meningitis immunization program to launch in 3 African countries next month

Daily oral antiretroviral reduces HIV infection risk in MSM by 44%, study finds

Lifestyle-related diseases will be costly down the road; Americans rate their healthcare highly

Study estimates cost savings associated with global polio eradication; global post examines vaccination efforts in Africa

Health spending proposals, health law repeal divide lawmakers

Less affluent cancer patients more likely to develop life-threatening health problems

XenoPort receives grant from Michael J. Fox Foundation to support Parkinson's disease therapies

Two surveys show 'huge variation' in health costs in U.S.

UNAIDS report finds new HIV infections dropped by 20% over 10 years, deaths from AIDS-related illness dropped by 20% over 5 years

Insuring your health: Retirees can find insuring young adult children difficult

Disrupting estrogen pathway can halt expansion of breast cancer stem cells: Research

'Telehealth' devices allow patients to track illnesses from home

Feds recover $3 billion in health care fraud and other settlements

Gilead submits Truvada/TMC278 single-tablet regimen NDA to FDA

Vertex submits NDA for telaprevir for treating hepatitis C

A new way of characterising biomolecules eBook

Leveraging the power of automation to boost research

Automating research - solutions and best practices

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

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