Research News and Research

RSS

Mass. hospitals turn away mentally ill kids, Anthem braces for rate hearings, other state news

The Boston Globe reports that children with mental illnesses are "increasingly being turned away from some Massachusetts hospitals' psychiatric wards, a problem the hospital industry acknowledges and blames on insufficient insurance payments to cover treatment of such sick children. … Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, the state's health and human services secretary, said yesterday that hospitals licensed to treat mentally ill children must provide that care if they have sufficient staffing and beds, regardless of the reimbursement rates" (Lazar, 10/27).

28 Oct 2010

Omnyx initiates research testing of digital pathology platform

GE Healthcare and UPMC announced today that their imaging joint venture, Omnyx, is initiating clinical research testing of a breakthrough digital pathology platform that is expected to help transform the 125-year-old practice of pathologists using glass slides.

28 Oct 2010

Reuters examines development progress of microbicide gel to prevent HIV

Reuters reports that the developers of a vaginal microbicide gel containing the antiretroviral tenofovir, which has been found to reduce "HIV infections in women by 39 percent," said the FDA last week granted fast-track approval designation to the gel.

28 Oct 2010

Study finds green tea does not protect breast cancer

Green tea does not protect against breast cancer. A study of data from approximately 54,000 women, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Breast Cancer Research, found no association between drinking green tea and breast cancer risk.

28 Oct 2010

Republican's controversial proposal to mend Medicare

In a Kaiser Health News companion piece to the story, Some Hill Races Could Hinge On Seniors' Anger Over Medicare, Marilyn Werber Serafini reports that Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan's ideas - including giving Medicare beneficiaries a voucher to buy health coverage and adjusting benefits based on income -- could gain ground if the GOP wins control of the House in November (Serafini, 10/26).

28 Oct 2010

TU/e researchers mimic process of bone formation in laboratory

Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have for the first time succeeded in mimicking the process of bone formation in the laboratory, and in visualizing the process in great detail. The results will be published in the December edition of the scientific journal Nature Materials.

28 Oct 2010

Ford pays down debt, including to worker's health trust

Ford is paying off debt by the billions $2 billion in the third quarter and as much as $3.6 billion by Friday. Ford is about to pay off its debt to the United Auto Workers health care trust.

28 Oct 2010

University of Manchester receives Wellcome Trust grant for five-year study

A team investigating how genes respond to hormonal changes and inflammation has been awarded a Wellcome Trust grant of 1.24 million for a five-year study

From The University of Manchester 28 Oct 2010

Gov. candidates in Florida, Minnesota offer few details on health care

News outlets report that gubernatorial candidates in Florida and Minnesota are offering little details about their plans for health spending.

28 Oct 2010

Unidym, NanoIntegris enter distribution agreement for HiPco carbon nanotube products

Unidym a majority owned subsidiary of Arrowhead Research announced today that it entered into a partnership with NanoIntegris, Inc., an Illinois-based supplier of carbon nanotubes. Effective October 27, 2010, NanoIntegris will distribute HiPco carbon nanotube products. HiPco nanotubes are valued by customers due to their small diameter range, ease of optical imaging, ease of chemical functionalization, compatibility with high frequency fiber optics research, and good batch to batch consistency.

28 Oct 2010

Candidates on health care offense, defense in final week before election

Candidates are in full campaign mode ahead of midterm elections that will likely spell out how the health law is implemented. The New York Times reports that some Democrats are playing defense after voting for health reform. They include Virginia Rep. Tom Perriello who is running against Republican state Sen. Robert Hurt.

28 Oct 2010

Health IT Roundup: Digital divide, a VA contract, the open data movement

Computerworld: The digital divide is alive and well when it comes to health care technology. Although President Barack Obama has made it a priority to have medical facilities deploy electronic health records (EHR) over the next four years, the people most likely to benefit -- those in poor and minority communities -- are unlikely to see them anytime soon.

28 Oct 2010

InVivo Therapeutics completes reverse merger with InVivo

InVivo Therapeutics Corporation a company focused on the development of groundbreaking technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI), today announced the successful completion of a reverse merger with InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp.

28 Oct 2010

Lotus receives Chinese SFDA approval for R-Bambuterol Hydrochloride Phase I human clinical trials

Lotus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a fast-growing, profitable developer, manufacturer and seller of medicine and drugs in the People's Republic of China ("PRC"), announced today that it received approval from the State Food and Drug Administration ("SFDA") Ethics Committee to commence Phase I human clinical trials of R-Bambuterol Hydrochloride, the Company's proprietary drug candidate for the treatment of asthma.

28 Oct 2010

IBI receives U.S. patent for novel blood protein biomarkers

Intrinsic Bioprobes today announced that the United States Patents and Trademark Office has issued US Patent 7,816,095 covering novel blood protein biomarkers related to cardiovascular disease. This patent is first of a series of patent applications that cover specific human protein variants as biomarkers with clinical utility.

28 Oct 2010

Glaxo to pay $750 million settlement for defective, unsafe medicines

The New York Times: "GlaxoSmithKline, the British drug giant, has agreed to pay $750 million to settle criminal and civil complaints that the company for years knowingly sold contaminated baby ointment and an ineffective antidepressant — the latest in a growing number of whistle-blower lawsuits that drug makers have settled with multimillion-dollar fines." The 20 medicines that were produced with "questionable safety" measures included "Avandia, a troubled diabetes drug; Coreg, a heart drug; and Tagamet an acid reflux drug."

28 Oct 2010

Endologix 2010 third quarter total revenue increases 30% to $17.9 million

Endologix, Inc. developer of minimally invasive treatments for aortic disorders, today announced financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010.

28 Oct 2010

GTC 2010 third fiscal quarter net loss decreases to $4.5 million from $26.2 million

GTC Biotherapeutics, Inc. today reported its financial results for the third fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2010.

28 Oct 2010

Today's Op-Eds: Costs of health care lawsuits; politics and the deficit; self-recusal and the Supreme Court

As a patient advocate, my top priority for health reform is expanding coverage and giving people access to the best treatments. Controlling costs is important, but it shouldn't come at the expense of patients.

28 Oct 2010

IPC investigating relationship between BMI and severity of psoriasis in childhood

As people around the world get ready to participate in events for World Psoriasis Day on October 29, the International Psoriasis Council (IPC) is nearing completion with enrollment in a multi-center study on the relationship between obesity and psoriasis in children. The theme of this year’s World Psoriasis Day is childhood psoriasis.

28 Oct 2010