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Kaiser Permanente announces 2011 plans for Medicare-eligible beneficiaries

Kaiser Permanente has announced its 2011 plans for individual Medicare-eligible beneficiaries, reflecting its commitment to continuing participation in Medicare in all its existing service areas in nine states and the District of Columbia.

12 Nov 2010

Dead litigant’s family bullied by tobacco company

In 2002 Jamie McCabe’s mother Rolah won a landmark legal battle against British American Tobacco and alleges that the family is still being harassed by the tobacco giant. Ms McCabe became the first Australian to successfully sue a tobacco company. She won $700,000 in compensation after Justice Geoffrey Eames, in the Victorian Supreme Court, found the tobacco company had destroyed potentially relevant documents about the damaging effects of smoking.

11 Nov 2010

NIST develops new Vaccinium berry suite of standard reference materials

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers have developed new certified reference materials for measuring amounts of organic acids in dietary supplements formulated with Vaccinium berries-cranberries, blueberries and bilberries. As described in a recent paper, manufacturers and researchers can use this new suite of standard reference materialsTM (SRMs) as quality assurance tools.

11 Nov 2010

Stafford Hospital inquiry looks into “human rights” violations in care

A public inquiry into conditions and care at Stafford hospital in Stafford, England heard that the hospital was violating basic human rights of the patients. The counsel for Cure the NHS, a campaign group set up by relatives of some of the people who died at the hospital after receiving inadequate treatment established the fact that the standard of care constituted inhuman and degrading treatment at the facility.

10 Nov 2010

Discovery Labs reports net operating loss of $6.2 million for third quarter 2010

Discovery Laboratories, Inc., a biotechnology company developing its novel, synthetic, peptide-containing surfactant and related aerosolization technologies as first in class therapies for severe respiratory diseases, today provides an update on key pipeline and business initiatives and a financial update for the third quarter ended September 30, 2010.

9 Nov 2010

FDA issues approval letter to Carestream's CR system for mammography

Carestream Health has received an approval letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its high-resolution computed radiography (CR) system for mammography.

7 Nov 2010

Radiation oncologist says radiation quality assurance practices need to be standardized

In 2009, after The New York Times reported a series of mistakes in radiation therapy delivery, a team of radiation oncologists at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson decided to investigate how thoroughly different hospitals use "chart rounds" to review the radiotherapy cancer patients receive.

3 Nov 2010

GW School of Nursing receives full accreditation from CCNE

The George Washington University School of Nursing has received full accreditation for its bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

2 Nov 2010

Planning Accountable Care Organizations

American Medical News: "The National Committee for Quality Assurance is seeking input from the public on draft accountable care organization standards," which "were drafted by the organization's Accountable Care Organization Task Force comprising representatives from large integrated health care systems, academia and the insurance industry. … Establishing ACOs for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries is a key part of health system reform legislation" (11/1).

1 Nov 2010

American Anesthesiology acquires Greensboro Anesthesia Physicians

American Anesthesiology, a subsidiary of MEDNAX, Inc., today announced the acquisition of Greensboro Anesthesia Physicians, P.C., a physician group practice that provides patient services at three hospitals within the Moses Cone Health System and two surgery centers in the Greensboro, NC, metropolitan area.

1 Nov 2010

Seven tips for navigating Medicare maze

If you're about to turn 65, you'll be part of the first wave of baby boomers signing up for Medicare. Consumer Reports Health recommends signing up as early as three months ahead of your birthday. Failing to do so could potentially cost you thousands of dollars down the road. That's one of seven tips for navigating the Medicare maze available in the December issue of Consumer Reports and online at www.ConsumerReportsHealth.org.

1 Nov 2010

Oncimmune to present benefits of EarlyCDT-Lung cancer test at ACCP annual meeting

Oncimmune® LLC, maker of EarlyCDT-Lung, a simple blood test that aids physicians in the risk assessment and early detection of lung cancer, today announced that two oral presentations and five poster presentations during this week's American College of Chest Physicians' (ACCP) annual meeting in Vancouver will collectively highlight the clinical and economic benefits of EarlyCDT-Lung.

1 Nov 2010

New automated extraction pipeline to track radiation dose information

Researchers have developed an efficient method for extracting and archiving CT radiation dose information that can enable providers to keep track of estimated radiation dose delivered to each patient at a given facility, help providers make more informed health care decisions and improve patient safety.

1 Nov 2010

Philips launches HFO Oncology Configuration for radiation therapy

Royal Philips Electronics today introduced the Philips Panorama High Field Open (HFO) Oncology Configuration for radiation therapy, a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging solution for dedicated oncology use, at this year's American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) in San Diego, CA.

From Philips Healthcare 1 Nov 2010

The Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. completes transition to new facility

The Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. is pleased to announce the completed transition to 78 Chilmark Street, Worcester, MA 01604. The new facility is located just off of Shrewsbury Street in Worcester. The new facility boasts nearly 5,000 square feet of total area, allowing the Cryogenic Institute to expand its operations.

31 Oct 2010

Delaware Physicians Care #21 on NCQA's top 25 Medicaid plan rankings

For the third year in a row, Delaware Physicians Care has been selected as one of the top 25 Medicaid Plans out of hundreds in the nation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). The ranking is based on clinical quality, member satisfaction and NCQA accreditation scores.

30 Oct 2010

Agilent opens new life sciences instruments manufacturing facility in Singapore

Agilent Technologies Inc. today announced the opening of its new life sciences instruments manufacturing facility in Singapore. The facility will produce the company's Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS) instruments for the global market.

30 Oct 2010

Aceto named on 'ICIS Top 100 Chemical Distributors' list

Aceto Corporation, a global leader in the sourcing, quality assurance, regulatory support, marketing and distribution of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, specialty chemicals and crop protection products, today announced that they were selected as one of the "ICIS Top 100 Chemical Distributors", a listing of the world's leading companies serving buyers of chemicals based on calendar 2009 sales.

29 Oct 2010

Sandoz initiates voluntary recall of Methotrexate Injection

Sandoz Inc. announced today it has initiated a voluntary recall in the US of all 50mg/2mL and 250mg/10mL vials of Sandoz and Parenta brand Methotrexate Injection, USP product ("methotrexate") to the consumer/user level. Consistent with its commitment to quality and patient safety, Sandoz is initiating this voluntary recall of all 24 lots of the affected product following the finding of small glass flakes by Sandoz quality control in a limited number of vials in four lots.

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