Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Cost of uncompensated care for undocumented immigrants difficult to calculate, experts say

Pinpointing the exact cost of providing hospital care to undocumented immigrants in the U.S. is challenging for several reasons, according to government officials and health care experts, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.

22 Sep 2008

Cosmetic surgery in Britain under fire for misleading women

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) says they are "increasingly concerned" with regard to some of the standards in the advertising of popular cosmetic procedures.

22 Sep 2008

Advisers to Presidential candidates discuss positions on reimportation, generics, biotechnology medications

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) have begun "reviewing their support" for prescription drug reimportation in response to recent cases of contaminated medications and other products from other nations, advisers to the candidates said on Thursday during the annual conference of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association in Washington, D.C., Reuters/Boston Globe reports.

22 Sep 2008

New kinds of optical sensors make MRI scans safer

Magnetic resonance scans will be safer for children and other patients needing anaesthesia, thanks to new kinds of optical sensors developed by a team of European researchers.

21 Sep 2008

New type of gene manipulation therapy offers hope for Duchenne muscular dystrophy sufferers

A medical research team at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte headed by Qi Long Lu, M.D., Ph.D., has made a discovery that holds promise to restore muscle function in patients afflicted by Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

21 Sep 2008

Review of drug delivery market

Combating losses due to patent expiries has become a high priority for pharmaceutical companies. Investing in new drug delivery technologies is becoming a critical strategy for them to maintain a strong presence in this cut-throat market as they offer the potential to enhance the life cycle of established drugs.

18 Sep 2008

Dollar-sized medical device provides injured military skydiver with pain relief

St. Jude Medical, Inc. today announced the first patient implant of an Eon Mini, the world's smallest, longest-lasting, rechargeable neurostimulator to treat chronic pain of the trunk or limbs and pain from failed back surgery.

17 Sep 2008

Ethics of screening for Down Syndrome under question

A new analysis has revealed some troubling facts regarding the universally available genetic screening test for Down syndrome.

17 Sep 2008

AIDS Healthcare Foundation says "shame on Abbott"

As part of its ongoing campaign to lower drug prices and improve access to lifesaving AIDS treatments globally, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), which operates three free treatment clinics in Mexico (Puerto Vallarta, Cancun and Tuxtla Gutierrez) today unveiled a new print advertisement criticizing Abbott Laboratories, Inc. for the steep price it charges for its key AIDS drug Kaletra in Mexico.

16 Sep 2008

Americans warned about deep vein thrombosis

Americans have been warned from top experts to learn about and prevent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

16 Sep 2008

Hospitals offering better working conditions instead of financial incentives to address nursing shortages

The Washington Post on Sunday examined how hospitals across the U.S. have begun addressing nursing shortages "by introducing technology to dramatically reduce paperwork, offering more flexible hours, reducing caseloads, paying for advanced training and giving [nurses] more authority" instead of using financial incentives to lure nurses.

16 Sep 2008

Webcam technology helps Arizona hospitals better communicate with non-English-speaking patients

A webcam language interpretation service is helping three Arizona hospitals better serve Spanish-speaking patients in their emergency departments, the East Valley & Scottsdale Tribune reports. The Iasis Healthcare hospitals had relied on telephone interpretation services before implementing the new webcam system.

16 Sep 2008

New cannabis-like drugs could block pain without affecting brain

A new type of drug could alleviate pain in a similar way to cannabis without affecting the brain, according to a new study published in the journal Pain on Monday 15 September.

15 Sep 2008

Scientists discover common variants in the human genome conferring risk of bladder cancer

Scientists at deCODE genetics and colleagues at Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands today report the discovery of two common single-letter variants in the human genome (SNPs) that confer increased risk of urinary bladder cancer.

14 Sep 2008

Phase I trial for new tuberculosis vaccine

This week, a new vaccine "VPM1002" has entered the clinical phase I trial in Neuss, Germany, where it is being tested for safety on voluntary subjects. VPM1002 is based on a vaccine that has been in use since 1921, and has been genetically engineered to prevent infection with tuberculosis bacteria much more effectively than its predecessor.

11 Sep 2008

Employers offering deals for workers who travel domestically for medical care

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday examined how some employers "are looking to take advantage of the geographical variations in quality and cost of health care within the U.S.," and others are "leveraging deals they've struck with foreign hospitals in order to secure better rates with U.S. hospitals."

11 Sep 2008

The Quantum Group files four new provisional healthcare IT patents

The Quantum Group, Inc., a Wellington, Florida based healthcare organization, announced the filing of four new provisional patents to enhance the proprietary PWeR(TM) platform developed by the Company and to drive greater efficiencies within the healthcare industry.

10 Sep 2008

Infectious heart disease death rates rising again say scientists

Infectious heart disease is still a major killer in spite of improvements in health care, but the way the disease develops has changed so much since its discovery that nineteenth century doctors would not recognise it, scientists heard today (Thursday 11 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.

10 Sep 2008

Massachusetts' proposed rule could lead to Federal lawsuit, Partners HealthCare warns

Massachusetts' largest private employer Partners HealthCare on Friday warned that the state could face a federal lawsuit if it implements a proposed rule to increase some companies' contributions to their workers' health coverage, the Boston Globe reports.

10 Sep 2008

Personal DNA scanning service 23andMe drops price to $399

Personal DNA scanning service 23andMe on Tuesday is scheduled to announce that it is lowering the price of its gene-mapping service from $999 to $399 in order to attract more customers and expand its database of individual genetic profiles to bolster medical research, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

10 Sep 2008