Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

BIO urges Congress to pass Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act

Jim Greenwood, president and CEO of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), has issued the following statement on H.R. 3, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007.

9 Jan 2007

Advancing medical technology increases health-care costs

Advances in medical technology are a main factor driving the trend of increasing health care costs, and industry stakeholders agree that improved evaluation methods are needed to better measure the benefits and risks of new technologies and procedures in order to avoid misallocation of health care dollars.

9 Jan 2007

VeriChip awarded U.S. patent for RFID asset tracking system

Applied Digital Solutions, though its subsidiary VeriChip Corporation has announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted VeriChip Corp. a patent for its portable RFID asset location system.

8 Jan 2007

FDA approves MedImmune's new refrigerated formulation of FluMist influenza virus vaccine

MedImmune has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the company's new refrigerated formulation of FluMist (Influenza Virus Vaccine Live, Intranasal) for use in helping to prevent influenza in healthy children and adults from 5 years to 49 years of age.

8 Jan 2007

Dentists could detect osteoporosis, automatically

Researchers in the School of Dentistry at The University of Manchester have created a unique way of identifying osteoporosis sufferers from ordinary dental x-rays.

From The University of Manchester 3 Jan 2007

Ranbaxy granted approval to manufacture Atenolol

Ranbaxy Laboratories has announced that the Company has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to manufacture and market Atenolol Tablets USP, 25 mg, 50 mg, and 100 mg.

2 Jan 2007

Susan Winckler appointed as acting FDA Chief of Staff

Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, Acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs (FDA), today announced the appointment of Susan C. Winckler, RPh, Esq., as the agency's Acting Chief of Staff. Ms. Winckler is replacing Patrick Ronan who announced his resignation last week after several years of service at the FDA.

5 Dec 2006

Pfizer stops all Torcetrapib trials

On December 2, 2006, FDA was notified that Pfizer will suspend a large, Phase 3 trial evaluating the investigational cardiovascular therapy torceptrapib/atorvastatin (T/A) due to an increased rate of mortality (death) in patients receiving the combination compared to those receiving atorvastatin alone.

4 Dec 2006

Some ob-gyns switching to cosmetic medicine clinics

Some ob-gyns, as well as other physicians, recently have left their specialties to practice cosmetic medicine, including acne treatments and Botox injections, at medical spas, the New York Times reports.

2 Dec 2006

Africa's health problems are getting worse says the WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says regardless of promises of better healthcare by governments and donor countries, millions of mothers, newborn babies and children continue to die each year in Africa from preventable diseases.

20 Nov 2006

New technology offers alternative to open heart surgery

A new method of treating mitral regurgitation (MR), the leaking of blood through the mitral valve into the heart chamber, provides a less-invasive alternative to open heart surgery.

19 Nov 2006

Doha Declaration on life-saving drugs for poor countries not happening

Despite the fact that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) granted a special exemption five years ago, in order that poor countries could access life-saving drug, poor people in developing countries are still dying needlessly because global pharmaceutical giants continue to monopolise drugs for diseases such as cancer and AIDS.

15 Nov 2006

Drug industry concerned about California Law allowing State to seek drug discounts

A new California law set to take effect in January 2007 "provides a glimpse of the type of government price controls the drug industry fears," the Boston Globe reports.

13 Nov 2006

LaVeist named inaugural William C. and Nancy F. Richardson Professor in health policy

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has named Thomas A. LaVeist, PhD, the inaugural William C. and Nancy F. Richardson Professor in Health Policy. LaVeist, a leader in the study of minority health and the elimination of health disparities, was officially installed during a ceremony at the Bloomberg School of Public Health on November 10.

13 Nov 2006

Diabetes, type 2, at epidemic proportions in Asia

According to a study by South Korean researchers, the most common form diabetes, type 2, has reached epidemic proportions in Asia.

13 Nov 2006

Global Patient Safety Challenge: Clean Care is Safer Care

Half the people in the world can look forward to cleaner and safer care and a lowered risk of becoming ill with an infection as a result of their health care.

13 Nov 2006

Former HCFA Administrator suggests new U.S. agency on comparative clinical effectiveness

"Developing a Center for Comparative Effectiveness Information," Health Affairs: In a Health Affairs Web exclusive, Gail Wilensky -- an economist, senior fellow at Project HOPE and former administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration -- examines the growing interest in the U.S. for unbiased, credible information on comparative clinical effectiveness by those who support competitive health care pricing and by those who support administered pricing.

8 Nov 2006

The lifetime cost of current HIV care in the United States

"The Lifetime Cost of Current HIV Care in the United States," a major study appearing in the November 2006 issue of Medical Care, projects the cost of treatment for HIV-infected adults using current standards of care.

1 Nov 2006

World's first fully digital neuroscience center at Singapore General Hospital

BrainLAB has signed a contract with Singapore Health Services (SingHealth), the largest healthcare group in Singapore, for the establishment of the world's first fully digital neuroscience center at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), one of Asia's leading teaching hospitals.

30 Oct 2006