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Pioneer in the eHealth industry calls for calm in healthcare debate

In the midst of a tempestuous healthcare debate, one private citizen is proving you don't have to shout to be heard. A pioneer in the eHealth industry, Steve Parker, Jr., speaks with the calm voice of reason. His online call for a careful, strategic approach to reform is attracting the attention of business leaders inside and outside the healthcare industry, as well as everyday Americans currently struggling to pay their medical bills.

3 Sep 2009

The AARP seeks a more neutral image after shedding thousands of members

AARP, the seniors' lobby, has shed as many as 60,000 members in two months over its implicit support for health reform that some members say could lead to Medicare cuts, USA Today reports. The group will launch a campaign next week in hopes of regaining ground with seniors and reestablishing a politically neutral image.

3 Sep 2009

SPi acquires Laguna Medical Systems for $8.25 million

SPi, a leading global business process outsourcing (BPO) company, today announced that it has acquired Laguna Medical Systems, Inc. (LMS) for an aggregate purchase price of US $8.25 million.

3 Sep 2009

Peplin announces merger agreement with LEO Pharma

Peplin, Inc. (ASX:PLI) today announced a definitive merger agreement whereby LEO Pharma A/S (LEO), a privately-held, leading global pharmaceutical company within Dermatology and Critical Care, will acquire all outstanding securities of Peplin for approximately US$287.5 million (currently A$348.4 million) in cash. This represents a purchase price of US$16.99 per common share of Peplin stock or A$1.03 per Peplin CHESS Depositary Interest (CDI).

3 Sep 2009

NIH grants $8 million to Fox Chase Cancer Center for cancer research

The Fox Chase Cancer Center has received an $8 million grant from the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health (NCRR/NIH) to expand their laboratory animal research facility. The new facility will support advanced research into the fundamental biological processes underlying cancer, opening the way for the development of new treatments. The funds for the grant were made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

3 Sep 2009

Pfizer to pay $301 million as setlement for illegal off-label promotion of Geodon

Blank Rome LLP represented three whistleblowers in two of nine lawsuits being settled today with Pfizer for $2.3 billion. The Blank Rome suits allege that Pfizer Inc. illegally off-label promoted the drugs Lyrica® and Geodon®. The cases are two among a group of nine similar suits, all alleging illegal drug promotion activities, that the United States Department of Justice is announcing today are being settled.

3 Sep 2009

Grassley aide disputes White House complaints, says finance talks will continue

An aide to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, responded Wednesday to a complaint by White House adviser David Axelrod that Grassley and Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo, two Finance Committee members involved in bipartisan negotiations on health care reform, were not acting in good faith.

3 Sep 2009

First world conference on AMIS procedure

Medacta International, a manufacturer of total joint replacement systems and innovative surgical techniques, today announced that it is hosting the first world conference on the anterior hip approach, also referred to as the AMIS procedure.

3 Sep 2009

Brain profiling tool to detect at-risk combat soldiers

According to a recent Washington Post study, approximately 20% of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are psychologically damaged. Among them are a substantial number with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the high rate of suicide among PTSD sufferers has become unacceptable to Army commanders and the soldiers' families.

3 Sep 2009

New online interactive quiz to gauge risk for cavities

Your risk for cavities can be gauged in minutes, thanks to a new interactive quiz launched today by a group of Delta Dental companies.

3 Sep 2009

m.pulse system for MCP therapy installed in ten hospitals

Cardiola AG announced today that it has placed its patented m.pulse system in 10 hospitals located in Germany and Switzerland, on the heels of the system’s CE-Mark approval. MCP was previously only available in a clinical setting. Now, m.pulse is the world’s first and only device enabling CAD patients to receive MCP therapy at home.

3 Sep 2009

Healthcare-acquired infection costs $1 billion per annum

Infections caught in hospital are costing the Australian healthcare system more than 850,000 lost bed days, according to a new study by Queensland University of Technology.

3 Sep 2009

Members of Congress say they will advocate for more health funding in Rwanda

Five members of Congress who are visiting Rwanda said they will advocate for more funding for the country's health sector, New Times/allAfrica.com reports. The delegation includes Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), and Melvin Watt (D-N.C.) (Musoni, 9/1).

3 Sep 2009

GDC-0449 inhibits the Hedgehog signaling pathway

The Hedgehog signaling pathway is involved in a preliminary study and case report describing positive responses to an experimental anticancer drug in a majority of people with advanced or metastatic basal cell skin cancers. One patient with the most common type of pediatric brain cancer, medulloblastoma, also showed tumor shrinkage.

3 Sep 2009

Insecticide-treated bed nets prevent infant deaths from malaria

Giving insecticide-treated bed nets to nearly 18,000 mothers at prenatal clinics in the Democratic Republic of Congo prevented an estimated 414 infant deaths from malaria, a study by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers concludes.

3 Sep 2009

FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee votes in favor of FOLOTYN NDA

Allos Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALTH) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) voted 10-4 that the response rate and duration of response observed with FOLOTYNTM (pralatrexate) are reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit in patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL).

3 Sep 2009

Pfizer to pay $2.3 billion for health care fraud settlement

American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. and its subsidiary Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Inc. (hereinafter together "Pfizer") have agreed to pay $2.3 billion, the largest health care fraud settlement in the history of the Department of Justice, to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of certain pharmaceutical products, the Justice Department announced today.

3 Sep 2009

Senate Republicans prepare robust objections to stall Democrat's health reform bill

Republicans are preparing a spate of procedural objections to use in the event Senate Democrats try to employ budget reconciliation rules to advance their health reform proposals.

3 Sep 2009

Preliminary lab results of SHBAN hand sanitizer solution announced

BioTech Medics, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: BMCS) announces that it has received preliminary independent clinical testing of its patented SHBAN™ Hand Sanitizer Solution to demonstrate it kills the H1N1 (Swine) Influenza A virus.

3 Sep 2009

American diners prefer meals that offer the most nutrition for the calories

When dining out, 65 percent of Americans prefer to see nutritional information on a restaurant menu over calories alone. As several cities around the country adapt to menu-labeling mandates that require restaurants to post calorie-counts on their menu, it is yet to be determined if it will have the desired impact on consumer behavior and therefore overall public health.

3 Sep 2009