Medical Health Blog

Hospital for Special Surgery, (HSS), a world leader in orthopedics and rheumatology, announced its support of the Arthritis Foundation and Ad Council newly launched campaign, “Moving is the Best Medicine,” to raise awareness of osteoarthritis, increase public health education and support breakthrough research. “Like the Arthritis Foundation, we are focusing our extensive clinical and research resources on raising awareness of the potentially debilitating effects of osteoarthritis in this country,” said Stephen Paget, M.D., physician-in-chief and chair of the division of rheumatology at HSS…

Commenting on the paper The NHS: a new liberal blueprint published by Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Health Norman Lamb MP, The King’s Fund acting chief executive Dr Anna Dixon said: ‘This Liberal Democrat paper is further evidence of a growing consensus between the parties on health. We will go into the election with more fundamental agreement on the NHS than ever before…

Exactly one year after President Obama signed the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that 2.6 million more children were served by Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) at some point over the past year and released “The Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act One Year Later: Connecting Kids to Coverage,” a comprehensive review of the past year’s accomplishments in finding and enrolling children in health coverage…

New research shows that two different antimicrobial regimens for treating buruli ulcer (Mycobacterium ulcerans infection) are effective at treating early, limited disease. This is the conclusion of an Article published Online First (http://www.thelancet.com) and in an upcoming edition of The Lancet-written by Professor Tjip S van der Werf, University Medical Centre Groningen, Netherlands, and colleagues. Buruli ulcer is classed a neglected tropical disease…

Research presented at the American Academy of Pain Medicine’s 26th Annual Meeting provides early published data analyzing information gathered from California’s prescription monitoring program, known as the Controlled Substances Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES). The analysis found a two-fold increase in the likelihood of individuals receiving opioids from multiple providers or “doctor shopping” when they were also being simultaneously prescribed a single additional class of a controlled substances, such as benzodiazepines or amphetamines…

Paloma Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it has received acceptance of its IND to enter Phase I studies with Palomid 529 (P529) in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The Phase I study, “A Phase I Open-Label Study to Investigate the Safety, Tolerability and Pharmacokinetic Profile of Single Intravitreal and Subconjunctival Doses of Palomid 529 in Patients with Advanced Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration” will be a dose-ranging study aimed at safety but will also have objective measurement for efficacy…

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (OTC Bulletin Board: ACCP) announced that it initiated an internal pre-licensing program to confirm the utility of its proprietary Cobalamin (vitamin B12) platform technology for targeted delivery of siRNA therapies. The program is considered important because, despite the widely publicized potential of RNA therapy, researchers up to now have been stymied in their efforts to design a pharmaceutical product that efficiently transports siRNA therapeutics into the cells they are designed to inhibit or kill…

Results from the first prospective study of minimally invasive facet arthrodesis and long-term data on spinal cord stimulation demonstrate the viability of these options to achieve pain relief in patients with various back pain conditions. The studies were presented at the American Academy of Pain Medicine’s 26th Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX…

Estimates of pain care treatment costs exceed $1 billion annually in the United States. Today at the American Academy of Pain Medicine’s 26th Annual Meeting two abstracts looked at the issue. One evaluated intrathecal drug delivery (a targeted medicine delivery system) that could save costs over time. The other analyzed the differences between the costs of treatment for chronic pain treatments. In the first abstract, Scott Guillemette from Ingenix Consulting analyzed costs for intrathecal drug delivery (IDD)…

Polymedco, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 510(k) clearance of the OC-Sensor Diana, a high throughput automated system for the immunoassay fecal occult blood test (FIT) used for detecting gastrointestinal bleeding associated with disorders such as colorectal cancer, polyps and colitis. The new OC-Sensor Diana system measures 280 FIT samples per hour and ensures that quality data is consistently collected. In addition, its compact design, only 24.8″ by 22″ by 22″ and 133 lbs., is ideal for workstation set-up…