Uninsured RX

The Business Intelligence firm La Merie S.L. conducted an analysis of the R&D pipeline of human growth hormone (hGH, somatropin). The study revealed that Sandoz (the generic division of Novartis) sells the biogeneric somatropin as Omnitrope at a 25 % discount but only achieved 2007 sales of about US$ 8 mln representing a 0.3 % share of the worldwide hGH market in 2007 of US$ 2.7 bln (published data only).

"My husband is a physician - who, by the way, has never missed a day of work - and is also on dialysis for a failed kidney transplant. I'm a nurse, and have been doing his home hemodialysis for the past year," said Daniella Pigott of Birmingham, Alabama. "Each month our insurance company sends us a copy of the billing statement. Remember, I am the one who does his treatments at home for three hours a day, five days a week.

The American Physiological Society has established the Hurricane Ike Relief Fund to provide unrestricted grants of up to $2,000 to support physiology graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who suffered losses as a result of Hurricane Ike. The powerful storm hit the Texas coast on Sept. 13 and also affected other areas of the country. The grants are targeted to students and fellows who are either APS members or working in the laboratories of APS members.

Professor Graeme Clark, the pioneer of the multiple-channel cochlear implant (bionic ear), will speak at the UQ Medical Society's ES Meyers Memorial Lecture on Friday, October 10. The outstanding work of Professor Clark, who was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2004, has been implanted in more than 100,000 people worldwide.

Combined results from two Phase 3 studies presented at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting (ACG) in Orlando, Fla., demonstrated that TAK-390MR resulted in higher healing rates than lansoprazole among patients with more severe grades of erosive esophagitis (EE). TAK-390MR combines dexlansoprazole with a Dual Delayed Release™ (DDR) formulation, designed to provide two separate releases of drug for extended duration of acid suppression.

The American Association for Homecare supports anti-fraud efforts announced today by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency in charge of Medicare. However, the Association believes that even more must be done to keep criminals out of Medicare.

Nursing faculty at UNLV and Nevada State College (NSC) are collaborating to improve nurse retention and patient care in Nevada by expanding opportunities for registered nurses (RN) to earn a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) through an online degree program. This is the first coordinated effort of its kind in Nevada and is being funded by a grant from the Health Resource and Services Administration (HRSA).

CeloNova BioSciences, Inc. today announced that it will showcase the technology behind the CATANIA(TM) Coronary Stent System featuring a NanoThin Polyzene(R)-F surface treatment during the 20th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation October 12-17. The CATANIA(TM) Coronary Stent System carries a CE Mark and is currently available for sale outside the United States.

Q and A with Aaron Carroll, M.D., director of the Center for Health Policy and Professional- ism Research and associate professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Carroll is a Regenstrief Institute research scientist and a pediatrician who sees patients at Riley Hospital for Children.

UCB presented data from a large, prospective study investigating endoscopic improvement in Crohn's disease (CD) with a biologic compound.