TheRepublic.com - Health care industry News

Minn. lawmakers wrap up historic session

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:56:15 -0400

ST. PAUL, Minnesota - Minnesota lawmakers worked right up to the end Monday before adjourning a session that produced $2.1 billion in tax hikes and a historic vote on gay marriage.

Sports seem OK for many with heart-zapping device

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:21:59 -0400

WASHINGTON - New research is challenging medical guidelines that say people with a heart-zapping device in their chests should avoid intense sports like basketball and soccer in favor of golf or bowling.

Actavis buying Warner Chilcott in $8.5B deal

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:35:24 -0400

NEW YORK - Actavis is buying Warner Chilcott in an all-stock deal valued at about $8.5 billion that would create the third-biggest specialty pharmaceutical company in the U.S. market.

Feds: NYU researchers took bribes from Chinese co.

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:20:35 -0400

NEW YORK - Three New York University researchers from China divulged results from a federally funded study to Chinese competitors in exchange for tuition, rent and other expenses, federal prosecutors said Monday.

NM changing its plans for health exchange

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:23:14 -0400

SANTA FE, New Mexico - New Mexico is switching gears on its plan for a health insurance exchange and initially will partner with the federal government for computer services needed for an online insurance marketplace.

Red Hat, JA Solar, Xenoport are big movers

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:08:25 -0400

NEW YORK - Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Monday on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market:

Drought accelerates use of drugs to beef up cattle

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:48:04 -0400

WICHITA, Kansas - Cattle feeders in the U.S. are coping with reduced herds and high corn costs in part by increasing their use of growth-inducing drugs designed to bulk up animals, get more pounds of beef from each carcass and circumvent the drought's withering effects on the food cycle.

Royalty Pharma increases bid for drugmaker Elan

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:35:22 -0400

NEW YORK - Royalty Pharma has raised its offer to buy Elan on the condition that shareholders reject the Irish drugmaker's push to refocus its business through a string of recently announced deals, including two new deals unveiled Monday.

Judge won't dismiss $75 million casino lawsuit

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:58:56 -0400

JACKSON, Mississippi - A federal judge has refused to dismiss a $75 million lawsuit accusing a Mississippi casino of serving a heavily medicated man so many free drinks that he collapsed in the bathroom of his hotel room and died.

Audit: Mass. nonprofit overcharged state

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:25:34 -0400

BOSTON - A nonprofit organization that contracts with Massachusetts to provide services to residents with autism and other developmental disabilities should repay nearly $350,000 in state funds that it used improperly to pay staff, Auditor Suzanne Bump said Monday.

Drugmaker Elan plans string of acquisitions

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:37:27 -0400

Elan Corp. PLC plans to pay about $338 million for a privately held, Austrian drug developer and at least $110 million for stakes in two other companies as the Irish drugmaker continues to refocus after unloading its main revenue source, an ownership stake in the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri.

Work stops on C. Ind. pharmaceutical facility

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:46:05 -0400

GREENWOOD, Indiana - Construction has stopped on a pharmaceutical facility being built with a $6 million loan from a suburban Indianapolis city.

US adviser on board of firm that sold anthrax drug

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:58:30 -0400

WASHINGTON - Former Navy Secretary Richard J. Danzig, who has served as a bio-warfare adviser to the president, the Pentagon, and the Department of Homeland Security, urged the government to stockpile an anti-anthrax drug while serving as a director for the company that supplied it, according to a report published Sunday.

Ohio to bolster checks on home health care workers

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:35:29 -0400

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio officials plan to bolster criminal background checks for those home health-care workers who provide direct care to the disabled and elderly.

W.Va. resort offering help to drug-convicted women

Sun, 19 May 2013 11:28:47 -0400

BECKLEY, West Virginia - Women are daughters, each of us. That's how Tammy Jordan, inspirational author, agriculturist and business owner, views it. So much so, she's sharing her bounty with women unaccustomed to walking through doorways to opportunity.

17 bodies removed from Modesto funeral home

Sat, 18 May 2013 17:46:38 -0400

MODESTO, California - Seventeen bodies have been removed from a Modesto funeral home after complaints the home was taking too long to cremate the bodies, officials said.

NH health insurance agents keeping options open

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:35:40 -0400

CONCORD, New Hampshire - In a recent survey, more than half of New Hampshire's insurance agents said they will sign up to sell plans through the new marketplaces required under the federal health overhaul law - but how many actually follow through will depend on whether it's worth their while financially.

Illinois extends deadline for health guide grants

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:16:10 -0400

CHICAGO - Community groups in Illinois have been given more time to apply for $28 million in grants to help consumers learn how to shop for health insurance that will be available under President Barack Obama's health overhaul law.

Court sides with Iowa dentists in key billing case

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:32:21 -0400

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Dentists can set their own fees on services that insurers do not reimburse, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday in a decision that will mean higher out-of-pocket costs for patients.

Drug company Novartis begins layoffs in Lincoln

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:04:06 -0400

LINCOLN, Nebraska - Drug company Novartis has begun laying off workers at its plant east of Lincoln.

Theater attack prompts new Colo. mental health law

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:40:25 -0400

DENVER - Days after a gunman entered a suburban Denver movie theater, killing 12 moviegoers and injuring 70 others, Gov. John Hickenlooper and Colorado health officials began talking about revamping a state mental health system that had been devastated by budget cuts.

Tenn. receives portion of drug quality claim

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:19:57 -0400

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - Tennessee will receive a portion of a $500 million settlement with generic drug manufacturer Ranbaxy.

Drugmaker Actavis' shares up

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:40:20 -0400

Shares of Actavis Inc. rose Thursday after reports surfaced that one of the world's biggest generic drugmaker has drawn interest from some competitors considering an acquisition.

NC lawmakers push socially conservative bills

Wed, 15 May 2013 23:43:14 -0400

RALEIGH, North Carolina - Socially conservative issues ranging from abortion to the application of Islamic Sharia law were debated in the North Carolina General Assembly on Wednesday ahead of a critical deadline to keep bills alive this session.

Ark. correction agency loses drug company account

Wed, 15 May 2013 21:23:19 -0400

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas - Weeks after Arkansas acknowledged buying an anti-seizure drug to use in executions, the state correction department said Wednesday it's losing its account with the pharmaceutical company that supplied the chemical.