Healthcare - Business - BostonHerald.com

Billerica co. tackles shortage of medical diagnostic isotope

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:12:22 -0400

A Billerica company has improved its "image" by finding a new source for medical isotopes that have been in short supply and expected to crimp testing at hospitals...

Charles Baker seen as healthy gov choice

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 12:17:59 -0400

People on all sides of the state's health-care reform effort say they're delighted that Charles Baker, the longtime leader of a private health insurance company,...

400 more workers vote to join union at Lynn hospital

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:20:44 -0400

Labor has won another major victory in its push to unionize Bay State health-care workers. A total of 400 workers at Lynn's Union Hospital, part of the giant Partners...

FDA: Cookie dough's E. coli strain differs from illness

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:57:14 -0400

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday the strain of E. coli found in a sample of raw cookie dough collected at a Nestle USA manufacturing plant does...

Monkeys live longer on low-cal diet; would humans?

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:51:52 -0400

WASHINGTON - Eat less, live longer? It seems to work for monkeys: A 20-year study found cutting calories by almost a third slowed their aging and fended off death. This...

Dozens indicted in LA for Medi-Cal fraud scheme

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:49:16 -0400

LOS ANGELES - Forty-two people have been indicted in Los Angeles in what prosecutors say was a ring that defrauded Medi-Cal out of nearly $4.6 million by using unlicensed...

More troops' kids struggle with mental anguish

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:20:34 -0400

WASHINGTON - After nearly eight years of war, soldiers are not the only ones experiencing mental anguish. Their children are, too. Last year, children of U.S. troops sought...

White House, hospitals reach deal on health care

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:01:38 -0400

WASHINGTON - The nation's hospitals will give up $155 billion in future Medicare and Medicaid payments to help defray the cost of President Barack Obama's health...

FDA orders overdose warnings for Darvocet

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:33:42 -0400

WASHINGTON - The government is letting the painkillers Darvocet, Darvon and their generic cousins stay on the market but ordered stronger warnings against deadly overdoses...

FDA approves Hologic birth-control system

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:01:09 -0400

Hologic Inc., a Bedford maker of women's health products, has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration premarket approval for its new permanent contraception system. ...

Questions and answers about pain medicine dangers

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:10:12 -0400

CHICAGO - A Food and Drug Administration panel has recommended limits on Tylenol and other drugs containing acetaminophen because of risks for liver failure. Maximum recommended...

'Chew' users may get $750

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:33:29 -0400

Massachusetts residents who were buyers of chewing tobacco could receive up to $750 per claim under a class-action lawsuit settlement reached in May. Claim forms for...

Doctor offers free hair transplant

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:32:35 -0400

A Rhode Island doctor is waging a one-man, surgical strike against unemployment, by providing a free hair transplant, and other cosmetic procedures, to people looking for...

Federal probe finds problems with chelation study

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:52:46 -0400

A federal investigation has found that heart attack survivors enrolled in a study of a controversial alternative medicine treatment were not told enough about potential dangers...

CombinatoRx to merge with Canada's Neuromed

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:40:31 -0400

CombinatoRx, Inc. and Neuromed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. are merging, both companies annouced this morning. Under the terms of the just-released agreement, the publicly-traded...

CDC: Private health care coverage at 50-year-low

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:29:07 -0400

ATLANTA - The percentage of Americans who don't have private health insurance has hit its lowest mark in 50 years, according to two new government reports. About 65...

Obama hugs cancer patient, pitches care overhaul

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:40:57 -0400

ANNANDALE, Va. - President Barack Obama wanted to put a human face on his plans to overhaul health care, and a Virginia woman did just that today. Fighting back tears,...

Rangel: Drug firms have been stealing

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:37:43 -0400

WASHINGTON - One of the principal authors of health care legislation taking shape in the House accused drug companies and other medical providers today of stealing, and said...

FDA requires Chantix, Zyban to have warning

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:57:27 -0400

NEW YORK - The Food and Drug Administration will require two smoking-cessation drugs, Chantix and Zyban, to carry the agency's strongest safety warning over side effects...

Obama pitches health care overhaul

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:07:25 -0400

ANNANDALE, Va. - President Barack Obama said today that the best way to drive down health care costs is to persuade doctors and hospitals to emphasize quality of care over...

Gene variants linked to higher schizophrenia risk

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:50:25 -0400

WASHINGTON - A handful of typographical errors in a mysterious region of the human genetic code are connected to a slightly higher risk of schizophrenia, new studies show. In...

Biogen inks $510M deal to sell Acorda's MS drug outside U.S.

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:20:40 -0400

Biogen Idec Inc., the world's largest maker of drugs to treat multiple sclerosis, will pay as much as $510 million to market a new experimental MS drug outside of the...

FDA panel recommends smaller doses of painkillers

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:28:11 -0400

ADELPHI, Md. - Government experts say the maximum dose listed for Tylenol and dozens of other painkillers should be reduced to help curb deadly overdoses. In a series...

In poll, Mass. voters pan health reform

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:29:16 -0400

Only 26 percent of likely voters in Massachusetts believe health care reform has been a success and just 21 percent believe reform has made health care more affordable, according...

FDA weighs options to reduce painkiller overdoses

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:11:15 -0400

ADELPHI, Md. - The makers of Tylenol, Excedrin and other medications are trying to dissuade regulators from placing new restrictions on their popular painkillers, including...