It's been a while: An Update, with more frequent ones to come!

It has been quite a while since our last post.  Members of our team have been busy with a number of other career and business opportunities so we decide to take a hiatus.  Our team now has more experience and is now gaining more members and a renewed focus in order to provide better content.  Below are some of the big stories that you may have missed over the past quarter.

Health and Business

While political quibbling still is occurring, major portions of the recent Health Care Reform Bill are beginning to take effect:
The Future of US Health Care (Wall St. Journal Health)
2.6M Young Adults Gain Health Insurance (Wall St. Journal Health)

The daVinci Surgical Robot may be used to repair NASA satellites
Da Vinci surgical robots may help repair NASA satellites (MassDevice)

WSJ Shows Examples of How Promising Scientific Discoveries Don't Always Pan Out

Scientist's Elusive Goal: Reproducing Study Results  (Wall St. Journal Health)

The former official in charge for Medicare and Medicaid states that 20-30% of spending is waste, mostly due to administrative and bureaucratic red-tape.

Health Official Takes Parting Shot at 'Waste' (New York Times)

Are There Advantages or Health Risks to Being Left-Handed?  Being left-handed, I found this article very interesting

The Health Risks of Being Left-Handed (Wall St. Journal Health)

Some controversial comments on rationing health care for seniors by the Chicago Tribune and the MassDevice blog staff 

Rationing Health Care for Seniors (MassDevice)

Medical Device and Diagnostics

New innovation in integrated imaging technology by Phillips, incorporating MR and PET scanning in one

FDA Approves Phillips Whole Body PET/MR Imaging System (Medical News Today)

There is now increased approval of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapies (CRT) for the treatment of Heart Failure by journals in Europe and the US as a result of a new survey on CRT effectiveness.

Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy in Heart Failure (Medical News Today)

An iPhone-syncing glucose meter by Sanofi gains 510(k) clearance from the FDA and the FDA released guidelines for the development of artificial pancreas's for the treatment of type I diabetes.
Sanofi's iBGStar Becomes First iPhone Glucose Meter to Land FDA Clearance (MassDevice)
Diabetes: FDA Releases Artificial Pancreas Guidance (MassDevice)

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital have developed a method to use the magnetic field from an MRI to potentially control a capsule endoscope within the digestive tract.
Capsule Endoscope Controlled By MRI to Investigate Digestive System - A "Fantastic Voyage" (Medical News Today)

A number of suggestions for utilizing gaming paradigms to improve compliance with making appointments and achieving health goals
Using Dynamics from Gaming to Improve People's Health (MassDevice)

The FDA cracking down on surgical centers improperly advertising lap band surgery for weight loss
Stop Misbranding Lap=Band in Your Advertising, FDA Warns Companies (Medical News Today)

GE Healthcare and Financial Invest in Two Upstart Device Technologies
GE Invests in Non-invasive Continuous Glucose Monitors (MassDevice)
InfraReDx Lands $10M from GE Capital (MassDevice)

A promising new HIV Test in trials is cheaper with similar efficacy to the current standard test.
Blood Cell Test for HIV Treatment Monitoring is Cheaper But Just As Effective  (Medical News Today)

A Traumatic Brain Injury handheld brain hemorrhage detector by Infrascan is expected to recieve FDA approval in 2012.  The company has been hoping for approval as early as 2009 and development has been in process since 2004.
Infrascan CEO Expects FDA Approval in 2012 for Handheld Brain Bleed Detector (Medcity)

Bionic digital vision takes one step closer to reality; researchers successfully demonstrated that the could display one-pixel on a contact lens worn by a live subject.
One Step Closer to Terminator-Style Info Vision (Medical News Today)

ArtiCure's surgical cardiac ablation device receives FDA approval, the first cardiac ablation device approved for surgery
FDA approves AtriCure's Synergy cardiac ablation device (MassDevice)



Pharmaceutical
J&J Supply Issues for Doxil Cancer Drug (Wall St. Journal Health)

Pharmaceutical and Medical Device regulation in India is changing, as a government entity will being taking applications for Medical Device and Pharmaceutical products.
DCGI to Begin Prescreening Device Registration Applications in India (MassDevice)

An article about a Plavix and FDA intervention highlights the ongoing debate between over-regulation and under-regulation

Study Challenges FDA on Plavix (Wall St. Journal Health)

J&J's Zyrtec brand of allergy medication utlizes social mediat to try to promote its product.  This will pose some major questions to the FDA on compliance with marketing guidelines in the future.

J&J Goes Viral (MassDevice)

Biologics

The first Drug-eluting Bioresobable Vascular Scaffold / Stent developed by Abbot Laboratories is implanted in a patient.  The stent resorbs into the body after two years, providing the benefits of stents during artery repair without leaving a permanent metal artifact in place.
World's First Drug Eluting Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold Treats Coronary Artery Disease (Medical News Today)