Standard & Poor’s on Monday downgraded its long-term rating to B- from B+ on $737 million in bonds issued by the West Penn Allegheny Health System, 10 days after the ailing hospital network reported that overall losses had more than tripled to $76 million during the nine months ending March 31 when compared to the same period a year ago.

S&P said the downgrade reflected “deterioration in WPAHS’s overall finances,” according to the agency. The rating could have sunk still further if Highmark’s…

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John and Patricia Thomas of St. Louis have filed a class action lawsuit in St. Louis County Circuit Court against Tenet Health Systems.

The lawsuit seeks to recover the amounts that Saint Louis University Hospital and Des Peres Hospital, both owned by Tenet, have charged for misleading and undisclosed “hospital” facility fees for non-hospital services at doctors offices and outpatient clinics affiliated with those hospitals, according to a press release by the Thomases’ lawyer, the C. Marshall…

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Arizona State University students who receive their health services at ASU’s clinics will now have access to Mayo Clinic expertise.

ASU Health Services will join the Mayo Clinic Care Network that allows ASU to tap into Mayo Clinic’s services and tools, including AskMayoExpert, a tool that provides disease management and treatment recommendations, and eConsults, which will allow ASU doctors to electronically connect with Mayo experts on specific questions.

ASU and Mayo Clinic have been collaborating…

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The shift from sales rep meetings to digital selling methods must include innovation and a
physician-centered mindset in order to be successful.
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Returning extra medicine to the pharmacy for disposal might not be worth the extra time, money or greenhouse gas emissions, according to a University of Michigan study that is the first to look at the net effects of so-called take-back programs…
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Models developed to study liquids are used to investigate the mechanics of cellular tissues, which could further our understanding of embryonic development and cancer In a study about to be published in EPJ E¹, French physicists from the Curie Institute in Paris have demonstrated that the behaviour of a thin layer of cells in contact with an unfavourable substrate is akin…
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) generally approves drug therapies faster and earlier than its counterparts in Canada and Europe, according to a new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers. The study counters perceptions that the drug approval process in the United States is especially slow. Led by second-year medical student Nicholas Downing and senior author Joseph S. Ross, M…
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More than 250 people attended the Arizona BioIndustry Association’s Expo on May 17, providing a wealth of panel discussions and networking opportunities.

Click the image to the right for a slide show and rundown of activities at the conference.

At the event, BioAccel CEO MaryAnn Guerra announced that biotech startups can apply for up to $300,000 in seed funding and have an opportunity to take free space at the Bioinspire incubator in Peoria.

“This level of investment is a game changer for…

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ApniCure Inc. can go ahead with marketing a sleep device in the United States after the Food and Drug Administration cleared the product.

The privately held Redwood City company said Friday that its Winx Sleep Therapy System — using a light, oral vacuum and a slim tube connected to a soft, flexible mouthpiece — will launch in select markets this year. It is designed for people with obstructive sleep apnea.

The Winx system will be sold more broadly in 2013, said President and CEO Steve Carlson.

Founded…

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Craft Brew Alliance Inc. will start distributing its line of gluten-free beers nationwide in coming weeks.

Portland-based Craft Brew (Nasdaq: Brew) launched its Omission Lager and Omission Pale Ale in Oregon in March. Thursday, it said it will begin distributing the brand nationwide, starting on the West Coast and hitting the rest of the country by mid-June.

Omission is brewed under Craft Brew’s Widmer Brothers Brewing label. Each batch is tested to ensure it complies with international standards…

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