The DRX9000(TM) was created to provide relief of LBP (low back pain) caused by herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, sciatica, and facet syndrome. A new case report underwritten with a grant from Axiom Worldwide is now featured in Volume 3, Issue 1 of the US Musculoskeletal Review 2008. The case study titled, Management of Discogenic Low-back Pain with a Non-surgical Decompression System (DRX9000(TM)) – Case Report, reveals the pre- and post-MRI findings of a 31-year old male with a history of low back pain. Prior to treatment with the DRX9000, an MRI of the lumbar spine revealed a left paracentral disc extrusion at L5/S1 that was compressing and displacing the left S1 nerve root. In addition, degenerative disc disease was noted at L4/5 and L5/S1. The patient also reported an overall pain level of 9 on a 0-10 scale. The patient underwent 27 treatments on the DRX9000 over a seven-week period and at his final treatment he reported a pain level of 3 that occurred only 30% of the time. Follow-up MRI “demonstrated a dramatic decrease in the size of the disc lesion as well as the compression placed on the left S1 nerve root.” The authors conclude, “Clinical and imaging data continue to emerge providing further validation of the safe and effective treatment of disc-related LBP utilizing the DRX9000.”

This case study was underwritten by a grant from Axiom Worldwide. Axiom Worldwide’s referencing the presentation of the study should not be construed to mean that Axiom Worldwide represents that the study establishes any conclusive success rate or the efficacy of the device. The information is offered simply to demonstrate the exciting activity ongoing with the DRX9000. As always, individual patient’s experiences with the DRX9000 may vary and patients should always consult with their physician to determine whether treatment on the DRX9000 makes sense for them.

Axiom Worldwide manufactures and distributes its flagship products, the DRX9000 True Non-surgical Spinal Decompression System(TM), DRX9000C(TM), and DRX9500(TM) in medical markets around the globe. Axiom also manufactures a digital electroceutical device, the EPS8000(TM), for use in relieving pain and for use in muscular rehabilitation. Axiom prides itself on providing safe, non-surgical alternatives that patients should consider prior to undergoing surgery. For additional information please visit: www.AxiomWorldwide.com. To schedule an interview please contact: Amber Pacetti, Marketing at: telephone: 001-813-249-6444 or email: [email protected].

Golden Living announced today that Neil Kurtz, M.D., has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of the company, effective Aug. 29. Golden Living is one of the leading providers of long-term care in the country.

Most recently, Dr. Kurtz was President and Chief Executive Officer of TorreyPines Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company committed to providing patients with better alternatives to existing therapies through the research and development of new compounds to treat unmet clinical needs.

“I have had the good fortune to work with Dr. Kurtz over the past several months, and I can say without hesitation that he will enhance the leadership talent of our company, complement the efforts of our senior management team and bring a fresh perspective to the way we operate our business units,” said Ronald E. Silva, President and CEO of Fillmore Capital Partners and owner of Golden Living. “We are extremely fortunate to have him join our organization in this vital leadership role and set the new standard in operating quality for our industry.”

Prior to joining TorreyPines in 2002, Dr. Kurtz co-founded Worldwide Clinical Trials, a contract research organization, where he held the positions of President and Chief Executive Officer until its acquisition by United Health Group, or UHG, in September 1999. After the acquisition, Dr. Kurtz became President of Ingenix Pharmaceutical Services, a division of UHG, and also served as a member of the UHG Executive Board until joining TorreyPines.

Dr. Kurtz’s career includes senior positions with Boots Pharmaceuticals, Bayer Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Merck. He has a deep and recognized expertise in the area of central nervous system drug discovery and development.

Dr. Kurtz currently serves on the boards of three companies: NeurogesX, a specialty pharmaceutical company; Stemedica, a company focused on stem cell research; and Medidata Solutions, a global provider of data management services. In addition, he has consulted to more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies and was a member of the faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Connecticut from 1984 to 1988 and at the University of California, Los Angeles, from July 1980 to 1981.

Dr. Kurtz holds a B.A. in psychology from New York University and an M.D. from the Medical College of Wisconsin.

“Dr. Kurtz’s career has been focused on finding new and better ways to help people through medicine. His passion for innovation and commitment to better healthcare is a perfect fit with our company’s focus on quality and service,” said Silva. “With Dr. Kurtz at the helm of Golden Living, I know that we will continue to set new standards in excellence and lead the way in long-term care.”

Dr. Kurtz will be based at Golden Living’s Fort Smith, Ark. headquarters office.

About Golden Living (www.goldenliving.com)

The Golden Living family of companies provides care and services that directly or indirectly serve the elderly and disabled, including companies that operate nursing homes and provide rehabilitation therapy, hospice care, home health services and temporary staffing services. There are 329 Golden LivingCenters (skilled nursing facilities) and 17 Golden Living Communities (assisted living facilities) in 22 states. In addition, the Golden Innovations companies are leading providers of integrated senior health care services, partnering with more than 1,000 nursing homes, hospitals and other health care organizations in 46 states. Golden Innovations companies include Aegis Therapies, AseraCare Hospice and Home Health, Aedon Staffing, Ceres Purchasing Solutions, and Vizia Health Care Design Group. Collectively, the Golden Living family of companies has nearly 40,000 employees who provide quality health care to more than 30,000 patients and residents every day.

MANATEE COUNTY, Fla., Aug. 12 /PRNewswire/ — The Roskamp Institute’s Associate Clinic Director and Neuropsychologist Cheryl Luis, Ph.D., ABPP-CN was recently nominated and appointed chairperson to the Department of Elder Affairs’ (DOEA) Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative Advisory Committee (ADIAC).

“The advisory committee is very fortunate to have someone like Dr. Luis as the chairperson,” said Darrick McGhee, director of legislative affairs for the DOEA, who worked with Dr. Luis during her tenure as the chair of the ADIAC Legislative Subcommittee. “She is very passionate about Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, and I believe she will ensure that the committee brings forth the appropriate recommendations for the patients and caregivers of our state.”

“I am honored to have been nominated and appointed as the chairperson,” said Dr. Luis, who was nominated by an ADIAC member and subsequently appointed based on majority vote. “I am excited to continue to work with the advisory committee and the Department of Elder Affairs to reduce the burden of Alzheimer’s disease to Florida residents affected by the illness.”

Dr. Luis was first appointed to the advisory committee of the Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative (ADI) within the DOEA in 2006 by former Governor Jeb Bush. The ADI was created in 1985 by Florida Legislators to meet the needs of individuals and families with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. The ADIAC meets quarterly and Alzheimer’s disease specialists and health care providers from around the state regularly attend and actively participate. The advisory committee represents professionals, researchers, clinicians, social and allied health workers, Alzheimer’s organizations, daycare and nursing home personal and caregivers, who are all vested in the needs of Alzheimer’s patients.

“We are proud of Cheryl and commend her on this grand accomplishment,” said Dr. Michael Mullan, director of the Roskamp Institute. “Cheryl’s hands-on experience, as a caregiver and a neuropsychologist here at the Institute, will prove to be a great asset to the committee. Her daily environment allows her to fully understand the ever-changing needs that our state’s Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers continuously face.”

Dr. Luis is currently the associate clinic director and neuropsychologist of the Roskamp Institute. Prior to the Roskamp Institute, Dr. Luis worked as a visiting and adjunct faculty member within the Department of Social and Behavior Sciences at the Farquhar Center of Nova Southeastern University, a clinical neuropsychologist of the Wien Center for Memory Disorders at Mount Sinai Medical Center & Miami Heart Institute, a post-doctoral fellow in Clinical Neuropsychology at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and a part of the Neuropsychological Assessment staff at the University of South Florida Memory Disorder Clinic.

Dr. Luis has served as the chair of the Legislative Subcommittee of the DOEA’s ADIAC and is affiliated with the Division 40 of the American Psychological Association (APA). She is the chair of Women in Neuropsychology, a national committee that serves to promote women in leadership and serves as a liaison to the APA Committee of Women in Psychology. Dr. Luis also serves as an advisory board reviewer for APA National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula.

Dr. Luis is board-certified in Neuropsychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology. She earned her doctorate, Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Clinical Psychology from Nova Southeastern University. She has received several awards for her research in dementia, including the 2004 Dementia and Behavioral Neurology Scientific Topic Highlight Selection, 1999 Distinguished Student Achievement Award and the 1999 Student Poster Award from the National Academy of Neuropsychology. Her research has been published in numerous professional peer-reviewed scientific journals.

The Roskamp Institute is a not-for-profit research Institute located in Manatee County and Hillsborough County, Florida, that is dedicated to understanding the causes of, and finding cures for, neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders and addictions with an emphasis on Alzheimer’s disease. The Roskamp Institute’s Memory Centers also offer comprehensive cognitive and medical assessment toward differential diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and offers treatments and disease management options once the diagnostic evaluation is complete.

For more information regarding Dr. Luis’ appointment or the Roskamp Institute’s continued research, please contact the Roskamp Institute in Manatee County at (941) 752-2949, the Roskamp Institute Clinical Trials Division in Manatee County at (941) 752-2949, the Roskamp Institute Memory Center in Hillsborough County at (813) 979-2008, or visit us online at http://www.roskampinstitute.com/.

Roskamp Institute

CONTACT: Kristen Bridges of Roskamp Institute, +1-850-222-2140

Web site: http://www.roskampinstitute.com/

InforMedix Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB:IFMX) today announced they are teaming up with Audiopoint, also of Rockville, to provide advanced voice-enabled communications, automatic speech recognition, and medication compliance and persistence information services in real-time on mobile devices; to improve medication compliance and persistence, which reduces healthcare costs and increases pharmaceutical company and pharmacy sales revenues. Audiopoint is a leading provider of innovative voice and data services for consumer-oriented businesses in the Fortune 500.

According to eyeforpharma.com and the Managing Director of Eularis Dr. Andrew Bates, medication non-adherence costs the pharmaceutical industry estimated $30 B annually in lost revenues. Acquiring new patients can be six times more costly than retaining current patients, so by increasing focus on medication adherence can translate into additional top line and bottom line revenues to pharmaceutical manufacturers. In fact, a recent report from MIT’s Sloan School of Management found that improving customers’ medication adherence by 25% can benefit a community pharmacy with increased gross revenues of $1.7 M, or gross profits of $400,000 a year.

InforMedix’s Med-eXpert and Med-ePhone systems provide real-time, customizable, actionable information about the medication adherence and health status of chronically ill patients using any cellular or home telephone service. The joint technology combines Audiopoint’s world class, consumer-centric voice portal with InforMedix’s Med-eXpert intelligent system to link patient data with each of the key stakeholders administering care including family members, pharmacists, caregivers and physicians.

Under the agreement, InforMedix and Audiopoint will market InforMedix’s Med-ePhone System to both companies’ existing and future non-healthcare corporate and consumer customers. The newly combined services will be marketed to pharmaceutical manufacturers interested in improving brand compliance and persistence; pharmacy customers seeking improved medication and care plan adherence; and chronic care management companies who are searching for technologies to improve health outcomes and reduce costs. Additionally, the Audiopoint solution will provide a revenue generating Ad Model. This unique opportunity to communicate with the consumer is a bright spot in a declining advertising market due to its granular targetability and extremely high ROI.

“We are excited to be working with InforMedix to combine our proven voice data solutions – from our voice-enabled webpages, Notifier broadcast services, to merc alert emergency notification – with InforMedix’s scientifically proven Med-eXpert and Med-ePhone Systems to deliver the industry’s first end-to-end solution that provides a very high value, marketing communications solution for large-scale consumer programs,” said Brian Lichorowic, CEO of Audiopoint.

Bruce A. Kehr, M.D., CEO of InforMedix, commented, “We are pleased to be working with Audiopoint to provide a unique combination of advanced marketing communications and medication adherence information solutions using mobile phones over the Internet to maximize the return-on-investment to our customers.”

In 2005, research by Arar published in the Journal Informatics in Primary Care reported that a phone reminder system used in a therapy setting for which forgetting to take medication is a key issue underlying issue can substantially improve the return-on-investment. Even if just 6.5% of a patient population participates in the program and increases their adherence rate from the typical 40% to 85%, using a drug that generates 2 million prescriptions a year at a cost of $80 a month could lead to increased revenues of $45 million. If the intervention costs $5 per patient per month, companies could potentially realize an ROI of upwards of 300% to 600%. Balance that with fact that pharmaceutical manufacturers spent, according to ProQuest, more than $4.2 billion in direct-to-consumer advertising in 2005, and that amount is accelerating upward.

For more information about the technology or to purchase, contact InforMedix at 301-984-1566 or go to http://www.informedix.com

About InforMedix

InforMedix provides its patented Med-eXpert(TM) information system providing real-time, customizable and actionable information on the medication adherence and health status of chronically ill outpatients.

Two portable appliances are used by patients to follow their medication and care plans, and to record and transmit medication adherence and health status information to the Med-eXpert System. The Med-eMonitor(TM), a portable, interactive, “smart pillbox,” which stores and/or manages up to 25 medications, while tracking patients’ adherence to their medications and care plans, and The Med-ePhone(TM), which prompts, monitors and records medication adherence and health status assessment delivered to patients over mobile phones and landlines using Interactive Voice Response Systems (IVRS). Mission-critical information can be uniquely customized for each customer’s and patient’s needs at both individual and population levels to more effectively and efficiently reduce healthcare costs, improve health outcomes and increase patient satisfaction. InforMedix Solutions consistently achieve medication and care plan adherence rates of 90% or more across multiple chronic disease populations, as documented by academic medical center trials and peer-reviewed journal articles. For more information, visit http://www.informedix.com

About Audiopoint

Audiopoint is a leading provider of innovative voice data services for consumer-oriented businesses, offering design, development and deployment of large scale Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) software and services, voice-enabled marketing and call center automation. Established in 1998, Audiopoint launched the industry’s first voice portal in 1999 and has since established long-term partnerships with numerous Fortune 500 companies to provide advanced applications for mobility access. Audiopoint is a privately held company based in Rockville, Maryland with executive and R&D offices in Middleburg, Virginia. For more information, visit www.audiopoint.net.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release may contain forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding our business strategy and development plans, plans for entering into new businesses, anticipated sources and uses of funds and other statements regarding our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions that are not historical facts. Because these forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, actual results could differ materially from those discussed in this press release. These risks and uncertainties are described in greater detail in the reports that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our actual results, performance or achievements may vary materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements reflect our beliefs and expectations as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date. While we may elect to update these forward-looking statements publicly at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

By Kristin Malone / Special to The Herald

Melissa Hall had one hour until her national competition. She practiced on her skates for 15 minutes, and her coach told her to keep practicing. But she said she was ready.

Hall, a 16-year veteran in artistic roller skating, wasn’t lying. She won the medal to prove it.

The 21-year-old Rock Hill woman, a York Technical College student in early childhood development, took first place in the open women’s loop event last month during the U.S. National Championships in roller figure skating in Lincoln, Neb. The championships included competitions in more than 100 individual and team events for men and women.

Hall is considered a skating veteran. Now that she’s about to finish college, she needs to decide if she wants to continue her skating career or become a teaching assistant in Rock Hill schools.

“It is a hard decision, because I didn’t place in last year’s national competition, and this year I placed, so I’m obviously improving,” Hall said. “But at the same time, I’m supposed to be focusing on getting a job and going into the real world.”

Her parents, Patrick and Marilyn Hall of Rock Hill, don’t think she will be able to quit skating.

“Skating is in her blood,” Patrick Hall said. “She has put so much time and effort into skating, and it has finally paid off.”

Since her junior year in high school, Hall has been commuting to Greensboro, N.C., where she trains with Tina Yow in the Piedmont Artisitic Roller Skating Club.

“The loop event is a very prestigious and tough event,” Yow said, referring to Hall’s performance. “Melissa knew what she wanted and what she was there to do.”

When she was about 6, Hall began taking skating lessons from Butch and Minnie Specker at the former Roller Magic rink in Rock Hill.

“I learned how to do my figures, how to solo dance, and I began learning how to do loops,” she said.

The loop event consists of a skater making three large circular patterns on the outskirts of a skating rink. Skaters trace these patterns by skating forward or backward around the designs.

Loops are the smaller circles with what looks to be a teardrop in the middle of the design. Like the figures, skaters must trace the loop pattern, including the teardrop, either forward or backward.

Dances performed in the skating rink can be solo, team, creative or free dance. Skaters can choose between dances such as the waltz or the tango when performing.

After the dance partners have chosen their type of dance and song, they must make sure they include five lifts in their routine. A lift is classified as a woman’s hips going no higher than her partner’s shoulders, Hall said.

At 12, Hall began training with Nekoe Buckner of Gastonia, N.C.

“I met Nekoe at a skate camp, and I felt she could take me to the next level,” Hall said. “I was traveling to Gastonia four to five times a week for practice.”

She noticed that her figures, solo dances and loop techniques were improving. She also performed her first creative solo dance routine to the song “Honey Bun.”

Hall has been skating in the sophomore women’s figures for ages 15 and older. In 2007, Hall flew through the regional competitions and performed at the nationals in Lincoln.

In this year’s nationals, Hall also performed in the figure skating event and placed 12th. In the loop event, which she won, she competed against 35 women.

Yow believes Hall won’t be able to give up her skating now.

“I don’t think she will quit skating because she does it from the heart, and that makes the difference,” Yow said. “She is a coach’s dream.”

(c) 2008 Herald; Rock Hill, S.C.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH

What do doctors talk about when they get together? Probably bosses, interesting cases, salaries and nurses, among other subjects. At the second Israel Medical Convention held recently at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center, some 1,000 physicians and others came to hear eight hours of lectures on the hospital of the future, medical ethics, the growing threat of malpractice suits and challenges in human genetics.

Octogenarian Health Minister Ya’acov Ben-Yizri, who greeted the audience and received only a minimum of applause, struck a pessimistic note: In 2020, Israel’s population will reach almost nine million, but at the current pace of development, there will not be enough medical institutions and qualified personnel.

“We will not be ready,” he said, hinting at constant Treasury efforts to cut health spending. “We are working to include psychiatric and geriatric care in the basket of health services,” said Ben-Yizri, but while this has been promised by Ben-Yizri’s predecessors over the years, there is not even a target date. “We struggle against the Treasury,” he said, adding that the ministry must also prepared for possible emergencies such as earthquakes, terror attacks and pandemics, along with now-routine violence against medical personnel and the need for preventive medicine. “We need a coalition for health, with all factors working together so we can give the public what it justifiably demands.”

ISRAEL MEDICAL Association chairman Dr. Yoram Blachar – who does not get along professionally with the minister – nevertheless had the same pessimistic approach: “Medical research has been in crisis in recent years,” he said. “The state hardly supports it. The Health Ministry’s chief scientist’s office has only NIS 7 million to allocate this year – and that’s twice what it was. Medical research is in danger of losing its status. In the US,” noted Blachar, “when a decline in medical research was noted, the state realized it had to fund doctors’ time spent on research, and now the trend has been reversed. We must do that too, before it’s too late.”

The host of the event, Hadassah Medical Organization director- general Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, was more heartening. “Hadassah and all other hospitals are interested in providing medical care to Arab neighbors who seek it. We won’t bring peace, but we will improve understanding. As for our Israeli patients, thanks to advances in medical research, we can tell them what they can hope for, what’s in the pipeline, even if a treatment is not yet available.”

While many changes in diagnostics and scanning have already become routine, said Mor-Yosef, bigger changes are on the way. “Everything is computerized. You can see tiny details of organs and perform virtual examinations of the colon, heart and tendons. Some three-dimensional functional – and not only anatomical – imaging is already being performed with Positron Emission Tomography [PET]. We have tools to show the effects of only one or two cigarettes.” Catheters threaded through a vein in the groin, he continued, will be able to reach almost any organ. Computers are becoming an inseparable part of operations, with digital navigators telling surgeons at what angle to insert implants.

“This is only the beginning,” said Mor Yosef. “There are pacemakers for the heart, but there will be electronic pacemakers for the brain as well.” Mor-Yosef predicted that computerized robots would become good enough so that surgeons will be able to manipulate joysticks and perform surgery not only in another room, but in another country.

Individualized medicine will offer customized treatments for patients. “One patient will get a drug because it will help him but it won’t do anything for another patient,” said the Hadassah chief. “And medical education will be revolutionized by simulators that enable students and doctors to train over and over before touching their first patient.”

ALL ISRAELI hospitals currently building new facilities – including Hadassah’s Ein Kerem campus that is constructing a 12- floor hospitalization tower – are preparing improved “hotel services”- more privacy and esthetics “so patients and their families are more comfortable. Doctors will monitor the conditions of their patients over cellphones. More patients will want to be at home. We will have to be ready for this.”

Prof. Mark Glazerman, head of obstetrics and gynecology at the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, quoted an expert who told medical students, half jokingly: “Fifty percent of what you learn in medical school will be found to be wrong in 10 years. The problem is that your teachers don’t know which half.” Also an expert in medico- legal subjects, Glazerman complained about physicians who have turned into “for-hire professional witnesses” in medical lawsuits, even though they lack the credentials. Ob/ gyn specialists are the most-sued in Israel, he said. “There were efforts to reduce costs on lawsuits, but the issue is a hot potato. Fearful of lawsuits, doctors around the world tend to perform unnecessary cesarean sections.” The rate, he said, is 80 percent in Brazil, 40% in Italy and an average of 20% in Israel. No one has been sued for doing a cesarean instead of a vaginal delivery, he said, but many are sued for not doing a cesarean, which can result in significant complications for the mother. Half of Israeli obstetricians polled said they would perform a cesarean on a woman who insisted on it, even if there were no medical indications. But when asked if they would do this for close relatives, few would agree. “This is not defensive medicine, but frightened medicine. With a sensational press, a growing number of lawsuits and doctors ready to testify for clients on any side, it’s a big problem.”

SINCE 1992, the number of lawsuits against doctors has multiplied by 13, said Prof. Shimon Pollack, a Rambam Medical Center immunologist with expertise in medio-legal issues. The amount of money granted patients by the courts has multiplied by 82 during that period. Between NIS 500 and 700 million in payments for medical malpractice are won by patients in an average year. “The Israel Medical Association says medicine is not an exact science; there can’t always be a positive result. Sometimes there are unintentional results, and they don’t always come from a doctor’s errors. Mistakes often can’t be prevented, said Pollack, who is chairman of the department of immunology at the Technion’s Rappaport Medical School. “At Rambam, I found that 40% of lawsuits against our doctors were unjustified. Of the latter, 70% were errors and only 30% were mistakes, in which the doctor did not do what he should have done according to accepted medical protocols.”

The growing number of malpractice suits forces doctors to adopt defensive medicine, he continued. Patients are sent for unnecessary tests and expensive scans, and more cesarean sections are performed to minimize the risk of lawsuits, Pollack said. Obstetrics cases worth NIS 200 million in damages each year comprise 35% of all negligence cases here. Israeli malpractice lawyers’ annual earnings reach a total of about NIS 150 million. All this comes at the expense of state health expenditure and the Health Ministry’s official basket of health services, the contents of which do not keep up with available technologies.

Pollack urged unraveling “the Gordian knot between proof of a doctor’s responsibility for harm and compensation to the patient who was hurt. As in Scandinavia, no-fault insurance would minimize lawyers’ fees and speed up the conclusion of cases. In two US states, limits set on payments for negligence and errors reduced the number and size of lawsuits. Our Treasury claims that no-fault insurance would cause the health system to collapse, but experience abroad shows that it actually lower costs,” Pollack insisted.

Newspaper ads placed by lawyers offering “free consultations” to patients who believe they have been harmed have encouraged needless lawsuits that are later thrown out by the courts, said Prof. Moshe Feigin, head of obstetrics/gynecology and the genetic institute in Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba. There are also some physicians who spend 100% of their time serving as “expert witnesses” in lawsuits even though they are not necessarily qualified. “In the US, for example, there are strict criteria for who can serve as witnesses in medical cases,” said Feigin.

The constant pressure of potential lawsuits “encourages doctors to avoid difficult cases. Some obstetricians have even stopped delivering babies because of the fear of litigation,” said the Meir physician. “In obstetrics, the gap between success and failure is very small. A case can move from low to high risk in just a few minutes, and compensation payments for death or harm to a baby are high. But the situation has produced some benefits, including more protocols for treating diseases, hospital position papers and improved terminology in describing cases, he explained.

Turning to the subject of ethics in genetics, Dr. Vardiella Meiner – head of Hadassah-Ein Kerem’s clinical genetics center, said the field has developed so much that it is referred to as “Gen- Ethics.” The mapping of the human genome gave a great boost to genetics but also introduced problems such as the use of stem cells, diagnosing incurable diseases that could appear decades later (like Huntington’s), conducting genetic research and intellectual property. “There are diagnostic, predictive and carrier tests,” she said. “If there is Alzheimer’s in a family, should my patient and his children be tested for a gene? There may be a wife who wants to know before pregnancy if she will pass a Huntingon’s gene to a future child and the husband doesn’t want to know.”

Commercial firms now offer individual genome mapping, said Meiner. She urged more public debate of Gen-Ethics issues, and recommended keeping genes in perspective, as environmental influences are still very important in the development of disease.

Originally published by JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH.

(c) 2008 The Jerusalem Post. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 12 /PRNewswire/ — INETICO, Inc. announced today that its INETICARE Care Management program has been awarded Health Utilization Management Accreditation from URAC, a Washington, DC-based health care accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry. By receiving the Health Utilization Management Accreditation, INETICO, Inc. is recognized as an organization that utilizes only appropriately trained and qualified clinical personnel to conduct and oversee the utilization review process, that has a reasonable and timely appeals process in place, and that medical decisions are based on valid clinical criteria.

“Receiving accreditation from URAC for Health Utilization Management fits completely with INETICO’s goals to exceed the requirements and expectations of our clients through quantifiable standards,” said Joseph C-W Hodges, INETICO President and CEO. “This is one of the many steps INETICO is taking to demonstrate commitment to results-oriented care and claims products and services.”

Margaret Weingart RN, Executive Director of INETICARE, said, “Our mission is and will always be to ensure the provision of the most appropriate, highest quality, and most cost effective health care in an effort to protect the client and the plan participants, creating a healthier, more productive workforce. URAC certification is just one of the ways that we demonstrate our commitment to this ideal.”

“By applying for and receiving Health Utilization Management Accreditation, INETICO, Inc. has demonstrated a commitment to quality health care,” said Alan P. Spielman, URAC president and CEO. “Quality health care is crucial to our nation’s welfare and it is important to have organizations that are willing to measure themselves against national standards.”

URAC, an independent, nonprofit organization, is a leader in promoting health care quality through accreditation and certification programs. URAC’s standards keep pace with the rapid changes in the health care system, and provide a mark of distinction for health care organizations to demonstrate their commitment to quality and accountability. Through its broad-based governance structure and an inclusive standards development process, URAC ensures that all stakeholders are represented in setting meaningful standards for the health care industry. For more information, visit http://www.urac.org/ .

INETICO, Inc. provides healthcare cost containment services to TPA’s, Self-funded Plans, and Commercial/Insurance Plans across the United States and throughout the Caribbean. By establishing clinical benchmark standards for each client, INETICO has taken a bold leadership step to ensure quantifiable results in PPO Network Administration, Out of Network Negotiations, Utilization, Case, Disease and Maternity Management. For more information, visit INETICO, Inc. at http://www.inetico.com/

For more information contact Tim Guzinski, INETICO, Inc. Business Development, (813) 258-2200 ext. 204 or visit http://www.inetico.com/ .

INETICO, Inc.

CONTACT: Tim Guzinski, INETICO, Inc. Business Development,+1-813-258-2200 ext. 204

Web site: http://www.inetico.com/http://www.urac.org/

CytRx Corporation (Nasdaq:CYTR), a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development and commercialization of therapeutics based on molecular chaperone amplification, today reported financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2008 and other second quarter developments.

“During the second quarter, we announced the signing of a definitive agreement to purchase Innovive Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,” said Steven A. Kriegsman, CytRx President and CEO. “The acquisition is a compelling strategic fit for CytRx. The combined business will provide us with the opportunity for near-term revenue while maintaining our longer-term emphasis on our molecular chaperone technology. We look forward to completing the acquisition in the third quarter of 2008.”

Steven Kriegsman continued, “The drug candidate tamibarotene is a key asset in the Innovive portfolio. It is currently in a pivotal Phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy for the treatment of relapsed or refractory APL, a type of leukemia. Based on successful development of tamibarotene, a New Drug Application (NDA) could be filed as early as 2010. Also, tamibarotene may become a treatment for other hematologic cancers and solid tumors.

“In 2008, we have continued to advance our molecular chaperone amplification compounds, including iroxanadine for diabetic foot ulcers,” said Steven Kriegsman. “In June, we reported that diabetic mice treated with iroxanadine healed nearly two times faster than untreated diabetic mice. These data suggest that iroxanadine may treat the underlying condition associated with diabetic foot ulcers by promoting wound healing through a molecular chaperone pathway. Our goal is to advance iroxanadine into a Phase 2 clinical trial in the first quarter of 2009.

“Earlier in 2008, we successfully completed the partial spinoff of RXi Pharmaceuticals which began trading on Nasdaq as RXII,” stated Steven Kriegsman. “With the spinoff completed, we are focused on enhancing shareholder value through the planned integration of the Innovive oncology products into our pipeline and through the discovery and development of novel compounds produced at our San Diego laboratory using our molecular chaperone amplification platform.”

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL RESULTS

CytRx reported a net loss for the three months ended June 30, 2008, of $5.8 million, or $0.06 per share, based on 90.8 million weighted average shares outstanding, compared with a net loss for the three months ended June 30, 2007, of $6.3 million, or $0.07 per share, based on 85.4 million shares outstanding. The increase in weighted average shares outstanding resulted primarily from the issuance of shares of common stock upon the exercise of stock options and warrants.

Revenue for the second quarter of 2008 was $1.7 million, compared with the second quarter of 2007 revenue of $2.4 million, and consisted primarily of service revenue recognized from CytRx’s 2006 royalty transaction with the ALS Charitable Remainder Trust, or ALSCRT. CytRx will continue to recognize the balance of the deferred revenue recorded from the royalty transaction with the ALSCRT on a dollar-for-dollar basis for ALS-related research expenses incurred.

Research and development (R&D) expenses were $2.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2008, compared with $6.9 million for the comparable period in 2007. R&D expenses incurred during the second quarter of 2008 related primarily to (i) the Company’s Phase 2b clinical trial for arimoclomol in ALS, which currently is on clinical hold by the FDA, (ii) the molecular chaperone amplification research and development conducted at the Company’s San Diego laboratory, and (iii) the ongoing development and manufacturing of iroxanadine in preparation for its Phase 2 clinical trial.

General and administrative (G&A) expenses were $3.2 million for the second quarter of 2008, compared with $4.1 million for the same period in the prior year. The decrease in G&A expenses in 2008 resulted primarily from a reduction of approximately $700,000 in RXi expenses and approximately $490,000 in professional fees which largely related to the partial spinoff of RXi.

Cash and cash equivalents totaled $36.4 million as of June 30, 2008, compared to $43.5 million as of March 31, 2008. CytRx’s 45% ownership stake in RXi at June 30, 2008, had a market value of approximately $50.2 million.

2008 SECOND QUARTER AND RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

Proposed Acquisition of Innovive Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

On June 9, 2008, CytRx announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Innovive Pharmaceuticals. Included in the to-be-acquired pipeline are North American and European rights to tamibarotene, a drug currently being sold in Japan for the treatment of relapsed or refractory APL. Tamibarotene is presently in a pivotal Phase 2 clinical trial at sites in the United States and Europe for the treatment of APL. The Innovive pipeline also includes three additional oncology drug candidates, INNO-406, INNO-206 and INNO-305, for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia, small cell lung cancer, and acute myelogenous leukemia, respectively.

The combined company will have an attractive and expanded portfolio of clinical development programs in oncology, diabetic foot ulcers, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease) and stroke recovery. CytRx anticipates that the acquisition will accelerate the time to its first potential NDA filing to 2010.

On Monday, August 11, 2008, CytRx announced that the registration statement relating to the Innovive transaction was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 9, 2008. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2008, subject to approval by Innovive stockholders at the special meeting of Innovive stockholders scheduled for September 19, 2008, and other customary closing conditions.

Molecular Chaperone Development

CytRx remains focused on advancing the development of arimoclomol, an oral drug candidate based on molecular chaperone technology in development for ALS and stroke recovery. In June, CytRx announced its plans to conduct additional preclinical toxicology studies of arimoclomol, which are expected to take up to one year to complete. Based on telephone discussions with the FDA and having received a formal determination letter from them regarding its clinical hold on arimoclomol for ALS, CytRx anticipates that the planned Phase 2b clinical trial of arimoclomol will require completion of this additional preclinical work. In addition, CytRx anticipates that the time frame for initiating the previously planned Phase 2 clinical trial of arimoclomol in stroke recovery will depend on the results of the new preclinical toxicology studies.

CytRx is expected to begin Phase 2 testing of iroxanadine for diabetic foot ulcers in the first quarter of 2009, subject to FDA clearance. During the second quarter of 2008, CytRx’s Senior Vice President of Research and Development Shi Chung Ng, Ph.D., presented data for iroxanadine at the Third Congress of the World Union of Wound Healing Societies held in Toronto, Canada, reporting that diabetic mice treated with iroxanadine healed from diabetic wounds nearly two times faster than untreated diabetic mice. These results suggest that iroxanadine promotes healing by normalizing endothelial dysfunction through the molecular chaperone amplification pathway.

Furthermore, scientists at the Company’s laboratory have identified possible next-generation chaperone-amplifying compounds. In the field of oncology, CytRx has adapted its proprietary chaperone screening assay to identify inhibitors (rather than amplifiers) of chaperone activity. Because certain chaperones appear to be essential for cancer cell survival, CytRx’s internal molecular chaperone-inhibiting drug candidates may form the basis of future oncology products.

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (RXi)

In March 2008, CytRx completed its partial spin out of RXi by awarding a dividend of RXi common shares to holders of CytRx common stock as of March 6, 2008. At the same time, RXi common stock commenced trading on Nasdaq under the symbol RXII. CytRx continues to hold approximately 45% of RXi’s outstanding common stock.

CytRx management presented at the following conferences during the second quarter:

— GTCbio’s Third Assay Development & Screening Technologies Conference

— “Risk-Reduced Models for the Biotech Industry” Panel at BIO 2008 International Convention

— Jefferies 2nd Annual Healthcare Conference

— Third Congress of the World Union of Wound Healing Societies

  CYTRX CORPORATION CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS  June 30,       December 31, 2008             2007 --------------   -------------- (Unaudited) ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents           $  36,382,744    $  50,498,261 Short-term investments, at amortized cost                                --        9,951,548 Accounts receivable                        29,332          101,217 Loan receivable, net of reserve         1,600,000               -- Prepaid expense and other current assets                                 1,232,891          930,596 --------------   -------------- Total current assets                39,244,967       61,481,622  Equipment and furnishings, net             1,703,607        1,573,290 Molecular library, net                       148,639          193,946 Investment in unconsolidated subsidiary (see Note 9)                   1,344,373               -- Goodwill                                     183,780          183,780 Other assets                                 238,387          713,398 --------------   -------------- Total assets                     $  42,863,753    $  64,146,036 ==============   ==============  LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable                    $     520,363    $   1,946,215 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities                            2,262,637        3,700,866 Income taxes payable                      342,000               -- Deferred revenue, current portion       6,228,035        8,399,167 --------------   -------------- Total current liabilities            9,353,035       14,046,248 Deferred revenue, non-current portion      5,417,062        7,167,381 --------------   -------------- Total liabilities                   14,770,097       21,213,629 --------------   --------------  Minority interest                                 --        2,708,368 --------------   --------------  Commitments and Contingencies  Stockholders' equity: Preferred Stock, $.01 par value, 5,000,000 shares authorized, including 15,000 shares of Series A Junior Participating Preferred Stock; no shares issued and outstanding                                   --               -- Common stock, $.001 par value, 150,000,000 shares authorized; 91,404,269 and 90,397,867 shares issued at June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007, respectively           91,404           90,398 Additional paid-in capital            206,617,383      203,905,691 Treasury stock, at cost (633,816 shares held at June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007, respectively)      (2,279,238)      (2,279,238) Accumulated deficit                  (176,335,893)    (161,492,812) --------------   -------------- Total stockholders' equity          28,093,656       40,224,039 --------------   -------------- Total liabilities and stockholders' equity            $  42,863,753    $  64,146,036 ==============   ==============  

 CYTRX CORPORATION CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited)  Three Months Ended June 30, --------------------------- 2008           2007 ------------   ------------ Revenue: Service revenue                         $ 1,740,362    $ 2,369,513 Grant revenue                                    --             -- ------------   ------------ 1,740,362      2,369,513 ------------   ------------ Expenses: Research and development                  2,525,659      6,884,296 General and administrative                3,192,082      4,106,597 ------------   ------------ 5,717,741     10,990,893 ------------   ------------ Loss before other income                    (3,977,379)    (8,621,380) Other income: Interest income                             284,304        659,062 Other income, net                             1,000      1,501,000 Equity in loss of unconsolidated subsidiary                              (2,133,956)            -- Minority interest in losses of subsidiary                                      --        176,136 ------------   ------------ Net loss before income taxes                (5,826,031)    (6,285,182) Provision for income taxes                       --             -- ------------   ------------ Net loss                                    (5,826,031)    (6,285,182) Deemed dividend for anti-dilution adjustment made to stock warrants                  --             -- ------------   ------------ Net loss applicable to common stockholders $(5,826,031)   $(6,285,182) ============   ============  Basic and diluted loss per share           $     (0.06)   $     (0.07) ============   ============  Weighted average shares outstanding         90,768,145     85,379,769 ============   ============  

About Molecular Chaperone Amplification

CytRx is a leader in molecular chaperone amplification technology. The Company currently has three orally administered, clinical-stage small-molecule programs and recently discovered a series of additional compounds that provide pipeline leads for additional drug candidates. The Company’s drug candidates are believed to function by stimulating a normal cellular protein repair pathway through the activation of “molecular chaperones.” Since damaged proteins are thought to play a role in many diseases, CytRx believes that activation of molecular chaperones that help to reduce the accumulation of mis-folded proteins may have therapeutic efficacy in a broad range of disease states.

About CytRx Corporation

CytRx Corporation is a biopharmaceutical research and development company engaged in the development of high-value human therapeutics. The Company owns three clinical-stage compounds based on its small-molecule molecular chaperone amplification technology. CytRx has a research and development facility in San Diego. CytRx currently owns a 45% equity interest in RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ:RXII). For more information on the Company, visit www.cytrx.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the events or results described in the forward-looking statements, including risks or uncertainties related to CytRx’s business, including those related to the outcome or results of the additional pre-clinical testing of arimoclomol and any future clinical testing of arimoclomol for ALS and stroke recovery and of iroxanadine for diabetic foot ulcers, uncertainties related to the impact of the FDA’s clinical hold on the Company’s arimoclomol clinical trial for ALS on the timing and ability to resume clinical testing at the desired dosage of arimoclomol, and the impact of that clinical hold on the timing and ability to initiate the planned Phase 2 clinical trial of arimoclomol for stroke recovery, the risk that any requirements imposed on the Company’s planned clinical trial designs for ALS or stroke recovery by the FDA as a result of the concerns expressed in their clinical hold of the Company’s ALS program might adversely affect the Company’s ability to demonstrate that arimoclomol is efficacious in treating ALS or stroke patients or cause the Company to cancel one or both of those trials, the potential need to conduct additional toxicology or human studies with arimoclomol or iroxanadine, which could result in substantial additional expenses and delay the initiation or resumption, as applicable, of the Company’s planned clinical trials, uncertainties related to the outcome or results of any future identification, development or testing of product candidates based on new molecular chaperone amplification compounds, including their safety and efficacy, and CytRx’s need for additional capital to fund its ongoing working capital needs. The statements in this press release also are subject to risks and uncertainties related to the proposed acquisition of Innovive Pharmaceuticals, Inc., including those related to CytRx’s ability to achieve one or more of its objectives in undertaking the acquisition, the risk that secured loan amounts advanced by CytRx to Innovive cannot be repaid by Innovive if the acquisition is not completed, the risk that the added costs of CytRx’s planned additional clinical trials of arimoclomol for the treatment of ALS and funding of Innovive’s operating losses before and after the acquisition will be greater than CytRx anticipates and adversely affect CytRx’s liquidity and require CytRx to obtain additional equity financing sooner than expected, and risks relating to clinical development of the Innovive product candidates if the acquisition is completed, as well as other risks and uncertainties described in CytRx’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 and other recently filed SEC documents, such as its most recent annual report on Form 10-K. The business and operations of RXi, as well as CytRx’s ownership of RXi shares, also are subject to risks and uncertainties, including those set forth in RXi’s filings with the SEC. All forward-looking statements are based upon information available to CytRx on the date the statements are first published. CytRx undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

In connection with the proposed Innovive acquisition, CytRx has filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-4, which includes a prospectus/proxy statement of CytRx and Innovive relating to the merger. INVESTORS AND STOCKHOLDERS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO READ THE PROSPECTUS/PROXY STATEMENT, BECAUSE IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors and stockholders may obtain a free copy of the prospectus/proxy statement and other documents filed by us and Innovive at the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. No offering of securities will be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

This communication is not a solicitation of a proxy from any stockholder of Innovive. However, CytRx, Innovive and their respective officers and directors may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from Innovive stockholders in connection with the proposed Innovive acquisition. Information about the officers and directors of CytRx and their ownership of CytRx common stock is set forth in the proxy statement for CytRx’s 2008 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on May 23, 2008. Information about the officers and directors of Innovive and their ownership of Innovive common stock is set forth in Innovive’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, which was filed with the SEC on March 31, 2008 and amended on April 29, 2008. Investors and stockholders may obtain additional information regarding the direct and indirect interests of CytRx, Innovive and their respective officers and directors in the proposed acquisition by reading the prospectus/proxy statement referred to above.

Draeger Medical, Inc. today announced initial installations of its new Infinity(R) M300 patient-worn monitor. The new Infinity M300 system provides the performance of a full-size patient monitor, packaged in a compact patient-worn telemetry device for adult and pediatric patients. This new design supports hospitals in their initiatives to mobilize patients as early as possible to accelerate the healing process and provide a consistent level of monitoring care while mobile.

The first U.S. installation of the Infinity M300 is at Avera Heart Hospital of South Dakota, the region’s only hospital dedicated solely to the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. The M300 is also installed at Asklepios Stadtklinik in Bad Wildungen, Germany, part of The Asklepios Group, one of the largest hospital groups in Germany and owner of Pacific Health Corporation of Tustin, Calif. (six hospitals). The M300 is also installed at St. Vinzenz Hospital in Cologne, Germany.

In addition to monitoring ECG and SpO2, the device has built-in algorithms to enhance ECG processing and reduce false alarms – such as pacer detection software and ACE(R) (Arrhythmia Classification Expert), an arrhythmia analysis tool.

Infinity M300 addresses the three major challenges of telemetry monitoring:

— Viewing patient information at the patient’s side. Unlike traditional telemetry products that have no screens, Infinity M300 has a color display that shows the patient’s ECG for all monitored leads, heart rate, SpO2 and electrode status. This enables clinical staff to access monitored data and react promptly without having to go to the central monitoring station. It also shows patient demographics to help confirm the patient’s identification before giving medication, taking blood samples or performing treatments.

— Hearing and responding to alarms. Infinity M300 has built-in alarming and alarm controls, which provide alarm alerts both at the patient’s side and the Infinity CentralStation, Draeger’s central monitoring workstation. The color display helps the clinician assess alarms and respond accordingly.

— Eliminating the cost and effort associated with disposable batteries. Infinity M300 has a built-in battery, which can be recharged via a bedside charger while the patient is wearing the device, or at a multi-device charger at the central monitoring station.

Based on industry-standard 802.11b technology, Infinity M300 provides continuous standalone monitoring – even if the patient inadvertently moves out of the hospital’s wireless network coverage area. Bidirectional communication between Infinity M300 and Draeger’s Infinity CentralStation facilitates wireless data exchange and signal integrity. Working together, the Infinity CentralStation and Infinity M300 enhance patient care management by providing fast data access, rapid assessment, decision support and clinical reporting.

“Infinity M300 represents a major innovation in telemetry monitoring. We’re very excited about the system’s potential to help address the challenges of today’s busy ambulatory environments,” said Dina LaTulippe, Director of Product Management, Central Monitoring Solutions at Monitoring, Systems & IT, Andover, Mass. “Because Infinity M300 has a built-in display and alarms, it enables the clinical staff to be alerted to patient conditions without having to use additional devices.”

“When Infinity M300 is used with Draeger’s Infinity OneNet shared network infrastructure solution, hospitals can use their existing industry-standard 802.11b access points for both telemetry and patient monitoring. This can save the expense of requiring a separate wireless network for telemetry systems,” added Arno Wolters, President and CEO of Draeger Medical in North America.

About Draeger

Founded in 1889, Draegerwerk AG & Co. KGaA is an international leader in the fields of medical and safety technology. Draeger products protect, support and save human life. In 2007, the Group achieved sales of EUR 1,819.5 million worldwide and an EBIT of EUR 151.9 million. Today, Draeger employs around 10,000 people in more than 70 subsidiaries worldwide and has representation in around 190 countries. The Draeger Medical subsidiary offers products, services and integrated system solutions which accompany the patient throughout the care process – Emergency Care, Perioperative Care, Critical Care or Perinatal care and Home Mechanical Ventilation. For more information, visit www.draeger.com.

VANCOUVER, Aug. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , a global specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company, today announced that it has received CE Mark approval to begin marketing the HemoStream(TM) Chronic Dialysis Catheter in Europe.

This CE Mark approval follows Angiotech’s announcement in August 2007 that it had received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Association (FDA) to begin marketing HemoStream in the United States. In April of the same year, Angiotech entered into an agreement with Rex Medical, LP that granted Angiotech an exclusive license to market and distribute HemoStream worldwide.

“This CE Mark approval is another example of the international acceptance of Angiotech’s technologies. With Rex Medical as our worldwide licensing partner, we look forward to expanding HemoStream’s availability in Europe as well as in the United States,” said Dr. William Hunter, President and CEO of Angiotech.

About the HemoStream Chronic Dialysis Catheter

Incidences of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) requiring dialysis are a rapidly growing challenge in healthcare worldwide. When kidneys fail, function of the kidneys can be partially replaced using a process called hemodialysis. This process involves drawing blood out of the body, filtering it through a large machine and then returning filtered blood back to the body. Chronic dialysis catheters, such as HemoStream, are used as long-term vascular access for hemodialysis. HemoStream may also be used as a temporary access while more permanent options mature or become ready for use, such as surgically created AV fistulas.

About Rex Medical, LP

Rex Medical, LP, based in Conshohocken, PA, is a privately held medical device company specializing in developing, manufacturing and marketing of minimally invasive medical devices targeted towards the cardiovascular, venous access, endosurgery and oncology markets.

About Angiotech

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a global specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company with over 1,500 dedicated employees. Angiotech discovers, develops and markets innovative treatment solutions for diseases or complications associated with medical device implants, surgical interventions and acute injury. To find out more about Angiotech , please visit http://www.angiotech.com/.

Note on Forward Looking Statements:

Statements contained in this press release that are not based on historical fact, including without limitation statements containing the words “believes,””may,””plans,””will,””estimate,””continue,””anticipates,””intends,””expects” and similar expressions, constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and constitute “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All such statements are made pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of applicable securities legislation. Forward looking statements may involve, but are not limited to, comments with respect to our objectives and priorities for the second half of 2008 and beyond, and our strategies or future actions, our targets, expectations for our financial condition and the results of, or outlook for, our operations, research development and product and drug development. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Many such risks, uncertainties and other factors are taken into account as part of our assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements and include, among others, the following: general economic and business conditions, both nationally and in the regions in which we operate; market demand; technological changes that could impact our existing products or our ability to develop and commercialize future products; competition; existing governmental regulations and changes in, or the failure to comply with, governmental regulations; adverse results or unexpected delays in pre-clinical and clinical product development processes; adverse findings related to the safety and/or efficacy of our products or products sold by our partners; decisions, and the timing of decisions, made by health regulatory agencies regarding approval of our technology and products; the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research and development, to expand manufacturing and commercialization activities or consummate acquisitions; and any other factors that may affect performance. In addition, our business is subject to certain operating risks that may cause the actual results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release to differ materially from our actual results. These operating risks include: our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; our ability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical development of our products; changes in business strategy or development plans; our failure to obtain patent protection for discoveries; loss of patent protection resulting from third party challenges to our patents; commercialization limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; our ability to obtain rights to technology from licensors; liability for patent claims and other claims asserted against us; our ability to obtain and enforce timely patent and other intellectual property protection for our technology and products; the ability to enter into, and to maintain, corporate alliances relating to the development and commercialization of our technology and products; market acceptance of our technology and products; our ability to successfully manufacture, market and sell our products; the continued availability of capital to finance our activities; our ability to continue to service our debt obligations; and any other factors referenced in our annual information form and other filings with the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities or the Securities and Exchange Commission. Given these uncertainties, assumptions and risk factors, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward looking statements. Except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward looking statements contained in this press release to reflect future results, events or developments.

HemoStream(TM) is a trademark of Rex Medical, LP, used under license by Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

CONTACT: Sage Baker, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications,Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (604) 221-6933, [email protected]

Text of report in English by Pristina-based independent internet news agency KosovaLive

Malisheve [Malisevo], 11 Aug (KosovaLive) – The Italian Kfor [Kosovo Force] handed over today a donation with medicines worth 5,000 euros to the family healthcare centre in Kijeve [Kijevo] of Malisheve.

The donation was funded by the Italian Ministry of Defence, whereas it was handed over by the commander of the MSU of Kfor in Kosova, Andrea Guglielmi.

Following the handover of the donation, they talked about other needs of the family healthcare centre, whereas Guglielmi said that this is only the first step of their support, and that Kfor will monitor the distribution of these medicines before continuing with the second step of the support.

On the other hand, the Director of the municipal directorate for health, Skender Hoti, assured Guglielmi that the distribution will be according to the needs and everything will be transparent in order not to have doubts over possible misuses.

He thanked Guglielmi for the continuous support of Kfor and over their care towards the citizens of Malisheve, especially in the health sector.

Originally published by KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 11 Aug 08.

(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring European. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

RUNNERS age more slowly, researchers claimed yesterday.

Elderly joggers remained fit longer than non-runners and were half as likely to die early.

They were less likely to get age-related illnesses including heart disease and cancer.

Disabilites set in 16 years later for the joggers in the 20-year study of 440 people by the University of California.

The research began when the subjects were in their fifties.

Professor James Fries said: “If you had to pick one thing to make people healthier as they age, it would be aerobic exercise.”

(c) 2008 Daily Record; Glasgow (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

SurModics has announced that Merck & Co has decided to suspend enrollment of new patients in the Phase IIb study that is intended to evaluate the safety and efficacy of SurModics’s I-vation triamcinolone acetonide in patients with diabetic macular edema.

Merck has informed the company that, in light of results reported in a recently published study comparing laser treatment and intravitreal injections of triamcinolone acetonide in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME), it is re-evaluating the design of its Phase IIb clinical trial for I-vation triamcinolone acetonide (TA).

Pending this review, Merck is suspending enrollment of new patients in the Phase IIb clinical trial. The license and research collaboration agreement with Merck continues, and other ongoing development programs with Merck are unaffected.

The suspension of the clinical trial follows the publication of a study sponsored by the National Eye Institute suggesting a benefit for laser treatment over intravitreal injections of TA. According to SurModics, this recently published report does not discuss I-vation TA, nor did the study evaluate the safety or efficacy of sustained drug delivery systems.

Bruce Barclay, president and CEO of SurModics, said: “We believe the data from the Phase I and Phase IIb clinical trials generated to date provide support for the tolerability profile of I-vation TA, and more generally, that of the I-vation sustained delivery platform.”

By B S MANU RAO

Come Sunday, it will be a ray of hope for the needy patients at the government primary school at Kadugodi in Whitefield. Over 2,000 patients will converge on the school grounds where a medical camp is being organized by the alumni of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. It is a monthly event here for over 12 years. The camp has a team of doctors, a makeshift laboratory and a pharmacy . The treatment and medicines are distributed free of cost along with a mid-day meal.

“Inspired by Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s teachings, this initiative was the brainchild of two former students – Dr B Raghavendra Prasad and Swagath Routray – who came up with the idea while waiting for a bus in 1995. We wanted to do something that would make a difference to society, and they came up with this idea” , recalls N V Shankar, an alumni actively involved with the camp since its inception. “Pretty soon a handful of like-minded alumni who shared this passion came together to launch the camp” , he smiles.

In the beginning, some boys went around distributing medicines free of cost in villages, with a doctor in tow. Today, it is an institution that is a beacon of hope to thousands from as far away as 75 km. Many with conditions such as diabetes and asthma depend entirely on this camp for sustenance. For those who need constant medication, medicines are given to last until the next month’s camp.

These camps are equally popular for their competence. Many doctors who come here are well-known and patients too come here seeking quality health care. There is a significant number of patients coming from districts around the city just to seek treatment from these doctors . Some even arrive the previous night and wait.

There is more to these camps than the medical treatment. “It gives us immense satisfaction to see the solace and relief on the faces of these needy patients. It makes us happy to put into practice what we’ve learnt at college, and we feel a sense of redemption for the free education we got. It is a great way to spend a Sunday” , says Dr B Raghavendra Prasad.

“These camps save bread-winners . This in turn saves the families from poverty. This is the larger ramification of our camps, and India needs many more such initiatives” , says Dr Sarath Kumar, another alumni member .

“Over two lakh patients have been treated at these camps over the last 12 years. We were delighted to watch tears of agony change into tears of joy. It has inspired us to do more” , says another member D Anil Kumar.

Former students of the Sai educational institutions at Muddenahalli , near the city, and Alike, near Mangalore, too have joined the effort . The sustained efforts of the alumni have inspired the local youth to volunteer. “At the end of the day, we hope more groups take the lead and start such camps. There are millions out there who need it” , says Dr S T Nityananda.

(This is a weekly column initiatives by the government, private enterprises or organizations that have had a far-reaching effect on the under-privileged . Tell us about any such programme at toiblr.reporter@ timesgroup.com with ‘Sunshine Schemes’ in the subject line)

MEDICAL CAMP

Held every month at govt school in Kadugodi

Free treatment, medicines, mid-day meals

Over 2 lakh patients treated over last 12 years

Contact: www.sssu.edu.in; mail@saistudents .org

(c) 2008 The Times of India. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Oxygen Biotherapeutics, Inc. (OTCBB:OXBO) today announced that the company has developed a gel-like form of Oxycyte(R) that it intends to investigate as a topical application for open wounds, abrasions and burns. Oxycyte is the Company’s perfluorocarbon (PFC) therapeutic oxygen carrier.

The innovation is based on technologies in-licensed earlier this year from Virginia Commonwealth University. In combination with a hydrogen peroxide pouch, researchers believe the compound could have superior abilities to deliver a high concentration of oxygen directly to the wounded tissue. The combination of Oxycyte gel and H2O2 is believed to be the key to its possible efficacy. The company intends to submit to the FDA a protocol for a proposed clinical investigation before the end of the calendar year.

“Unlike the intravenous drug application of Oxycyte in traumatic brain injury, this would be a topical application, applied to the skin or to the surface of wounds. So we’re hopeful that the clinical review process would be as a medical device, which can be shorter and faster than review as a drug,” said company chairman and CEO Chris J. Stern, DBA. “If the safety/efficacy cycle is indeed shorter, as I believe it can be, then it suggests that substantive partnering models could be launched shortly after safety and efficacy are proven. Sales of ointments, dressings, bandages, etc are counted in the high billions of dollars each year. I think that every one of these products could prove to be a candidate to carry a form of Oxycyte.

“While I’m excited about this new potential use for Oxycyte, I know that the big question on our shareholders’ minds right now is the status of our Phase IIb protocol for Oxycyte in TBI. We’re not going to get into the details of our communications with the FDA. That would not be in the best interests of the company or the process. I’ll just say that positive communications are continuing and that when there is news, we’ll announce it,” said Stern.

About Oxygen Biotherapeutics, Inc.

Oxygen Biotherapeutics, Inc. is dedicated to commercializing innovative pharmaceuticals and medical devices in the field of oxygen therapeutics and continuous substrate monitoring. The Company has under development a perfluorocarbon therapeutic oxygen carrier and liquid ventilation product and an implantable glucose sensor. These products are based upon core technologies that include biomedical applications for PFCs and medical and industrial applications for biosensors. Each of the product candidates is designed with advantages over currently marketed products in major markets including acute respiratory distress syndrome, stroke, myocardial infarction, surgery, trauma, malignant tumors and diabetes. For further information, visit www.oxybiomed.com.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements by Oxygen Biotherapeutics, Inc. that involve risks and uncertainties and reflect the company’s judgment as of the date of this release. These statements include references to potential wound care applications of Oxycyte in treating open wounds, abrasions and burns and to expectations that the FDA will allow clinical trials and reviews to be conducted as a medical device rather than a drug. Forward-looking statements in this release also include those that suggest markets in which a wound care version of Oxycyte could be used and estimates of the cumulative size of those markets. Actual events or results may differ from the company’s expectations. There can be no assurance that the FDA will approve a protocol to conduct clinical trials for these applications, that it will allow testing and review as a medical device, and that if conducted, any clinical trials will be successful or that the FDA will approve use of Oxycyte in any formulation in the uses described in this release. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that if the FDA does approve such uses that the product will compete successfully or that sales at any meaningful levels will be reached. There can be no assurance also that the company will be able to reach or launch any partnering agreements to develop and/or market these applications of Oxycyte. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors affecting Oxygen Biotherapeutics, Inc.’s business can be found in the company’s public periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available via www.oxybiomed.com. Oxygen Biotherapeutics, Inc. disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements beyond the date of this release. This caution is made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Puppeteer Jack Foreacre will present a musical variety puppet show at 12:30 p.m. Thursday at the Pascal Senior Center, 125 Dorsey Road.

Center members are welcome to take their grandchildren to the show, which is reminiscent of “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Admission is free.

Center member Phyllis Miller will display her artwork in the center’s greenhouse during August. A reception to meet the artist will be held at noon Tuesday. Light refreshments will be served.

For more information, call the center at 410-222-6680.

Uniform exchange

The Monsignor Slade Catholic School Home School Association will sponsor a used uniform exchange from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the school, 120 Dorsey Road.

A selection of used uniforms in good condition for boys and girls will be available for a nominal cost.

The school store will be open from 9 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday and from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday for parents to purchase school supplies for students in kindergarten through eighth-grade. Most of the required school supplies must be purchased through the school store.

The Dennis Uniform Co. will be at the school from 2 to 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday for parents who need to purchase new uniforms for their children.

For more information, call the school office at 410-766-7130.

St. Paul’s Lutheran School

St. Paul’s Lutheran School, 308 Oak Manor Drive, has a limited number of openings for grades one through eight for the 2008-09 school year.

“St. Paul’s strives to provide an excellent education in a Christian environment,” said development director Joyce Heid.

For more information, call the school at 410-766-5790 or visit www.st paulslutheranschool.org.

School orientations

Corkran Middle School will offer two orientation sessions next week for incoming sixth-grade students at the school, 7600 Quarterfield Road.

Rising sixth-graders may register to attend a session at 1 p.m. Thursday or at 9:30 a.m. Friday. Students must sign up in advance.

For more information, call the school office at 410-222-6493.

Three elementary schools also will host orientations next week:

Hilltop Elementary School, 415 Melrose Ave., will hold an orientation program for all new students, including kindergartners, at 1 p.m. Tuesday. For details, call the school at 410-222-6409.

Glen Burnie Park Elementary School, 500 Marlboro Road, will offer an orientation program for new students from 1 to 2 p.m. Thursday.

For details, call the school at 410-222-6400.

Oakwood Elementary School, 330 Oak Manor Drive, will offer a new student orientation program at 9 a.m. Friday.

For details, call the school at 410-222-6420.

Parents’ night out

The North Arundel Aquatic Center, 7888 Crain Highway, will sponsor a parents’ night out program from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday.

Advance registration is required. Drop-off will begin at 5:15 p.m.

The cost is $12. Children should take a swimsuit and towel and wear comfortable clothing. The evening will include games, swimming and movies.

For more information, call the swim center at 410-222-0090.

VFD fundraiser

The Glen Burnie Volunteer Fire Department will benefit from a lunch and dinner fundraiser Wednesday atthe Cactus Willies restaurant, 7315 Ritchie Highway.

For proceeds to go to the fire department, participants must mention the group when they pay. The Glen Burnie Volunteer Fire Department will receive 15 percent of the sale.

For more information, call Steve Maceiko at 443-889-6363.

GBIA meeting

The Glen Burnie Improvement Association will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the association hall, 19 Crain Highway S.E.

The association is continuing its centennial celebration. One lucky member’s name will be drawn for a gift basket valued at over $150. The member must be present to win.

For more information, call the association at 410-766-6760 or visit www.GBIA.org.

Alarmers fundraiser

The Anne Arundel Alarmers will benefit from a lunch and dinner fundraiser Thursday at the Cactus Willies restaurant, 7315 Ritchie Highway.

For the Alarmers to receive 15 percent of the sale, participants must mention the group when they pay.

For more information, call Ben Barrell at 410-768-2311 or 410- 570-1296.

Holy Trinity Seniors

The Holy Trinity Seniors club will meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Holy Trinity Catholic Church hall, 7436 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd.

For more information, call the church at 410-766-5070 or Marie Doyle at 410-766-3522.

American Legion

The American Legion Post 40 and the its Ladies Auxiliary will meet at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the post hall, 500 Fifth Ave.

The auxiliary recently elected new officers for 2008-2009. They include Donna Alexander, president; Joan Kotowski, first vice president; Ann Sanford, secretary; Margie Hall, treasurer; Lynn Happel, chaplain; Liz Holden, membership; Dee Hall and Stacey Collins, color guards; and Darlene Collins, sergeant-at-arms. The executive committee is composed of Patty Napora, Thomasine McLucas and Pat Unroe.

The post offers bingo games every Monday night at the post hall.

Doors open at 6 p.m. for seating. Early bird games begin at 7 p.m. and are immediately followed by regular games of bingo.

Refreshments will be sold.

The Sons of the American Legion also recently elected new officers. J. R. Hall was elected commander. Other officers include Ron Knapp, first vice commander; Lenny Collins, second vice commander; Jonathon Alexander, chaplain; Dave Sprucebank, finance officer; Bill Drabic, historian; Stanley Hall, sergeant-at-arms; and Jimmy Alexander, adjutant.

For more information, call the post hall at 410-761-9869.

Fleet Reserve

The Fleet Reserve Association Branch 212 will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 160, 2597 Dorsey Road.

All active-duty, retired or honorably discharged Marines, Navy or Coast Guard members are welcome.

For more information, call Ron Anderson at 410-691-4919 or e- mail [email protected].

Coin club meeting

The South Glen Burnie Coin Club will meet at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 160, located at 2597 Dorsey Road.

The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for a preview of auction items. Coin dealers will set up exhibits. Participants may browse before the meeting begins. Meeting activities include a coin auction and a raffle. Door prizes will be awarded.

The meeting is open to the public. New members are welcome.

For more information, call Darrel King at 410-551-1625 or visit the club’s Web site at www.sgbcc.com.

Sing-along

John Norfolk will lead a sing-along at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Glen Square Senior Nutrition program site, 102 Crain Highway N.W.

All seniors are welcome to attend.

For more information, call Doris Payne at 410-222-6264.

Basket bingo

The Harundale Youth Sports League will sponsor a basket bingo from 2 to 5 p.m. tomorrow at the Severn American Legion Hall on Quarterfield Road.

The cost is $15 in advance, or $20 at the door.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the under-9 and under-13 county soccer teams sponsored by the league.

For more information, call 410-761-5902.

Baby-sitting training

The North Arundel Aquatic Center, 7888 Crain Highway, will offer the American Red Cross baby-sitting training course from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 16.

The program is designed for youth ages 11 to 17.

The cost of the course is $75. Advance registration is required.

Participants will learn skills to care for infants and school- aged children, including first aid, rescue breathing, managing young children, and feeding, diapering and caring for infants.

Participants should take a bag lunch.

For more information, call 410-222-0090.

Clubs and organizations in the 21061 ZIP code area can call Maryland Gazette correspondent Kathleen Shatt at 410-766-8547 for publication of their news. They can also fax information to her at 410-766-1520 or send e-mail to [email protected]. {Corrections:} {Status:}

(c) 2008 Maryland Gazette. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

By Kathy Kellogg

West Valley Demonstration Project employees and former employees have been comparing notes as they help each other obtain cash settlements under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990. What they have learned is unsettling.

Most of the 15 members of the organization, dubbed the West Valley Nuclear Compensation Group, who met Friday in Concord Town Hall for only the second time, have either been treated for cancer, have recently been diagnosed with it or have lost a spouse to the disease.

At the meeting, Judy Einach and Joanne Hameister, of the West Valley Coalition, explained that many have been waiting years for their claims to be processed but that more people should file claims. They said they have a long list of names of co-workers who have cancer and are directing the blame toward the Department of Energy and elected officials for not helping them obtain $150,000 in settlements and medical costs.

As of Tuesday, just 17 employees or their spouses had been paid a total of $2,454,314 — out of an eligible group of 142 claimants, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Members of the support group learned about the program through word of mouth, and one received an official letter notifying him of the chance to apply.

They want to find ill co-workers and those who may have moved away after being laid off from the project.

They said they will begin a campaign to receive help from elected officials. A staffer for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., has asked for specifics, names of claimants, reasons for denial and proof of exposure.

Lori Nason, whose job in a warehouse was eliminated recently, doesn’t have cancer but learned her dosimeter badge once registered exposure to radiation while she sat unaware in her office — just 50 feet from a carload of highly radioactive casks ready for shipment and disposal. She said she never saw a written report of the incident.

Nason joined the group to support founders Sue Klein, a widow of a warehouse worker who died in January of lung cancer at age 54, and Cheley Ghani, whose husband also worked in the warehouse and died at 48, just a week later. The three women said they know at least half of the roughly 16 warehouse workers who now have cancer or died from it.

Some members pointed to the region’s high incidence of thyroid disease, which they believe stems from the 1993-1997 period of documented releases of ionizing radiation during a process to solidify high-level liquid wastes.

Several claimants say the claim requirements can be tough: proof of 250 days of employment in the Department of Energy and over a 50 percent reasonable belief that their cancer can be traced to a radiation accident.

“I think I’m the only case with a doctor’s excuse,” said Robert Timmel, an operator who believes his rare, slowly progressing leukemia began in 2002, when he encountered airborne radiation while preparing to drain a large pool holding spent fuel rods.

The group’s next meeting will be at 6 p.m. Sept. 19 in Concord Town Hall, Springville.

Originally published by CATTARAUGUS CORRESPONDENT.

(c) 2008 Buffalo News. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

By Kristina Goetz

Memphis City Schools will bring in a former high-ranking U.S. Department of Agriculture official to oversee changes at the district’s Central Nutrition Center, which has been plagued by charges of waste and mismanagement.

The appointment of Shirley Watkins, who served as undersecretary of Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services at the USDA and previously directed nutrition services for the Memphis system, was announced late Friday by Supt. Kriner Cash in a written statement. She is expected to start work Aug. 18.

The superintendent also announced that as part of a “fresh start” process, all 18 administrative personnel with the CNC will have to reapply for their jobs.

“As superintendent, I will take a hands-on approach to the application review process as well as in the final selection of key leadership positions,” he said.

Watkins served as nutrition services director for the Memphis system for nearly two decades.

During her tenure, she made nutrition and healthy diets for city school children a priority and replaced soft drinks in school vending machines with fruit drinks.

In 1993, she was named to the federal post of deputy to the assistant secretary of food and consumer services and was promoted to undersecretary in 1997.

As undersecretary, Watkins was in charge of a $40 billion program overseeing food-stamp, commodities and school-lunch programs. During her tenure, which ended in 2001, the government strengthened nutrition rules for school-lunch programs and expanded after-school snack programs to include teenagers.

Watkins, who lives in Silver Spring, Md., could not be reached late Friday for comment.

The school district will begin a nationwide search Monday for a new director of the nutrition center, under public scrutiny since an audit released in December revealed more than $4 million in losses and violations of state and federal regulations.

Former nutrition services director James Jordan resigned last year amid allegations that his department made hundreds of improper purchases and allowed 243 tons of food to spoil.

Last week, the school district terminated retired FedEx vice president Karl Birkholz, brought in to clean up the nutrition center’s operations, after two days.

District officials said Birkholz, who was in charge of operations and control for the global shipping company for 20 years, was not a good fit for the operation.

“In recent weeks, it has become quite clear to me that I must immediately address the operational issues at the Central Nutrition Center,” Cash said. He said he wants citizens to know that the nutrition center is a priority for him and the entire district.

“I will not allow the concerns regarding this facility to continue,” he said.

– Kristina Goetz: 529-2380

Originally published by Kristina Goetz [email protected] .

(c) 2008 Commercial Appeal, The. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — KV Pharmaceutical Company today reported results for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 ended June 30, 2008.

         Fiscal 2009 First Quarter Financial Highlights (Unaudited)    USD in millions      Three months ended    Three months ended    Change                          June 30, 2008         June 30, 2007   Net Revenues              $148.9                $114.4           +30.2%   Net Income                 $12.5                  $6.2          +102.2%   Earnings per diluted     Class A share            $0.23                 $0.12           +91.7%   

Marc S. Hermelin, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “During the first quarter, KV delivered sharply improved profits and nearly $16.0 million in cash flow from operating activities. Performance was led by strong growth at ETHEX Corporation and continued competitiveness of our category-leading branded products at Ther-Rx. Both of these businesses are poised for further growth over the balance of fiscal 2009 helped by recent introductions like metoprolol succinate extended-release tablets and our branded transdermal spray Evamist(TM). The Company’s pipeline remains strong as well, with expectations of receiving one NDA approval and at least six ANDA approvals during the current fiscal year.”

   First Quarter Review    Revenues Increased 30% and Gross Profits Rose 39%  

Net revenues for the first quarter increased 30.2%, or $34.5 million, to $148.9 million, compared with $114.4 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2008. Gross profits increased 38.6%, or $28.9 million, to $103.6 million compared to $74.8 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2008. Revenue growth during the quarter was impacted by:

— The later-than-expected approval and launch of the 50 mg strength of generic metoprolol succinate extended-release tablets in May 2008; and

— A net sales gain of 52.6% over the prior year period at the Company’s ETHEX generic/non-branded marketing subsidiary, contributed to by sales of 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, and 200 mg strengths of metoprolol succinate extended-release tablets.

At the close of the first quarter of fiscal 2009, due to higher-than-expected demand from our customers for certain of our generic products, the Company had an unusually large volume of unshipped open orders for generic products, representing approximately $10 million of net revenues. Net revenues were also affected by a $5.9 million reduction related to the execution of a price increase on our generic potassium chloride capsules and the impact of the previously disclosed discontinuation of cough/cold products which generated revenue of $0.5 million in the current quarter compared with $9.3 million in the first quarter of last year.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses were $83.1 million, an increase of $17.0 million over the prior year period. The increases included $18.6 million of higher selling and administrative expenses, a $4.2 million increase in R&D spending and a $2.2 million increase in amortization expenses related primarily to the acquisition of Evamist(TM). These increases were partially offset by an $8.0 million reduction in purchased in-process R&D charges.

Selling and administrative expenses of $63.8 million were slightly higher than the $61.2 million spent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008. We expect a quarterly run rate of selling and administrative expenses of approximately $61 million during the rest of fiscal 2009, resulting in an approximate 18% increase on an annual basis over the prior fiscal year. The 41.1% increase in selling and administrative expenses for the first quarter compared to the year ago quarter reflected the following:

— $4.6 million related to one-time launch related marketing expenses for the initial launch and supply of the 25 mg and 50 mg strength of metoprolol succinate extended-release tablets;

— $1.5 million increase in expense associated with foreign currency transaction losses on investments denominated in the Indian Rupee;

— $3.8 million of launch-related marketing and promotion expenses related to Evamist(TM);

— $2.6 million increase in personnel costs due to increases in management, sales and other personnel, of which $1.4 million was related to the expansion for our branded sales force initiated in the third quarter of fiscal 2008;

— $1.8 million increase in branded marketing and promotions expense on our existing brands;

— $1.5 million increase in costs associated with redistribution fees paid to certain major wholesalers and chains for single point shipping services; and

— $1.2 million increase in expenses for consulting and other professional services.

Net Income

Net income for the quarter increased $6.3 million, or 102.2%, to $12.5 million, or $0.23 per diluted Class A common share, compared to $6.2 million or $0.12 per diluted Class A common share for the first quarter of fiscal 2008.

Financial Condition

The Company’s liquidity remains strong with cash and marketable securities of $135.1 million at the end of the quarter and $15.7 million of cash flow generated from operations in the first quarter. The Company also holds $79.9 million in auction-rate securities, which are currently illiquid and classified as long-term investments. The Company is encouraged by proposed and announced settlements reached with regulatory authorities by several banks that show signs that the liquidity problem with these types of securities is finally being addressed. Capital expenditures increased to $5.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2009 compared with $2.1 million reported in the first quarter of fiscal 2008.

Ther-Rx Corporation

Ther-Rx net revenues for the first quarter increased 1.7% to $50.9 million compared to $50.1 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2008. The Company anticipates accelerated revenue contribution during the second half of fiscal 2009 from the recent launch of Evamist(TM), as well as from the approval and launch of Gestiva(TM), expected late in calendar 2008. The first quarter increase in branded product sales was due primarily to continued sales growth of our anti-infective brand, Clindesse(R), coupled with increased sales from our hematinic product lines, offset in part by lower sales of Gynazole-1(R).

Evamist(TM)

Having received approval for Evamist(TM) from the FDA in July 2007, the Company has had a successful launch of this patented estradiol transdermal spray that offers a novel approach to the treatment of moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms due to menopause. Since the launch in April 2008, Evamist(TM) has continued to show increasing prescription trends and compares favorably to prior analogous product launches in this therapeutic class by other pharmaceutical companies. Based on recent weekly data, total Evamist(TM) prescriptions are trending toward more than 4,000 per month, double the total prescriptions of 2,000 per month during the initial launch period.

By its third month of launch, Evamist(TM) has become the second most prescribed product in the transdermal estrogen category in terms of new patient starts or switches from other brands. Based on IMS weekly ‘new-to-brand’ prescriptions (NBRx), Evamist(TM) has surpassed all other established branded transdermal patch and topical products with the exception of the leader in this segment, as Evamist(TM) continues to receive positive feedback from physicians and patients alike.

Dr. John Buster, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, is a well-known and respected researcher in the arena of hormone therapy and a prolific author on the topic. Dr. Buster’s Phase III Study for Evamist(TM) was published in the prestigious journal, Obstetrics & Gynecology, or “Green Journal” as it is commonly referred to by OB/GYNs, in June of 2008, and highlighted the importance of estrogen therapy available in Evamist(TM), featuring a convenient and innovative spray delivery system. Furthermore, Dr. Buster and his co-authors provided insight into why Evamist(TM) is an exciting option for women experiencing moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause, particularly with regard to focusing on the transdermal delivery of low-dose, plant-based estradiol. Moreover, Evamist provides the flexibility of three approved dosing regimens (1, 2 or 3 sprays per day), allowing prescribers to tailor and individualize therapy at the lowest effective dose for each specific woman, consistent with recommendations set forth by the American College of Obstetricians (ACOG) and the North American Menopause Society (NAMS).

Evamist(TM) is a small, hand-held, simple-to-use transdermal spray that is designed to provide an easy and convenient means to deliver a preset dose of estradiol via the skin. The Evamist(TM) device is placed against the skin and an actuator button is pushed, releasing a light transdermal spray containing a proprietary estradiol-based formulation with a mean drying time of 67 seconds. The first and only estradiol transdermal spray, Evamist(TM) delivers a low dose of plant-based estradiol and provides convenient relief of moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms.

Evamist(TM) targets an annual $1.3 billion estrogen therapy market (source: IMS NSP Audit, January 2007-December 2007) where physicians and patients are seeking an effective, low-dose estrogen product. An unprecedented number of women may be experiencing vasomotor symptoms related to menopause: the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate that more than 37 million women in the United States are at or near the age of menopause and 45.5 million women are post-menopausal. About three-fourths of women transitioning into menopause will experience some degree of symptoms associated with menopause, with 40-60% of these women suffering from moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms.

The Company believes that Evamist(TM) will be a significant contributor to Ther-Rx net revenues during the second half of fiscal 2009.

See section below entitled “About Evamist(TM)”, and “About Estrogen Therapy” including Black Box information, for important safety information relating to the prescription and use of Evamist(TM).

Anti-Infective Products

Net sales of Clindesse(R) increased 9.5% to $5.0 million for the quarter, compared to $4.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2008 due to improved market share and the impact of price increases.

Clindesse(R), indicated for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis (BV) in non-pregnant women, continues to experience growing prescription trends in the anti-infective category. Currently, Clindesse(R) carries a 27.5% market share, compared to 26.3% from the first quarter of the previous fiscal year, higher than all other clindamycin-based intravaginal BV products combined.

Oral Iron Supplement Products

The $1.3 million, or 16.5%, increase in net sales of our hematinic products to $9.1 million for the quarter resulted primarily from sales volume growth of Repliva 21/7(R) coupled with price increases on our other hematinic products.

Repliva 21/7(R) continues to be the fastest growing product in the oral prescription iron supplements category. This product is uniquely formulated to provide efficient absorption with clinically proven results. The benefits of this product are driven by a proprietary formulation of elemental iron, two absorption promoters and a scientifically designed dosing regimen all designed to help promote maximum iron absorption.

Repliva 21/7(R) currently holds a 7.6% new prescription share, up from 5.9% in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year, representing the highest new prescription share of all branded oral iron products in the United States.

Advanced Prescription Nutritionals

Net revenues for all of the products that comprise Ther-Rx’s advanced prescription nutritional line were $27.5 million, comparable with the first quarter of fiscal 2008.

— Ther-Rx maintained its market leading position as the most prescribed prenatal vitamin franchise in the United States with a 43.9% share of the branded prescription prenatal market.

— Net sales from our advanced prescription nutritional product line were comparable with the prior year quarter. The year-over-year comparison of sales of this product line was negatively impacted by $3.0 million in lower volume due to larger-than-normal customer purchases made in the first quarter last year due to anticipated price increases.

— The PrimaCare(R) line of products maintained a 47.1% share of the Omega-3 (Essential Fatty Acid) segment of the branded prescription nutritional marketplace.

Gestiva(TM)

In January 2008, KV acquired an important asset that we anticipate will be added to the Ther-Rx women’s healthcare line of products. The Company entered into a definitive product purchase agreement in fiscal 2008 that gives KV full U.S. and worldwide rights to Gestiva(TM) (17a-hydroxyprogestorone caproate) upon FDA approval of the pending New Drug Application for this product. The pending NDA seeks approval of Gestiva(TM), which has been granted an Orphan Drug Designation by the FDA, for use in the prevention of preterm birth for women with a history of at least one spontaneous preterm delivery (i.e., less than 37 weeks) who are pregnant with a single fetus. A PDUFA date by which FDA is expected to make a decision on the Gestiva(TM) NDA is October 24, 2008. We believe that Gestiva(TM) will make a significant contribution to Ther-Rx revenues during the second half of fiscal 2009.

ETHEX Corporation — 53% Net Sales Growth Due to Metoprolol Succinate

ETHEX Corporation net sales of $92.3 million in the first quarter represented a 52.6% increase compared to the prior year first quarter of $60.5 million. Sales growth during the quarter was impacted by volume growth from the sale of all four strengths of metoprolol succinate extended-release tablets, which contributed $35.5 million in net revenues during the quarter, offset in part by the reduced level of sales from our discontinued cough/cold product line.

ETHEX’s cough/cold product line, except for one product, was discontinued earlier this calendar year following a shift in FDA policy on products containing guaifenesin. Our currently marketed generic cough/cold product generated net revenues of $0.5 million during the quarter, compared with sales of the entire cough/cold product line of $9.3 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2008.

ETHEX’s profitability remained strong for another quarter as measured by its gross profit margins of 60.5%, compared to gross margins of 56.0% in the first quarter of fiscal 2008.

The ETHEX pipeline remains strong. Last year we filed 16 ANDA’s and this year we expect to file another 16 ANDA’s. During this fiscal year, we expect six ANDA approvals, following five ANDA approvals received by KV in our preceding fiscal year. In addition, ETHEX believes it is the first to file for a number of Paragraph IV generic products with significant revenue contribution potential.

Outlook for the Year

The Company currently expects to report net revenue of between $650 million and $675 million and net income per diluted Class A share of between $1.65 and $1.75 for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009. Although KV historically has not issued revenue or earnings guidance, in light of potential competitive challenges related to certain of the Company’s products, as well as new product launches planned during fiscal 2009 and their potential impact on fiscal 2009 financial performance, we are providing guidance for the current fiscal year. It is not the Company’s expectation to further update this guidance during the course of the fiscal year or for future periods.

Subsequent Event

The Company was notified last week that the Audit Committee of its Board of Directors has recently commenced an independent inquiry into allegations made by sources not identified to management regarding alleged misconduct by management of the Company. Since 1995, the Company has had in place a Standard of Business Ethics Policy. As part of this policy, an employee is encouraged to report, independent of management and for any reason, any action an employee suspects to be contrary to this code of ethics. Management has not been advised as to the specifics of the allegations and is not in a position to make an informed determination as to whether the allegations have any merit. Management is not aware of and does not believe that there has been any misconduct that would have a material impact on the Company’s financial results. Management is cooperating fully with the Committee.

As a result of the inquiry, KPMG LLP, the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, has advised the Company that they will be unable to complete its SAS 100 review of the consolidated financial statements for the first quarter of fiscal 2009, prior to reviewing the results of the completed Audit Committee inquiry.

About Evamist(TM)

Evamist(TM), the first and only estradiol transdermal spray, delivers a low dose of plant-based estradiol and provides convenient relief of moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms, reducing both the frequency and severity of hot flashes. Evamist(TM) utilizes metered-dose technology to deliver a consistent and accurate dose of estradiol when sprayed on the inner forearm, drying in a median of 67 seconds. Patients should wait at least 2 minutes after applying Evamist(TM) before dressing.

About Estrogen Therapy

Estrogen therapy (“ET”) is the medical administration of estrogen to supplement the hormones, which the ovaries no longer produce, due to natural or surgical menopause. ET can provide relief from the unpleasant symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes. ET products are available in oral, transdermal patch, injectible and transdermal gel/lotion formulations.

Evamist(TM) is indicated for the treatment of moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms due to menopause.

WARNING-ENDOMETRIAL CANCER, CARDIOVASCULAR, AND OTHER RISKS

ENDOMETRIAL CANCER Adequate diagnostic measures, including endometrial sampling when indicated, should be undertaken to rule out malignancy in all cases of undiagnosed persistent or recurring abnormal vaginal bleeding.

CARDIOVASCULAR AND OTHER RISKS Estrogens with or without progestins should not be used for the prevention of cardiovascular disease or dementia. The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) estrogen-alone substudy reported increased risks of stroke and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in postmenopausal women (50 to 79 years of age) during 6.8 years and 7.1 years, respectively, of treatment with daily oral conjugated estrogens (CE 0.625 mg), relative to placebo. The estrogen plus progestin WHI substudy reported increased risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, invasive breast cancer, pulmonary emboli, and DVT in postmenopausal women (50 to 79 years of age) during 5.6 years of treatment with daily oral CE 0.625 mg combined with medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA 2.5 mg), relative to placebo. The Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS), a substudy of the WHI, reported increased risk of developing probable dementia in postmenopausal women 65 years of age or older during 5.2 years of treatment with daily CE 0.625 mg alone and during 4 years of treatment with daily CE 0.625 mg combined with MPA 2.5 mg, relative to placebo. It is unknown whether this finding applies to younger postmenopausal women. In the absence of comparable data, these risks should be assumed to be similar for other doses of CE and MPA and other combinations and dosage forms of estrogens and progestins. Because of these risks, estrogens with or without progestins should be prescribed at the lowest effective doses and for the shortest duration consistent with treatment goals and risks for the individual woman.

In a clinical trial with Evamist(TM), the most common side effects were headache, breast tenderness, nasopharyngitis, nipple pain, back pain, nausea, and arthralgia.

Evamist(TM) should not be used in women with undiagnosed abnormal genital bleeding; known, suspected, or history of breast cancer; known or suspected estrogen-dependent neoplasia; active deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, or history of these conditions; active or recent arterial thromboembolic disease; liver dysfunction or disease; or known or suspected pregnancy.

   Full prescribing information for Evamist is available at http://www.evamist.com/    About KV Pharmaceutical Company  

KV Pharmaceutical Company is a fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures, markets and acquires technology-distinguished branded and generic/non-branded prescription pharmaceutical products. The Company markets its technology-distinguished products through ETHEX Corporation, a national leader in pharmaceuticals that compete with branded products, and Ther-Rx Corporation, its branded drug subsidiary.

For further information about KV Pharmaceutical Company, please visit the Company’s corporate website at http://www.kvpharmaceutical.com/.

Safe Harbor

The information in this release may contain various forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“PSLRA”) and which may be based on or include assumptions concerning KV’s operations, future results and prospects. Such statements may be identified by the use of words like “plans”, “expect”, “aim”, “believe”, “projects”, “anticipates”, “commit”, “intend”, “estimate”, “will”, “should”, “could” and other expressions that indicate future events and trends.

All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including without limitation, statements about the Company’s strategy for growth, product development, product launches, regulatory approvals, market position, market share increases, acquisitions, revenues, expenditures and other financial results, and expectations and beliefs pertaining to the announced Audit Committee inquiry or any allegations of misconduct that are the subject of such inquiry, are forward-looking statements.

All forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to risk and uncertainties. In connection with the “safe harbor” provisions, KV provides the following cautionary statements identifying important economic, political and technology factors, which among others, could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those set forth or implied by the forward-looking statements and related assumptions.

Such factors include (but are not limited to) the following: (1) changes in the current and future business environment, including interest rates and capital and consumer spending; (2) the difficulty of predicting FDA approvals, including timing, and that any period of exclusivity may not be realized; (3) acceptance and demand for new pharmaceutical products; (4) the impact of competitive products and pricing, including as a result of so-called authorized-generic drugs; (5) new product development and launch, including the possibility that any product launch may be delayed or that product acceptance may be less than anticipated; (6) reliance on key strategic alliances; (7) the availability of raw materials and/or products manufactured for the Company under contract manufacturing arrangements with third parties; (8) the regulatory environment, including regulatory agency and judicial actions and changes in applicable law or regulations; (9) fluctuations in revenues; (10) the difficulty of predicting international regulatory approval, including timing; (11) the difficulty of predicting the pattern of inventory movements by the Company’s customers; (12) the impact of competitive response to the Company’s sales, marketing and strategic efforts, including the introduction or potential introduction of generic or competing products against products sold by the Company and its subsidiaries; (13) risks that the Company may not ultimately prevail in litigation, including challenges to our intellectual property right by actual or potential competitors or to our ability to market generic products due to brand company patents and challenges to other companies’ introduction or potential introduction of generic or competing products by third parties against products sold by the Company or its subsidiaries including without limitation the litigation and claims referred to in Note 16 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in the Company’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2008; (14) actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Internal Revenue Service with respect to the Company’s stock option grants and accounting practices; (15) the possibility that KV’s current estimates of the financial effect of certain previously announced product recalls could prove to be incorrect; (16) whether any product recalls results in litigation, agency action or material damages; (17) the possibility that the findings of the Audit Committee inquiry referenced in the Company’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, could have a material impact on the Company’s financial results; and (18) the risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

This discussion is by no means exhaustive, but is designed to highlight important factors that may impact the Company’s outlook. We are under no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

KV Pharmaceutical Company

CONTACT: Catherine M. Biffignani, Vice President, Investor Relations, KVPharmaceutical Company, +1-314-645-6600

Web site: http://www.kvpharmaceutical.com/http://www.evamist.com/

As part of its “mom-focused” summer promotion series, on Saturday, August 2nd Pure Aesthetics-Pure Wellness took part in an exclusive surprise baby shower for mom-to-be Lisa Marie Presley hosted by music sensation Pink. With the cat now out of the bag, the Bel Air “day spa go wellness center” reveals what was inside the highly sought after gift basket as well as favorite “mommy-centric” treatments offered at the facility.

“Expectant motherhood is an exciting thing, but it can also be very hectic and stressful,” remarked PA-PW Founder Anastasia Ayala. “What we put together for Ms. Presley was a combination of pre-natal vitamins and non-toxic, eco-friendly skincare products that would be safe for both she and her twins. Additionally, we invited her to visit us for a complimentary Pregnancy Massage, great for eliminating pre-birth stressors and toxins, as well as our popular Pure Pregnancy Facial customized to meet the specific needs of her skin.”

Other celeb moms that have recently indulged in PA-PW treatments include actress and mother of four, Holly Robinson Pete; actress Elisabeth Rohm, known best for her role on “Law & Order” as the spirited district attorney; and chart-topping recording artist Taylor Dane.

“What we do is take a well-rounded approach that offers moms-to-be and new mothers a chance to indulge while doing something that is good for them both inside and out.”

About Pure Aesthetics-Pure Wellness

Pure Aesthetics-Pure Wellness (www.pa-pw.com) is an integrative day spa offering skincare, anti-aging, and wellness services in a serene environment complete with a highly trained medical, nutrition, and aesthetic staff. Founded in 2007 by health and beauty industry veteran Anastasia Ayala, the company seeks to offer a variety of clientele personalized services in the area of holistic wellness. The approach combines the best skincare techniques and technologies with nutrition and health programs, offering customers an “inside-out” approach to beauty and wellness.

 Contact: Rebekah Iliff Smart Girls Consulting Phone 310-770-8338 Email: Email Contact

SOURCE: Pure Aesthetics-Pure Wellness

Quad/Graphics is a champion of value-based benefit design with reports that its subsidiary, QuadMed, has reduced healthcare costs to approximately $6,800 per employee – 30 percent less than the average similar-sized manufacturer in the Midwest. A member of The Center for Health Value Innovation (www.vbhealth.org), the nation’s premier organization dedicated to establishing value and producing evidence for sustainable health and financial improvement, Quad/Graphics is the largest privately held commercial printer in the world with 10,500 employees and $2B annual sales.

Starting with a small worksite health-care clinic at the Quad/Graphics’ plant in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, QuadMed took the ground-breaking approach of bringing nearly all primary healthcare services in-house – eliminating costly middlemen and burdensome paperwork. Today, QuadMed employs its own medical staff, operates its own laboratory, pharmacy, fitness and rehabilitation centers, and contracts with local hospitals for specialized and advanced care. Employees more actively participate in preventive healthcare and spend fewer days in the hospital.

“Our mission is to control corporate healthcare cost trends by providing a full range of employer-sponsored healthcare services, while enhancing employee healthcare quality through best practice guidelines and protocols,” states Raymond Zastrow, M.D., president of QuadMed and a Fellow of The Center. “Our proactive approach and focus on holistic, evidence-based care is reflected in our operating values.”

The results have been remarkable: in 2006, the total costs for participants fell below the benchmark by 32 percent. QuadMed’s cost for their Lean You! incentivized wellness program of 2005 totaled $240,900 compared to the cost avoidance estimate of $550,000 for early diagnosis of four cases of cancer.

An analysis of corporate healthcare data revealed that obesity was a primary driver of employee healthcare costs, with 82 percent higher Rx costs in the overweight/obese population at Quad/Graphics than in the “normal weight” population; 80 percent higher inpatient costs; and 78 percent higher outpatient costs. The value-based design solution called for Quad/Graphics to remove barriers to care and create incentives to this high-risk group of employees. This translated into eliminating co-pays for weight management expenses or diabetes management.

“These results have earned QuadMed national recognition as a model for other companies concerned with out-of-control healthcare cost trends,” adds Zastrow. “QuadMed now offers this employer-managed healthcare option to other companies nationwide.”

Quad/Graphics has now initiated this program across all its locations, helping to identify potential employee health risks before they occur and subsequently directing employees to an appropriate course of treatment. With decreased utilization of inappropriate services, such as rescue drugs and emergency room visits coupled with a reduction in disability and worker compensation days, QuadMed has reduced the cost trend for Quad/Graphics.

According to Cyndy Nayer, president and executive director of the Center, “The Quad/Graphics experience is another triumph for value-based design. Our members learn valuable lessons from one another and benefit from the ongoing, collegial association.”

About The Center for Health Value Innovation

Launched in 2007, The Center for Health Value Innovation is a not-for-profit (501c3) organization representing industry stakeholders committed to sharing the evidence that value-based health designs improve health status and reduce health cost inflation. Members include large and mid-size employers, health plans, integrated delivery systems, self-funded unions, municipal and state governments, medical management firms, pharmacy benefits management companies, vendor organizations and others which benefit from analytic tools, educational programs and collaborative connections to innovators in value-based health design. Visit www.vbhealth.org.

Quad/Graphics

Founded in 1971, Quad/Graphics is the largest privately held commercial printer in the world with 12,000 employees and $2 billion in annual sales. The company has ten printing facilities in the United States, as well as partnerships in Argentina, Brazil, and Poland. Quad/Graphics prints numerous magazines, including Milwaukee Magazine, Playboy, Newsweek, Time, and Sports Illustrated. Visit www.qg.com

Picis today announced agreements with six major health systems in the United States and Canada to replace their existing operating room (OR) and anesthesia information systems (AIS) with Picis’ solutions. These leading institutions consist of Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City, Enloe Medical Center and Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare of California, The Ottawa Hospital of Ontario, Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Mass., and University Health System, San Antonio, Tex.

“We believe that Picis continues to be the system of choice for hospitals that want to automate their entire perioperative suite,” said Todd Cozzens, CEO and vice chairman at Picis. “Today’s operating room is expected to be the most efficient and highest revenue producing department of the hospital, yet it is also where patient safety is at highest risk. The leading health systems cannot afford to compromise with systems that do just the basics. The environment today is too demanding, and that’s why more health providers choose Picis than any other system.”

Highlights include:

— Bellevue Hospital Center, New York

Bellevue Hospital Center (BHC), the largest city hospital in the United States and part of New York Health and Hospitals, one the largest integrated delivery networks on the East Coast consisting of more than 20 sites. BHC selected Picis to automate care across a patient’s perioperative experience from preoperative documentation to surgery and post anesthesia care unit (PACU)/recovery. The hospital plans to replace two legacy, disparate OR management and anesthesia systems (Drager Medical and Mediware Information Systems, Inc.) with Picis’ total perioperative automation capability. This agreement supports Picis’ already strong hold in the large academic hospital market in New York City, which already includes clients from prestigious medical centers such as New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital and Montefiore Health System. Bellevue Hospital Center plans to implement the complete Picis total perioperative automation suite including OR Manager, Anesthesia Manager, Preop Manager, PACU Manager, Quality Manager, SmarTrack(R), and Extelligence(R), all key components of the CareSuite family of high-acuity solutions.

— Enloe Medical Center, California

Enloe Medical Center, which serves more than 400,000 residents in a six-county region in Northern California, selected Picis Anesthesia Manager to automate its anesthesia care continuum and provide integration capabilities with its Medical Information Technology, Inc. (Meditech) clinical system.

— Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, California

Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital (SVMH), a 269-bed acute care hospital in California, is upgrading its existing Picis medSURG information system to coincide with the hospital information system upgrade to the Meditech client/server platform. In addition, SVMH has added anesthesia and PACU documentation automation with Picis to replace a legacy anesthesia product and provide seamless integration specifically between the OR nursing records and anesthesia, and also between anesthesia and PACU. This capitalizes on Picis’ proven interoperability with the Meditech information system for end-to-end clinical interoperability.

— The Ottawa Hospital, Ontario

The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) is one of the largest teaching hospitals in Canada and an existing Picis customer. TOH has extended its highly successful OR Manager implementation toward total perioperative automation, replacing disparate systems with Picis anesthesia information management and PACU modules to improve continuity of care.

— Tufts Medical Center

Tufts Medical Center, a 451-bed world-class academic medical center and the principal teaching hospital for Tufts University School of Medicine, has selected Picis as part of an initiative to improve the organizational capability of its operating rooms and to put tools in place to tighten operations. Surgery is a core part of the Tufts Medical Center business, and Picis OR Manager, SmarTrack and Extelligence are designed to help them optimize their business efficiency.

— University Health System, San Antonio

University Health System, (UHS), a multi-facility organization with 404 licensed beds, is one of the most prestigious healthcare systems in South Texas. UHS recently selected Picis Anesthesia Manager, Preop Manager and Extelligence modules for total perioperative automation. To help maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of this technology, UHS also plans to use Optimization Services, part of Picis’ Business Transformation Services, in which experienced consultants work closely with UHS staff to identify specific goals and focus their use of the technology to fully reach the automated system’s potential, while implementing “best practices.”

About Picis

Picis is a global provider of innovative information solutions that enable rapid and sustained delivery of clinical, financial and operational results in the acute care areas of the hospital. These high-acuity areas include the emergency department, operating and recovery rooms, and intensive care units. Picis offers the most advanced suite of integrated products focused on these life-critical areas of the hospital where the patients are the most vulnerable, the care process is the most complex and an increasing majority of hospital costs and potential revenue are concentrated. Headquartered in Wakefield, Massachusetts, Picis has licensed systems for use in more than 1,700 hospitals in 19 countries. More information is available at www.picis.com.

Picis, CareSuite, SmarTrack and Extelligence are registered trademarks of Picis, Inc. (C) 2008 Picis, Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the properties of their respective owners. This press release contains express or implied forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, Picis’ expectations concerning the functionality, expected performance and market acceptance of its products. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Picis’ control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements.

By Kate Foster

JUST over a year ago, her desperate plight sparked Scotland on Sunday’s organ donation campaign.

Gillian MacCormick’s life hung in the balance as she hoped for a life-saving liver transplant amid a nationwide shortage of organs.

But last week, after a wait of two years and five months, the dramatic phone call Gillian and her family had been waiting for finally came: a donor had been found.

And this weekend the mother-of-two is recovering at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary after undergoing her long-awaited transplant.

Last night, Gillian’s sister Carol Forsyth said the 40-year-old from Livingston, West Lothian, remained sedated following the operation. The procedure, which took place on Tuesday morning, went well, but over the following days she was taken back into the operating theatre for further minor surgery following bleeds from an artery.

Carol said: “When she got the call that a liver had been found Gillian was shocked, frightened and happy all at the same time. But this was the best thing for her and we are glad for her. There was no alternative for her and she understood that. When we got to the hospital she looked over the consent form, signed it and away she went.

“We are absolutely ecstatic that this has happened, but we are thinking about the donor’s family as well, who are not celebrating at this time. However, this was their wish and the fact that they have saved my sister’s life means that the donor’s death was not in vain.

“She knew that she had to get this operation or she would not be here is a few years. It is going to be a long road to recovery for our Gillian, but she will get there.”

She added: “Gillian has backed Scotland on Sunday’s campaign for presumed consent for organ donation and she will continue to do so because she feels so strongly about it.

“This operation shows there is hope for others on the waiting list. She had waited a long time.”

The last 12 months have been difficult for Gillian, a training adviser who once used to enjoy energetic day-long shopping expeditions to Edinburgh’s Princes Street, as well as for her husband John and their teenage son Jordan, 18, and daughter Harley, 15.

She suffered from the auto-immune disease primary biliary cirrhosis for a decade, which causes inflammation and scarring of the liver and had slowly caused her health to deteriorate with bouts of itching, pain, infections and exhaustion.

A liver transplant was her only hope for survival, but like thousands of others on the organ transplant waiting list, she knew she might die before a donor could be found.

As Gillian’s health got worse, she was unable to enjoy life as she once had, and she was generally unable to travel more than an hour’s drive from her home in case the call for a transplant came. She spent much of last year in hospital because of her illness.

In previous interviews with this newspaper she has revealed just how limited her life had become, spending all weekend resting in order to build up the energy for her week at work, staying at home while the rest of her family went out and missing out on her children’s football and gymnastics activities, and being so down that she rarely smiled. Speaking last year she admitted: “It would be easy to curl up in a ball and give up. The prospect of a transplant is frightening. But my kids need their mum. “

Primary biliary cirrhosis affects approximately one in 1,000 women (men are far less likely to get the disease). Symptoms include chronic fatigue, intense itching of the skin, frequent indigestion and sore joints.

It is thought to be caused by a malfunction in the body’s immune system and is not linked to alcohol abuse.

In May, Gillian had a false alarm when a potential liver was found and she was called into hospital in the early hours of the morning.

However, after a five-hour wait, she was told that tests on the donor liver revealed it was not suitable for transplant and she was sent home.

The disappointment of this ordeal prompted her to take a holiday in Australia for three weeks for a relative’s 90th birthday celebrations.

It meant she had to temporarily come off the waiting list, but Gillian felt the gamble was worth it because she needed the break.

In the 13 months since Gillian went public with her case in a bid to raise awareness of organ donation, there have been a series of political developments signalling hope for a change in the law, which professional bodies, such as the British Medical Association, believe would cut the waiting list enormously.

The chief medical officers of Scotland and England, and Scotland’s Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon, have all backed presumed consent, which would mean every member of the public is automatically assumed to be eligible as an organ donor unless they specifically object.

Research shows that more than 90 per cent of the public are in favour of organ donation but, with only 1.5 million on the register, less than one-third have signed up.

An Organ Donation Taskforce is examining whether presumed consent, also known as an opt-out system, could be made law in the UK.

According to UK Transplant, so far this year 884 patients have received transplants, while 7,884 people are currently waiting for the life-saving procedure.

(c) 2008 Scotland on Sunday. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

McKesson, a provider of healthcare technology, has announced that Saint Vincent Health System has selected its Horizon Clinicals Care Team Release to upgrade and extend its current clinical systems.

According to the company, Horizon Clinicals Care Team Release is a solution that unifies the medical and interdisciplinary care plans. Saint Vincent Health System plans an electronic health record (EHR) that will be used to facilitate communication among the entire care team and provide access to patient information, helping clinicians provide safer patient care.

According to the company, both hospitals in the system, Saint Vincent Health Center and Westfield Hospital, will upgrade their electronic patient record storage technology to McKesson’s Horizon Patient Folder document imaging solution.

Plans also call for the implementation of Horizon Patient Folder Analytics. This business intelligence tool is claimed to provide a dashboard illustrating business process optimization goals and efficiencies in the health information management (HIM) department.

Saint Vincent Health Center will deploy several other solutions in the Horizon Clinicals product suite. Nursing documentation will transition from a previous electronic system to McKesson’s workflow-based computerized nursing documentation solution. It will also deploy McKesson’s web-based physician portal. Using the portal, physicians can review patient test results, orders and diagnostic results regardless of location.

The deployment plan calls for Saint Vincent Health Center to implement McKesson’s emergency department information system (EDIS) and tracking board to help support patient safety. Additionally, plans call for the implementation of Horizon Meds Manager in the pharmacy with bar-coded patient identification facilitating continued medication safety initiatives, including advanced tools to support the medication reconciliation process.

Duncan James, group president of health systems solutions at McKesson Provider Technologies, said: “We’re excited to partner with Saint Vincent as it works toward creating a more connected and collaborative care environment that will benefit both clinicians and patients.”

SWARTZ CREEK, Mich., Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ — Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy is pleased to announce the promotion of Jennifer Mantovani to National Accounts Manager of Psoriasis. Mantovani works directly with Steve Chaffee R.Ph., Senior Vice President of Business Development, and with Mark Neville, Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Jennifer Mantovani is responsible for the national roll out of Diplomat’s Psoriasis Navigator(TM) program. The drug therapy management program increases access to Psoriasis drugs; and, through direct patient contact and physician coordination, also improves compliance and tolerance to the drugs.

“Jennifer was instrumental in the development of our Midwest regional psoriasis program where we have showed a 91% adherence for our patients on biological therapy,” said Chaffee. “As she reaches out nationally and educates the healthcare community about our industry leading psoriasis program, physicians and especially psoriasis patients will benefit as they discover the services Diplomat offers.”

“I believe Diplomat’s Psoriasis Navigator Program is the best program available to assist patients with starting – and staying on – their biologic therapy,” said Mantovani. “I am excited about the opportunity to build upon the program’s success in the Midwest and to help grow the program nationally.”

The national expansion of Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy’s Psoriasis Navigator Program follows their industry leading, national personalized medication programs for Oncology and Multiple Sclerosis.

About Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy

Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy is a privately held health care organization focusing on complete medication management programs for patients with serious and chronic conditions. Key programs include: Oncology, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohn’s and Psoriasis. Other specialty areas include Transplant, Fertility, Dialysis Medication Management, Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy and Specialty Compounding. The company also specializes in Disease Management programs for Chronic Kidney Disease patients, as well as Home and Out-Patient Infusion. With locations in Flint and Grand Rapids, MI; Cleveland, OH; Chicago, IL; and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; Diplomat services the specialty pharmacy needs of patients and physicians nationwide.

   For more information contact:   Kathy Karns   [email protected]   810-720-4452  

Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy

CONTACT: Kathy Karns of Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy, +1-810-720-4452,[email protected]

Web site: http://www.diplomatpharmacy.com/

The Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio, has signed an agreement with VHA Inc., the national health care alliance, for performance improvement and supply chain management services.

The selection of VHA was based on the strength of VHA’s supply chain management program and breadth of other clinical and networking opportunities, after reviewing proposals from leading national group purchasing organizations that compete with VHA.

One important advantage that VHA will provide The Christ Hospital is the ability to save money on supply purchases. Christ Hospital purchases more than $100 million in medical devices, drugs, disposable supplies and capital equipment annually. The hospital will use VHA’s contracting services company, Novation, to assist with these purchases. In addition to leveraging Novation’s national contracts for supplies, The Christ Hospital will be able to use VHA to obtain discounts on essential services it purchases, such as telecommunications services.

The Christ Hospital will also participate in VHA’s national and regional networks, benchmarking services, and clinical quality and safety improvement collaboratives.

Patti Sweeney, senior vice president for VHA’s regional office in Indianapolis, says Christ Hospital is joining VHA at a crucial time. “Hospitals are striving to be efficient and effective in how they apply resources to patient care, and VHA’s mission is to help hospitals do both.”

About Christ Hospital

The Christ Hospital is a 555-bed, not-for-profit acute care facility, offering services in cardiovascular care, spine treatment, women’s health, major surgery, cancer, behavioral medicine, orthopedics, emergency care, kidney transplant and others. The hospital also offers The Christ Hospital Medical Associates, a primary care physician practice with several office locations throughout the Tristate. The Christ Hospital is consistently recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the nation’s top hospitals, and has been named Cincinnati’s Most Preferred Hospital for 12 consecutive years by National Research Corporation (NRC). For more information about The Christ Hospital, visit www.TheChristHospital.com.

About VHA

VHA Inc., based in Irving, Texas, is a national alliance that provides industry-leading supply chain management services and supports the formation of regional and national networks to help members improve their clinical and economic performance. With 16 offices across the U.S., VHA has a track record of proven results in serving more than 1,400 hospitals and 21,000 health care organizations nationwide.

 Media Contacts: Lynn Gentry VHA 972/830-0798 Email Contact  Patty Thelen The Christ Hospital 513/585-0214 Email Contact

SOURCE: VHA

Mediware Information Systems (NASDAQ: MEDW), a provider of ClosedLoop(TM) clinical systems for blood and medication management, announced today that Shands at UF academic medical center, a designated Magnet facility in Gainesville, has licensed and will implement Mediware’s new BloodSafe(TM) system. BloodSafe is one of the latest components in the Company’s suite of patient safety enabling tools. Comprised of a combination of hardware and software, BloodSafe creates an intelligent, remote release solution for hospital blood banks. Mediware introduced plans for the product last year and has been actively marketing BloodSafe since February.

“We were very impressed with the potential Mediware’s BloodSafe offers,” said Dr. Tisha Netzel, UF pathologist and Shands at UF’s transfusion services medical director. “We believe it will reduce our costs, support our facility’s patient safety objectives and be a tremendous asset to staff throughout the hospital.”

“We feel fortunate that our first BloodSafe customer is a facility of such prestige,” said Kelly Mann, Mediware’s president and chief executive officer. “Shands at UF’s adoption of this new technology will add tremendous credibility to a product that is clearly one of our strategic growth initiatives.”

Mediware’s BloodSafe enables blood banks to securely store blood in high need areas of the hospital and allows staff to quickly access the exact amount and type of blood needed for a given patient. The BloodSafe solution includes software to manage the clinical and patient data, vending machine styled refrigerators that dispense the blood, and electronic locks for securing standard blood refrigerators.

“Our team is always looking for ways to streamline our processes in a way that supports our commitment to patient safety,” said Dr. Netzel. “My team supports over 500 physicians and transfuses 62,500 blood products. This includes 23 operating rooms and four ICUs. For an institution of our size, with an annual blood budget of over $8M., even small improvements in efficiency, safety and savings can have a huge impact.”

Blood is typically ordered, delivered and returned from a central blood bank, a process that can take an hour or longer depending on the tests required and distance between the patient and the blood bank. With BloodSafe, orders can be initiated from the closest BloodSafe refrigerator and the blood available in 60 seconds.

This capability is expected to have an even greater impact at Shands at UF as the hospital will soon be opening a new facility that will increase the distance between the blood bank and the areas of highest use.

In addition to the efficiency gains, BloodSafe supports Shands at UF’s patient safety objectives through robust clinical checks and two unique patient identifiers to ensure that the right patients get the right blood. Using two dimensional barcodes, BloodSafe monitors which units are checked out from the refrigerators, ensures that the blood meets the patient requirements, and captures transfusion statistics for the patient’s central health record.

The close proximity of the BloodSafe to the area of use means that the staff is more likely to only check out what is needed and return unused blood within the time limits allowed. The result is a ClosedLoop environment that improves inventory management and reduces waste.

More information about BloodSafe is available on Mediware’s web site, www.mediware.com.

About Shands HealthCare

Shands HealthCare is a private, not-for-profit healthcare system affiliated with the University of Florida and its Health Science Center campuses in Gainesville and Jacksonville. The system includes eight Shands hospitals and two home-health agencies. Shands is affiliated with more than 80 UF outpatient practices located throughout North Central and Northeast Florida.

The Shands at UF academic medical center is located in Gainesville. Approximately 550 UF faculty physicians practice at the hospital in more than 100 areas of specialty care, from primary care to highly complex care including cancer, cardiovascular, neurosurgery and transplantation services. Each year, patients come to Shands at UF from every county in the state, throughout the nation and more than a dozen countries. The hospital consistently ranks as a U.S. News & World Report Best Hospital.

About Mediware

Mediware delivers blood and medication management software systems that encapsulate information supporting patient therapies, reinforce patient safety practices and improve efficiencies to lower costs. Mediware’s customers include prestigious hospitals, clinics, correctional institutions, blood centers and other public and private health care institutions throughout the world. For more information about Mediware products and services, visit www.mediware.com.

Certain statements in this press release may constitute “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as the same may be amended from time to time (the “Act”) and in releases made by the SEC from time to time. Such forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2007, which may cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update its forward-looking statements.

 Contact: John Van Blaricum 913.307.1017  

SOURCE: Mediware Information Systems

ROANOKE, Va., Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ — Hospitals, physician offices and other healthcare providers throughout the Southeast now have a new way to comply with state and federal regulations, keep their workers safe and limit potential regulatory liabilities.

Woods Rogers Consulting PLC has added healthcare compliance to its line of services with the addition of a new affiliate, Healthcare Compliance Resources (HCR).

Led by industry veteran Stephen A. Burt, HCR provides on-site consulting services and written compliance plans for hospitals, physician and dental offices, clinics, public health departments, long-term care facilities and funeral homes in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Its consulting and training services include OSHA compliance, workplace hazards assessment and HIPAA and EPA initiatives, including regulated medical waste management. With more than 33 years of experience in the healthcare regulatory field, Burt is best known for his popular OSHA and HIPAA compliance seminars.

“Healthcare providers face a host of unique regulations in their industry, and it takes an experienced partner to help them navigate and comply with those myriad regulations,” Burt says. “Healthcare Compliance Resources takes care of compliance for healthcare professionals so they can take care of their patients.”

About Healthcare Compliance Resources

Healthcare Compliance Resources provides on-site consulting services and written compliance plans dealing with OSHA/CMS/EPA/SDOH and HIPAA regulations for hospitals, physician and dental offices, clinics, public health departments, long-term care facilities and funeral homes in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. To learn more, visit http://www.wrc-hcr.com/.

Woods Rogers Consulting PLC

CONTACT: Stephen A. Burt of Healthcare Compliance Resources,+1-540-983-7750, [email protected]

Web site: http://www.wrc-hcr.com/

Take Care Health Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walgreens (NYSE, NASDAQ: WAG) and one of the largest managers of convenient care clinics, is now offering school and sports physicals for $25 at Take Care Clinics nationwide. Take Care Clinics, located at select Walgreens drugstores, provide high-quality, convenient and affordable health care to all patients 18 months and older.

“School and sports physicals for school-aged children and adolescents are a great service that our clinics can offer the communities we serve. These physicals are an opportunity to screen for undetected medical conditions as well as a means to ensure the overall health and wellness of children,” said Sandra Festa Ryan, Chief Nurse Practitioner Officer for Take Care Health Systems. “Going back to school is a busy time for parents, and we’re committed to providing accessible and affordable care to those who need a school or sports physical in a convenient setting.”

School and sports physicals at a Take Care Clinic do not take the place of a child’s yearly routine health exam and complete developmental assessment. Take Care Health Providers encourage all patients to have a primary care provider or pediatrician who can facilitate this longer-term relationship and care.

Back-to-school season is also a great time to ensure children are up to date on vaccines. Take Care Health Providers will certify that immunizations are updated and will administer the appropriate vaccines, such as Menactra to protect against bacterial meningitis and Tdap or Td to protect against tetanus. It is recommended that patients bring a copy of their vaccination and immunization records, as well as a copy of their medical history to the Take Care Clinic in order to receive a school or sports physical.

If the provider detects a condition that falls outside the scope of service at the clinic, the child is referred back to his/her primary care provider for follow-on care. If a patient does not have a primary care provider, assistance can be offered in finding one for the family. Take Care Health Providers collaborate with local physicians who are available for consultation at all times the provider is treating a patient.

Take Care Health Systems uses nationally recognized, evidence-based clinical guidelines for treatment and electronic medical record technology allowing patients to take visit records to other providers, promoting continuity of care. Take Care Health Providers follow quality and safety standards as outlined by the Convenient Care Association, the industry’s trade association.

Take Care Health Systems is part of Walgreens new Health and Wellness division, alongside Walgreens newly acquired I-trax/CHD Meridian Healthcare and Whole Health Management, providers of worksite health centers that operate under the name Take Care Employer Solutions. Including Take Care Health Clinics, the Walgreens Health and Wellness division manages more than 560 worksite health and wellness centers and retail health clinics.

Take Care Health Systems currently manages 197 clinics in 24 markets throughout 14 states, including Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Ohio, Denver, Green Bay, Wis., Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Madison, Wis., Miami, Milwaukee, Nashville, Tenn., Orlando, Fla., Oshkosh, Wis., Peoria, Ill., Pittsburgh, Rockford, Ill., St. Louis, Tampa, Fla., Tucson, Ariz., West Palm Beach, Fla. and Wichita, Kan.

About Take Care Health SystemsSM

Take Care Health Systems (www.takecarehealth.com), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walgreens, is part of Walgreens Health and Wellness division, which includes Take Care Consumer Solutions, managers of convenient care clinics located at Walgreens drugstores nationwide, and Take Care Employer Solutions, managers of worksite-based health and wellness services. The company combines best practices in health care and the expertise and personal care of providers to deliver access to high-quality, affordable and convenient health care to all individuals. The Take Care Consumer Solutions group currently manages 197 Take Care Clinics in 24 markets throughout 14 states, with plans to have approximately 400 clinics in operation by the end of 2008. Patient care at each of the Take Care Clinics is provided by Take Care Health Services, an independently owned state professional corporation established in each market. Take Care Employer Solutions manages primary care, health and wellness and occupational health centers at 364 employer campuses across more than 170 clients in 44 states, including the District of Columbia and Guam, with approximately 400 sites projected by the end of 2008.

About Walgreens

Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) is the nation’s largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2007 sales of $53.8 billion. The company operates 6,356 drugstores in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Walgreens provides the most convenient access to consumer goods and cost-effective health care services in America through its retail drugstores, Walgreens Health Services division and Walgreens Health and Wellness division. Walgreens Health Services assists pharmacy patients and prescription drug and medical plans through Walgreens Health Initiatives Inc. (a pharmacy benefit manager), Walgreens Mail Service Inc., Walgreens Home Care Inc., Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy LLC and SeniorMed LLC (a pharmacy provider to long-term care facilities). Walgreens Health and Wellness division includes Take Care Health Systems, which is comprised of: Take Care Consumer Solutions, managers of 197 convenient care clinics at Walgreens drugstores, and Take Care Employer Solutions, managers of worksite-based health and wellness services at 364 employer campuses.

IRVING, Texas and PHOENIX, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ — Caris Diagnostics (Caris Dx), a leading provider of the highest quality diagnostic, translational development and pharmaceutical services encompassing anatomic pathology and molecular testing, announced today the offering of Target GI to physicians nationwide. Target GI is designed to provide information on the expression of key molecular targets present in colon cancer, providing physicians the most up-to-date information to help in the management of their patients.

The Target GI test includes analysis of a key group of biomarkers that have been identified as relevant in clinical studies on colon cancer. These biomarkers include KRAS (Proto-oncogene of the Kirsten murine sarcoma virus) by mutational analysis and TS (thymidylate synthase) and TOPO1 (topoisomerase 1) by immunohistochemical analysis.

Patient tumors that have somatic mutations in KRAS have been associated with a lack of response to cetuximab and panitumumab. Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer over-expressing TS have been shown to have a lower response to fluorouracil chemotherapy and shorter disease-free survival. Additionally, high expression of TOPO1 has been associated with an overall survival benefit with first line combination chemotherapy that includes irinotecan.

“It is a key initiative for us to not only provide highly accurate diagnostic information to clinicians, but also take the next step and offer additional information to assist in their treatment and management decisions,” commented Richard Lash, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Caris Dx. “Target GI enhances our leading position in gastrointestinal pathology.”

Currently Caris Dx receives, processes, and interprets over ten thousand GI biopsies each week. The Target GI assay allows molecular profiling to be performed on those qualifying biopsies, without the need for additional coordination, delay in treatment, or specialist referral, while developing a direct partnership with the gastroenterologist and oncologist for the benefit of the patient.

“With our ability to perform the Target GI analysis on the biopsies that we receive for initial cancer diagnosis each week, the paths of anatomic pathology and molecular testing are now united in a highly efficient manner. We can offer critical, additional information to physicians and their patients before beginning a course of treatment that includes relevant chemotherapy,” concluded David D. Halbert, Chairman of Caris Dx.

Target GI, intended to be performed on the initial biopsy upon the diagnosis of colon cancer, is being offered as a complement to the Caris Dx Target Now(TM) program. Target Now is designed to provide molecular profiling information on a patient’s tumor after standard treatments have been tried or if they are not available as an aid to their treating oncologist regarding future therapy decisions.

Physicians can obtain more information or order Target GI or Target Now for their patients by contacting 1-800-901-5177.

About Caris Diagnostics

Caris Diagnostics (Caris Dx) is a leading provider of the highest quality diagnostic, translational development and pharmaceutical services encompassing anatomic pathology and molecular testing. Caris Diagnostics provides world-class pathology services to physicians who treat patients in the community setting. The company provides academic-caliber medical consults through its industry-leading team of subspecialty fellowship and expert-trained pathologists in gastrointestinal and liver pathology, dermatopathology and hematopathology. Caris Diagnostics provides the highest levels of service to its customers and their patients through its state-of- the-art laboratories; proprietary, advanced clinical and technology solutions; and rigorous quality assurance programs. Through the molecular testing expertise of the Caris Molecular Profiling Institute (Caris MPI) at Caris Dx, the company also offers advanced molecular analyses of patient samples through prognostic testing services and genomic and proteomic profiling to provide critical information to physicians treating cancer and other complex diseases. In addition, Caris MPI supports pharmaceutical companies and other researchers in their clinical trials for targeted therapeutics with custom genomic and proteomic analyses, analyte preservation, tissue procurement and comprehensive reporting services. The company has strategic relationships with the International Genomics Consortium, US Oncology, the Translational Genomics Research Institute, and the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University. More than 2,000 physicians nationally use Caris Diagnostics. Formed in 1996, the company is headquartered in Irving, Texas and operates four laboratories: Irving, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona (2 sites); Newton, Massachusetts. Additional information is available at http://www.carisdx.com/.

Caris Diagnostics

CONTACT: Leslie Brille, +1-212-521-4444, for Caris Diagnostics

Web site: http://www.carisdx.com/

WALTHAM, Mass., Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ — Decision Resources, one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that an astonishing 52.3 percent of newly diagnosed bipolar disorder patients are prescribed antidepressant drugs first line. The new report entitled Treatment Algorithms in Bipolar Disorder finds that this high preponderance of early-line antidepressant use stems from primary care physician prescribing. Surveyed primary care physicians specify selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (including Forest Laboratories’ Lexapro) as a favored first-line treatment choice for patients with bipolar disorder I with acute depression (51 percent of surveyed physicians), bipolar disorder II with acute depression without hypomania (52 percent of surveyed physicians) and bipolar disorder II with acute depression with hypomania (46 percent of surveyed physicians).

“The number of primary care physicians who are diagnosing and treating bipolar patients has been on the rise in the past few years, but surveyed primary care physicians follow a very different treatment pattern than surveyed psychiatrists,” said Madhuri Borde, Ph.D., analyst at Decision Resources. “Nearly half of the patients taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors first line receive these drugs as a monotherapy, despite guideline recommendations to give bipolar patients presenting with depression an antimanic first line.”

The report also finds that GlaxoSmithKline’s Lamictal is the leading single-agent in first-, second- and third-line therapy amassing 18 percent, 13.8 percent and 16.3 percent patient share in each line of therapy, respectively. Lamictal’s accumulation of patient share in early lines of therapy is driven by psychiatrists’ belief that this therapy is effective for patients with bipolar depression.

The majority of surveyed psychiatrists prefer Lamictal for first-line treatment of patients with bipolar disorder I with acute depression (59 percent of surveyed psychiatrists) and bipolar disorder II with acute depression and no hypomania (61 percent of surveyed psychiatrists). Lamictal and Abbott’s Depakote ER are frequently prescribed first line by surveyed psychiatrists for bipolar disorder II patients who present with acute depression and hypomania (45 percent and 32 percent of surveyed psychiatrists, respectively).

About Treatment Algorithm Insight Series

Decision Resources combines in-depth primary research with the most extensive claims-based longitudinal patient-level data from PharMetrics(R) to provide exceptional insight into physicians’ prescribing trends and the factors that drive therapy product choice, from diagnosis through multiple courses of treatment, for a specific disease.

For each disease examined, Decision Resources’ Treatment Algorithm Insight Series provides the following:

   -- Summary of United States medical practice based on interviews with      leading experts in the field   -- Qualitative diagnosis/referral/treatment algorithm for the United      States   -- Drug usage by lines of therapy (1st, 2nd, 3rd line)   -- Discussion of key freeform combinations by lines of therapy   -- Product share (class and specific compound level) within each line of      therapy (1st, 2nd, 3rd line)   -- Progression of therapy from key 1st line products   -- Pathway to key therapies from previous therapies   -- Qualitative analysis of two-year forecast incorporating upcoming      launches, changes in reimbursement, etc.     About Decision Resources  

Decision Resources (http://www.decisionresources.com/) is a world leader in market research publications, advisory services and consulting designed to help clients shape strategy, allocate resources and master their chosen markets. Decision Resources is a Decision Resources, Inc. company.

All company, brand, or product names contained in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

   For more information, contact:    Elizabeth Marshall   Decision Resources   781-296-2563   [email protected]  

Decision Resources

Contact: Elizabeth Marshall of Decision Resources, +1-781-296-2563,[email protected]

Web site: http://www.decisionresources.com/

Thirty-two year old Yissel Soto, an officer in the United States Army, was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2008 and due to necessary treatment faced the additional heartache of losing her reproductive potential. Sadly, this is a common struggle for the 130,000 people each year in the US, diagnosed with cancer in the prime reproductive years and until recently, have had few fertility preservation options available to them.

After learning that the military IVF center was not able to accommodate Ms. Soto’s needs and that no other IVF centers around the country were prepared to do her cycle pro bono, Fertility Centers of Illinois (FCI) offered their support through a selection of cutting-edge fertility preservation options to be performed at no cost. FCI has long been committed to raising awareness of the expanded fertility options for women at risk of losing reproductive function and wanted to provide Ms. Soto the hope of preserving her ability to conceive biological children.

Once diagnosed, Ms. Soto quickly underwent both a lumpectomy and mastectomy, and was due to start chemotherapy one month after surgery. After exploring various fertility preservation methods, she decided to undergo embryo cryopreservation, a well-established technique that freezes embryos for later transfer. She currently has five embryos in storage for future use, which she will be able to use upon completing chemotherapy and finishing a five year course of tamoxifen, to aid in preventing recurrent cancer.

Dr Eve Feinberg, reproductive endocrinologist with the Fertility Centers of Illinois who treated Ms. Soto, also trained in the military system at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and was well known for her advocacy of fertility preservation. “We are so glad to be able to support Ms. Soto through this process,” she says. “With breast cancer being the leading cause of cancer among American women, it is critical that women be made aware of these fertility preservation options before cancer treatment begins,” she adds.

Ms. Soto adds that during such a tremendously difficult time in her life, the fertility process has provided a wonderfully positive experience for her and her husband. “We are sincerely grateful that FCI was willing and able to help us and that through these efforts, we may still be able to expand our family and conceive another child,” she says.

About Fertility Centers of Illinois:

Fertility Centers of Illinois, S.C., is one of the nation’s leading infertility treatment practices, providing advanced reproductive endocrinology services in the Chicago area for over 30 years. FCI has more babies born than the next ten centers combined with high success rates that are recognized throughout the nation. In addition to a team of nationally recognized reproductive physicians who stay current on the latest technology and procedures, FCI patients have access to many other unique support services, such as professional counseling from a licensed, Ph.D. clinical psychologist, patient advocates and innovative financial options. FCI is part of IntegraMed, the nation’s largest and most reputable network of fertility centers and has multiple offices conveniently located throughout the Chicago area. For more information visit www.fcionline.com

Embryo Cryopreservation Backgrounder:

Embryo Cryopreservation is the process of freezing embryos for future use. Advanced rapid freezing methods (vitrification), help achieve higher embryo survival by using high concentrations of cryprotectorant to solidify the cells into a glass-like state, without the formation of ice crystals (ice crystals within an embryo can cause damage). Embryos are then stored in batches of one or more, depending on the number that are likely to be transferred into the uterus at a later date. The team at FCI has used vitrification for the cryopreservation of embryos for over three years and has significantly higher than average success, with pregnancy rates at 43% using this technique. Further trial of various preservation methods continue to advance these technologies to a high scientific level.

To: NATIONAL EDITORS

Contact: Priscilla Ring Vanderveer, +1-202-778-1036, [email protected], for eHealth Initiative

Multi-stakeholder effort will pilot a unique, distributed, electronic research network to help patients and their doctors determine which treatments work best for specific diseases and conditions

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Joseph H. Kanter Family Foundation and the eHealth Initiative Foundation (eHI) announced the launch of the Partnership for Connecting for Research on Outcomes and Effectiveness, a national effort that will create a model for using electronic health information from multiple data sources – including electronic health records – while protecting patient privacy, to offer unbiased, evidence-based guidance on what treatments work best – vital information that can improve quality and safety and drive down costs in the health care system.

Developing a nationwide public-private partnership to use electronic data for outcomes research on what works in health care has been a long-time goal for Joseph H. Kanter, chairman of the Joseph H. Kanter Family Foundation. This Partnership represents the culmination of what was started when former Senate Majority Leaders Bill Frist (R-TN) and George Mitchell (D-ME) joined me at the Newsmaker Breakfast at the National Press Club in a bipartisan call for a system that will help patients and their doctors understand how to better treat disease, said Kanter, who is also serving as chairman of the Partnership. Through this Partnership, we will accelerate research efforts by creating the first major pilot of a distributed research network using personal electronic health records to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care for all Americans.

The need for independent outcomes and comparative effectiveness research has been trumpeted by many public and private sector leaders, including our presidential candidates, members of Congress, the Congressional Budget Office, the Institute of Medicine, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and leaders from across every sector of health care. Just this month, U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D- ND) introduced a bill to create a private Health Care Comparative Effectiveness Institute that would be governed by a public-private sector Board.

Although the ongoing policy discussions and the introduction of new legislation are both important steps forward, an important ingredient critical to the success of developing better evidence – a distributed, electronic network to develop better empirical evidence – has garnered little attention to date. The Partnership will work with experts and health care stakeholders to explore the organizational, technical, and policy aspects of using a distributed research network that leverages electronic health records to support the independent assessment of the clinical effectiveness of various treatments. This process will also provide more concrete guidance on the different kinds of evidence needed to identify what works best in health care: understanding how diseases progress for particular types of patients, identifying safety problems, comparing the benefits and risks of treatment alternatives, and comparing different medical practices that may affect quality and cost–and the reforms that can affect these practices. The Partnership looks forward to working with members of Congress and other policymakers to develop a common path forward that will improve health care for all Americans.

The Joseph H. Kanter Family Foundation has engaged Mark B. McClellan, MD, Ph.D., director of the Brookings Institution Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, to serve as an advisor to the effort. This new partnership is a critical step for moving from the promise to the reality of better evidence that can improve health care, said McClellan. This Partnership is a practically-grounded strategy to determine how to leverage electronic health information- -such as electronic health records–to help answer key questions about how health policy reforms can promote more effective, personalized care.

The eHealth Initiative Foundation, an independent, non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization whose mission is to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of health care through information and information technology, will staff and coordinate the activities of the Partnership. This collaborative effort will draw upon eHIs members as well as others representing academic and research institutions, clinicians, consumer and patient groups, employers, health plans, hospitals and other providers, laboratories, the life sciences industry, pharmacies, public health agencies, and state and local leaders, as well as nationally recognized experts in outcomes research, informatics, and privacy to lend their support in the collaborative development of methods and strategies. The Partnership will also build upon the experience eHI has gained through its Connecting for Drug Safety Collaboration (http:// www.ehealthinitiative.org/drugsafety/default.mspx), which is currently developing and piloting methods for using clinical and claims data to support post-market surveillance and drug safety.

We are delighted to be partnering with the Joseph H. Kanter Family Foundation on this important initiative, said Janet M. Marchibroda, eHealth Initiative chief executive officer. Health IT and the responsible use of anonymized electronic health information promise to considerably advance the quality, safety and effectiveness of health care in our country, not only by providing significant support to research on better evidence, but also by bringing the results of that research to doctors and their patients to help them make better health care decisions.

Over an 18-month period, the Partnership will support research to improve evidence on medical care, including the comparative effectiveness of alternative treatments and strategies for delivering care, by developing:

— A summary and analysis of current methods for using electronic health information to support research on outcomes and effectiveness.

— An assessment of the different data types available for such research, including but not limited to, clinical information which resides in electronic systems implemented primarily for care delivery, claims data, federal data systems, and information voluntarily provided by consumers for research–with their consent, through personal health records or other consumer-facing applications.

— Consensus policies developed collaboratively with consumers and patients, providers, payers and researchers that will effectively address privacy and confidentiality concerns and build and maintain public trust for using electronic health information for research on outcomes and effectiveness.

— A prototype distributed research network that tests and evaluates methods for using electronic health information for developing different kinds of evidence, while effectively protecting patient privacy.

— A set of recommendations for the organization, governance, sustainability, privacy, and technical aspects of an operational distributed network to support outcomes and effectiveness research.

About the Joseph H. Kanter Family Foundation

The Joseph H. Kanter Family Foundation has played a critical leadership role in raising awareness of and advancing the creation of a National Health Outcomes Database, the research findings of which can be easily understood and accessed by patients and doctors. The Kanter Foundations Health Legacy Partnership includes more than 300 partners including nationally recognized leaders, corporations, federal agencies, national health foundations, and stakeholders from every sector of health care. For more information, go to www.healthlegacy.org.

About eHealth Initiative and its Foundation

The eHealth Initiative and its Foundation are independent, non- profit affiliated organizations whose missions are the same: to drive improvements in the quality, safety, and efficiency of health care through information and information technology. eHI engages multiple stakeholders, including clinicians, consumer and patient groups, employers, health plans, health IT suppliers, hospitals and other providers, laboratories, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, pharmacies, public health, public sector agencies, and its growing coalition of more than 200 state, regional and community-based collaboratives, to reach consensus on and drive the adoption of common principles, policies, strategies and actions that improve health and health care through information technology that is responsible, practical, sustainable, and builds and maintains the publics trust. For more information, go to www.ehealthinitiative.org.

SOURCE eHealth Initiative

(c) 2008 U.S. Newswire. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

J.A. Thomas and Associates, the leader in healthcare clinical documentation improvement, published today a set of benchmarking reports that show 188 hospitals using its Compliant Documentation Management Program (CDMP(R)) have realized an overall 5 percent improvement in case mix index than projected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services/MEDPAR for hospitals adjusting to the new MS-DRG coding system. To download the full report, visit www.jathomas.com.

In August 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued final rules to the DRG coding system to better reflect severity of illness, a system by which hospitals receive Medicare reimbursement. The new Medicare Severity Diagnostic Related Group (MS-DRG) coding system, which became effective October 1, 2007, raises the bar for physicians to document with more specificity the principal patient diagnosis and comorbidities, other conditions that increase patient stay or resource consumption, so that coders can code these diagnoses accurately.

As clinical documentation improves, hospitals are able to achieve more accurate coding and better establish severity of illness, which in turn impacts a hospital’s case mix index and ensures appropriate hospital/physician profiles. And, an increase in case mix index impacts reimbursement. For example, a five percent increase in case mix index for a hospital with 5,600 annual Medicare discharges could translate into an increase of $4,800,000 in revenue.

“The new coding system required by CMS has basically prompted hospitals to revisit the way they document and code clinical severity” said Joanne Webb, CEO of J. A. Thomas & Associates. “Now, it’s critically important for physicians to document while the patient is in the hospital – not after discharge – and be as specific as possible when it comes to clinical diagnoses. Hospitals will not be appropriately reimbursed for acute inpatient visits unless they accurately document severity of illness and when those diagnoses are present on admission.”

The performance benchmarks established by J. A. Thomas & Associates are meant to help hospital clients see how they are performing relative to CMS’ MEDPAR projections and also how they compare to the firm’s other hospitals, or peer groups. According to Ms. Webb, “these benchmark reports are a useful tool to evaluate overall performance and also identify opportunities for more specificity in clinical documentation. We’re happy to see that our clients are using our benchmarking reports to measure how well they are transitioning to the new MS-DRG system.”

Ms. Webb notes that other than the company’s benchmarking report, “there is really no way to know how hospitals are doing at this time.”

Six-Month Benchmarking – Summary Results:

Overall, clients of J. A. Thomas & Associates are achieving at least a 5 percent higher overall CMI than projected by CMS and most notably, when one looks at the Medical CMI –which indicates the most vigorous improvement in documentation — the company’s clients have a 10 percent higher CMI than projected by CMS’ MEDPAR.

Of further note, when looking at Major CCs (MCC) — a method to identify diagnoses that significantly increase expected resource consumption — the overall J. A. Thomas & Associates’ client Medical MCC rate is 14 percent higher than MEDPAR, and the surgical MCC rate is 19 percent higher than MEDPAR.

About J.A. Thomas & Associates, Inc.

Since 1991, J.A. Thomas & Associates has become the nationally recognized leader in healthcare compliance and documentation improvement. Our innovative Compliant Documentation Management Program(R) has helped more than 500 hospitals and 30,000 physicians nationwide improve CMI by an average of 4% – 8%. The firm was founded by clinical professionals who brought together clinical and business insights from doctors, nurses, coders, and administrators. The result is a program that blends clinical expertise with compliance to ensure the accuracy of clinical documentation reflecting the appropriate severity of illness.

Formerly under joint operation, leading assisted living real estate developer, The LaSalle Group, Inc. (LaSalle), and management organization, Constant Care Management Company (CCMC), announced changes to their corporate structures and a new generation of leaders. With plans to expand the companies specialized assisted living services to new markets and regions in 2008 and 2009, including Houston and Florida, the new leadership team is poised to ensure both companies’ continued growth and innovation in the Alzheimer’s and memory care assisted living and construction industry.

Starting in 1999 through the partnership of nationally experienced real estate developer Win Warren and nationally recognized memory care specialist Jane Anderson, LaSalle introduced a groundbreaking approach to the development and management of assisted living communities for aging adults through its Autumn Leaves(R) residences. That same year, affiliate CCMC was formed to skillfully manage and oversee the day-to-day operations of all of LaSalle’s care facilities. To date, LaSalle and CCMC have successfully constructed and operated 10 residences together, with a new organizational framework and leadership team now in place to expand both brands even further.

Continuing the values and expertise of the family-owned and operated business model, the son of Win Warren, Mitchell W. Warren, has taken post as president of the company and is now overseeing all day-to-day operations, including continued expansion plans for the company and complete asset management. Warren was LaSalle’s former vice president of development. Chad J. Anderson, the son of Jane Anderson and the former vice president of operations for LaSalle and CCMC, has assumed the role of president of the now independently run entity, CCMC.

In his former role, Warren successfully spear-headed LaSalle’s expansion plans throughout the DFW Metroplex and Chicago, with responsibilities ranging from new business to new residence planning and development. Previously responsible for managing LaSalle’s Autumn Leaves(R) branded residences, as well as establishing standardized operating policies and procedures, Anderson now will expand his focus to all operational functions for CCMC, while maximizing growth and managing all future strategic partnerships for the company.

“We’re eager to expand our leadership roles while continuing the legacy our family began in providing exceptional, quality care for all of our residents,” explained Chad Anderson, president of CCMC. “Although independent entities, CCMC and LaSalle will continue to work hand-in-hand to stay at the forefront of this industry.”

“With aggressive expansion plans anticipated in the years to come, from Texas to Chicago and beyond, all of our partners can rest assured that our new structure puts us in line for an exciting period of growth and continued leadership in every aspect of the aging adult care space,” revealed Mitchell Warren, president of LaSalle.

These structural changes come at an ideal time for both companies, positioning LaSalle and CCMC for even more success in the midst of a huge growth period for the industry as a whole. Staying closely aligned with research groups and organizations nationwide that are dedicated to learning more about Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia as well as finding a cure for these destructive diseases, both companies remain at the forefront of the industry, constantly incorporating the latest findings and care techniques into their services.

As always, both companies will continue to focus on providing the highest level of care to residents, their families and employees. With this philosophy and mission, LaSalle and CCMC will continue to grow at a smart and steady pace with a dedication to maintaining the close-knit and family-based company culture its employees have come to expect.

LaSalle and CCMC announced several additional changes to their leadership teams to further support the companies’ missions and expansion plans. For more information and updates, visit www.LaSalleGroup.com and www.ConstantCare.com.

About The LaSalle Group

Family-owned and operated, The LaSalle Group (LaSalle) is an innovative leader in the fields of real estate development and residential and commercial construction, founded in 1991. In 1999, founder and chairman, Win Warren focused the direction of the company on providing quality care facilities to the growing population of aging adults, and LaSalle is now actively shaping the future of the senior living industry, as well as other specialized real estate. Specializing in developing facilities for adults with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, as well as independent and assisted living retirement communities for aging adults, the Autumn Leaves(R) and Autumn Oaks branded residences provide a wide range of ground-breaking care and living options. For more information on these entities, view www.LaSalleGroup.com or call 1-800-452-7255. “Our Family Serving Your Family.”

About Constant Care Management Company

Family-owned and operated, Constant Care Management Company (CCMC) manages the daily operation and marketing for all of its customers. Founded in 1999 by Jane Anderson and Win Warren CCMC focuses on the senior living industry and other specialized real estate. The cornerstone of CCMC’s business, the Autumn Leaves(R) brand of assisted living residences, created by Jane Anderson and Win Warren, is uniquely designed for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. There are currently seven Autumn Leaves(R) locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and two locations in the greater Chicago area. There is one Autumn Oaks residence located in North Texas, which offers both independent and assisted living to aging adults. CCMC oversees all aspects of management and marketing for these communities, including health care and nursing, dietary operations and life enrichment programs as well as family support groups, educational seminars and ongoing feedback to help families better understand their loved one’s situation. For more information on these entities, view www.ConstantCare.com or call 1-800-452-7255. “Our Family Caring For Your Family.”

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ — Thomson Reuters today released its annual study identifying hospitals that demonstrated the fastest, most consistent improvement in the nation over five consecutive years.

Nine of the 100 leading hospitals are in Texas. Florida and New York are each home to eight, and Pennsylvania boasts seven. Kentucky and Tennessee each have six winning hospitals, and California and Michigan have five apiece.

Overall, U.S. hospitals struggled to improve their performance from 2002 to 2006, the period covered by the study, but the winning hospitals illustrate that rapid, across-the-board improvement is attainable.

The study — Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals(R): Performance Improvement Leaders, 5th Edition — examined the performance of more than 2,800 U.S. hospitals on a variety of clinical, financial, operational and patient safety criteria to identify the 100 winners.

The hospital assessment project, which dates back to 1993, was formerly called the Solucient 100 Top Hospitals program. Thomson Corporation acquired Solucient, LLC, in 2006. It acquired Reuters earlier this year to form Thomson Reuters.

“This study identifies superior leadership, based on the success of hospital executive teams’ long-term strategies for strengthening performance,” said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and 100 Top Hospitals programs at Thomson Reuters. “These are true ‘Good to Great’ leadership teams that have focused on improving quality, efficiency, use of evidence-based medicine, and financial stability in order to better serve their patients and communities.”

The study rated hospitals on eight factors — patient mortality, medical complications, patient safety, length of stay, expenses, profitability, cash-to-debt ratio, and use of evidence-based medicine. Researchers evaluated 2,867 short-term, acute care, non-federal hospitals grouped into five categories: major teaching hospitals, other teaching hospitals, large community hospitals, medium-sized community hospitals, and small community hospitals.

The study analyzed publicly available Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Hospital Compare data set. It found that the 100 Top Hospitals: Performance Improvement Leaders:

   -- Went from having more patient deaths and adverse safety events than      expected to fewer than expected.   -- Increased expenses only 2.5 percent during the five-year study period,      on average, compared with a 17.4 percent increase among their peer      hospitals.   -- Increased profit margin from less than 1 percent to 6.9 percent.   -- Reduced average length of stay by nearly a day, despite greater      severity of illness.   

The vast majority of peer hospitals, however, showed appreciable improvement in only three categories — mortality, length of stay, and patient safety. More than half of the hospitals studied had improved survival rates (lower mortality indices), and one-third decreased their average patient stay. Fourteen percent of all hospitals showed significant improvement on the majority of patient safety measures studied.

For the remainder of the measures, the majority of peer hospitals had no statistically significant change in performance. Financially, most hospitals were treading water — 84 percent showed no marked change in profitability and 77 percent showed no change in cash position. Two-thirds of the hospitals did not significantly decrease their expense per adjusted discharge, and the other third saw an increase in expense per discharge.

“Given these findings, it is clear that healthcare executives are facing great challenges in aligning their organizations for continuous performance improvement,” Chenoweth said. “The hospitals that accomplish this feat are well deserving of this award.”

   Here are the winning hospitals, by category:    Major Teaching Hospitals   University Medical Center - Tucson, AZ   Christiana Care Health System - Wilmington, DE   Shands at the University of Florida - Gainesville, FL   University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics - Iowa City, IA   Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center - Boston, MA   Baystate Medical Center - Springfield, MA   Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center - Boston, MA   Henry Ford Hospital - Detroit, MI   The Mount Sinai Medical Center - New York, NY   New York Hospital Queens - Flushing, NY   Westchester Medical Center - Valhalla, NY   Duke University Hospital - Durham, NC   Allegheny General Hospital - Pittsburgh, PA   Vanderbilt University Medical Center - Nashville, TN   Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center - Houston, TX     Teaching Hospitals   St. Bernards Medical Center - Jonesboro, AR   St. Anthony Central Hospital - Denver, CO   Florida Hospital - Orlando, FL   Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare - Tallahassee, FL   OSF Saint Francis Medical Center - Peoria, IL   Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center-South Bend - South Bend, IN   Via Christi Regional Medical Center - Wichita, KS   Bronson Methodist Hospital - Kalamazoo, MI   St. Joseph Mercy Oakland - Pontiac, MI   McLaren Regional Medical Center - Flint, MI   St. Cloud Hospital - St. Cloud, MN   Valley Hospital Medical Center - Las Vegas, NV   Saint Barnabas Medical Center - Livingston, NJ   Altru Hospital - Grand Forks, ND   Providence St. Vincent Medical Center - Portland, OR   Saint Vincent Health Center - Erie, PA   Heritage Valley Beaver - Beaver, PA   PinnacleHealth - Harrisburg, PA   Robert Packer Hospital - Sayre, PA   Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis - Memphis, TN   CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi - Corpus Christi, TX   Methodist Dallas Medical Center - Dallas, TX   Medical Center Hospital - Odessa, TX   Corpus Christi Medical Center - Corpus Christi, TX   Meriter Hospital - Madison, WI     Large Community Hospitals   Jackson Hospital - Montgomery, AL   Alta Bates Summit Medical Center - Oakland, CA   St. Bernardine Medical Center - San Bernardino, CA   Saddleback Memorial Medical Center - Laguna Hills, CA   NCH Downtown Naples Hospital - Naples, FL   Flagler Hospital - St. Augustine, FL   Boca Raton Community Hospital - Boca Raton, FL   Rockford Memorial Hospital - Rockford, IL   Hardin Memorial Hospital - Elizabethtown, KY   Western Baptist Hospital - Paducah, KY   Shady Grove Adventist Hospital - Rockville, MD   Allegiance Health - Jackson, MI   Faxton-St. Luke's Healthcare - New Hartford, NY   Orange Regional Medical Center - Goshen, NY   Rex Healthcare - Raleigh, NC   Genesis HealthCare System - Zanesville, OH   Saint Thomas Hospital - Nashville, TN   Citizens Medical Center - Victoria, TX   CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System - Texarkana, TX   Providence Everett Medical Center - Everett, WA     Medium Community Hospitals   Brooksville Regional Hospital - Brooksville, FL   Oconee Regional Medical Center - Milledgeville, GA   Adventist GlenOaks Hospital - Glendale Heights, IL   Mary Greeley Medical Center - Ames, IA   Murray-Calloway County Hospital - Murray, KY   Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center - Danville, KY   Saint Joseph East - Lexington, KY   Grenada Lake Medical Center - Grenada, MS   Bolivar Medical Center - Cleveland, MS   San Juan Regional Medical Center - Farmington, NM   Olean General Hospital - Olean, NY   St. James Mercy Hospital - Hornell, NY   Rutherford Hospital, Inc. - Rutherfordton, NC   Medcenter One Hospital - Bismarck, ND   Pocono Medical Center - East Stroudsburg, PA   Cookeville Regional Medical Center - Cookeville, TN   Paris Regional Medical Center - Paris, TX   Carilion New River Valley Medical Center - Christiansburg, VA   Aurora West Allis Medical Center - West Allis, WI   Aurora BayCare Medical Center - Green Bay, WI     Small Community Hospitals   St. Elizabeth Community Hospital - Red Bluff, CA   Doctors Hospital of Manteca - Manteca, CA   Jackson County Hospital District - Marianna, FL   The King's Daughters' Hospital & Health Services - Madison, IN   St. Joseph Regional Medical Center-Plymouth - Plymouth, IN   Newton Medical Center - Newton, KS   Mercy Regional Health Center - Manhattan, KS   Baptist Hospital Northeast - LaGrange, KY   Falmouth Hospital - Falmouth, MA   Trace Regional Hospital - Houston, MS   Hannibal Regional Hospital - Hannibal, MO   Northern Montana Hospital - Havre, MT   Corning Hospital - Corning, NY   INTEGRIS Baptist Regional Health Center - Miami, OK   Gettysburg Hospital - Gettysburg, PA   St. Mary's Healthcare Center - Pierre, SD   St. Mary's Medical Center of Campbell County - LaFollette, TN   Baptist Hospital of Cocke County - Newport, TN   Ennis Regional Medical Center - Ennis, TX   Aurora Medical Center - Two Rivers, WI     About Thomson Reuters  

The Healthcare business of Thomson Reuters produces insights, information, benchmarks and analysis that enable organizations to manage costs, improve performance and enhance the quality of healthcare. Thomson Reuters is the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, scientific, healthcare and media markets, powered by the world’s most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs more than 50,000 people in 93 countries. For more information, go to http://www.thomsonreuters.com/ .

Thomson Reuters

CONTACT: David Wilkins, Media Relations, Healthcare, Thomson Reuters,+1-734-913-3397, [email protected]

Web site: http://www.thomsonreuters.com/

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ — Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the first patient has received an initial dose in a Phase 1 clinical study of the Company’s first oncology product, MM-121, a fully human monoclonal antibody and a first-in-class therapeutic designed to block signaling of the ErbB3 receptor.

ErbB3 is a receptor in the ErbB family, a pathway that plays a critical role in cancer signaling. With the initiation of the Phase 1 trial, MM-121 becomes the first systems biology product as well as the first selective ErbB3 antagonist to enter human clinical development.

“We used a combination of high-throughput biology and computer simulation to discern the importance of targeting ErbB3 signaling in tumor cells,” said Dr. Ulrik B. Nielsen, Senior Vice President of Research. “We believe this is the first systems-designed therapeutic in clinical development. Until now, computer simulation has not been widely applied toward understanding optimal therapeutic strategies for treating cancers driven by complex signaling pathways.”

Preclinical data demonstrating the impact of MM-121 in multiple cancer models were presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in April. The Phase 1 dose escalation study will evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetics (PK) of MM-121. Enrollment is underway at Fox Chase Cancer Center and two additional leading oncology sites are expected to participate in the trial later this year.

“ErbB3 is now recognized as a potentially important target in many types of cancer including lung, breast, colorectal, ovarian and others,” said Dr. William J. Slichenmyer, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Merrimack. “Preclinical studies of MM-121 have demonstrated antitumor activity in a wide range of tumor types and a very favorable safety profile. We are optimistic that these findings may translate into clinical benefit for patients who participate in the clinical trials. In addition, we are very pleased to be working with leading clinical investigators at outstanding academic cancer research centers.”

Merrimack has developed a broad intellectual property position around its oncology therapeutic portfolio, including MM121. This portfolio includes U.S. and international patent filings relating to compositions of matter and methods of use as well as licensed patents and pending patent applications, trade secrets and proprietary know-how.

About MM-121

MM-121 is a monoclonal antibody designed to block signaling of the ErbB3 receptor, a receptor in the ErbB family, a pathway that plays a critical role in cancer signaling. Upon initiation of the Phase 1 trial, MM-121 becomes the first systems biology product as well as the first selective ErbB3 antagonist to enter human clinical development. Preclinical data exhibiting MM-121’s impact on multiple cancer models (including lung, ovarian, breast, prostate and renal) were presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in April 2008. The Phase 1 trial is being conducted at 3 centers in the United States.

About Merrimack

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, design and development of novel treatments for diseases in the areas of autoimmunity and cancer. Its autoimmune candidate, MM-093, is currently in Phase 2 clinical development. Its first oncology product, MM-121 is currently in Phase 1 clinical development. MM-093 and MM-121 are investigational drugs and have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or any international regulatory agency. The company’s proprietary Network Biology discovery platform, developed with the help of leading scientists from MIT and Harvard, enables the high throughput profiling of protein networks as a basis for improved validation, lead identification and speed in the development of innovative therapeutics. Merrimack is a privately-held company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For additional information, please visit http://www.merrimackpharma.com/.

Contact: Kathleen Petrozzelli, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, 617-441-1043

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

CONTACT: Kathleen Petrozzelli, Senior Manager, Corporate Communicationsof Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc., +1-617-441-1043

Web site: http://www.merrimackpharma.com/

By Wall, J K

To glimpse the priority list of the honchos running the Indiana University medical complex, drive west along Michigan Street and look north toward the IU Hospital.

The 38-year-old facility is now nearly totally eclipsed from view by a sparkling, $150 million addition to the IU Simon Cancer Center, which stretches steel, glass and stone across an entire block between University Boulevard and Barnhill Drive.

By bulking up its cancer care and research, IU leaders hope to improve the prestige of the entire downtown hospital campus, which is run jointly by the IU School of Medicine and the Clarian Health hospital system.

“Our strategy has been to move up in recognition overall with cancer as the lead,” Dr. Craig Brater, dean of the lU School of Medicine, wrote in an e-mail while on a visit to IU’s AIDS- treatment project in Kenya.

The IU Cancer Center is one of only 55 in the nation recognized by the National Cancer Institute for a combination of high-level care and research. But not until this year did IU and Clarian crack the top 50 hospitals for cancer treatment and research, according to rankings by U.S. News & World Report.

Raising its reputation could help the IU Cancer Center recruit and retain larger numbers of top-notch cancer clinicians and researchers, who could attract more grant money and clinical trials to the center.

IU has a lot of money to work with. In 2006, the Simon family of shopping mall developers donated $50 million to the center. It was renamed the IU Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center.

But IU has plenty of company, too. Many university-based cancer centers are adding buildings to expand both research and patient care, said Dr. Linda Weiss, chief of cancer centers at the National Cancer Institute in Maryland.

“It’s very helpful for recruiting,” Weiss said, also noting the importance of many other factors. She added, “If you’re trying to recruit clinician-scientists, there’s a fairly limited pool of those people.”

Yet, there’s a big need for their skills. While cancer treatment has progressed rapidly in recent years, the disease is by no means cured. At the same time, rates of cancer keep rising as Americans’ unhealthy habits persist, as the 70 million baby boomers age, and even because medical advances have lengthened life spans, making it more likely for a person to eventually contract cancer.

“Between now and five or 10 years from now, it’s staggering – the [expected] incidence of cancer,” said Dr. Stephen Williams, director of the LU Simon Cancer Center, reclining behind his desk on the fourth floor of the Indiana Cancer Pavilion.

More room needed

The pavilion, opened in 1996, is already over capacity, Williams said. He walked through the pavilion’s busy third-floor chemotherapy infusion center and out into its crowded waiting room. For the last three years, patients sitting there have looked across an atrium and an outdoor garden to see the new cancer building going up.

That building is now nearly complete. IU and Clarian officials will conduct public “sneak peak” tours July 25-26. The first inpatient will arrive Aug. 27. And the first outpatients will come Sept. 2.

The 405,000-square-foot cancer hospital, designed by Indianapolis- based Maregatti Interiors, is meant both to sooth and to impress. On every floor, light streams in from floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto Michigan Street.

At the main entrance, a line of 75 bamboo trees shoots out of a rock-lined garden and extends above a second-story walkway. Plants also sit outside the private registration area and curve thong the cafe dining area, which also looks out to a garden.

The hospital has an Asian flair, with light wood paneling and balsa-wood light shades throughout. Marble-like tile covers the ground floor. Lights – designed to evoke the shifting colors of the sky throughout the day – play off opaque surfaces hanging from the ceiling in the entry.

“It’s trying to keep people entertained while they’re in the building,” said Debbie Evans, a marketing project leader for the IU and Clarian cancer programs.

IU and Clarian won’t fill the new building all at once. But over the next 18 to 24 months, Evans said, outpatient departments from the Indiana Cancer Pavilion and inpatient departments from the IU hospital will move into it.

At full capacity, the building will allow IU to double the number of cancer patients it treats. It had 4,200 inpatient visits last year and 38,000 outpatient visits.

IU and Clarian will need that space because the World Health Organization and some U.S. health insurers predict cancer rates could double by 2030.

There are currently 1.4 million Americans with cancer, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of 2004, the latest data available, Indiana had more than 28,000 cancer cases.

One of those was Fort Wayne resident Heidi Floyd. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2004 – two months after becoming pregnant with her fourth child.

Floyd’s doctors in Fort Wayne gave her the standard advice – have an abortion. That’s because she couldn’t receive typical chemotherapy while pregnant. But she refused, saying, “If it was a choice between me and the baby, it was definitely going to be the baby.”

Floyd’s boss – in the sales department of Fort Wayne-based Vera Bradley Designs – told her to check out the IU Cancer Center. She went to Dr. George Sledge, co-leader of IV’s breast cancer program, who had already treated two dozen pregnant women with cancer.

“He’s so heavily invested in research. They know how to handle tricky situations like this,” said Floyd, who now tells her story nationally to help raise money for the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer. The foundation gives all its money to the IU center.

Floyd had her baby, Noah, in April 2005. She credits Dr. Sledge with saving both their lives.

“Were it not for him, I would not be here,” she said, “nor would my baby.”

Boosting research

If IU and Clarian attract more cancer patients, it should help them do more research. That’s because rising numbers of patients should lead to rising numbers of clinical trial participants.

In fact, IU and Clarian are counting on it.

Half of a new 250,000-square-foot building, two blocks behind the IU Cancer Center, will be devoted to cancer research. It will open next spring.

The medical staff of the IU Simon Cancer Center offers every patient an opportunity to be in a clinical trial, which is a regimented study of experimental drugs, devices and methods of treatment. Nearly 17 percent of patients do so, about 700 each year.

Dan Evans, CEO of Clarian Health, said researchers are attracted to hospitals where lots of patients participate in clinical trials.

“A huge help is the clinical volume,” Evans said, while ticking off other factors that are crucial to attracting researchers: the reputation of IU faculty members, the center’s $76 million in research dollars, among others.

“The dean of the medical school and CEO of Clarian are in a contest with every other academic medical center in the country, to attract researchers and their resources,” Evans added.

Cancer researcher Linda Malkas came, in large part, so she could work along doctors trying to find better ways to treat patients. She was a full professor at the University of Maryland in 2001 when IU called.

“I didn’t need to leave,” said Malkas, who is now the Vera Bradley Endowed Chair of Oncology at the IU medical school. “But I said, ‘Gee, there’s an opportunity that maybe some of the things that we’re doing may actually make the jump from the lab to the clinic.’ And it worked.”

Brater, the dean of the IU medical school, said the biggest opportunity the new hospital opens up for IU is to recruit and retain the best and brightest.” He hopes it works.

IU Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center

Director: Dr. Stephen Williams, HHGregg professor of oncology at the Indiana University School of Medicine

Founded: 1992

Renamed: in 2006, after Simon family donated $50 million to center

Clinicians and researchers: 200

New cancer hospital

Size: 405,000 square feet

Building cost: $150 million

Beds: 52 in private patient rooms, with capacity for 28 more

Other features: six operating rooms, with capacity for up to 10 more; room for 60 infusion stations, up from 21 currently available at Indiana Cancer Pavilion

Visits: Public tours of the facility will be offered 1-5 p.m. July 25-26.

Sources: IU Simon Cancer Center; Clarion Health

Copyright IBJ Corporation Jul 21, 2008

(c) 2008 Indianapolis Business Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

By Audrey Vijaindren; Nurris Ishak

AN increasing number of young Malaysian girls are being trafficked out of the country. Some are lured into becoming trophy wives. While some are spirited away, others go voluntarily. Why is this happening? How many girls have fallen victim? AUDREY VIJAINDREN and NURRIS ISHAK look for answers.

Nurul Wahida Hamzah was 17 years old when she was reported missing from her home in Chenderong Balai, Teluk Intan, in 2005 by her family.

It was said that Nurul, who had just completed her SPM examinations, developed a relationship with a 40-year-old Indonesian construction worker, M. Yusup, and followed him to Lombok Timur in eastern Indonesia.

According to a family friend, Nurul had married the man soon after they went to Lombok Timur in 2005 and had changed her name to Putri Sofia. She also had a baby boy who died after 18 months due to breathing difficulties.

Her worried parents searched high and low for her and sought the help of various people. Finally, an international non-governmental organisation called Migrant Care traced Nurul to a Lombok Timur village. She was brought back and reunited with her parents earlier this month.

The same NGO was successful in locating another missing Malaysian, Che Siti Nor Azreen Che Ishak, 13.

Migrant Care, with the help of Malaysian-based NGO, Kijang Care, recently located another girl, Normalisa Abd Ghani, of Bahau, Negri Sembilan. Efforts are now being made to bring her back from Indonesia.

Nurul and Azreen were lucky not to have been be exploited. In many other instances, according to NGOs, Malaysian girls have been taken to Indonesia and later sent to the Middle East to work as “Indonesian maids”. Some of these girls are physically and sexually abused.

Nurul and Azreen are among hundreds of Malaysian girls who are being trafficked to other countries, especially Indonesia, or who get attracted to Indonesian men working in Malaysia and follow them home.

No one has any figures as to the number of Malaysian girls who have been spirited away or who had been lured by foreign men working in Malaysia to become their wives.

A spokesman for the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta said there were no official statistics.

But Migrant Care Malaysian representative Alex Ong says his organisation was aware of at least 47 Malaysian girls in Lombok, Indonesia.

Only two of the 47 had emigrated to Indonesia after marrying their Indonesian spouses here. The rest, he said, had been spirited away by Indonesian labourers who had been working in Malaysia.

“Most of them are between the ages of 13 and 30,” he said.

A five-year study conducted by a group of researchers from universities in France, the United States, Australia, Scandinavia and Spain, in collaboration with three top universities in Indonesia, found that matters of the heart play a key role in women emigrating to Indonesia.

The team of researchers included volunteers from Migrant Care who were doing their masters programmes in fields such as sociology and cultural anthropology.

According to date from the Indonesian Human Resources Ministry, one million of the 4.5 million men on Lombok island are working as labourers in Malaysia. Only about about half of them entered Malaysia legally, according to official data.

The study revealed that Malaysian girls were taken to Indonesia by illegal immigrants. Most of the girls were in their teens and from lower-income families.

It found that the girls were spirited away on boats used to smuggle items such as cigarettes and textiles.

Ong said many of the Indonesians, especially from Lombok, would jump at the chance of bringing back a “trophy” wife.

“It is an age-old head-hunter mentality where if you dare run away with a girl from the next village, you are seen as a hero.

“Some girls follow these men because they are truly in love and want to be with their husbands. But others have been lured by false promises. It is difficult to tell the difference when it comes to matters of the heart.”

Once these girls were taken to the villages in Lombok, Ong said, it was difficult to get them out.

In certain parts of Indonesia, especially in Nusa Tenggara, marrying foreigners has become part of the culture.

Upon marriage, regardless of the bride’s age, her connections with her family in Malaysia are severed by their husbands and in- laws. Her identity is also changed to hide her origin.

Ong said most of the men were sweet talkers and that in many cases, the men even gave part of their salary to these girls.

“It is very tempting for young women, especially those from broken homes. These men also treat them better than the local men. They are more gentle, patient and generous.”

Tenaganita programme officer Florida Sandanasamy said there were two issues involved.

“One is of underage girls being ‘trafficked’ out of the country by foreign men. These girls are young and vulnerable. And although they are willingly following these men back to their home country, it is still considered trafficking.

“The other issue involves girls of a legal age who leave the country hoping for a better future. Some of these girls are in love and wish to stay with their husbands.

“But because the legal process in Malaysia is rather prohibitive, these girls prefer to leave the country with their spouse.

“Any marriage of children below 18 years is trafficking. These girls are victims of traffickers. If the marriage is done after giving the girls a false identity, then that marriage is not valid. They become even more vulnerable.”

She said the implementation of the Anti-Human Trafficking Act was crucial in at least reducing the trade in Malaysian women.

(c) 2008 New Straits Times. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

By KEVIN TRUDGEON

REDLANDS – When Dr. Ellen Brown Seymour arrived in Redlands in 1881, she was met with dirt streets and a city that was just beginning to blossom.

Cousin to one of Redlands founding fathers, Frank E. Brown, Seymour was the first physician in Redlands. Taking the remodeled Prospect House, the first hotel in the Redlands area, Seymour opened a medical office and began serving the community.

More than 127 years later, the work of providing health care to the community of Redlands continues. Having come a long way from Seymour’s one-doctor days, Redlands Community Hospital has been providing health care to Redlands and surrounding communities since 1904.

Located at 350 Terracina Blvd., Redlands Community Hospital boasts a staff of 270 doctors, 1,300 employees and 300 volunteers.

Equipped with 205 beds and a 24-hour emergency room, the hospital is a state-of-the-art facility.

But apart from the equipment and staff, the most important part of Redlands Community Hospital to many is the word “community.”

“Redlands Community Hospital is one of the few true community hospitals in California,” said Larry Pyle, chairman of the Redlands Community Hospital Foundation’s board of directors. “It is not owned by a large, parent corporation but remains an independent, non- profit hospital.”

“For over 100 years it has been an integral Redlands institution. Initiated, grown and governed by pa board of local people, it continues to reinvest in the communities it serves.”

Just like the community, the hospital has grown much over the years.

Following Seymour’s arrival, several more doctors came to Redlands in 1887, although there was still no hospital. Instead, hotels and sanitariums in the Redlands and Mentone areas were used to house those in need.

In June of 1903, the Redlands Medical Society, which was established in 1898, announced that the first clinic hospital would be at 114 W. Vine St., where a home had been converted and equipped with an operating room.

Realizing a much larger building was needed, the Redlands Medical Society physicians established a Redlands Hospital Association and raised $15,000 to build a two-story hospital on the corner of Nordina and Clark streets.

Completed in November of 1904, the Redlands Hospital served the community from that location until 1929. But with the growing Redlands population, a larger location was needed to treat the sick.

On Dec. 28, 1928, the cornerstone for the new Redlands Community Hospital on Terracina Boulevard was dedicated and in just a few months, patients were being transported from the Nordina Street hospital to the new facility.

Since 1929, Redlands Community Hospital has sat on Terracina and provided health care to the citizens of Redlands. Generations of Redlanders have been born and treated at the hospital.

Like the patients, many of the hospital staff are community based and have been working at Redlands Community Hospital for many years.

Recently retired from the medical records department, where she worked for 20 years, Betty Johnson of Cherry Valley loved working at the hospital so much that she encouraged her family to work there.

“The first day I walked in, I knew I belonged there,” Johnson said. “Over the years, I’ve seen many changes and people have come and gone. But it’s the best place to work. The administrators know who you are, and it’s just been a wonderful experience.”

Because the hospital is nonprofit, the Redlands Community Hospital Foundation was created in 1980 to be the fundraising arm of the hospital. With the constant need for funds to bring in new equipment, technology and other hospital necessities, the foundation has been integral in helping the hospital grow and serve all of its patients.

“Our sole purpose is to support the mission of the hospital,” said Zachary Tucker, president of the Redlands Community Hospital for the past six years. “The hospital is unique in that it is a stand-alone, nonprofit community hospital. So the foundation supports the hospital.”

With the support of the foundation, the hospital has continuously been able to expand and grow to meet the changes in health care practices and needs of community it serves.

From the building of the Moseley Wing and remodeled Radiology Wing in 1958 to the construction of the five-story hospital tower in 1985, expansion has been a constant throughout the history of Redlands Community Hospital.

A surgery and maternity center were recently opened, as well as the Stan and Ellen Weisser Educational Pavilion. Named for its donors, the pavilion has conference rooms for doctors to gather and for free seminars open to the public.

“Both my wife and I feel very strongly about the hospital,” said Stan Weisser, who has been involved with Redlands Community Hospital for more than 20 years and has served on the board of directors. “We believe it is one of the crown jewels of this community and a real asset.”

“The hospital needs philanthropy to do well – in order to grow in size and technology,” he said.

On top of expansion and the influx of new equipment and technology, Redlands Community Hospital also works to implement programs to reach those in need of medical treatment but who are unable or unwilling to go to the hospital.

The Health Ministry Program, part of the hospital’s pastoral care services, is one such program.

“With the Health Ministry Program, we put together a nice network of lines of communication with different congregations in the area,” said Jim Holmes, president and chief executive officer of Redlands Community Hospital said. “The goal of the program is to help them provide health care to their constituents.

“It’s important because a lot of people trust their church first. They need health care but are afraid to come in for one reason or another,” he said.

Holmes stressed that being a community hospital benefits both the hospital and the community when it comes to things like the Health Ministry Program.

Instead of having to go to a corporate parent to ask for permission or clearance to launch a program, the hospital is able to meet the health care needs of the community more quickly, Holmes said.

While the methods have changed over the years, the goal of Dr. Seymour and the first physicians who came to Redlands remain the same, kept alive by the staff and volunteers at Redlands Community Hospital.

The mission statement for the hospital says, “Our mission is to promote an environment where members of our community can receive high quality care and service so they can maintain and be restored to good health.”

And for Redlands, the hospital has lived up to its mission.

“The hospital is really a community asset,” Tucker said. “This is just another part of what makes Redlands Redlands. If it were not here, I think the quality of life in Redlands wouldn’t be what it is.”

Catherine Garcia contributed to this report.

E-mail Staff Writer Kevin Trudgeon at [email protected]

(c) 2008 Redlands Daily Facts. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

A TEENAGER who died in a Spanish hospital after plunging 45ft from a hotel balcony has had his organs donated by his family.

Ben Hale broke almost every bone in his body and was left in a coma when he fell from the third floor at a wedding reception in Marbella last month. The 18-year-old from Elm Park near Romford, Essex, had been locked out of his room and had climbed on to the balcony of a neighbouring apartment to get some hair gel when he fell.

His parents kept a vigil at his bedside and were hopeful of a recovery but he suffered a brain bleed and died this week.

Family friend Michelle Moore said: “His mum has donated all his organs because the doctors have been so good and it’s what Ben would have wanted.”

(c) 2008 Sunday Mirror; London. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

THERE was a time when hearing the words “congratulations, you’re pregnant” would have given women the excuse to eat for two.

But a new trend is becoming evident in ante-natal classes across the country sparked by female celebrities whose stomachs ping back into shape as soon as their bundles of joy arr ive.

Pictures of Nicole Kidman two weeks after giving birth to her daughter, Sunday Rose, last month show she is already back to her slim self.

And soon glossy magazines will be praising Angelina Jolie, who has just given birth to twins Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon, for returning to her svelte figure.

It’s believed celebrity mums, who usually work with personal trainers throughout their pregnancy and who sometimes opt for “mummy tucks” to get rid of any excess fat straight after birth, are causing “pregorexia”.

Pregorexics are expectant mums who go on radical diets and follow gruelling exercise regimes in an attempt to prevent putting on weight during the pregnanc y.

While healthy eating and gentle exercise during pregnancy is recommended, experts say pregorexics could be seriously harming their unborn child . . . and themselves. Some women see athletes such as Paula Radcliffe, who ran throughout her pregnancy and began training for a marathon days after giving birth, and think it’s okay to push themselves.

However, women are being warned that unless they were fitness fanatics before pregnancy, activities like long-distance running and high-energy aerobic workouts would be too strenuous. Dr Mike Guy, the NHS North of Tyne’s medical director, said: “It is important to eat and exercise sensibly during pregnancy. If you were active before becoming pregnant and regularly took part in exercise it should be safe to carry on doing this.

“However, speak to your midwife beforehand just to make sure. “Aim to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day as a good diet can help you stay fit, get in good condition for the birth and maintain your energy levels.”

And he stressed: “Dieting is not recommended during pregnancy because it can reduce your baby’s birth weight.” Dr Martin Tovey, of Newcastle University’s School of Biology and Psychology, has researched eating disorders in women.

He said: “Many people want to achieve these impossible body shapes, without really considering that celebrities have personal trainers and it’s their job to look like that. It’s also surprising what a sympathetic photographer and airbrushing can achieve.

“Women who have struggled with an eating disorder, like anorexia, whilst growing up are more likely to have difficulties during pregnancy, as they start to put on weight and their body changes.

“And there are some women who are naturally more vulnerable to eating disorders, especially if they have low self-esteem. “However, it is perfectly natural to put on a significant amount of weight during pregnancy and this is what’s healthy for the mum and baby.”

CELEBRITY mums who miraculously shed the weight after giving birth are being blamed for a rising phenomenon amongst pregnant women. Called “pregorexia”, the condition is seeing expectant mums going on crash diets and extreme exercise plans for fear of piling on the pounds. NICOLA JUNCAR reports.

Listen to your body The right level of exercise depends on how fit you were before pregnancy. Wear loose, comfortable clothes. Drink plenty of fluids and don’t allow yourself to get overheated as this can be harmful to the baby. Take a gentle approach to exercises that put strain on joints and ligaments. Listen to your body. Dizziness and fatigue are not uncommon in the first trimester and some women lose their balance more easily later in the pregnancy. Don’t exercise to lose weight during pregnancy as this may harm your baby. Don’t exercise flat on your back as this can restrict the flow of blood to the womb. Don’t use saunas or steam rooms. If your Body Mass Index was less than 19.8 before you became pregnant, you should aim for a weight gain of between 12.5 to 18kg, or 28 to 40lb.

(c) 2008 Sunday Sun – Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

In her July 20 column, “Save America money: Light up,” Froma Harrop raises some interesting points regarding prevention but extends the illusion that the cost of health care is separate, discrete and distinct from other expenses in American lives. Harrop’s article also ignores a growing body of evidence from public health that prevention addressing chronic diseases is essential to reducing health-care costs. According to an article, “Improving the Effectiveness of Health Care and Public Health,” by Yaneer Bar-Yam (American Journal of Public Health, March 2006), “A system that delivers effective population-based care can demonstrate clearly the importance of prevention in the overall health care system.”

Our health-care system in the United States is reactive rather than proactive, which over time causes a heavier economic burden, as stated by Bar-Yam. Cost-effectiveness of prevention in the long term implies that even a small proportion of the overall costs devoted to public health can enable the larger proportion, devoted to individual medical care, to be allocated to needed individual services not provided by the current overburdened system.

The results are a longer, healthier life span, lower annual costs for health care, a more productive and competitive workforce and a resulting healthier economy.

MARCUS PLESCIA, M.D.

DAVID P. HOFFMAN

Atlanta

The writers are, respectively, president and chairman of the Legislative and Policy Committee of the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors.

(c) 2008 Providence Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

By CAROLINE DOHACK

Latin music pulses through the Woodcrest Chapel gym. Dancers dot the floor, hands clapping, hips swiveling, shoulders rolling. The beat changes to a staccato breakdown. “Bang on drums!” shouts instructor Patti Leddy, 52. The dancers move their hands as if striking bongos, open palms pumping the air from side to side.

This is Zumba (say it ZOOM-ba). It originated in the early 1990s in a Colombian aerobics studio, where fitness instructor and choreographer Albeto “Beto” Perez forgot tapes for his class. With no time to retrieve them, Perez grabbed some Latin-music tapes from his car and led his class through an improvised session using Latin dance steps. Today, there are more than 2,000 certified Zumba instructors worldwide.

Zumba is a form of interval training. Through varied rhythms and dance styles, participants increase and decrease the intensity of their workout, which might help burn more calories. Instructors plan choreography to make sure each workout incorporates the entire body. “Are we adding some squats during the cha-cha? Are students working their biceps while their feet are doing the mergengue?” Leddy said.

At Leddy’s class, there are dancers at all fitness levels. Some come to socialize. Some come to sweat. They all come to have fun.

Susannah Welch, 31, has always had an interest in dance, whether it’s been modern dance or belly dancing. Latin dancing is new for her, and learning new steps provides a challenge during the hourlong session.

“I like that it’s a workout, but you’re really having fun,” she said.

Peggy Cobb, 49, looks forward to Zumba. “It’s the fastest hour of the week,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s a stress-buster.”

Cobb feels safe in the Zumba environment. The moves can be as low- impact as she needs, but she can step it up as she becomes more fit. And, she said, she’s discovered a new appreciation for Latin music. “It’s very difficult to listen to that music and not move,” she said.

Although some dance classes are strict about technique, Leddy does not push her students beyond their limits, and she does not stress out over proper foot placement. The idea is to get moving. Zumba is a dance party; it isn’t “Dancing With the Stars.”

“It’s more freestyle,” said Eileen Swanson, 48. Swanson got started with Zumba because she was looking for a new fitness regimen. “It’s just a matter of moving and trying.”

And the efforts pay off. Swanson says she feels more energetic than she did before.

“I taught you how to shake!” Leddy said.

“I still can’t shimmy,” Swanson said.

But even if she can’t shimmy, Swanson says she is improving. “It doesn’t really matter because it’s just a matter of moving at your own speed.”

And that’s OK. The point of Zumba isn’t precision.

“It’s just Zumba,” Leddy said. “It just is what it is.”

Reach Caroline Dohack at (573) 815-1727 or ‘>[email protected].

Originally published by CAROLINE DOHACK of the Tribune’s staff.

(c) 2008 Columbia Daily Tribune. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

By JAYMES SONG

By Jaymes Song

The Associated Press

AIEA, Hawaii

When cancer spread into her lungs, doctors told Audrey Toguchi she had six months to live, at best, and suggested chemotherapy as the only option.

Toguchi, however, turned to another source – a Roman Catholic missionary who died more than a century ago.

“I’m going to Molokai to pray to Father Damien,” Toguchi calmly told Dr. Walter Y.M. Chang after hearing her prognosis.

“Mrs. Toguchi, prayers are nice and it’s probably very helpful, but you still need chemotherapy,” replied Chang, who earlier had removed from Toguchi’s left buttock a fist-size tumor that was the source of the cancer in her lungs.

Defying Chang and the pleas of her husband and two sons, Toguchi caught a flight from Honolulu to the remote peninsula of Kalaupapa on the island of Molokai to pray at the grave of the priest who had ministered to people with leprosy until he, too, contracted it and died in 1889.

“Dear Lord, you’re the one who created my body, so I know you can fix it,” Toguchi prayed. “I put my whole faith in you. … Father Damien, please pray for me, too, because I need your help.”

On a doctor’s visit on Oct. 2, 1998, a month after cancer was detected in her lungs, doctors expected the tumors to have grown. Instead, they had shrunk, and by May 1999 tests confirmed that they had disappeared without treatment.

Chang and a half-dozen other doctors, including a cardiologist, oncologist, pathologist and radiologist, couldn’t explain it. Chang, who does not adhere to any religion, urged Toguchi to report it to the Roman Catholic Church.

The Vatican conducted an extensive review and concluded that Toguchi’s recovery defied medical explanation.

On July 3, Pope Benedict XVI agreed and approved the case as Damien’s second miracle, opening the way for the Belgian priest to be declared a saint.

The Vatican requires confirmation of two miracles attributed to a candidate’s intercession before canonization, or sainthood.

Church authorities approved Damien’s first miracle in 1992. In that case, Sister Simplicia Hue of France, who was dying of a gastrointestinal illness, recovered overnight in 1895 after she began a novena, or nine days of prayer, to Damien.

Toguchi’s story, and identity, were kept secret for years while the church investigated her case. Today, the 80-year-old retired schoolteacher talks openly of her experience.

Chang says Toguchi’s chances of survival at the time of his diagnosis were zero, even if she had agreed to chemotherapy.

Toguchi had been diagnosed in December 1997 with liposarcoma, an uncommon tumor that arises in deep fat tissue – in this case, her buttock. She had several operations followed by radiation. A month later, doctors found and removed an unrelated cancer in her thyroid gland.

In September 1998, an X-ray showed three growths in her lungs. A needle biopsy of one showed it was consistent with the liposarcoma found in her left buttock. Follow-up X-rays showed the growths were shrinking on their own.

Rare cases of spontaneous remission, or regression, are reported, mostly involving melanoma skin cancer, kidney cancer or lymphoma but hardly ever solid tumors like breast, prostate or colon cancers, said Dr. Richard Schilsky, a University of Chicago cancer specialist and president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology .

Chang agrees that “no one truly knows” why some cancers disappear.

“For the true believer or faithful, this is a miracle. For the true skeptic, this is a random or very unusual coincidence. For the doctor and scientist, we call it complete spontaneous regression of cancer.”

Toguchi believes it was Damien and looks forward to the day when the priest is canonized, which is expected early next year. She plans to go to Rome for the ceremony.

Damien, born Joseph de Veuster, arrived in the islands in 1864. Nine years later he began ministering to leprosy patients on Molokai, where some thousands had been banished amid an epidemic in Hawaii in the 1850s. After contracting the disease, also known as Hansen’s disease, he died on April 15, 1889, at age 49.

Father Damien

Father Damien was a priest who ministered to people in Hawaii with leprosy until he, too, contracted it and died in 1889.

Pope Benedict XVI recently agreed and approved Audrey Toguchi’s case as Damien’s second miracle, opening the way for the Belgian priest to be declared a saint.

Originally published by BY JAYMES SONG.

(c) 2008 Virginian – Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

By HARRY MINIUM

By Harry Minium

The Virginian-Pilot

NORFOLK

A few years ago, the typical public recreation center in Norfolk was a cramped gym with a few meeting rooms that served only the immediate neighborhood.

If you wanted to swim or use workout facilities or racquetball courts, you had to go to Virginia Beach.

Now, thanks largely to a course set by City Manager Regina V.K. Williams and tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, recreation services in Norfolk are beginning to resemble those offered by its neighbor.

They won’t open without some difficult choices, however.

Norfolk has a total of 24 recreation centers, some of them needing repairs worth millions . City leaders must now figure out which centers to renovate and which ones to close. In addition to three larger recreation centers that are now either under way or will soon begin construction, Norfolk officials must also determine where to build more.

The city plans to hire a consultant to recommend answers to those questions. A report should go to the City Council next spring, said Darrell Crittendon, director of the city’s recreation department.

Councilman W. Randy Wright said a look at a city map tells him where to expand next – Tarrallton Park.

All the city’s large recreation centers and all but one pool are located in the southern part of the city.

Vice Mayor Anthony Burfoot wants a pool at Norview.

Residents in Ingleside, meanwhile, are lobbying for a rec center there.

Councilman Don Williams said it’s important to keep the city’s youths in mind when deciding on future locations because many have limited transportation.

“If we close one, we need to make sure the kids in that neighborhood can get to another center,” Williams said.

City leaders began studying the issue about four years ago, when Norfolk purchased the Jewish Community Center just south of Wards Corner for $6.2 million.

It was transformed into the Norfolk Fitness and Wellness Center.

At 92,000 square feet, it’s slightly larger than most of the rec centers in Virginia Beach. It has indoor and outdoor pools, workout rooms, a regulation-size basketball court, racquetball and tennis courts, meeting spaces and soccer fields.

“It’s the most comprehensive facility we have in the city,” said Councilman Barclay C. Winn .

Three more of its kind are on the way near Norview High School, Old Dominion University and in Broad Creek .

The new Norview center will offer a full-size basketball court, exercise facilities with state-of-the-art aerobic and weight machines, computer labs and a media center that can show movies, Crittendon said.

The Lamberts Point facility will offer more of an X-Games theme – it will have a 25-foot rock climbing wall and zip-line facilities, in addition to a gym and workout facilities. The Kroc Center, a $30 million, 100,000-square-foot community center, also will house an indoor water park .

The offerings in the centers differ because city officials asked their surrounding communities what they wanted in the facilities before they designed them.

The city also is upgrading its swimming facilities. T here currently are three indoor pools – at Northside Park, the wellness center and the Huntersville Recreation Center.

Two more are coming. Work will soon begin on the 21,000-square- foot, $7.7 million Southside Aquatic Center in Berkley.

And about $9 million has been budgeted for a Therapeutic Recreation Center to be built near Lake Taylor Hospital. It would have a pool and workout facility and likely would provide specialized services for the elderly and people with disabilities .

Crittendon also has overseen the addition of new softball fields at Northside Park, the revamping of Shoop Park and an expansion at Tarrallton Park.

“We’re doing some wonderful things for our citizens,” said Councilman Paul R. Riddick .

Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371, [email protected]

planned openings

In December, the $7.9 million Norview Community Center, at 27,000 square feet – the second-largest in the city – will open near Norview High School.

A year later, the $7 million Lamberts Point Community Center is to open near Old Dominion University.

Approximately a year or two after that, officials say, the Kroc Center, a $30 million, 100,000-square-foot community center, will open in Broad Creek. It will be largely funded and run by the Salvation Army, but the city is providing land and millions of dollars. It will be the city’s most comprehensive rec center, with an indoor water park among the amenities offered.

The Norview and Lamberts Point centers will be about a third the size of the four larger rec centers in Virginia Beach.

Originally published by BY HARRY MINIUM.

(c) 2008 Virginian – Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.