Allina in the News

Here's recent news featuring Allina Hospitals & Clinics, a not-for-profit family of hospitals, clinics and other care services dedicated to meeting the health care needs of communities throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
Visit our newsroom in Allina.com.

Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation Researcher Goes to Korea to Present ViroMed Study Results

[Allina Newsroom, November 18, 2008] Minneapolis researcher Tim Henry, MD, will give an update next week in Korea on Phase One of a therapeutic angiogenesis trial being completed by the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation.

Under Henry's direction, ViroMed is studying the results of VM202 for the treatment of critical limb ischemia (CLI), one of the severest types of peripheral artery disease (PAD). It is the first gene-therapy clinical trial to be completed by the Korean-based company in the U.S. Read the full story on allina.com...

Area health news

This summary of health news throughout the areas Allina serves includes links to the full articles on different Web sites. Read more headlines and news stories on Allina.com.

Lumen Device Gets FDA Approval

[Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, November 19, 2008] Lumen Biomedical Inc. received regulatory approval to market a device used to treat artery disease. FiberNet can filter out debris following treatments in blood vessels. Such debris can increase a patient's risk of suffering a stroke. Read the full story on bizjournals.com...

Use of Medtronic Product Being Investigated by Feds

[Star Tribune, November 18, 2008 ] Since its U.S. launch in 2002, a unique product developed by Medtronic to promote bone growth has been used to mend the ailing backs of thousands of patients. But on Tuesday, Medtronic revealed that the U.S. Justice Department is investigating how the product, called Infuse, is being used "off-label" in ways not vetted for safety and effectiveness by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Read the full story on startribune.com...

Medtronic Profits Miss, and Stock Drops 13%

[Star Tribune; Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, November 18, 2008] Medtronic's stock plunged to its lowest level in a decade Tuesday after it reported quarterly earnings that missed analysts' estimates. The Minnesota-based firm's spine business as well as sales of heart defibrillators disappointed; production issues also contributed.
Read the full story on startribune.com...
Read the full story on bizjournals.com...

Minnesota Disciplines Four Doctors, Two for Inappropriate Contact

[Star Tribune, November 18, 2008] A Duluth physician who allegedly touched 21 female patients inappropriately during "unconventional" medical exams was one of four Minnesota physicians disciplined this month by the medical board. Read the full story on startribune.com...

New Downtown Business Promotes Nutrition

[Owatonna People's Press, November 18, 2008] The staff at HealthNutz in Owatonna, Minnesota, provides support for weight loss challenges, offers wellness coaching, designs meal plans and does fitness evaluations. But they say they focus most on nutrition as the key to health. Weight loss is secondary in their book.

A local physician and nutrition specialist discusses whether HealthNutz's liquid meal replacements make up for a well balanced meal. Read the full story on owatonna.com...

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL HEALTH NEWS

Read more headlines and news stories on Allina.com.

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Plastic Pieces Found in Lean Cuisine Chicken Meals

More than a million Lean Cuisine frozen meals are being recalled in the United States after seven customers said they found pieces of hard, bright blue plastic in their chicken meals.

Three varieties of meals are being recalled: Lean Cuisine Pesto Chicken with Bow Tie Pasta, Lean Cuisine Chicken Mediterranean, and Lean Cuisine Chicken Tuscan, the New York Daily News reported.

One consumer suffered a minor injury after a piece of plastic poked the person's gums, said Roz Ahearn, a spokeswoman for Nestle Prepared Foods.

"A tray may have broken and chip-chopped into the product," Ahearn told the Daily News.

For more information about the recall, call (800) 227-6188.

-----

G.E. Wall Ovens Pose Fire Hazard: Report

About 244,000 wall ovens are being recalled by General Electric Co. because the ovens could cause a fire or property damage during the self- clean cycle, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says.

To date, there have been 28 cases in which kitchen cabinets have been damaged by escaping heat after oven doors were removed and improperly reattached by installers or consumers. There have been no reports of injuries, Bloomberg news said.

The recall covers GE, GE Profile, Monogram and Kenmore wall ovens sold from October 2002 to December 2004 for between $900 and $3,600. The CPSC advises consumers to inspect the oven door, which won't open into the flat position if it's not properly attached, Bloomberg said.

If there's a problem with the door, consumers should not use the self- clean cycle until a free repair has been completed. The ovens can still be used for normal baking or broiling. For more information, phone GE at (888) 569-1588.

-----

Protein Linked to Breast Cancer Metastasis

Reducing production of a protein called palladin limits the ability of breast cancer cells to spread, according to U.S. researchers who also found that levels of palladin were higher in four invasive breast cancer cell lines than in four non-invasive cell lines.

The findings from laboratory tests suggest that palladin plays a crucial role in the spread of cancer cells from breast tumors to other areas of the body, United Press International reported.

Most breast cancer patients wouldn't die if cancer cells couldn't make their way from the breast tumor to the brain and bone marrow, said researcher Carol Otey, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

The study was published in the journal Oncogene.

-----

Nearly Half of Primary-Care Docs Dissatisfied: Survey

A new U.S. survey found that 49 percent of 11,950 primary care physicians said they want to stop practicing or reduce their patient loads during the next three years due to frustration caused by having to deal with non-clinical paperwork, difficulties being reimbursed by insurance companies, and too many government regulations.

"Tens of thousands of primary care doctors face the same problems as millions of ordinary citizens: frustrations in dealing with HMOs and government red tape," said Sandra Johnson, a board member of the Physicians' Foundation, which released the survey, United Press International reported.

"The thing we heard over and over again from the physicians was that they're unhappy they can't spend more time with their patients, which is why they went into primary care in the first place," Johnson said in a news release.

The survey also found that 78 percent of respondents believe there's an existing shortage of primary care doctors in the United States, UPI reported.

Copyright © 2008 ScoutNews LLC. All rights reserved.

Published on: 11/19/2008

TODAY'S HEALTH NEWS, a compilation of local, national and international health news, comes courtesy of Allina.com.

Link broken? Links to area health news articles may change without notice. For the full text of stories, please contact the editor .

Wondering about something you've read before? Visit our archives.

Part of Allina Hospitals & Clinics, Allina.com offers reliable health and wellness information, physician referral and other health resources, especially for people who live in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Allina.com also offers these free health e-newsletters: Today's Health News, Recipe of the Week, Dialog: Living with Diabetes, Pregnancy & Parenting eMagazine. Subscribe or unsubscribe.

You can also receive this e-newsletter via RSS feed.