 | 09/01/10 - PAML & Providence Health Form New Joint Venture Lab |
| Spokane-based Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories (PAML) and Providence Health & Services in California have entered into an agreement to create a new clinical laboratory services company serving the San Fernando Valley and neighboring communities.
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| 08/30/10 - Aetna Files Lawsuit Against LabCorp |
| Health insurer Aetna has filed a lawsuit against Laboratory Corporation of America alleging unfair competition, misrepresentation, interference, breach of contract, and violation of trade secret laws.
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| 08/26/10 - Agendia Expands Stateside with New California Laboratory |
| New Irvine facility to support Agendia's commercial expansion in the U.S. market, address increasing demand for MammaPrint testing.
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| 08/24/10 - Roche Acquires BioImagene for $100 Million |
| Swiss biotech company Roche has signed an agreement under which Ventana Medical Systems Inc., a member of the Roche Group, will acquire 100 percent of BioImagene Inc., a privately held company based in Sunnyvale, Calif. The purchase price is approximately $100 million.
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| 08/18/10 - HHS To Destroy Lab Competitive Bidding Data |
| The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has agreed to destroy the bid data that San Diego-area laboratories submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as part of CMS's competitive bidding demonstration project.
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| 08/13/10 - LabCorp Establishes Global Clinical Trials Collaboration with Clearstone |
| Laborp (Burlington, N.C.) has announced a collaboration between Esoterix Clinical Trials Services, a division of LabCorp, and Clearstone Central Laboratories, a global centreal laboratory specializing in drug development and pharmaceutical services.
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| 08/09/10 - Georgetown Shuts Down Molecular Diagnostic Lab |
| Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., has shut down its molecular diagnostics laboratory amid allegations of inaccurate testing and a pending investigation by the federal government and the College of American Pathologists (CAP).
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| 07/28/10 - IVD Company Iris International to Acquire AlliedPath |
| Global in vitro diagnostics company to pay $5 million for CLIA-certified laboratory to speed development and commercialization of novel molecular diagnostics.
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| 07/27/10 - DTC Test Results Are Misleading, Says GAO |
| Results of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests are "misleading and of little or no practical use" to consumers, concludes a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The report was released July 22 during a congressional hearing on DTC testing.
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| 07/22/10 - Quest and LabCorp Report Second Quarter Results |
| Quest Diagnostics (Madison, N.J.) and Laboratory Corporation of America (Burlington, N.C.) reported second-quarter earnings this week. Quest reduced its revenue guidance for the year while LabCorp raised its 2010 revenue guidance.
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| 07/21/10 - FDA Convenes Public Meeting on Oversight of Lab-Developed Tests |
| Hundreds of stakeholders gather for discussion as FDA moves to exercise its authority over LDTs.
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| 07/14/10 - LabCorp to Acquire DCL Medical Laboratories |
| Thompon Street Capital Partners (St. Louis, Mo.) has announced the sale of DCL Medical Laboratories to Laboratory Corporation of America (Burlington, N.C.).
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| 07/13/10 - CMS Invites Pricing Recommendations for New 2011 Lab Codes |
| The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will hold a public meeting July 22 to obtain recommendations on how it should price new CPT lab codes to be added to the 2011 Medicare Part B lab fee schedule.
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| 07/07/10 - Meridian Bioscience Inks Deal with DiaSorin |
| DiaSorin will use Meridian technology to develop novel infectious disease diagnostics for use on its automated testing platform.
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| 07/06/10 - FTC to Review LabCorp Acquisition of Westcliff Labs |
| The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has begun a review of Laboratory Corporation of America's recent acquisition of Westcliff Laboratories (Santa Ana, Calif.).
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| 07/01/10 - CMS Delays July 6 Start for Claims Rejection |
| n welcome news for clinical laboratories and pathologists, the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) said June 30 that it will not automatically reject claims based on orders or referrals from providers that do not have a current Medicare enrollment record as of July 6.
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| 06/28/10 - In Bilski Case, Justices Affirm that Business Method Was Ineligible for Patent |
| Affirming the lower court ruling in Bilski v. Kappos, the Supreme Court concludes that a business method for hedging risk in energy markets was not patentable but leaves the door open for method patents.
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| 06/25/10 - Obama Signs Bill for Medicare Physician Fee Fix |
| President Obama June 25 signed into law legislation that provides a 2.2 percent update to fees paid under the Medicare Part B physician fee schedule retroactive from June 1 through Nov. 30, 2010.
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| 06/24/10 - Congress Cancels Physician Fee Cut, Passes Six-Month Fix |
| The House June 24 approved, by a 417-1 vote, Senate legislation (H.R. 3962) canceling a 21 percent Medicare pay cut for physicians that took effect June 1 and replacing it with a 2.2 percent increase through the end of November 2010. The bill now goes to the president, who is expected to sign it.
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| 06/22/10 - FDA Approves Abbott Test for Detection of HIV Antigen, Antibodies |
| Combo assay is first test approved in the United States that can simultaneously detect HIV antigen and antibodies.
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| 06/14/10 - CMS Extends Hold on Medicare Physician Claims |
| Expecting Congress to act within the next few days to cancel the 21 percent cut in Medicare physician fees that took effect June 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has directed its contractors to continue holding claims with dates of service on and after June 1 through Thursday, June 17.
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| 06/14/10 - Private Equity Firm to Acquire Cerba European Lab |
| PAI Partners agrees to buy European lab leader in a secondary buyout estimated at $600 million.
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| 06/11/10 - FDA Seeks to Regulate Genetic Tests as Medical Devices |
| In a sign that it intends to crack down on companies that manufacture genetic tests, the Food and Drug Administration June 10 issued formal letters to five companies informing them that their tests may be regulated as medical devices.
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| 06/02/10 - EHRs Lack Usability Standards, Study Finds |
| AHRQ-funded report probes dearth of information about EHR usability processes and products, offers recommendations.
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| 06/01/10 - Medicare Cut in Physician Fees Takes Effect June 1 |
| Congress recessed May 28 for Memorial Day without blocking the June 1 cut of 21 percent in Medicare physician fees required under the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) update formula. The House approved legislation (H.R. 4213) canceling the cut and replacing it with a 19-month physician fee increase, but the Senate failed to act on the bill before going on recess. It is expected to take up the issue when it returns the week of June 7.
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| 05/24/10 - LabCorp to Acquire Westcliff Medical Labs for $57.5 Million |
| Laboratory Corporation of America (Burlington, N.C.) has agreed to acquire Westcliff Medical Laboratories (Santa Ana, Calif.) for $57.5 million. Westcliff filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 19.
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| 05/20/10 - Congress Scrambles to Prevent Medicare Payment Cut -- Again |
| Congress once again is scrambling to prevent a Medicare reimbursement cut to physicians, and it appears that as in the recent past, lawmakers will wait until the last possible moment to act on the issue.
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| 05/19/10 - CLSI Publishes Guideline on Point-of-Care Tests |
| New guidance document focuses on selecting and evaluating point-of-care testing systems.
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| 05/11/10 - Myriad Reports Slight Increase in Revenues for Third Quarter |
| Myriad Genetics Inc. (Salt Lake City) has reported that revenues for the quarter ended March 31 increased 5 percent to $90.8 mllion when compared to revenues for the same period in 2009.
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| 05/05/10 - GAO: CMS Should Monitor Bundled Payment for Dialysis Care |
| It will be important for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to monitor the effect of a new bundled payment system on the access to and quality of dialysis care for beneficiaries with an above-average cost of treatment, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a recent report.
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| 04/28/10 - AlloMap Test Proves Effective for Transplant Monitoring |
| Clinical trial results indicate that XDx's IVDMIA is comparable to routine biopsies for monitoring patients who have had a heart transplant.
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| 04/21/10 - LabCorp Partners with Duke to Commercialize Biomarkers |
| New joint venture will capitalize on discoveries and sample holdings of both companies to demonstrate clinical utility of biomarkers.
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| 04/21/10 - Winter Weather Hurts Quest, LabCorp First-Quarter Results |
| Severe weather in the first few months of the year hurt first-quarter results for both Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp, leading Quest to cut its full-year revenue forecast.
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| 04/17/10 - Medicare Physician Fee Cut Blocked through May |
| President Obama signed legislation (H.R. 4851) on April 15 delaying a 21 percent Medicare payment cut for physicians through May 31. The cancellation of the cut is retroactive to April 1. Medicare physician fees have been frozen at their 2009 levels since the start of this year, while Congress grapples with reform of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, which required the 21 percent cut.
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