Ipswich Hospital in Ipswich, England, has carried out an image-guided intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) procedure using Varian Medical Systems' RapidArc on a patient with tongue cancer.

Todd J. Scarbrough, MD, and Melbourne Internal Medicine Associates have agreed to pay the U.S. $12 million to settle claims that the healthcare providers violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to Medicare and the militarys healthcare program, according to the Department of Justice (DoJ).

Admission to higher-volume hospitals was associated with a reduction in mortality for acute MI and heart failure, although there was a volume threshold above which an increased condition-specific hospital volume was no longer significantly associated with reduced mortality, based on study findings published March 25 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

For the top 10 brand name drugs used by Medicare Part D enrollees, prices have increased by 5 percent or greater between 2009-2010, making beneficiaries who have reached the coverage gap, known as the donut hole, pay full price for prescription drug costs, according to a 2010 data spotlight published by the Kaiser Family Foundation. In 2007, 3.4 million beneficiaries reached the donut hole, after initial coverage limits were reached.

The House of Representatives Sunday approved the Senate version of healthcare reform legislation by a vote of 219-212. Later in the evening, the House cleared its package of amendments, the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010, by a vote of 220-211. The reconciliation bill will now go to the Senate, where Democrats need 51 votes to send it to President Barack Obama to sign into law.

Despite physician practices being broadly consistent with recommendations in the medical literature, there are variations by physician specialty and geographic location that may highlight evidence of inappropriate imaging in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE), according to a study published online in the April issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed a $227,500 fine against the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for violations of NRC regulations associated with an unprecedented number of medical errors identified at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center.

The minimally invasive treatment that that stabilizes collapsed vertebrae with the injection of medical-grade bone cement into the spine, vertebroplasty, can result in a reduction of pain, medication usage and disability in patients with multiple myeloma, according to researchers who presented their findings at the 35th Annual Society of Interventional Radiology's (SIR) scientific meeting in Tampa, Fla.