NEW YORK — Harold Snyder, who started Biocraft
Laboratories, an early and highly successful manufacturer of
generic equivalents for brand-name pharmaceuticals, died
Dec. 18. He was 86.
Snyder founded Biocraft in Elmwood Park, N.J., with his
wife, Beatrice, in 1964 and began making antibiotic tablets,
liquids and capsules. The company also manufactured
antidepressants and heart and hypertensive medications.
The Snyders waited for patents on existing Read the rest of this entry »

Not more than 30 seconds after Phillies pitcher Brad Lidge nailed down the World Series, Independence Blue Cross chief executive officer Joseph A. Frick, amid the jubilant throng at Citizens Bank Park, felt his BlackBerry hum.
It was Kenneth R. Melani – chief executive at Highmark Inc., the Pittsburgh health insurance giant and future Independence merger partner.
“Way to go,” Melani wrote.
“That meant the world to me,” Frick remembered Wednesday, Read the rest of this entry »

Health care coverage for all West Virginians has long been the Holy Grail of health policy in the state, and if the optimism of advocates and policymakers is any guide, 2009 could see them advance closer to that goal.
With a governor pledging to find coverage for all working residents and a legislative effort to devise a “road map'' for a restructured health care system kicking off in January, the battered national economy and an uncertain Read the rest of this entry »

are essential for January says Fitness Footwear, as heavy rain forecast for the rest of the month.
) January 24, 2009 — Most of the UK has been hit by January floods with residents and emergency services on alert as more strong winds and heavy rains are on their way. With widespread flooding caused chaos across the country, weather forecasters have predicted that there is more rain to come.
As emergency services rescued people trapped by rising Read the rest of this entry »

Part two of a three-part series on home health aides, to be published on Tuesdays in The New Old Age.
Last week Marki Flannery, the president of
, an affiliate of the
,
. This week she picks up where she left off, answering questions about the costs of home health aides, the intimate strangers who often make it possible for our parents to remain in their homes, even when they need help or supervision day and night.
Q. What does it cost to Read the rest of this entry »

ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2009)
— Introduced in the 1960s, oral contraceptives have been used by about 80 percent of women in the United States at some point in their lives. For women without pre-existing risks for heart disease, the early formulations were generally safe, and the newer ones appear to be even safer, but all the risks and benefits are yet to be established, especially as women’s lifestyles change and new forms of contraceptives Read the rest of this entry »

BATH — Steuben County recorded its first confirmed case of influenza in January, and the numbers have been climbing since, according to Gail Wechsler, public health coordinator for the county government’s Public Health and Nursing Services.
“The flu has hit for sure,” Wechsler said last week. “At this point, it’s throughout the county.”
The U.S. Center for Disease Control last week reported “widespread” flu activity in New York and other Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (Reuters) – The number of Americans
without health insurance could rise by almost 10 million to 54
million in a decade if lawmakers fail to quickly enact policies
that rein in costs and expand coverage, Congress’ top budget
analyst said on Wednesday.
Douglas Elmendorf, director of the non-partisan
Congressional Budget Office, told the Senate Finance Committee it
may be decades before costs savings are realized from any overhaul
of Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top Republican on the House Veterans Affairs Committee demanded Wednesday that the VA explain how it allowed software glitches to put the medical care of patients at its health centers nationwide at risk.
“I am deeply concerned about the consequences on patient care that could have resulted from this ’software glitch’ and that mistakes were not disclosed to patients who were directly affected,” said Rep. Steve Buyer, Read the rest of this entry »

Many people know that the Federal Reserve sets interest rates in order to loan money to other banks so they can keep cash
flowing throughout the U.S. financial system. Mostly, this works great for everyone involved. But, sometimes, banks and thrifts
need a little extra cash, mostly so they can meet the reserve requirement (the minimum amount of deposits banks need to be
considered in good financial shape).
Read the rest of this entry »