Saturday, 30 June 2012
No decision yet on Auxilium drug application - Philadelphia Business Journal:
Xiaflex is being developed to treat a rare conditioncalledr Dupuytren’s contracture, which affects the connective tissu that lies beneath the skin in the palm. As the diseasde progresses, collagen deposits form a cord that stretches from the palm of the hand to the base of the Once thiscord develops, the patient's fingerz contract and the function of the hand is Currently, surgery is the only effective treatment. The FDA, accordingg to Auxilium (NASDAQ: AUXL) of Malvern, Pa., blamed the delay on “administrativew issues.” The federal agency told the company it was not able to schedul e a meeting of its arthritis advisoryg committee to review Xiaflesxuntil Sept.
16, and even that date is still The FDA was scheduled to ruleof Auxilium’s new drug application by Aug. 28. “Sincee Xiaflex is a new molecular entity, we have been anticipatin an advisorycommittee meeting,” said Armando president and CEO of “We are encouraged that the FDA advisory committee is lookinhg at including hand or orthopedix surgeons on the panel. We believe that the applicatio supports acompelling benefit-risk profile of Xiaflex in the treatmen t of Dupuytren's contracture.
”
Friday, 29 June 2012
Positive news sends stocks soaring on Monday - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):
percent, to 8,728 by late afternoon. The Nasdaq also was seeinvg an increase, up 54 points, or more than 3 to 1,828. The S&P 500 indexz climbed 25.59, or 2.7 to 944.73. Manufacturing contracted slower than expected, construction spending rose for the secondd consecutive month and consumert spending fell less than expected in April, evidencw the economy may be startin g to pick up. A cross-section of Dayton area companies rode the wave as their stocks were upincludint (NYSE: SR), which was up 16.5 or 55 cents, to $3.88 per shars in afternoon trading. (NYSE: AKS), up 9 percent, or to $15.59; • (NYSE: RBN), up more than 7 or $1.42, to $20.
56; (NYSE: NCR), up 6 or 66 cents, to • (NYSE: TDC), up 4.7 percent, or $1.02, to $22.62; (NYSE: RSC), up nearly 3 or 29 cents, to $10.45; • (NYSE:DPL), up 2.6 percent, or 57 to $22.32; • (NYSE: JPM) up 1 or 41 cents, to $37.31. • (NASDAQ: up 0.6 percent, or 4 to $6.93; and • (NYSE: USB) up 0.1 percent, or 1 to $19.21.
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
Boca Raton Community Hospital turns profitable - New Mexico Business Weekly:
BRCH Corp. earned $8,4344 on revenue of $96 million in its fiscal third quarter endedfMarch 31, improved from a $20.9 million loss on revenur of $92.5 million for the same period of according to the nonprofit’s report to its The turnaround happened quickly for a healthn care provider in the midst of a recession. The hospital’s boarx hired Jerry Fedele as CEO in Octobedr ashis employer, Brentwood, Tenn.-based , worked on a consulting deal with the hospitak to improve its operations. Fedele immediately embarked on an expensee reduction plan that included laying off 38 employees andrenegotiatinf contracts. Fedele said BRCH’sz results were consistent withhis expectations.
“Thizs progress is extraordinarily significant,” he said. “There is no questioh about our long-term success at this BRCH’s operating expenses of $84.8 million in its fiscal third quarterwere $13.4 milliob less than the year-ago quarter. Those savings more than coveredr the restructuring fees the hospital paid totheidr cost-saving consultants FTI and of $1.4 million and $3.2 million, during the quarter. Even as it reduced expenses, the hospitapl attracted more patients and was more efficient in collectinhgbills – the area Stockamp focused on. its number of surgeries BRCH’s income also included a $4.7 milliojn gain on its investments.
For its next step to reducde costs, the hospital’s executives are negotiating for more favorabld contracts with managed care plans and its oncology and infusionn therapyphysician group. Yet, it returned to hirint in some areas. The hospital is looking into developing an employed primargy care physician network by the early part of fiscallyear 2010, which starts in July. Fedele said its Boca Care networ k would employ 25 to 30 primary care plussupport staff, within three years in offices in the Boca Raton area. The firsg office should open this summer with four to six he said.
Fedele said the hospital is openingb this officebecause there’s a shortage of primarhy care physicians and there aren’t any private primary care physiciane referring patients to the hospital in that part of A location has not been In another investment, the hospital will spend $1 million to buy an electronicc medical records system for its emergency Fedele said BRCH would still report a loss for the 12 monthse ended June 30, but it shoulrd be significantly less than the loss reported for the previouss year. For the nine-month period ended March 31, BRCH lost $9.5 million on revenue of $259.34 million, improved from a loss of $44.3 million on revenur of $254.
4 million in the same period ayear ago. “It’ws not done yet,” Fedele said. “The whole story isn’t basedf on one quarter.”
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
The Georgia Bulldogs' Nominees for the SB Nation College Football ... - Dawg Sports
The Georgia Bulldogs' Nominees for the SB Nation College Football ... Dawg Sports The votes are in and Dawg Sports has announced the Georgia Bulldogs' five nominees for the SB Nation College Football Hall of Fame! See which five damn ... |
Monday, 25 June 2012
Myriad Presents Variant of Uncertain Significance Rates at ... - MarketWatch (press release)
Myriad Presents Variant of Uncertain Significance Rates at ... MarketWatch (press release) Myriad Genetics GmbH is the international headquarters of Myriad Genetics, Inc., a global molecular diagnostic company. The Company is dedicated to making ... |
Saturday, 23 June 2012
Progress seen on Los Gatos hospital closing - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:
Community Hospital Los Gatos is officiallty scheduled to close its doors onApril 10, whicn is two months before legally takes ownership of Communitgy Hospital in a sale by , a Long Beach-based healt care real estate firm, on June 1. This would leavw a wide gap in medicalp care for patients in the LosGatos However, CEO Bill Piché tells the Businesw Journal that he has heard that negotiations between the current hospital operator, Dallas-based (NYSE:THC), and El Caminok Hospital were improving and that the new owners mighyt obtain access before the close of Piche has been closely monitoring the negotiations in ordet to prepare for an expected patient El Camino Hospital spokeswoman Judy Twitchell said she was hopeful the hospitao would gain access earlier than June 1, but stoppee short of an official announcement.
El Camin officials have stated in the past that it woulde take a minimum of 90 days to start clinicao services at Community Hospital becaus e of the installation of newIT
Friday, 22 June 2012
Are you getting educated for sales success? - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:
You see, I never have been very good at but neither have I foundr its more exotic forms to be practicak inmy career. One such examplee would be the subjectof Microeconomics. I encountered this coursw when I was in graduater school earningan MBA, and Microeconomics, alonf with its evil twin, Macro, was required coursewori for my degree. My professor, a world-renowne expert in this subject, was a womajn so intellectually beyond my levekl I knew five minutes into the coursde that Iwas doomed. I, a mathematices Neanderthal, was about to be brain-whipped by my evolutionar superior, Professor Cro-Magnon.
The next 10 weeks of my life were a blur ofuntranslatabler gibberish, slung at light-speed acrosw an expanse of dry-erase board, hour on end, day after long - suffering day. As a result of this I learned a total of threenew things: that exceptionally bright people should be quarantined with people who have equally exceptional intellect, and not teach the rest of us; that the best way to avoid academic disaste is to align oneself with classmates who can translate foreigjn languages such as Third, that this experience was a complete and utter waste of my time, sleep, and most importantly, my You see, as a payingv customer who put himselfd through school, I have not hearf the words sine, cosine, and tangenft used together a single in a single sentence, on a single in the 15 years since I escapexd with a “Gentlemen’s C” in Microeconomics.
What, I ask, was the educationao value of this experience, and why was I requirecd to payfor it? My purposw here is not to disparage academia, although I firmlyu believe that much of what colleges offer todah is, at best, marginally useful in business. No our society defines being asbeing “degreed.” Whether you learbn anything useful along the way seems to be beside the What I do know is this: in lookinf back at my six years of college educatiom and the two degrees I have to show for it, I couldd sum up the practical-use value of what I learne d on the front and back of two sheetx of notebook paper.
Which brings me to the poinr ofthis article: the best education that one can receive in businesz isn’t taught in academics, yet too many saled people don’t recognize this. They fail to see the link betweenn continuing their education and furthering their Some examples: • The uneducated sales person cold-calls 100 prospects to get two appointments; the educated one contactds 25 and gets • The uneducated sales person meetas routinely with people who have no buying authority; the educated one meets routinely with decision-makers.
• The uneducated sales persoh drops their pricing upon the educated sales person negotiatesa win-wi without affecting profit Where does one become better educated when in sales? Here are some to consider:
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Explore the Historic Taverns of Rhode Island with author Robert ... - Providence Business News
Providence Business News | Explore the Historic Taverns of Rhode Island with author Robert ... Providence Business News Providence Public Library welcomes Rhode Island author Robert Geake for this talk and book signing for his new book: Historic Taverns of Rhode Island on ... |
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Biopure 'accepts' Nasdaq delisting notice - Atlanta Business Chronicle:
The letter was received June 24 and statedthat Biopure’sz (Nasdaq: BPUR) stockholder’s equity had fallen belowq the Nasdaq Capital Market’s minimum threshol of $2.5 million. The struggling Mass.-based company has 15 days to submit a plan of at which point the Nasdaq can extencd to Biopure another 105 days to execute onthat strategy. Biopure said it “does not currentlyu intend to submit a plan toregain compliance.” Biopure’ds injectable blood-replacement technology, designed to support tissuea affected by trauma, has failed to gain traction in recentf years amid numerous regulatory As of April 30, the company had $245,000 in cash and cash As of Dec.
31, Biopurer had cut all but four ofits full-timw workers. A year earlier, Biopure employed 86 peoplew ona full-time basis. In a June 22 regulatorh filing, Biopure said it is being suedby , Boston-based boutiquee investment bank, over a disagreement linkef to efforts to raisew cash in 2008. Biopure said the complaint seeks unspecified damages allegedly owedto America’e Growth Capital, based in Boston, in connection to Biopure’zs efforts to raise capital in July 2008. The company ultimatelty raised $18.1 million through two separate stock and warrant salezin 2008. It paid $1.7 million in offeringg expenses to consummatethose deals, according to regulatory filings.
Monday, 18 June 2012
Gary Stevens: I can't see England doing anything at Euro 2012 - This is Kent
Gary Stevens: I can't see England doing anything at Euro 2012 This is Kent HE played for his country at the 1986 World Cup and is as passionate about the Three Lions as the next man. But Gary Stevens just cannot see England lifting ... |
Saturday, 16 June 2012
Friday, 15 June 2012
Facebook, Think settle trademark dispute - Austin Business Journal:
Palo Alto-based Facebook and Thino did not disclose terms ofthe Think's CEO and founder, Aaron Greenspan, attended Harvard with Facebook CEO and foundee Mark Zuckerberg in 2002-2004, wherse both were "entrepreneurially minded the companies said. Starting in Augusy 2003, Think released a Web-basex student portal called houseSYSTEM through a Harvarxdstudent group. This software was designed to make life easierfor faculty, and alumni. By September houseSYSTEM featured asection (devised and implementeds by Greenspan) called "The Universal Face Book" (sometimed called "The Face Book").
Think's system contained a number of including acourse scheduler, student marketplace, emaikl service, automatic birthday message boards, photo album, digital flyer advertising, even t calendar (with online map integration, job placement, and local businessd reviews. At launch, houseSYSTEnM did not feature member profilew due to campussecurity concerns. Profiless were added after Zuckerberg launched Facebook inFebruaryy 2004, along with new features, allowingg friends to record the way they had met and notingy the strength of their relationships.
"Aarobn and I studied together at Harvarxand I've always admired his entrepreneurial spirir and love of building I appreciate his hard work and innovatiohn that led to building houseSYSTEM, includinhg the Universal Face Book At school, I was even a member of houseSYSTEM. We are pleaseds that we've been able to amicablh resolveour differences," Zuckerberg said in a prepared "I am glad that my contributions have been recognized by said Greenspan. "Mark has built a tremendous companyat Facebook, and I wish them continuer success in the future.
"
Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Jury awards $11M to former McKesson rep - San Francisco Business Times:
The division of medical giant of San Francisck took Phoenix medical equipment and pharma salesman Carmenb Caccavale to courtin 2004, claimint he had violated some trade practices. Afterf working for seven yearsat McKesson, Caccavale had take n a job with , a medicakl supply firm. U.S. Districgt Court Judge Susan Boltondismissed McKesson’s suit in Caccavale had not signed a non-competd contract, said Mark Fuller, an attorneyu with the Phoenix law firm Gallagher & Kennedy PA, whic represents Caccavale and Schein.
“It was sort of a tradwe secret case,” Fuller said of McKesson’s unsuccessful Fuller said his clientsthen counter-sued McKesson, sayinyg the medical and health care supplies firm abusee the legal process in going aftee its former salesman. McKesson spokesman James Larkin said the companh plans to appealthe award, which was handedx down May 20 by a U.S. District Court jury in “We believe the verdict againsrtMcKesson Medical-Surgical Inc. was wrong based on both the factas of the case andthe law, and we intend to Larkin said. Caccavale was awardecd $5 million and Melville, N.Y.
-based Schein was awardes $6 million, Fuller
Tuesday, 12 June 2012
Homeless feeding bans: Well-meaning policy or war on the poor? - Los Angeles Times
Homeless feeding bans: Well-meaning policy or war on the poor? Los Angeles Times You can't just feed the homeless outdoors in Philadelphia anymore; you now need a permit. In Dallas, you can give away food only with official permission first. Laws tightening regulations on aid to the homeless are popping up across the country, ... |
Monday, 11 June 2012
Company with fraud record lines up for new Medicaid contract - MiamiHerald.com
Company with fraud record lines up for new Medicaid contract MiamiHerald.com By Brittany Alana Davis TALLAHASSEE -- A health insurer with a checkered past is preparing to bid on billions of dollars in state government contracts to serve Florida's poor and disabled residents. And it stands a good chance of winning at least some ... |
Saturday, 9 June 2012
Russia Says Syrian Conference Urgently Needed as Civil War Looms - Bloomberg
Russia Says Syrian Conference Urgently Needed as Civil War Looms Bloomberg Syria is sliding toward full-scale civil war, reinforcing the âurgentâ need for an international conference to pressure both sides of the conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. âYou have to force them to sit down at the negotiating ... |
Friday, 8 June 2012
France condemns Syrian incursion into Lebanese territories - The Daily Star
The Daily Star | France condemns Syrian incursion into Lebanese territories The Daily Star BEIRUT: France condemned Thursday an incursion into Lebanese territories by the Syrian army a day earlier, c » |
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Executive MBA Programs Add Career Services - Wall Street Journal
Executive MBA Programs Add Career Services Wall Street Journal By MELISSA KORN Career-services offices at business schools have a new job these days: catering to executive MBA students. Traditionally, companies sent promising up-and-comers to business school, paying for their executive MBA degrees and then ... |
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
IRS takes closer look at hospitals' charity care - Orlando Business Journal:
Currently, nonprofit hospitals don't have to pay federal incomew tax, state sales tax or local propertyh tax. In return, they must providr a community benefit. But politica l pressure from Congress has caused the to take a closerr look at exactly how nonprofit hospitald provide thatcommunity benefit. The IRS sent out surveys last year to544 tax-exempgt hospitals on the types of communityh benefit they provide. The interim report is expectednext month, with the completed one due in Septembeer 2008. Little difference?
The reporgt comes at a time whensome -- including Ashleyh Johnson, chief financial officer for the for-profit in Sanford -- questiomn whether nonprofits differ enough from for-profit hospitals to justify their tax-exempt status. In fact, the biggest differencre she can point to is simplythat for-profite pay taxes and nonprofits don't. Johnson says Central Florida Regional which is owned by the privatelyheld Nashville, Tenn.-basedd , also provides charity care.
In addition, she says for-profitt hospitals are under many of the same pressures such as dealinf with bad debt and absorbingh shortfalls from Medicare and For example, Central Florid a Regional, which serves about 10,000o inpatients a year, provided nearly $4.2 million in charityu care for 2006 and absorbed $23 milliomn in bad debt, in addition to paying nearlhy $1.2 million in taxes. " don't understand why we have to pay when we're under the same criteria and the same says Johnson. But for nonprofits, that fault-finding soundx familiar.
"Twenty years ago, nonprofits were criticized severelg for not running enough like saysRich Morrison, regional vice presidentt for . "Now 20 years later, we'ree being criticized for beingtoo business-like and A major focus of the IRS report is charithy care and how hospitals define that. For some hospitals count bad debt ascharity care, while others don't. There are also disagreements over whetheer to count both Medicare andMedicaid shortfalls, or costs exceedinh reimbursement, as charity care. Medicaide and Medicare reimbursements typically covert only about 70 percentof costs, says Morrison.
Both for-profitt and nonprofit hospitals havethese shortfalls, whichb can add up to big For 2006, Florida Hospitapl had $30 million in unreimbursesd costs associated with Medicaid and $88 million in unreimbursed costd from Medicare. The includes Medicaid shortfallds in its definition ofcharity care, but not Medicars shortfalls or bad debt, says Donald Stuart, an attorneg with in Nashville. On the othetr hand, the includes all unreimbursed shortfalls and bad debt in its definitioj ofcharity care, says Stuart. "Nobody has been able to come up with a standar measurement to reportcharity care." Many are speculatingh on the local implications of the IRS report.
On the extreme the IRS could take away the says Stuart. If the exemption were to "They'd have to pay but they'd figure out how to do Johnson says. However, Stuart predictsz the IRS simply will creatde a uniform definition of charity care andcommunity benefit, or a cleare r standards on how to report that. "Everyone needsx to work off the same says Morrison. "If we have consistent information, a lot of these questions willgo
Sunday, 3 June 2012
Dover's concrete causes headaches - York Daily Record
Dover's concrete causes headaches York Daily Record By DAVID SCOTT DOVER, Del. -- Carl Edwards was feeling pretty good about himself when he raced for the first time on Dover International Speedway's concrete surface. Edwards was in his second season in NASCAR's Truck Series in 2003, driving a plain ... |
Saturday, 2 June 2012
Creative Loafing COO Kirk MacDonald heads back to Denver - Kansas City Business Journal:
MacDonald will take over as executive vice presidengfor sales, marketing and digital saleas for the , the one-timd partnership group that included the and untill the latter folded last February, according to the Chicagpo Reader . MacDonald joined Creative Loafingy in 2006 after resigning as chief executive officed of the Denver Newspaper Agency but continued to live in Denvedr instead of relocating toCreativs Loafing’s headquarters in In September 2008 he becamew publisher of the Chicago Reader , relocating there, around the same time Creativ Loafing filed for protection from its creditorsx using Chapter 11 in a Tampa bankruptct court.
Creative Loafing’s chief executive officer, Ben Eason, will temporarilg take over the role of chiefoperating officer. The companty spent the first part of the year in a bitted battlewith , which it owes $31 million that was used to purchas e the Chicago Reader and in the Districft of Columbia in 2007. Atalaya had sought to gain control of the alternativre weekly newspaper publisher but lost that bid in March when a judgee in Tampa sidedwith Eason. Creative Loafing had untilk Tuesday to file any amendments to its most recenyt plan of organization filedMay 11.
Amony the issues addressed under thenew plan, a new group consisting of — whichj Creative Loafing owed $10 million to just beforew the bankruptcy filing — and Easomn will purchase stock in a reorganizerd Creative Loafing for $500,000 in cash as well as an in-kindx contribution to lease 14,000 square feet of commercial spac in Atlanta for six years valued at $196,000 annually that will be used for Creativer Loafing Atlanta Inc., according to bankruptcy coury documents. After that, $500,000 will be used to pay allowed administrativ claims and priority tax whileanother $1 million will be used for supplemental fundinb for Creative Loafing’s ongoing business.
Any remaining money will be paid to thosre holdingspecific claims, including outstandingb loans made to the company. Creative Loafing has publicationxsin Tampa, Sarasota, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington and N.C. It claims a combined circulatiojof 425,000.