BRIEFCASE.Byline: - Staff and Wire Services Health Net forms new HMO network HMO network Managed care An HMO that contracts with local hospitals to provide in-patient medical services, and with 2 or more independent groups of physicians to provide health services; the group is paid a set amount per HMO enrollee per month; in some, staff WOODLAND HILLS - Health Net of California announced a new health maintenance organization network Friday, reaching out to medium and large-size companies. The ``HMO HMO health maintenance organization. HMO n. A corporation that is financed by insurance premiums and has member physicians and professional staff who provide curative and preventive medicine within certain financial, Silver Network'' targets employers with more than 50 workers, giving them access to more than 5,400 primary care physicians, 7,800 specialists and 165 hospitals. It serves eight counties, including Los Angeles, Ventura and Kern, shaving between 5 percent and 14 percent off current statewide network premiums. The company plans to expand the plan to include small employers in the second half of 2005. Amgen cancels trials of new drug THOUSAND OAKS - Confirming its previous decision, Amgen Inc. announced Friday that it canceled clinical trials of its experimental Parkinson's disease fighter GDNF GDNF Glial-cell Line-Derived, Neurotrophic Factor GDNF Gesinnungsgemeinschaft der Neue Front (German) last fall. The biotech leader cited safety risks including possible irreversible brain damage in its decision to stop providing the treatment to 48 trial patients. Amgen said it would continue other Parkinson's research and publish data on the trials for the scientific community. Taylor is named new MGM MGM in full Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. U.S. corporation and film studio. It was formed when the film distributor Marcus Loew, who bought Metro Pictures in 1920, merged it with the Goldwyn production company in 1924 and with Louis B. Mayer Pictures in 1925. chief Film and television studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has tapped Chief Financial Officer Daniel Taylor to become president after the sale of the company to a consortium led by Sony Corp. The announcement means MGM chairman and chief executive Alex Yemenidjian and vice chairman and chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. Chris McGurk will leave the company. Both have been mentioned as possible candidates to succeed Michael Eisner as chief executive of The Walt Disney Co. when Eisner retires next year. McDonald's OKs trans fats payment SAN RAFAEL - McDonald's Corp. will pay $7 million to the American Heart Association American Heart Association (AHA), n.pr a national voluntary health agency that has the goal of increasing public and medical awareness of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, and thereby reducing the number of associated deaths and disabilities. settling a lawsuit that accused the fast-food giant of failing to reduce fat, as promised, in the cooking oil used for its popular french fries and other foods. The Wednesday deal will require the association to use the proceeds to educate the public about trans fats in foods. Heart-clogging trans fat is made when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil - a process called hydrogenation hydrogenation (hīdrôj`ənā'shən, hī'drəjənā`shən), chemical reaction of a substance with molecular hydrogen, usually in the presence of a catalyst. . BanTransFats.com sued McDonald's in state court here in 2003, alleging McDonald's did not effectively disclose to the public that it had not switched to a healthier cooking oil. Abbott says FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. will study papers ABBOTT PARK, Ill. - Abbott Laboratories said the Food and Drug Administration has agreed to start looking at its new drug application for Xinlay, which is intended to treat prostate cancer. The FDA's action indicates it considers the application sufficiently complete to permit a thorough review. The Abbott Park-based drug company on Friday said it expects a response from the regulator in the fourth quarter. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion