Quest Diagnostics establishes healthcare identifier to aid access to patient information
Quest Diagnostics, provider of diagnostic testing, information, and services, announced it has begun an effort to assign a unique Patient Identifier—a secure 16-digit identification number—to every Quest Diagnostics patient...  Read More

Genetic abnormalities in benign or malignant tissues predict relapse of prostate cancer
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have found that a genetic abnormality known as copy number variation (CNV) in prostate cancer tumors, as well as in the benign prostate tissues adjacent to the tumor and in the blood of patients with prostate cancer, can predict whether a patient will experience a relapse and whether the relapse will be aggressive or indolent...  Read More

Streck introduces HbA1c linearity product
Nebraska-based Streck, Inc...  Read More

Siemens awarded new Novation agreements for central laboratory solutions
Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics has announced three new five-year agreements with Novation, LLC, for its chemistry, immunoassay, coagulation, and hematology systems and assays, as well as its automation solutions...  Read More

Tutela wireless monitoring chosen by Health Diagnostics Laboratory
Florida-based Tutela Medical has been awarded a long-term contract to provide its FDA compliant wireless temperature monitoring system for Health Diagnostic Laboratory in Richmond, VA...  Read More

Beckman Coulter obtains CLIA certificate, licensure for clinical sequencing
Beckman Coulter, Inc...  Read More

Healthcare community mourns death of California researcher
The community of medical laboratory professionals was shaken by the death April 28 of a young medical researcher from septic shock related to a meningococcal infection after apparent exposure to a rare strain of the disease...  Read More

Diabetes advocacy groups issue new guidelines
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes have jointly come out with new guidelines on blood sugar, guidelines that an ADA spokesperson calls “more patient-centered...  Read More

COPAN produces CDC/Joint Commission educational specimen collection videos
California-based Copan has launched a series of videos demonstrating proper sample collection technique for respiratory samples...  Read More

New products on display at CLMA
Attendees at the CLMA ThinkLab '12 conference in Atlanta April 29-May 2 were treated to some 19 new product launches from exhibitors dedicated to partnering with laboratory professionals for the benefit of both healthcare institutions and their patients:

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched “Ready? Set? Test!”, a free online training module that reminds testers of ten important practices to follow for accurate and reliable testing...  Read More
  

Three in five Americans misuse their prescription drugs
Results of a national study of nearly 76,000 laboratory tests for monitoring prescription drug use indicate that the majority of Americans tested misused their prescription drugs, including potentially addictive pain medications...  Read More

Quidel received CLIA waiver for its Sofia analyzer and influenza immunoassays
San Diego-based Quidel has received Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) waiver from the U...  Read More

Veridex and Novartis study circulating tumor cells in men with metastatic prostate cancer
Veridex, LLC, has joined with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation in an educational alliance to encourage and facilitate research involving circulating tumor cells, or CTCs, as a potential biomarker in metastatic prostate cancer...  Read More

“Mad cow” identification sparks debate about food safety laws
Much of the initial uproar that ensued after the popular press reported the identification of a cow on a California farm that tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)—commonly called “mad cow disease”—late last month has subsided...  Read More

“Meaningful Use” is yielding significant payments for healthcare providers
Demonstrating “”meaningful use” of electronic health record-keeping is resulting in meaningful money for healthcare providers in the United States...  Read More