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Edwards Switching to Web for Heart-Surgery Broadcasts

Surgeons will wear cameras mounted on their glasses and teach new techniques in open-heart surgery at Edwards Lifesciences’ web site, www.edwards.com.

“Advanced Techniques in Cardiac Surgery,” the first in a series of monthly educational programs, will be broadcast May 22-23 from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio. Edwards, based in Irvine, scrapped its satellite broadcasts in favor of Internet broadcasts because the webcasts are less expensive and reach a broader audience, said company spokesman Nolan Taira. The cost for a satellite broadcast is about $300,000 vs. less than $100,000 to broadcast on the Internet.

Edwards has a one-year, 100-hour, broadcasting service agreement with Yahoo!, which will create a broadcast area within the Edwards site.

UCI Gets Grant for Clinical Studies

UCI’s College of Medicine was awarded $6.4 million from the National Institutes of Health to boost the number of human studies conducted at UCI on the treatment and prevention of diseases.

The four-year grant will create a UCI-based NIH General Clinical Research Center, directed by Dan Cooper, professor of pediatrics at UCI, and Michael Ziegler, professor of medicine at UC San Diego. The center will serve as a satellite to UC San Diego’s School of Medicine, where UCI and UCSD will collaborate on human clinical trials.

Initially, research will include studies on the types of exercise that help children with asthma, acupuncture’s effects on patients with heart disease, the genetics of autism and chemicals in the immune system that may play a role in Alzheimer’s disease and other disorders.

Tobacco Wars

The American Heart Association, American Lung Association and the American Cancer Society rallied last week in Santa Ana armed with Jeffrey Wigand, the tobacco-industry whistleblower portrayed in the movie “The Insider.”

The press conference was held in an effort to persuade the Board of Supervisors to direct more of the tobacco settlement monies to programs to educate children about the dangers of smoking. The board previously endorsed a plan to spend most of the funds on debt repayment and adding jail beds.

Meanwhile the Orange County Children and Families Commission began soliciting proposals from qualified organizations to provide health, education and developmental services for children, prenatal to age 5. The commission has earmarked for distribution $37.5 million in Proposition 10 tobacco-tax funds.

Bits and Pieces:

Chapman Medical Center is bringing world-renowned USC surgeons who specialize in digestive treatments to Orange County. Eight surgeons will make their way to Chapman two to three times a week … WorkCare, a provider of medical director services to large employers, has contracted with Morrison Knudsen Corp. to provide occupational health management services. WorkCare was founded in Irvine in1984. Morrison Knudsen is based in Boise, Idaho … Advanced Sterilization Products, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, launched its web site last week at www.sterrad.com, named after its Sterrad sterilization system, and www.cidex.com, named for its high-level disinfection product line. The site offers educational materials on various products … The Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, a nonprofit based in Irvine, has finalized an agreement with Dr. Mitchell Cairo and the Babies & Children’s Hospital at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons to establish a new lab to investigate new treatments for cancer and other hematological disorders … Beckman Coulter Inc. said it expanded its Access Immunoassay System contract with Texas-based Novation, a large supply-cost-management healthcare company. The agreement is valued at $45 million over 2 1/2 years. Beckman provides instrument systems and products that automate processes in the life science and clinical laboratories … Insight Health Services Corp., Newport Beach, signed an agreement to acquire a 90% interest in a diagnostic imaging center in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The center is on the campus of Allied Health Systems, a large rehabilitation complex. The deal is expected to close June. 15. Insight serves managed-care entities, hospitals and other customers in 32 states … Irvine-based Allergan Inc.’s Array multifocal intraocular lens was given “New Technology” status by the Health Care Financing Administration, which administers the Medicare program. That means Medicare will grant additional reimbursement to both ambulatory surgical centers and hospital outpatient departments that provide Array lenses to their patients … The TriZetto Group Inc., Newport Beach, has teamed with National Data Corp. to provide real-time patient eligibility verification and claims services for selected health plans and Medicaid via HealthWeb, TriZetto’s Internet healthcare portal.

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