Aerocrine AB (STO:AERO) announces that the company’s NIOX product has been approved by SFDA, the Chinese registration authority. Aerocrine has also entered into a distribution agreement with Bioson Inc. that includes sales of both NIOX and NIOX MINO in China. NIOX is the first device for managing airway inflammation by measuring exhaled NO, that is approved for clinical use and marketing in China. Aerocrine and Bioson Inc. [click link for full article]

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in a letter on Tuesday asked HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson to examine the use of antipsychotics in nursing homes, the possibility of payments to physicians who prescribe the medications and the drugs’ cost to Medicare and Medicaid, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to a Journal [click link for full article]

The Coalition of Leaders for Louisiana Health Care on Tuesday proposed a plan to divert federal funds from the New Orleans’ charity hospital system to a free-market model that would provide residents with insurance cards to the physician of their choice, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. [click link for full article]

Prospects for “a breakthrough agreement” on legislation that would expand and reauthorize SCHIP “look bleak,” and lawmakers expect that Congress will pass a long-term extension of the program instead, CQ Today reports. House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) on Wednesday said he expects Congress will approve an extension of the program before adjourning for the year. [click link for full article]

Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Wednesday canceled plans for a mark up of Medicare legislation and instead will negotiate directly with House Democrats on the measure, CQ HealthBeat reports. The bill would block a 10% cut in Medicare physician fees. [click link for full article]

Shocking true picture of mixed-sex wards: 68 per cent of mental health inpatients on theseRacial discrimination shows no improvementToday’s patient research reveals the true state of mixed-sex wards: a disturbing 68 per cent of mental health patients were accommodated on these wards this year. This confirms what patients have been telling Mind for years (1), underlining the need for urgent action to address this situation. [click link for full article]

The Healthcare Commission report State of Healthcare out today highlights leading mental health charity Mind’s key concerns about mental healthcare in 2007.While progress has been made, such as the recent welcome investment by the Government in talking therapies, there is much room for improvement. [click link for full article]

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is pleased to announce the publication of the ninth volume in the series of Cancer Incidence in Five Continents (CI5). [click link for full article]

Last week in Geneva, negotiations facilitated by the American Red Cross between the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and the Government of Israel led to the signing of a historic agreement allowing five PRCS ambulances to operate in East Jerusalem. [click link for full article]

The Red Cross is responding to severe flooding in Oregon and Washington State caused by back-to-back storms on Sunday and Monday. Bringing hurricane force winds along with inches of rain, the storms have caused mudslides and extensive power outages in addition to the flooding. [click link for full article]