European health authorities have approved Eucreas(R), an oral tablet combining Galvus(R) (vildagliptin) and metformin, as a new treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes. Eucreas is the first single-tablet combination of a member of the new DPP-4 inhibitor class with metformin to be approved in the European Union.

An arbitration judge in California has ruled that one of the state’s biggest for-profit medical insurers, Health Net Inc, has to pay breast cancer patient Patsy Bates, 9 milllion dollars for cancelling her policy when she was in the middle of receiving chemotherapy in 2004.This is the largest amount ever for this kind of award.

Unique, Heath Lambert’s specialist insurance scheme for people living with pre-existing medical conditions, is delighted to announce its partnership with Children’s Liver Disease Foundation, the only organisation in the UK fighting all liver diseases of childhood. It means that through Unique, children with liver disease and their families can enjoy trips abroad with the comprehensive travel insurance that they should have, but which they can often find difficult to obtain.

UNICEF will provide more than US$1 million in emergency assistance including tents, school supplies, and basic household items to approximately 70,000 Zambian families whose homes have been washed away during recent floods. This is the second consecutive year that Zambia has suffered looses due to flooding, resulting in a growing food insecurity crisis. An estimated 45 per cent of this year’s crop harvest in the Southern Province is lost.

The following highlights recent state news about women’s health-related issues. Colorado: Denver City Attorney David Fine on Wednesday announced that antiabortion groups seeking to protest at the Democratic National Convention this summer may apply for permits beginning March 3, the AP/cbs4denver.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America in 2007 spent more than $22 million on efforts to lobby the federal government, about a 25% increase from the amount spent in 2006, according to disclosure records filed by the group last week, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.

Diabetes Sunday: Faith Access to Community Economic Development on Feb. 17 sponsored the 11th annual Diabetes Sunday at Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Flint, Mich. The event featured no-cost blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure and glaucoma tests, and a panel of health experts to answer questions from attendees (Blondin,

“Medicare Part D: Plan Sponsors’ Processing and CMS Monitoring of Drug Coverage Requests Could Be Improved,” Government Accountability Office: The report reviews the processes and criteria that Medicare prescription drug benefit plans use to make coverage decisions, as well as the processes for appealing coverage denials and the approval rates of those appeals.

An Alabama state court jury has decided that AstraZeneca must pay the state $215 million after finding that the company charged the state’s Medicaid program inflated prescription drug prices, Bloomberg/Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The Montgomery County Circuit Court jury in Montgomery, Ala.

Many U.S. residents, who include a large percentage of minorities, are not aware of all of the five warning signs of a heart attack, according to a CDC study published on Thursday in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, HealthDay News/U.S.