Omnicare Inc (Covington, KY) acquired Continuing Care Rx Inc (CCRx) (Harrisburg, PA), a privately owned institutional pharmacy provider. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. CCRx provides comprehensive pharmacy services to residents of long-term care facilities and other chronic settings in Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. CCRx’s revenues for the 12 months ended June 30, 2010 were $170 million.

Abbott Laboratories Inc (Abbott Park, IL) received FDA (Rockville, MD) approval for its Abbott RealTime HBV test, which measures the amount of hepatitis B virus in a patient's blood. The test is intended for use as an aid in the management of patients with chronic hepatitis B infection undergoing anti-viral therapy.

Aesculap Inc (Center Valley, PA) announced the Acculan 3Ti, a battery operated surgical motor system which provides 250 watts of power during surgical procedures. In the Acculan 3Ti the electronics control is held within the detachable battery pack, which avoids steam sterilization of the heat-sensitive battery cells and electronic components. Its operation modes include drill mode clockwise, drill mode counterclockwise, oscillating and tapping mode. For more information, visit www.AesculapImplantSystems.com.

Beginning on September 1, 2010, entrance passes and show directories for MEDICA 2010, International Trade Fair with Congress – Forum for Medicine can be ordered online in advance of the show at www.medica-tradefair.com at reduced rates. These rates are Euro 14 (plus shipping and handling) each for a one-day entrance pass, Euro 50 (plus shipping and handling) each for a four-day entrance pass, and Euro 23 for a show directory. The passes can also be purchased on-site for the regular price of Euro 29 each for a one-day entrance pass, and Euro 72 each for a four-day entrance pass. The entrance pass also permits entry to the concurrently held COMPAMED 2010 trade fair (high tech solutions for medical technology). MEDICA 2010 will take place from November 17 - 20, 2010 at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) (Bethesda, MD), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (Bethesda, MD), awarded a contract to Emergent BioSolutions (Rockville, MD) to support advanced development of the company’s third generation anthrax vaccine candidate. The award of this contract increases the total potential development funding from NIAID for this product to over $58 million. This vaccine product consists of BioThrax® (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed) in combination with a novel immunostimulatory compound, CPG 7909 (VaxImmune™). The four-year contract consists of a two-year base contract, valued at $9.1 million, and milestone-based options that could increase the total contract value to up to $28.7 million.

Royal Philips Electronics (Andover, MA) announced the enhanced iE33 xMATRIX cardiac ultrasound system, which features a new ergonomic solution for more efficient adult echocardiograms, the X5-1 transducer. New features of the iE33 xMATRIX ultrasound system include high 2D and 3D image quality utilizing a single transducer, near instantaneous acquisition of 3D volumes, new 3D workflow tools and visualized color Doppler flow pattern during 3D exams.

Graymark Healthcare Inc (Oklahoma City, OK) signed a definitive agreement to sell substantially all of the assets of ApothecaryRx, its independent pharmacy division, to Walgreen Co (Deerfield, IL), for a total enterprise sale value of approximately $35 million including retained AR, expenses and proceeds from the liquidation of remaining ApothecaryRx assets. The sale would include all 18 ApothecaryRx stores in five states. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory conditions but is expected to close in Q4 2010. Graymark plans to refocus its efforts on its sleep apnea business and to continue to grow that segment both organically and through acquisitions.

The former Irvine Regional Medical Center officially reopened as Hoag Hospital Irvine (Irvine, CA) on September 1, 2010. The facility was closed for renovations in early 2009. The interior of the new hospital has been rebuilt with some cutting-edge medical technology including an InTouch Health (Goleta, CA) robot for pediatric subspecialty consults and electronic health records. The hospital's orthopedics center is expected to start taking patients in November 2010.

LifePoint Hospitals Inc (Brentwood, TN) completed its acquisition of Sumner Regional Health Systems (Gallatin, TN) for $145 million plus working capital. LifePoint plans to invest $60 million in capital investments in the system’s four hospitals over the next 10 years and will provide charity care to residents in surrounding areas and inmates of Sumner County. Sumner Regional will be renamed HighPoint Health System.

Any thought that is passed on to the subconscious often enough and convincingly enough is finally accepted.
-Robert Collier

Your subconscious is like your body’s hard drive. It gets programmed each time you think, speak and act. And once the hard drive becomes programmed with the same material repeatedly, it shapes every one of your thoughts and actions. For instance, negative people who see the bad in most things program their hard drive to look for the bad. It clouds their ability to find the good, even if it seems obvious to others. On the other hand, folks who consistently program their brain with positive thoughts program the drive to see good even when others can’t.

The good news is…you have control over what’s programmed in yours. To teach your brain to see things in a whole new way, remember that every word, thought and action has either a positive or negative effect on the drive. So this week, pay close attention to your thoughts, your words, your facial expressions and your actions. If they seem to be more negative than positive…STOP. Don’t let the virus affect the hard drive. Because a hard drive free from negativity, is one that runs faster, is easier to work with, and won’t “lock up” when its time to perform.

Listen to Brian discuss programming the subconscious with English Hypnotist Jonathan Chase, by going to www.preciseselling.com/Radioaccess.htm. To learn more about Brian Sullivan’s performance programs, go to www.preciseselling.com.

Amerinet Inc (St. Louis, MO) announced that the upcoming Amerinet Northeast Alliance meeting, scheduled for October 6, 2010, in Nashua, New Hampshire, will feature a CE accredited session about healthcare reform. "Health Care Reform: Taking Action Amid Uncertainty" is scheduled for October 6, 2010 at the Courtyard Nashua from 9-10:30 am ET. The education session is open to all interested healthcare providers. For information or to register for the meeting, contact Neila Osborne at 877-711-5700 ext. 5328 or neila.osborne@amerinet-gpo.com.

Novation LLC (Irving, TX) awarded agreements to Integrated Medical Systems (Birmingham, AL), Mobile Instrument Service and Repair (Bellefontaine, OH), Spectrum Surgical Instruments (Stow, OH), SterilMed Inc (Maple Grove, MN), Total Repair Express (Hillsborough, NJ), and CareFusion (San Diego, CA). With the exception of CareFusion, which was only awarded an agreement for instrument repair, each new agreement offers separate pricing tiers for the scope repair and instrument repair subcategories so the members of VHA Inc (Irving, TX), UHC (Oak Brook, IL) and Provista LLC (Irving, TX) can choose different suppliers for each type of repair they need. The agreement is effective September 1, 2010 through August 31, 2013 with firm pricing for the initial term.

Quotes last updated at 9/1/2010 10:23:47 PM EST