What's New
PETNET Solutions opens two new radiopharmacies in the US
PETNET Solutions, a fully owned subsidiary of Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., has opened two new radiopharmacies in Las Vegas and Pittsburgh. These two new facilities will produce unique molecular imaging biomarkers used in drug development, medical research, and the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases such as cancer, cardiac disease and various neurological disorders.
PETNET Solutions operates the largest global PET radiopharmacy network with 50 radiopharmacies and distribution centers in the US and abroad that produce and distribute PET radiopharmaceuticals to hospitals, clinics, and research facilities for PET imaging. The new facilities produce and supply the required radiopharmaceuticals to area hospitals that have PET•CT to ease the burden of those healthcare providers to produce their own radiopharmaceuticals.
The Las Vegas facility, which opened in April 2008, manufactures fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), the imaging biomarker used to assist with diagnosis and staging of disease processes and to monitor cellular response to treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The new Pittsburgh radiopharmacy uses a Siemens Eclipse HP Cyclotron to produce FDG.
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What's New
MEDRAD, Inc. and PETNET Solutions partner for new PET Infusion System
http://www.medrad.com/newsroom/display-press-relea...
MEDRAD, Inc. and PETNET Solutions have signed a distribution and co-marketing partnership agreement for a new, innovative FDG delivery system. The partnership will leverage MEDRAD’s newly introduced PET infusion system and multi-dose FDG packaging and delivery from PETNET Solutions.
The new MEDRAD IntegoTM is a mobile PET infusion system combining dosimetry, shielding and a touchscreen interface for a safer and more precise delivery of FDG doses. PETNET has agreed to provide FDG to customers throughout its extensive cyclotron-based radiopharmacy network in multi-dose vials and specially designed vial shields to allow for easy integration with MEDRAD’s new system.
The MEDRAD IntegoTM PET infusion system improves the way FDG is being handled and delivered, providing accurate doses of FDG and flushing solutions to patients as part of a PET or PET/CT procedure; it is intended to provide effective radiation shielding to medical personnel from radiation exposure during procedures.
PETNET Solutions is the first FDG provider to agree to provide FDG in a manner compatible with the IntegoTM System across its entire network. Alan Connor, director of global marketing for MEDRAD Molecular Imaging, said, “PETNET Solutions has been instrumental to the development of this system and is dedicated to providing the latest in safety and clinical performance to their customers.”
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Reimbursement News
SNM responds to CMS reclassification of diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals
Despite statutory language in the Social Security Act defining radiopharmaceuticals as "specified covered outpatient drugs," the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently reclassified diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals as supplies instead of drugs. In response, the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) has proposed recommendations for reforming radiopharmaceutical reimbursement under Medicare.
SNM said the new CMS distinction has bundled payment for diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals into the payment for nuclear medicine procedures, thus threatening Medicare and other patient access to the diagnostic drugs.
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Reimbursement News
NOPR: A Landmark Study
Initial Results from National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR) have been published recently in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The results provide impressive evidence for the substantial impact of PET imaging across all cancers.
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Industry News
Report from SNM: Images of the Year cover molecular imaging from head to toe
Dr. Henry J. Wagner Jr. has selected two images, a PET/CT scan showing the early metastatic spread of tumor in a patient's ear and a SPECT/MRI study of osteomyelitis in another patient's foot, to exemplify the diagnostic capabilities of nuclear medicine as the 2008 Society of Nuclear Medicine Image of the Year.
Wagner, a professor of nuclear medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, based his selection on how the two images capitalized on what he calls the four technical pillars of nuclear medicine: PET, SPECT, CT, and MRI.
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Technology
MR/PET holds promise
The success of other hybrid imaging techniques has helped MR/PET gain ground, particularly for neurodegenerative diseases. Research and system advances could put the combined modality on the map within the next several years.
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Health Update
State of the Air
The American Lung Association is the leading organization working to prevent lung disease and promote lung health. Lung disease death rates continue to increase while other leading causes of death have declined. The American Lung Association funds vital research on the causes of and treatments for lung disease.
The American Lung Association has issued its annual report card on air pollution, ranking cities most affected by three types of pollution: short-term particle pollution, year-round particle pollution and ozone pollution.
To see what grade (A to F) your community’s air quality earned, visit the American Lung Association website at www.stateoftheair.org. Tips are also available on how to protect yourself and your family from air pollution.
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