Health

HEALTH • Winter 2018 5 Voters deny nurse staffing ratios ballot initiative Massachusetts voters swiftly rejected proposed standards on hospital nursing staff-to-patient ratios at the November ballot, backing hospital administrations in their battle against a major nursing union. Question 1 was voted down 70 percent to 30 percent, according to The Associated Press. The new standards would have went into effect starting Jan. 1, applying nurse-to-patient staffing ratios depending on specialty and the severity of a patient's condition. RXi Pharmaceuticals to change name as it eyes cancer market Marlborough startup drugmaker RXI Pharmaceuticals now has a runway extending into 2020 as the company continues to reinvent itself and rebrand into a pharmaceutical firm focused on fighting cancer. As part of that { Health Care Briefs } effort, the company is changing its name to Phio Pharmaceuticals as it continues to develop its sd-rxRNA platform in its quest to develop cancer-fighting drugs. The company has also appointed a new president and chief operating officer, Gerrit Dispersyn, who was the company's chief development officer. Report: Opioid epidemic keeps jobs unfilled According to a November report, the opioid epidemic is costing Massachusetts businesses more than $2.5 billion annually. The report from public policy nonprofit Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said that figure comes from lost productivity and absenteeism and presenteeism. That's not the only place where businesses are feeling the full weight of the epidemic, however. Healthcare costs related to opioid usage are estimated to exceed $2 billion, the MTF said. Convenient Inpatient and Outpatient locations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island WPI receives $3.5M to develop robotic system to eliminate brain tumors Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute have received a five-year, $3.5-million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue development on a robotic system that can destroy brain tumors. The system is operated within an MRI scanner and delivers a minimally invasive probe to destroy metastatic brain tumors with high-intensity therapeutic ultrasound. The research team is co-led by Gregory Fischer, associate professor of mechanical engineering and robotics engineering at WPI and director of the Automation and Interventional Medicine Laboratory. UMMS gets $1.4M to push genetic disorder treatment to human trials A Toronto foundation has donat- ed $1.4 million to UMass Medical School to advance a gene therapy to treat genetic disorder Tay-Sachs. The gift from the Blu Genes Foundation is intended to help move the research from the preclin- ical phase to human trials after a decade of scientific discovery, said Heather Gray-Edwards, assistant professor of radiology at the school. Tay-Sachs and the similar Sandhoff Disease are inherited neurological diseases occurring when genetic mutations prevent cells from pro- ducing enzymes needed to break down and recycle materials, the medical school said. UMass Medical School researchers find potential therapy for preeclampsia Two researchers at UMass Medical School and collaborating researchers have found a new type of therapy they believe can alleviate the symp- toms of preeclampsia, a complication during pregnancy that comes with high blood pressure. The scientists found using small interfering ribo- nucleic acids in animal research could help treat preeclampsia. Two researchers at UMass Medical School's RNA Therapeutics Institute, Anastasia Khvorova and Melissa Moore, led the research with help of collaborators. Alternatives Unlimited, The Bridge of Central Massachusetts rebrand Alternatives Unlimited and The Bridge of Central Massachusetts have rebranded following the decision by the two human service providers to affiliate with one another. The two entities are now known as Open Sky Community Services. Open Sky, which is based in Worcester, has more than 100 programs across Central Massachusetts and a workforce of 1,200. Alternatives, which was based in Whitinsville, was known for its psychiatric rehabilitation approach and a strong focus on helping people create homes, jobs, and relationships, the Continued on Page 6

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