Cigna has reached an agreement with Merck through which its customers can have access to increased discounts on Merck's oral anti-diabetes medications Januvia and Janumet--if Cigna provides evidence supporting medication use and glycemic control improvement in patients.

In 2008, the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation honored Roman Matlaga with its first-ever People Saving People award for saving the life of a fellow basketball player who had collapsed during a game.After Matlaga administered CPR and one AED (automated external defibrillator) shock, the stricken man awoke and asked, "Did we win?" Although Matlaga is an emergency physician, he stressed that it doesn't take a doctor to save a life. "Any one of my teammates could have taken charge of the situation," he said.

Eli Lilly has released its financial results for the first quarter of 2009, posting a 24 percent increase in net income of $1.31 billion, compared with $961.9 million from the same period last year.

Zoll Medical, a manufacturer of resuscitation devices and software solutions, has reported net income of $1.78 million for the second quarter of 2009, compared with $5.65 million in net income for the same period last year.

Treatment with Novartis' Diovan (valsartan) does not reduce the incidence of recurrent atrial fibrillation (AF), according to results of the GISSI-AF trial published in the April 16 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Baxter International has reported 2009 first quarter net income of $516 million, an increase of 20 percent from the $429 million in net income it recorded in the first quarter of 2008.

Biopharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences has closed its acquisition of CV Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of small molecule drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

Zoll Medical and FDA have notified healthcare professionals of a Class 1 recall of Zoll AED [automated external defibrillator] Plus Defibrillators distributed from May 2004 through Feb. 9, 2009. The recall was initiated because the device may fail to deliver a defibrillation shock, which could result in failure to resuscitate a patient during treatment of sudden cardiac arrest.