Innovation, influence and business in America's medical cities.

Here are five of the top stories at MedCity News this week:

'Minneapolis, Minn., insurer UnitedHealthcare isencouraging people with diabetesto take better care and to save themselves, and eventually their employersand the insurer,a lot ofmoney. The insurer’sDiabetes Health Plan goes beyond traditionalwellness programs by giving patientsfinancial rewards fortaking routine preventive-care steps aimed atimproving their management of thedisease that cost the U.S. economy $175 billion in 2007.

' Two Ohio House Democratsplan to sponsora resolutionthat puts the renewaland expansion ofthe Ohio Third Frontier program to a public vote during theprimary electionin May.Third Frontier isthe $1.6 billion, 10-yearprogram to develop Ohio's economy by developingtechnologies inindustries includingbiomedical, which has received the largest number ofgrant dollars since the program's 2002 start.An independent analysis saidthe programcreated $6.6 billion in economic impact, 41,300 jobs and a 10-to-1 return on state investmentsinits first seven years.

'The National Institutes of Health this weekapproved the first 13 lines of embryonic stem cells for use by federal researchers, ushering in a new era of research that is both promising and controversial.Themoveis the first fruit of an executive order by President Barack Obama revokinga ban on using stem cells derived from embryonic sourcesin federally funded research. Though most of Ohio’s researchers use adult stem cells, the approval likely will broaden stem cell opportunities for all researchers, said Debra Grega, executive director for the Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine in Cleveland.

'The U.S. Food and Drug Administrationissued a safety alert for a sterilization device from STERIS Corp., warning that the device has the potential to cause serious injuries such as infections to patients. The FDA said it has received reports of malfunctions by STERIS' System 1 Processor, which is used to sterilize heat-sensitive medical instruments such as endoscopes. “We disagree with the FDA's recent notice and are working to engage in further dialogue with the agency about this matter,” STERIS said.

' In this week’s financial news:Kalamazoo, Mich., orthopedics device maker Stryker agreed to pay$525 millionin cash to acquire Ascent Healthcare Solutions, the Phoenix, Ariz.-based medical device reprocessor and remanufacturer… Apnex Medical Inc. in St. Paul, Minn., has raised $14 millionto complete clinical trial enrollmentsfor an implantable device that treats sleep apnea…Food and animal safety products company Neogen Corp. in Lansing, Mich., has acquired for a reported $6.5 milliona U.K.-based business thatsells 50 test kitsfor food allergens… AxioMed Spine Corp. in Garfield Heights, Ohio, hasraised$6.4 millionof an expected $18.5 million CSeries roundtocontinuedeveloping its Freedom lumbar and cervical disc replacements… West Lafayette, Ind., biotech firm Kylin Therapeutics is looking to raise $2 million to help it develop technology that”turns off” certain disease-causing genes…Cleveland Medical Devices Inc.received Canadian and European regulatory approval to begin sellingdevices including sleep-apnea and movement-disorder diagnostic tools, which could help the Cleveland, Ohio, company double sales in two years.