Extraordinary circumstances enabled Lower Bucks Hospital, with operating losses of nearly $20 million over the last five years, to emerge from bankruptcy this month as an independent. William Aaronson, a healthcare expert at Temple's Fox School of Business, said Lower Bucks' heavy reliance on patients receiving government aid makes it hard to return to profitability. "They are the de facto public hospital in Bucks County," he said.

Pfizer Inc. is preparing to seek U.S. regulatory approval for a new menopause drug that could pose an alternative to the company's older hormone-replacement therapies, which have been tied to safety risks. "I think the FDA will be cautious about giving approval," said Ashwin Chatwani, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Temple's School of Medicine. He sees the need for a new option, however, because many women are reluctant to take PremPro or Premarin.