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Infant mortality is improving in Indianapolis and around the state, but is still well above the national average, according to two reports last week. In Marion County, the infant mortality rate fell from a high of 12.9 per thousand births in 2009 to 8.3 per thousand in 2012, according to a Community Health Assessment released Dec. 11 by the Marion County Health Department. The most dramatic reduction came among blacks, with mortality falling from a rate of 21.4 in 2009 to 12.7 in 2012. Statewide, the rate fell to 7.2 in 2012 from 7.7 in 2011, according to data released by America’s Health Rankings. The national average is six deaths before age 1 for every 1,000 births. Indiana ranked 39th for its infant mortality rate. In 2013, former Indiana Health Commissioner Bill VanNess declared infant mortality “a horrible problem that we really need to fix.”

Eli Lilly and Co. got good news on two fronts last week. Its cancer drug Cyramza was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat non-small cell lung cancer. That could bring a significant number of new customers for the drug, which is already approved to treat stomach cancer. Also, Indianapolis-based Lilly said an experimental drug to treat rheumatoid arthritis produced a 20-percent improvement in patient symptoms in a Phase 3 clinical trial. Baricitinib, which Lilly is developing with Delaware-based Incyte Corp., could bring Lilly $673 million by 2020, according to a survey of Wall Street analysts by Bloomberg News.

Cancer researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine are leading a study of cervical cancer recently awarded $3.3 million by the National Institutes of Health. The five-year project involves seven research institutes in the United States, Canada and Kenya. Researchers will train medical personnel in Kenya to provide early screenings, education and care of Kenyan women with HIV or AIDS who also contract the human papillomavirus, HPV, and cervical cancer. The lead scientists on the project are Dr. Patrick Loehrer, director of the IU Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer; Dr. Darron Brown, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the IU medical school; and Dr. Elkanah Omenge Orango, from Moi University School of Medicine, IU’s partner institution in Kenya. The other institutions are Brown University, the University of Toronto, the University of Massachusetts, the Miriam Hospital and the Kenya Medical Research Institute.

Three public universities want nearly $50 million in state funding to build a shared medical school campus in downtown Evansville, the Associated Press reported. Indiana University, the University of Southern Indiana and Ivy Tech Community College are submitting requests for their portions of the campus that would cover about six city blocks. The funding request to legislators is greater than the $35 million originally planned, as Ivy Tech and Southern Indiana officials want more space in the complex, said Thomas Morrison, IU's vice president for capital planning and facilities. IU, which is leading planning for the campus, is requesting $19.2 million, while Ivy Tech is seeking $22.9 million and Southern Indiana's request is for $7.3 million. The private University of Evansville also plans to offer programs at the center, which could draw some 2,000 health care students. IU plans to move its Evansville regional medical school from Southern Indiana's campus to the complex. If funding is approved for the new state budget that takes effect in July, construction could begin in October, with the complex completed by January 2017. The Evansville City Council in May approved $57 million in incentives including money toward construction costs, parking and other infrastructure.

An Indianapolis dentist has been charged with falsely filing nearly $262,000 in claims to the Indiana Medicaid program for treatments that were never performed, according to the Associated Press. Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said Dr. Bernice Avant was charged Dec. 11 with one count of Medicaid fraud and four counts of theft. Avant's Oakbrook Dental Center is near Georgetown Road and 59th Street. According to a probable cause affidavit, 12 patients told investigators that procedures ranging from X-rays to teeth extractions listed over three years on Medicaid billing forms were never performed.