Today's Reuters Health News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Senators seek details of Pfizer Lipitor deals
Thu,1 Dec 2011 06:42 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three leading senators are inquiring into drugmaker Pfizer Inc's efforts to limit the sale of generic versions of its Lipitor cholesterol drug, which lost U.S. patent protection this week. Their concern was prompted by a newspaper report earlier this month that Pfizer had struck deals with leading insurers and pharmacy benefits managers, who negotiate prices on behalf of companies and insurers, to offer discounts on Lipitor if they block prescriptions for its generic versions. ... Full Story | Top |
Walgreen, others sue Pfizer over depression drug
Thu,1 Dec 2011 03:39 PM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc and Teva Pharmceutical Industries Ltd were sued by Walgreen Co and four other large retailers, accused of violating U.S. antitrust law by conspiring to keep generic versions of a popular antidepressant off the shelves. Walgreen, Kroger Co, Safeway Inc, Supervalu Inc and HEB Grocery Co accused Pfizer's Wyeth unit of conducting an "overarching anticompetitive scheme" to prevent and delay the approval and marketing of generic versions of the prescription drug Effexor XR, causing them to overpay. In a complaint made public on Thursday by the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
Apple's Siri irks abortion rights advocates
Thu,1 Dec 2011 03:11 PM PST
Reuters -  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc is facing its first major controversy over well-received voice software Siri, as the cutting-edge iPhone search service ran afoul of abortion rights advocates. Siri - one of the most popular features of Apple's new iPhone 4S - drew the ire of bloggers and the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League when it could not locate abortion clinics when asked. ...
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FDA sets path for key new diabetes device
Thu,1 Dec 2011 03:02 PM PST
Reuters - CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued new guidelines to medical device makers developing a potentially revolutionary device for type 1 diabetes, saying they should speed its delivery to patients. The guidelines reflect months of behind-the-scenes negotiations with patient advocates, medical device makers and researchers working to develop an artificial pancreas -- a complex system of pumps and sensors aimed at automating the care and treatment of type 1 diabetes. ... Full Story | Top |
Donors of bone marrow can be paid, court rules
Thu,1 Dec 2011 02:47 PM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - Some bone marrow donors can now receive compensation for their donations without committing a felony, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday. The court said that new technologies for transplanting bone marrow make the tissue more like blood and less like an organ. The National Organ Transplant Act prohibits compensation for human organs, such as kidneys, but allows payment for renewable tissues such as blood. A California nonprofit MoreMarrowDonors.org, parents of sick children, and a physician sued U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
Court rejects Teva appeal over cholesterol drug Crestor
Thu,1 Dec 2011 02:20 PM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Thursday refused to revive Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's patent infringement suit against AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP for the rights to Crestor, a multibillion-dollar cholesterol fighter. In a ruling that upheld a lower court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit invalidated Teva's patent for Crestor on grounds that AstraZenec invented it first. Teva in 1999 patented a method for stabilizing drugs known as statins, which help lower cholesterol. Statins are inherently unstable and require an added compound to be medically effective. ... Full Story | Top |
Senators seek details of Pfizer Lipitor deals
Thu,1 Dec 2011 02:19 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three leading U.S. senators are inquiring into drugmaker Pfizer Inc's efforts to limit the sale of generic versions of its Lipitor cholesterol drug, which lost U.S. patent protection on Wednesday. Pfizer has made arrangements with some insurers and pharmacy benefit managers, which negotiate prices on behalf of companies and insurers, to provide Lipitor at prices equivalent to or less than those of the generic versions of the drug. Under those arrangements, drug stores would fill prescriptions with Lipitor instead of the generic alternative. ... Full Story | Top |
Low "good" cholesterol doesn't cause heart attacks
Thu,1 Dec 2011 02:18 PM PST
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite plenty of evidence that people with low levels of "good" cholesterol are more prone to heart attacks, a large new study suggests that the lacking lipid is not to blame. The analysis of data on nearly 70,000 people in Denmark affirmed the link between low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the so-called "good" cholesterol, and raised heart attack risk in the general population. But in people with a gene mutation that lowers HDL, heart attack risk was not found to be higher at all. "Association itself doesn't mean causality," said lead author Dr. ... Full Story | Top |
Without primary care, less awareness of chronic ills
Thu,1 Dec 2011 02:16 PM PST
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In a new U.S. study, people who said emergency rooms were their usual site of medical care were less likely to know they had chronic conditions, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol, than those who got primary care at doctors' offices or clinics. People who don't see a primary care doctor, whether because they lack insurance, time or transportation, wait longer to seek treatment for their symptoms and don't get checked out as often, researchers said. ... Full Story | Top |
Patient sues dentist who charged him for bad reviews
Thu,1 Dec 2011 01:17 PM PST
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York City dentist is being sued by a patient who says he is being fined $100 a day for posting negative reviews of his treatment on two consumer websites, according to the lawsuit filed this week. Robert Lee was compelled to sign a privacy agreement before the dentist, Stacy Makhnevich, would treat a painful infected cavity in his tooth in November 2010, said the class-action suit filed on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court. ... Full Story | Top |
Even low pollen levels can trigger kids' asthma
Thu,1 Dec 2011 12:19 PM PST
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Kids with asthma and pollen allergies were more likely to wheeze, cough and have shortness of breath and other asthma symptoms -- even when pollen levels were considered "low" -- in a new study that suggests parents need to be careful in all seasons. Yale and Brown University researchers tracked more than 400 children with asthma, as well as the daily pollen levels near each child's home, over the course of five years. ... Full Story | Top |
Hormonal prostate cancer therapy tied to blood clots
Thu,1 Dec 2011 12:18 PM PST
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Hormone-targeted therapy for prostate cancer may raise the risk of potentially dangerous blood clots, a large U.S. study suggests. Analyzing data on more than 154,000 older men with prostate cancer, researchers found that those who received hormonal therapy had double the rate of blood clots in the veins, arteries or lungs compared to men not on the treatment. Of the 58,000-plus men taking hormonal therapy, 15 percent developed a blood clot over roughly four years, versus seven percent of men who did not receive get the therapy. ... Full Story | Top |
Cranberry juice may help ward off kids' UTIs
Thu,1 Dec 2011 12:18 PM PST
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - After getting a urinary tract infection, kids in Finland had fewer recurring infections over the next year when they drank cranberry juice every day in a new study. Because the infections can damage the kidneys, along with being uncomfortable, both children and adults who get repeated UTIs may be prescribed long-term antibiotics for prevention. But those drugs can have side effects, and may breed resistant bacteria -- so researchers have wondered if cranberry products, long used by women as an alternative therapy, might be an option for kids. ... Full Story | Top |
South Africa launches new drive to cut HIV infection
Thu,1 Dec 2011 12:10 PM PST
Reuters - CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa wants to cut new HIV infection rates by at least 50 percent within five years as it seeks to build on recent successes following years of failing to tackle AIDS and increased mortality, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday. Former President Thabo Mbeki was widely criticized for failing to take the AIDS epidemic seriously, leaving South Africa with one of one of the world's biggest HIV infected populations. ... Full Story | Top |
Obama administration appeals cigarette warning ruling
Thu,1 Dec 2011 11:36 AM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Tuesday appealed a U.S. judge's ruling and injunction that blocked tobacco companies from having to display graphic images on cigarette packs and advertising, such as a man exhaling smoke through a hole in his throat. The appeal had been widely expected after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon earlier this month sided with tobacco companies and granted a temporary injunction blocking the requirement. ... Full Story | Top |
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