Today's Reuters Health News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
|
|
FDA approves Teva version of Amgen's Neupogen
Wed,29 Aug 2012 07:11 PM PDT
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. drug regulators gave the nod to a Teva Pharmaceutical Industries drug that boosts the production of infection-fighting white blood cells in certain cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Teva's medicine is in many ways a copy of Amgen Inc's biologic drug Neupogen, which faces the expiration of its U.S. patent next year. In an a settlement of patent litigation, Teva agreed last year to refrain from launching its versions of Neupogen and Neulasta, Amgen's longer-lasting white blood cell booster, in the United States until November 2013. ... Full Story | Top |
Health groups sue U.S. for failing to protect food supply
Wed,29 Aug 2012 06:28 PM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - Two U.S. health and environment organizations sued the federal government on Wednesday for what the groups say is a failure to implement and enforce a new food safety law that could help prevent thousands of deaths caused by food-borne illnesses each year. The groups said government officials had repeatedly missed mandatory deadlines for issuing final regulations required by the Food Safety Modernization Act. They are asking a federal court to order officials at both the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
Yosemite closes part of popular campground over hantavirus outbreak
Wed,29 Aug 2012 06:13 PM PDT
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Yosemite National Park has closed part of a popular campground over a deadly rodent-borne lung disease that has already killed two visitors to the California park, and officials said on Wednesday more cases could emerge. Two park visitors who stayed in the cabins in June in Curry Village, a popular camping area tucked below the park's sheer granite walls, have died after being infected by the illness known as hantavirus, while a third visitor was sickened but is recovering. ...
Full Story | Top |
Marijuana activists seek vote to block Los Angeles dispensary ban
Wed,29 Aug 2012 05:38 PM PDT
Reuters -  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Marijuana activists in Los Angeles, the hub of America's medical cannabis industry, said on Wednesday they will submit a petition of 50,000 signatures to block a municipal ban on pot dispensaries from taking effect next week. The move comes amid a widening dispute over pot shops in California's most populous city. Residents complain dispensaries are a nuisance that draw riffraff, but the store owners say they serve patients with serious diseases like cancer and AIDS. ...
Full Story | Top |
U.S. cases of West Nile virus set record, deaths rise: CDC
Wed,29 Aug 2012 04:04 PM PDT
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters) - A total of 1,590 cases of West Nile virus, including 66 deaths, were reported through late August this year in the United States, the highest human toll by that point in the calendar since the mosquito-borne disease was first detected in the country in 1999, health officials said on Wednesday. The toll is increasing quickly. "We think the numbers will continue to rise," said Dr. Lyle Petersen, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases. Through last week, 1,118 cases and 41 deaths had been reported. ...
Full Story | Top |
Drug resistant tuberculosis found across the world
Wed,29 Aug 2012 04:02 PM PDT
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have found alarming levels of the lung disease tuberculosis in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America that are resistant to up to four powerful antibiotic drugs. In a large international study published in the Lancet medical journal on Thursday, researchers found rates of both multi drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) were higher than previously thought and were threatening global efforts to curb the spread of the disease. ... Full Story | Top |
Exelixis says FDA drops panel talks on thyroid cancer drug
Wed,29 Aug 2012 03:38 PM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - Exelixis Inc said U.S. regulators have dropped an advisory panel discussion on the marketing application for its experimental drug to treat a rare form of thyroid cancer, sending its shares up 6 percent after market. "It's a positive. That means the committee did not have a big issue or concern on this drug." Maxim Group analyst Echo He told Reuters. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has taken off a discussion on the drug from the agenda of an advisory panel meeting, scheduled on November 8-9, the biotechnology company said. ... Full Story | Top |
Obama tells voters to watch Republicans, but he's not
Wed,29 Aug 2012 03:08 PM PDT
Reuters -  CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia (Reuters) - The White House says President Barack Obama is not monitoring the Republican national convention this week. But the president told several thousand mostly college-age voters on Wednesday that they should be watching the event to help them decide how to vote in the November elections. "In November, your voice will matter more than ever. And listen, if you doubt that, pay a little attention to what's happening in Tampa this week," Obama said. ...
Full Story | Top |
WellPoint CEO succession talk heats up, shares rise
Wed,29 Aug 2012 02:41 PM PDT
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Health insurer WellPoint Inc should have its pick of several talented industry executives to replace Chief Executive Angela Braly, whose abrupt exit from the company was announced late on Tuesday, investors and analysts said. Shares in the second largest U.S. health insurer rose nearly 8 percent on Wednesday as investors said they were pleased that new leadership would have the chance to improve the company's financial performance. Some pointed to UnitedHealth Group executive Gail Boudreaux as an excellent choice to replace Braly. ...
Full Story | Top |
Suicide, OD risks high when addicts leave hospital
Wed,29 Aug 2012 01:45 PM PDT
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Drug users just getting out of the hospital have another rough patch in store, according to a new UK report showing elevated death rates among freshly discharged patients. Rates of suicides and overdose deaths were more than 10 times higher for drug users who had been out of the hospital for less than a month than for those who had been out for at least a year, researchers found. ... Full Story | Top |
FDA approves Novartis brain tumor drug for children
Wed,29 Aug 2012 01:40 PM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - Health regulators approved Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG's drug Afinitor Disperz for the treatment of a rare brain tumor in children of age one year and above. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the drug is recommended to treat patients with tuberous sclerosis complex, a rare genetic disease that causes tumors to grow in the brain and other vital organs. Novartis's drug Afinitor is approved to treat patients with four other types of cancer. (Reporting by Prateek Kumar in Bangalore) Full Story | Top |
Exclusive: Boston Scientific prepares job cuts, split of heart units
Wed,29 Aug 2012 01:36 PM PDT
Reuters - CHICAGO (Reuters) - Boston Scientific Corp is preparing another round of job cuts and planning to break up its biggest business, cardiac devices, reversing some of the restructuring put in place by its former chief executive. A Boston Scientific spokesman confirmed the moves outlined in a letter to employees this month, but said the two actions were unrelated. Some job cuts would stem from manufacturing adjustments in the United States and abroad, he said. ... Full Story | Top |
Information helps men make prostate cancer decisions
Wed,29 Aug 2012 01:21 PM PDT
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - When given additional information, prostate cancer patients are less likely to remain undecided about which treatment they want and are less likely to want their prostates removed, in a new study. Perhaps not surprisingly, Dutch researchers found that just 2 percent of patients remained undecided after being educated about the two or three treatments available to them. That's compared to about 8 percent of patients who had normal doctor's visits. ... Full Story | Top |
Sweetened drinks may be linked to premature births
Wed,29 Aug 2012 01:19 PM PDT
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who drink a lot of sweet sodas during pregnancy may be more likely to give birth prematurely, a new study suggests. The study, of more than 60,000 pregnant women in Norway, found that those who drank one sugary soda a day were up to 25 percent more likely to give birth prematurely than those who avoided the sweetened drinks. However, it's not clear whether the drinks themselves are to blame for the early births. "We are all desperately searching for causes of preterm birth," said Dr. ... Full Story | Top |
Chocolate lovers show lower stroke risk
Wed,29 Aug 2012 01:10 PM PDT
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men who regularly indulge their taste for chocolate may have a somewhat decreased risk of suffering a stroke, according to a study out Wednesday. Swedish researchers found that of more than 37,000 men followed for a decade, those who ate the most chocolate had a 17 percent lower risk of stroke than men who avoided chocolate. The chocolate-loving group typically had the equivalent of a third of a cup of chocolate chips each week. The study, published in the journal Neurology, is hardly the first to link chocolate to cardiovascular benefits. ...
Full Story | Top |
| |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment