| | |
| U.S. court voids drug rep's conviction, cites free speech Monday, Dec 03, 2012 06:34 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - A divided federal appeals court on Monday threw out the conviction of a sales representative for promoting off-label use of a prescription drug, a ruling that could make it harder for the government to police how drugs are marketed and sold. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York found that the sales representative's free speech rights under the First Amendment had been violated. ... Full Story | Top |
| Teens may buy less tobacco when displays are hidden: study Monday, Dec 03, 2012 04:43 PM PST (Reuters) - Teens may be less likely to buy cigarettes at convenience stores if they aren't sold in plain sight behind the counter, according to a U.S. study conducted using a virtual reality game. "We know the retail environment is a very important place for tobacco companies to advertise and market their products," said lead author Annice Kim, from the independent research institute RTI International in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. "They're prominently displayed at the point of sale, and it exposes all customers, including kids. ... Full Story | Top |
| Drug industry treading water on R&D productivity Monday, Dec 03, 2012 04:08 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Drug companies are becoming more efficient in hunting for new treatments, though this has yet to be reflected in improved investment returns, according to a report on Tuesday. Low productivity in research labs is the biggest single challenge facing the global pharmaceutical industry, which is struggling to replenish its medicine chest after a wave of patient expiries that peaked this year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Trafficked maids to order: The darker side of richer India Monday, Dec 03, 2012 04:03 PM PST NEW DELHI, Dec 4 (TrustLaw) - Inside the crumbling housing estates of Shivaji Enclave, amid the boys playing cricket and housewives chatting from their balconies, winding staircases lead to places where lies a darker side to India's economic boom. Three months ago, police rescued Theresa Kerketa from one of these tiny two-roomed flats. For four years, she was kept here by a placement agency for domestic maids, in between stints as a virtual slave to Delhi's middle-class homes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Republicans reject tax hike, push cuts in "fiscal cliff" offer Monday, Dec 03, 2012 03:28 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans proposed steep spending cuts on Monday but gave no ground on President Barack Obama's call to raise taxes on the wealthiest in their first formal proposal to avert a "fiscal cliff" that could push the U.S. economy into recession. After days of stalemate, the Republican offer shows deep differences with President Barack Obama as the two sides work to head off across-the-board spending cuts and tax increases due to take effect in January. The White House dismissed the proposal and said it contained no new ideas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chiefs coach Crennel says he tried to talk player out of suicide Monday, Dec 03, 2012 02:58 PM PST KANSAS CITY, Mo., Dec 3 (Reuters) - Kansas City Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel said on Monday he tried to talk linebacker Jovan Belcher out of shooting himself outside the team's practice facility before the player committed suicide on Saturday. Belcher shot himself in the head in a parking lot in the presence of team personnel that included Crennel and General Manager Scott Pioli, police said. A few minutes earlier, he shot his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, to death in the couple's home, according to police. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chavez will travel to Brazil for summit: ambassador Monday, Dec 03, 2012 02:57 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez will travel to Brazil for a regional summit at the end of this week despite cancer-related medical treatment in Cuba, Brazil's ambassador said on Monday. If confirmed, the 58-year-old Chavez's presence at the Mercosur trade bloc meeting would indicate his latest health scare is not as bad as some are speculating. Venezuelan officials would not immediately confirm the ambassador's statement. Chavez was in Cuba on Monday and it was unknown if he would return home first if he should decide to go on to Brazil. ... Full Story | Top |
| Scientists find gene link to teenage binge drinking Monday, Dec 03, 2012 02:28 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have unpicked the brain processes involved in teenage alcohol abuse and say their findings help explain why some young people have more of a tendency to binge drink. A study published in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal found that a gene known as RASGRF-2 plays a crucial role in controlling how alcohol stimulates the brain to release dopamine, triggering feelings of reward. ... Full Story | Top |
| Geron drops brain cancer drug, to cut jobs Monday, Dec 03, 2012 02:15 PM PST (Reuters) - Geron Corp confirmed it will discontinue development of an experimental drug to treat cancer that has spread to the brain from elsewhere in the body and also cut about 40 percent of its workforce, after patients failed to respond to the drug in a mid-stage study. The company said it will now focus on the development of another drug candidate, imetelstat, as a treatment for blood cancers and some types of solid tumors. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dial back esophageal cancer screening: internists Monday, Dec 03, 2012 02:00 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A group of U.S. internal medicine doctors today recommended limiting esophageal cancer screening to people with chronic heartburn who have additional, more severe symptoms. Known as upper endoscopy, the screening procedure is often used to diagnose and manage gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) - which can be tied to a higher risk of esophageal cancer. But some of that use may be unnecessary, the American College of Physicians (ACP) said - adding costs and putting patients at risk of side effects without evidence of a clear benefit. ... Full Story | Top |
| On Twitter, Obama puts question mark over mortgage deduction Monday, Dec 03, 2012 01:47 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Taking to Twitter to press his case in "fiscal cliff" talks with Congress, President Barack Obama said on Monday that tax breaks benefiting middle class families such as the mortgage interest deduction could be at risk if rates for top earners do not rise. Obama is locked in negotiations with Congress to prevent a year-end fiscal crunch. If the administration and lawmakers fail to agree, across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts would go into effect that analysts say would tip the economy back into recession. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: "Fiscal cliff" offers of Republicans, Obama compared Monday, Dec 03, 2012 01:47 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Both President Barack Obama and Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have made opening offers in negotiations to resolve the "fiscal cliff. Here is a look at the two proposals, which are aimed at averting a more drastic combination of tax increases and spending cuts that economists say could cause a recession: REPUBLICAN OFFER House Republican leaders on Monday called for $2.2 trillion in new deficit reductions over 10 years. ... Full Story | Top |
| FDA, medical device industry form research partnership Monday, Dec 03, 2012 01:43 PM PST (Reuters) - The Food and Drug Administration said it has formed a partnership with the medical device industry aimed at speeding the development and review of new device products. The nonprofit organization, called the Medical Device Innovation Consortium, will collaborate with patient support groups, academia, foundations and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to improve the process for bringing medical devices into the marketplace. ... Full Story | Top |
| Most teens with mental disorders not on meds: study Monday, Dec 03, 2012 01:02 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite concerns that too many U.S. youth use prescription psychiatric drugs, a new study suggests just one in seven teens with a mental disorder has been prescribed medication, and far fewer without a diagnosis are on treatment. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which funded the study, said there was "no compelling evidence for either misuse or overuse of psychotropic medications," which include stimulants for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), antidepressants and antipsychotics. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merck becomes bigger Alzheimer's player, with new trial Monday, Dec 03, 2012 12:35 PM PST  (Reuters) - Merck & Co Inc has moved to the forefront of Alzheimer's disease research by starting a mid-stage study of a drug from a new class of oral medicines that aim to shut down production of a protein associated with the memory-robbing disease. The drugmaker said on Monday it had started the trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of its so-called BACE inhibitor, named MK-8931, in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease. The Phase II trial, which will compare the drug with a placebo, is a global, multi-center study that includes a group of 200 patients to test safety. ... Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment