FDA Looking Into Singulair Suicide Risk
FDA NEWS | Vol. 5 No. 63 March 31, 2008
The FDA is investigating a possible connection Between the use of Merck's Singulair and changes in behavior and mood involving suicidal thoughts and suicide. The agency said in an Early Communication last week that it is considering, but has not reach a decision on, possible regulatory action. Singulair (montelukast sodium), Merk's top-selling product, had worldwide sales of $4.3 billion last year...
Talking Too Much On Cell Phones May Be A Real Killer
New York Daily News March 31, 2008
A top British cancer expert says using hand-held phones for 10 years could double the risk of brain cancer. A mobile-phone industry group dismissed Khurana's claims as exaggerated and pointed out that health groups say cell phones are safe...
Vaccine For Ebola Virus Successful On PrimatesScience Daily March 31, 2008
One of the world's deadliest diseases, caused by the Ebola virus, may finally be preventable thanks to US and Canadian researchers...
Researchers Find Six More Diabetes GenesReuters LONDON, March 30, 2008
U.S. and European scientists have found six more genes that make people more susceptible to developing type 2 diabetes, in a study they say may help prevent and treat the chronic condition...
Study Finds Many Disatisfied With Hospitals
New York Times March 29, 2008
Many hospital patients are dissatisfied with some aspects of their care and might not recommend their hospitals to friends and relatives, the federal government said Friday as it issued ratings for most of the nation’s hospitals, based on the first uniform national survey of patients...
Free Drug Samples Not Really Free
NEWSInferno.com March 27, 2008
Apparently, patients given free samples tend to spend nearly 40 percent more on medications in the first six months and 20 percent more the six months, running significantly higher out-of-pocket expenses versus those not receiving free samples. Doctors and patients should discuss using more generic drugs, offering three-month instead of one-month supplies and discontinuing unnecessary medications...
California agency puts off until 2011 an electronic pedigree drug-tracking program
Los Angeles Times March 26, 2008
It was the second two-year delay for the start of a statewide electronic pedigree drug-tracking program first approved by the Legislature and governor in 2004. It would require factory-to-patient tracking of individual units of pills and other medications...
Most aren't fans of health care system
San Francisco Chronicle March 26, 2008
A survey of more than 26,400 Americans conducted by the AFL-CIO found that people are fed up with the U.S. health care system, whether they have health insurance or not...
AIDS Vaccine Testing at Crossroads
Washington Post March 26, 2008
The leaders of the federal government's effort to develop an AIDS vaccine said yesterday that more of their budget needs to be spent on basic lab research...
New Report: Outlook Remains bleak for Medicare and Social Security
New York Times March 26, 2008
The new report, like the one issued last April, said Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund would be exhausted in 2019, while Social Security’s reserves would be depleted in 2041. “Medicare poses a far greater financial challenge,” said Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., the managing trustee of Medicare and Social Security...
Health Care Notification Network launched on March 25, 2008
San Francisco Vocus/PRWEB March 25, 2008
A new network to deliver drug safety alerts online to U.S. physicians was launched today, replacing a widely criticized and decades-old system based upon paper and U.S. mail. The Health Care Notification Network (HCNN) is the result of a three-year effort and an unprecedented collaboration between U.S. medical society leaders, liability carriers, health plans, consumer advocacy groups, government leaders and industry, including major pharmaceutical manufacturers...
New Addiction on Campus: Raiding the Medicine Cabinet
Wall Street Journal March 25, 2008
Earlier this month, several drug experts testified at a congressional hearing called Generation Rx about the rising abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs among America's youth...
R&D Spending by U.S. Biopharmaceutical Companies Reaches Record $58.8 Billion in 2007
PhARMA Washington, D.C. March 24, 2008
America’s pharmaceutical and biotechnology research companies invested a record $58.8 billion last year in the research and development of new life-changing medicines and vaccines – an increase of nearly $3 billion from 2006, according to analyses by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and Burrill & Company...
Hospital bridles at a horse in the elevator
BBC News March 24, 2008
A Hawaiian hospital has restated its rules on pets after a man took a horse up in a elevator in a bid to cheer up a sick relative...
New Method Finds Networks of Genes Behind Obesity
Reuters Washington, March 16, 2008
Overeating disrupts entire networks of genes in the body, causing not only obesity, but diabetes and heart disease, in ways that may be possible to predict...
Problems Paying for Prescription Drugs, 2008; USA Today/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health Survey: The Public on Prescription Drugs and Pharmaceutical Companies
March 2008
Third in a survey series conducted jointly by USA Today and public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health, by USA Today, the survey finds more than four in ten Americans report problems paying for needed prescription medications for themselves or their family...
Source: USA Today/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health: The Public On Prescription Drugs and Pharmaceutical Companies (conducted Jan. 3-23, 2008). View Report.
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