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Clinical trial to evaluate efficacy and safety of new treatment for giant cell arteritis

An international, multicenter phase II clinical trial is evaluating the efficacy and safety of mavrilimumab co-administered with a 26-week corticosteroid taper in patients with giant cell arteritis.

26 Sep 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Impeachment and the health agenda

How will the impeachment effort on Capitol Hill affect work on other legislation, particularly bills to restrain the cost of prescription drugs and surprise medical bills? And will Congress and President Donald Trump be able to agree on the spending bills needed to keep the federal government open for business?

26 Sep 2019

In tiny doses, an addiction medication moonlights as treatment for chronic pain

Lori Pinkley, a 50-year-old from Kansas City, Mo., has struggled with puzzling chronic pain since she was 15.

26 Sep 2019

Love hormone oxytocin linked to hypersexuality

Sex addiction or hypersexual disorder is a behavior characterized by an excessive preoccupation with sexual fantasies, behaviors, or urges that are hard to control, causing negative effects on one’s health and relationships.

25 Sep 2019

Researchers identify key switch that eliminates dormant HIV reservoirs

Using genetic sequencing, University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers have identified a principal cellular player controlling HIV reproduction in immune cells which, when turned off or deleted, eliminates dormant HIV reservoirs.

24 Sep 2019

As off-label use spreads, supplies of niche drugs and patients’ patience grow short

Medical treatment has knocked down tumors in 6-year-old Easton Daniels' brain, but the drug used also wiped out his immune system.

24 Sep 2019

Version of an antibiotic drug extends survival in mice with lethal pediatric brain tumors

Versions of an antibiotic drug called DON first isolated from soil bacteria more than 60 years ago have shown promising signs of extending survival in mice models of especially lethal pediatric brain tumors marked by the high expression of a cancer-causing gene known as the MYC oncogene, according to results of two studies from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

23 Sep 2019

Cutting-edge technologies to improve drug development while reducing animal testing

On Thursday, September 19th, 2019, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine hosted a congressional briefing in cooperation with Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), featuring innovator companies showcasing cutting-edge technologies that have the potential to improve the safety and efficacy of pharmaceuticals while reducing animal testing.

20 Sep 2019

Developing cost-effective and milder synthetic routes to create oxygen heterocycles

Every biological reaction is a chemical reaction. The exchange of carbon dioxide for oxygen in our lungs and blood cells, for example, is caused by molecules releasing chemicals and reforming with new ones.

20 Sep 2019

Hill hodgepodge: Pelosi draws from Democrats, GOP and Trump for drug plan

House Democratic leaders on Thursday unveiled an aggressive plan to lower drug prices through negotiations between federal health officials and the makers of some of the most expensive drugs.

20 Sep 2019

Wayne State takes initiative to reduce fatbergs

Worldwide, the occurrence of large-scale sewer blockages caused by the massive buildup of discarded fats, oils and greases (FOGs) is on the rise.

19 Sep 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Tennessee seeks Medicaid changes

Tennessee announced this week that it hopes to become the first state to take the Trump administration up on its offer to transform funding for its Medicaid program into a block grant.

19 Sep 2019

Doctors and nurses with addictions often denied a crucial recovery option

Dr. Wesley Boyd, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard, has spent years working with state programs that help doctors, nurses and other health care workers who have become addicted to opioids get back on their feet professionally.

19 Sep 2019

Longtime crusader against Oxycontin begins to see the fruits of her struggle

In the 15 years since she lost her son to a single OxyContin pill, Barbara Van Rooyan has had but one up-close look at the people representing the company that made it.

17 Sep 2019

Purveyors of black-market pharmaceuticals target immigrants

The bootleg medications were smuggled across the border and sold to mostly Latino immigrants in public spaces throughout Los Angeles — at swap meets, parks, beauty salons and makeshift stands outside mom-and-pop grocery stores.

16 Sep 2019

Newly developed nanomaterial is both twisted and untwisted at the same time

A new nanomaterial developed by scientists at the University of Bath could solve a conundrum faced by scientists probing some of the most promising types of future pharmaceuticals.

15 Sep 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Despite booming economy, uninsured rate ticks up

The annual report from the Census Bureau, released this week, found that 27.5 million Americans were without health insurance last year, an increase of nearly 2 million from 2017.

12 Sep 2019

Congress rakes in millions from drugmakers

Members of Congress raked in almost $4 million from pharmaceutical manufacturers and their trade groups in the first six months of 2019.

12 Sep 2019

Quick action can save lives of people with severe hypoglycemia

People with diabetes and their friends and relatives will be better prepared to spot the signs of dangerously low blood sugar using new resources the Hormone Health Network has introduced.

11 Sep 2019

Enzyme in plants key to developing novel pharmaceuticals

Plants have many superpowers, such as manufacturing compounds to help repel pests, protecting themselves from environmental hazards, and providing a plethora of essential oils and other compounds that can heal a multitude of infections and other diseases.

9 Sep 2019