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Viewpoints: Two views on how to fight obesity; Tough choices for big business on health costs

Forgive us if we don't cheer at the prospect of adding 32 million to the total number of Americans who are dozens of pounds too heavy, a count that stood in 2010 at 78 million.

11 May 2012

FDA panel recommends approval of Truvada as preventive treatment for HIV

"In a move that could lead to a new milestone for treatment in the evolution of the worldwide AIDS epidemic," a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel on Thursday recommended Gilead Sciences' Truvada as a treatment for preventing HIV infection among healthy people at risk of contracting the virus, Reuters reports, noting, "It already has FDA approval to treat people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus".

11 May 2012

FDA advisory committee supports lorcaserin for weight management

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eisai Inc. announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 18 to 4, with one abstention, that the available data demonstrate that the potential benefits of lorcaserin outweigh the potential risks when used long-term in a population of overweight and obese individuals.

11 May 2012

FDA warns about 'liberation therapy' for multiple sclerosis

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting health care professionals and patients about injuries and death associated with the use of an experimental procedure sometimes called "liberation therapy" or the "liberation procedure" to treat chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI).

11 May 2012

Bacteria in digestive tracts compete against invading bacteria

From tiny villages in developing nations to suburban kitchens in the United States, dangerous strains of E. coli bacteria sicken millions of people each year - and kill untold numbers of children.

11 May 2012

Less invasive procedure for heart disease

Doctors at Regions Hospital have begun performing a less invasive procedure for heart disease. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) was approved last November by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for elderly patients who are too frail or too old for open heart surgery. The device is not approved for patients who are eligible for open heart surgery.

11 May 2012

HIV prevention drug receives FDA panel's backing

The drug has already been approved as a treatment for HIV/AIDS. The FDA is expected to decide about approval by June 15.

11 May 2012

House approves $310B in cuts, Medicaid and children's health care targeted

The bill is designed to shield the Pentagon from automatic cuts that were laid out in last year's debt accord.

11 May 2012

Arno AR-42 for neurofibromatosis type 2 receives EMA orphan-drug designation

Arno Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that its investigational compound known as AR-42 has been granted orphan-drug designation by the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products for the treatment of neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2).

11 May 2012

Aradigm first quarter total revenue increases to $0.3 million

Aradigm Corporation today announced financial results for the first quarter and three months ended March 31, 2012.

11 May 2012

Lot of fat and few carbohydrates could have better effect on blood sugar levels, lipids in diabetics

People with Type 2 diabetes are usually advised to keep a low-fat diet. Now, a study at Linköping University shows that food with a lot of fat and few carbohydrates could have a better effect on blood sugar levels and blood lipids.

11 May 2012

Drug manufacturers draw attention for politics and pain killers

Politico examines the relationship between industry-group PhRMA and congressional Republicans in the post-health-reform-debate landscape.

11 May 2012

House passes cuts to health care, other programs to protect Pentagon funding

The Republican-led House has agreed to replace deep budget cuts scheduled to hit the Pentagon in January with a series of reductions in funding for food stamps, Medicaid and regulation of the financial sector. The House approved the package that would save $242.8 billion over 10 years on a party-line 218 to 199 vote. No Democrats supported the package; sixteen Republicans opposed it.

11 May 2012

Interim results from Seattle Genetics’ ADCETRIS phase II trial on CTCL

Seattle Genetics, Inc. today announced that interim results from an investigator-sponsored phase II clinical trial of ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) in patients with relapsed cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) were presented at the Society for Investigative Dermatology annual meeting being held May 9-12, 2012 in Raleigh, NC.

11 May 2012

Maternal gluten sensitivity may increase risk of schizophrenia in children

Babies born to women with sensitivity to gluten appear to be at increased risk for certain psychiatric disorders later in life, according to research by scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore.

11 May 2012

Researchers discover protein that regulates activation of brown fat

Scientists have identified a protein which regulates the activation of brown fat in both the brain and the body's tissues. Their research, which was conducted in mice, was published today, Friday 11 May, in the journal Cell.

11 May 2012

German and Portuguese hospital first to use iCAD’s Xoft system in Europe

iCAD, Inc., an industry-leading provider of advanced image analysis, workflow solutions and radiation therapy for the early identification and treatment of cancer, announced the first European patients have been treated with the Xoft Axxent Electronic Brachytherapy System.

11 May 2012

Eisai, Arena announce expansion of lorcaserin marketing and supply agreement

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eisai Inc. announced today the expansion of the lorcaserin marketing and supply agreement between Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s wholly owned subsidiary, Arena Pharmaceuticals GmbH, and Eisai Inc. Lorcaserin is an investigational drug candidate intended for weight management.

11 May 2012

Longer looks: More 20-30 somethings are taking care of elderly, dissecting solutions to obesity problem

At 30, Suzette Armijo cares for her widowed 86-year-old grandmother, a retired National Park Service ranger in the final stages of Alzheimer's disease, while holding down a fulltime job, a part-time job and raising a 4-year-old son. "This was nothing that I had planned for," says Armijo, who moved her grandmother Elizabeth Armijo into a nearby six-bed assisted living home because veterans' benefits "wouldn't pay for her to live with me."

11 May 2012

Cardionovum to introduce two DEB dilatation catheter product families

Cardionovum GmbH will launch two drug-eluting balloon (DEB) dilatation catheter product families at next week's EuroPCR 2012 congress: Paclitaxel-coated drug-eluting balloons for coronary and peripheral applications.

11 May 2012