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FDA assigns Priority Review designation to JRD's XARELTO sNDA

Janssen Research & Development, LLC (JRD) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has assigned a Priority Review designation to the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) filed on December 29, 2011 for XARELTO (rivaroxaban), an oral anticoagulant, to reduce the risk of thrombotic cardiovascular events in patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS).

27 Feb 2012

State roundup: State tobacco funds scrutinized; More allegations against Calif.'s Prime Healthcare; Ore. CCOs get green light

A U.S. Surgeon General's report due to be released March 8 will come down hard on states that have cut anti-smoking funds in tough fiscal times, said Terry Pechacek, who oversees the report as director for Science in the Office on Smoking and Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report can't result in sanctions, but it has proven to move public opinion in the past to force changes by tobacco companies in how they sell cigarettes, how states fund efforts and how the federal government regulates the trade.

27 Feb 2012

Anorexia on the rise among kids and anti-obesity campaigns blamed

According to Dr Jane Morris, chairwoman of the Scottish Eating Disorder Interest Group, healthy eating drives are causing anorexia in children. She said children were obsessing about their diet because of drives to combat obesity.

27 Feb 2012

ATI commences European trial of neurostimulation system for migraine

Autonomic Technologies, Inc. (ATI), the developer of a novel miniaturized implantable stimulator for severe headaches, today announced initiation of a study in Europe to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the company's investigational neurostimulation system for the treatment of high frequency, high disability migraine.

27 Feb 2012

KIT, FZI to present innovations for everyday life in the future at CeBIT fair

At the CeBIT in Hanover, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the FZI Research Center for Information Technology will present innovations for our everyday life in the future.

27 Feb 2012

News briefs from featured presentations at Cardiology 2012

Pediatric cardiology researchers and clinicians from almost 50 centers from across the U.S. and around the world are gathering at the Cardiology 2012 Conference sponsored by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia on Feb. 22-26 in Orlando, Fla.

27 Feb 2012

CT scan as effective as MRI in predicting recurrent stroke risk

New research from the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) shows that using a CT (computerised tomography) scan, doctors can predict if patients who have had a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor stroke, with neurological symptoms such as weakness or speech issues, are at risk for another more severe stroke.

27 Feb 2012

Statins may reduce risk of depression in patients with heart disease

Patients with heart disease who took cholesterol-lowering statins were significantly less likely to develop depression than those who did not, in a study by Mary Whooley, MD, a physician at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

27 Feb 2012

Lung function, obstructive airway diseases linked with increased risk of heart failure

A large population-based study has found that lung function and obstructive airway diseases are strongly and independently associated with increased risk of heart failure. Importantly, say the investigators, this association was even evident in never-smokers and was still evident after adjustment for smoking status and number of years smoking. This, they add, indicates "that our results are not primarily confounded by smoking".

26 Feb 2012

Citrus fruits may keep stroke at bay for women

In the study published last Thursday in Stroke, a journal of the American Heart Association, researchers analyzed the flavonoid intake of 69,622 women from the U.S.-based Nurses’ Health Study, which has followed nurses since 1976 to assess risk factors for cardiovascular disease and cancer. The total flavonoid intake of the 69,622 women was calculated after they completed food intake questionnaires collected every four years using a U.S. Department of Agriculture database. They found that during 14 years of follow up surveys beginning in 1990, 1,803 incidents of strokes were confirmed from the women.

26 Feb 2012

FDA panel votes in favor of earlier rejected anti-obesity drug Qnexa

Qnexa took a step closer to approval on Wednesday, when outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted 20-to-2 in favor of approval. The panel also recommended the company conduct a study to scrutinize even more closely any risk of heart problems. That study may be required after the drug is approved. Should the FDA ask for further data on heart risks before any approval, it would delay Qnexa's launch further.

26 Feb 2012

Romney defends health care record on the campaign trail

News outlets report on how GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is casting his health care policies as he moves toward the Tuesday's Michigan and Arizona primaries.

24 Feb 2012

Research roundup: Hospital medication errors; Key Medicaid issues in 2014

Use Of Preventive Services Could Be Better Aligned With Clinical Recommendations -- This report looks at Medicare patients' use of eight specific preventive services, which have "the potential to improve health outcomes and lower health care expenditures," according to the authors. Use of cardiovascular and cervical cancer screenings "generally aligned with clinical recommendations, ... but use of other cancer screenings" did not.

24 Feb 2012

Cardiologists not satisfied with 'doc fix'

The continual postponement of the SGR cuts has dampened the enthusiasm of younger cardiologists, said Robert O. Bonow, MD, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Innovation at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

24 Feb 2012

Cyberonics third quarter net sales increase 16% to $54.5 million

Cyberonics, Inc. today announced results for the quarter ended January 27, 2012.

24 Feb 2012

Bathtub refinishers may cause work-related death

The deaths of at least 13 workers who were refinishing bathtubs have been linked to a chemical used in products to strip surfaces of paint and other finishes.

24 Feb 2012

Supreme Court sends Calif. Medicaid case back to lower court

At issue was a federal appeals court ruling allowing patients and health care providers to sue over California's cuts in Medicaid payment rates. The high court sent the case back to the court in San Francisco to consider whether private parties or only the federal government can object to Medicaid reductions.

24 Feb 2012

Article in journal Science proposes new look on killer diseases

The immune system protects from infections by detecting and eliminating invading pathogens. These two strategies form the basis of conventional clinical approaches in the fight against infectious diseases.

24 Feb 2012

UH GCSW to host Houston, Leading America's Future round table discussion

The University of Houston (UH) Graduate College of Social Work (GCSW) will host, "Houston, Leading America's Future," a round table discussion addressing what can be done today to ensure the success of Houston's multicultural society at 4 p.m., Friday, Feb. 24 at the UH GCSW building, Room 102.

24 Feb 2012

Feds award health exchange grants to 10 states

The Department of Health and Human Services is sending $229 million in exchange establishment grants to 10 states -- half of which are receiving this funding for a second time around. However, an Associated Press analysis found that progress among states in setting up these health insurance marketplaces remains uneven.

24 Feb 2012