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Fingolimod offers minor added benefit for patients with RRMS

The immunosuppressive drug fingolimod (trade name: Gilenya-) is approved for the treatment of highly-active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in adults. In an early benefit assessment pursuant to "Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products" (AMNOG), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) assessed whether fingolimod offers an added benefit compared with the present standard therapy.

6 Jul 2012

Obama administration announces GHI office closure, says work will move to Office of Global Diplomacy

The Obama administration on Tuesday announced the closure of the Global Health Initiative (GHI) office, and GHI Executive Director Lois Quam told GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog in an interview that the office's work is being "elevated" to the State Department's Office of Global Diplomacy, a move that "lifts up the GHI to the highest levels of diplomacy in the U.S. government," she said.

6 Jul 2012

Longer looks: The man behind the 'Personhood' crusade; Atul Gawande on SCOTUS; 'No One Dies Alone' program

In the four years since Mason launched the pro-life group Personhood USA, he has been crisscrossing the country to convince voters that the best way to overturn Roe v. Wade, the ruling that legalized abortion, is to define human embryos as people from the moment of fertilization. ... Mason, the man at the heart of the maelstrom, is part preacher, part hipster.

6 Jul 2012

Philippines experiencing increasing number of new HIV cases; Leaders say country should reconsider policies

"At a time when many countries are seeing their HIV infection rates level off or decline," health officials in the Philippines "have seen an unexpected surge in cases in the past several years, with a more than five-fold increase between 2007 and 2011, with 2,349 new cases last year," the Wall Street Journal's "Southeast Asia Real Time" blog reports, noting, "The total number of cases as of April 2012 is 9,396, compared to just 3,061 in 2007."

6 Jul 2012

Diabetes on the rise among Chinese teenagers

A study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found Chinese teenagers have a rate of diabetes nearly four times greater than their counterparts in the United States. The rise in the incidence of diabetes parallels increases in cardiovascular risk, researchers say, and is the result of a Chinese population that is growing increasingly overweight.

6 Jul 2012

Scientists use antibody injections to rapidly reverse onset of Type I diabetes in mice

Scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have used injections of antibodies to rapidly reverse the onset of Type I diabetes in mice genetically bred to develop the disease. Moreover, just two injections maintained disease remission indefinitely without harming the immune system.

6 Jul 2012

State roundup: Calif., Oregon grappling with insurance rate increases; Kansas (almost) ready to launch health info network

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones denied Blue Shield of California's plan to close several of its health policies to new customers, saying it violated state rules designed to protect consumers from large rate increases. ... Blue Shield, a nonprofit insurer with 3.3 million members statewide, had proposed closing off new enrollment on 22 health plans with about 152,000 customers.

6 Jul 2012

Study: 13 zoonoses responsible for 2.4B cases of human illness per year

A new global study mapping human-animal diseases like tuberculosis (TB) and Rift Valley fever finds that an "unlucky" 13 zoonoses are responsible for 2.4 billion cases of human illness and 2.2 million deaths per year. The vast majority occur in low- and middle-income countries.

5 Jul 2012

First Edition: July 5, 2012

Early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including articles on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's statement that the health law individual mandate is a tax.

5 Jul 2012

Lower pH reduces ability of ASL to kill bacteria in CF airways

The human airway is a pretty inhospitable place for microbes. There are numerous immune defense mechanisms poised to kill or remove inhaled bacteria before they can cause problems. But cystic fibrosis (CF) disrupts these defenses, leaving patients particularly susceptible to airway infection, which is the major cause of disease and death in CF.

5 Jul 2012

Cashing in on the court's decision

Fundraisers for GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney as well as for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee report significant tallies in the days since the Supreme Court's health law decision.

4 Jul 2012

Mississippi's lone abortion clinic gets reprieve

The state's only abortion clinic had been threatened with closure due to a state law requiring doctors to have hospital privileges.

4 Jul 2012

New issue of 'Global Fund News Flash' available

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Tuesday released Issue 5 of its newsletter, the "Global Fund News Flash."

4 Jul 2012

Blog posts address London Summit on Family Planning

The London Summit on Family Planning, co-sponsored by the U.K. government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with support from UNFPA and other partners, is scheduled to take place next week.

4 Jul 2012

Medicaid expansion draws mixed reaction from states

In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling making the law's Medicaid expansion optional, some state officials say they will opt out because they cannot afford even 10 percent of the program's costs. Others, though, are moving forward.

4 Jul 2012

Live zoster vaccine associated with reduced risk of HZ in patients with immune-mediated diseases

Although some have suggested that patients receiving medication for immune-mediated diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or psoriasis may be at increased risk of herpes zoster (HZ; shingles) shortly after receipt of the vaccine, an analysis that included nearly 20,000 vaccinated Medicare beneficiaries finds that the live zoster vaccine is not associated with an increased risk of HZ shortly after vaccination in patients currently treated with biologics, and that it is associated with a significantly reduced longer-term risk of HZ in patients with an immune-mediated disease, according to a study in the July 4 issue of JAMA.

4 Jul 2012

New round of polls shows Americans are ready to move on

A mix of early poll results shows that, though the Supreme Court's decision didn't quiet the partisan feelings associated with the health law, many people want the battle over the sweeping overhaul to stop. Additionally, the ruling does not appear to have impacted opinions regarding the race for the White House.

4 Jul 2012

GlaxoSmithKline agrees to plead guilty, pay $3B settlement

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to plead guilty to fraud charges and pay $3 billion in total -- with some money going to nearly every state -- for promoting its bestselling antidepressants such as Paxil and Wellbutrin for unapproved uses, failing to report safety data about a top diabetes drug and improperly marketing other drugs.

4 Jul 2012

Expert panel discusses family planning issues in Guardian podcast

In this global development podcast, the Guardian's Annie Kelly is joined by Julia Bunting, head of the U.K. Department for International Development's reproductive health team; Yasmin Ahmed, senior regional director for Asia at Marie Stopes International; Neil Datta, coordinator of the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development; and Gita Sen, professor at the Centre for Public Policy at the Indian Institute of Management, for a discussion about family planning ahead of the July 11 London Summit on Family Planning.

4 Jul 2012

FDA proposes UDI regulations for most medical devices

Today, in response to requirements in legislation that passed Congress with broad bipartisan support, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed that most medical devices distributed in the United States carry a unique device identifier, or UDI.

4 Jul 2012