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Viewpoints: Health costs crushing Detroit; Military care still faces funding issues; Romneycare scores

Legacy costs are bankrupting Detroit just as they crushed its automakers. Firefighters can retire at 55 and earn 70% of their highest salary plus a 2.25% annual cost-of-living inflator in perpetuity. The result? Employee benefits alone now make up about half of the city's general fund. Health costs have grown by more than 60% since 2008 while the city's pension bill has quadrupled to $200 million.

16 Mar 2012

Neuropeptide F in the fly's brain governs behavior linked with addiction

Sexually deprived male fruit flies exhibit a pattern of behavior that seems ripped from the pages of a sad-sack Raymond Carver story: when female fruit flies reject their sexual advances, the males are driven to excessive alcohol consumption, drinking far more than comparable, sexually satisfied male flies.

16 Mar 2012

New FSU technology could decrease the cost of drug discovery

New technology being developed at Florida State University could significantly decrease the cost of drug discovery, potentially leading to increased access to high-quality health care and cancer patients receiving personalized chemotherapy treatments.

16 Mar 2012

High rate of trauma among women with HIV plays a role in the epidemic

Physical violence, sexual abuse and other forms of childhood and adult trauma are major factors fueling the epidemic of HIV/AIDS among American women. Scientists have known for years that traumatized women are at greater risk of becoming infected.

16 Mar 2012

Health Canada approves Mylan-Rosuvastatin Calcium Tablets

Mylan Pharmaceuticals ULC, the Canadian subsidiary of Mylan Inc., today received approval from Health Canada for Mylan-Rosuvastatin Calcium Tablets, 5mg, 10mg, 20mg and 40mg. Mylan-Rosuvastatin is the generic version of Astra Zeneca's Crestor Tablets, which are used for the management of primary hypercholesterolaemia, mixed dyslipidaemia, and familial hypercholesterolaemia.

16 Mar 2012

Combination therapy may improve life span and motor function of infants with Batten disease

Infants with Batten disease, a rare but fatal neurological disorder, appear healthy at birth. But within a few short years, the illness takes a heavy toll, leaving children blind, speechless and paralyzed. Most die by age 5.

16 Mar 2012

New technique can sensitize cancer cells to radiation

Researchers at Winship Cancer Institute are developing a technique to remove cancer cells' defenses against radiation.

16 Mar 2012

Teva gets exclusive 180 days to market generic antidepressant and anti-anxiety pill Lexapro

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Has won U.S. approval to sell the first generic version of Lexapro for depression and anxiety. Teva has been granted a 180-day exclusivity, so no other firm can market the generic medication in the United States in that timeframe, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in a news release.

15 Mar 2012

Health Canada approves Boston Scientific's Blazer Open-Irrigated RFA Catheter

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced Health Canada approval of the Blazer Open-Irrigated Catheter, the Company's latest radiofrequency ablation (RFA) catheter designed to treat a variety of arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, ventricular tachycardia and other supraventricular tachycardias.

15 Mar 2012

Scale to measure potential harm caused by invasive placebos in local anaesthesia research

A scale developed to measure the potential harm caused by invasive placebos in local anaesthesia research has been successfully tested by a group of 43 independent clinicians, according to research published in the April issue of Anaesthesia.

15 Mar 2012

Roundtable teleconference on nanotechnology against cancer

Imagine a test that sifts through millions of molecules in a drop of a patient's blood to detect a telltale protein signature of a cancer subtype, or a drug ferry that doesn't release its toxic contents until it slips inside cancer cells.

15 Mar 2012

Targeted drugs should be aimed at mutations that develop early in blood cancer

The diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood cancer, often causes confusion. While some patients can be treated with repeated blood transfusions, others require chemotherapy, leaving some uncertainty about whether the syndromes actually are cancer.

15 Mar 2012

Many people do not recognize stroke symptoms

Nationwide ambulance use by patients suffering from a stroke has not changed since the mid-1990s, even though effective stroke treatments are now available.

15 Mar 2012

Better evidence for effectiveness of drug-based approaches for relieving labour pains

There is better evidence for the effectiveness of drug-based approaches for relieving labour pains than non-drug approaches. These are the findings of an all-encompassing publishing in The Cochrane Library, which draws together results from a number of previous reviews on the subject.

15 Mar 2012

China Pharma revenue increases 9% to $81.2M for full year 2011

China Pharma Holdings, Inc., a fully-integrated specialty pharmaceuticals company in China, today announced financial results for the year ended December 31, 2011.

15 Mar 2012

CUMC scientists develop a way to recreate personalized immune mouse

Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) scientists have developed a way to recreate an individual's immune system in a mouse. The "personalized immune mouse" offers researchers an unprecedented tool for individualized analysis of abnormalities that contribute to type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases, starting at the onset of disease.

15 Mar 2012

First-ever compulsory license issuance in India could have implications for HIV medication

"On Monday, the Indian Patent Office effectively ended German drug maker Bayer's monopoly for its cancer drug Nexavar and issued its first-ever compulsory license allowing local generic maker Natco Pharma to make and sell the drug cheaply in India," Reuters reports.

15 Mar 2012

Anti-inflammatory drugs may offer novel treatment for CHD

A large international study indicates that anti-inflammatory drugs may become a new tool for preventing and treating coronary heart disease (CHD), the leading global cause of death.

15 Mar 2012

Combined therapy effective in treating patients with severe facial acne

A combined therapy of common acne medications was shown to be a potent regimen for treating patients with severe facial acne, according to two published studies involving Henry Ford Hospital.

15 Mar 2012

Study provides insight into developing new treatment strategies for triple-negative breast cancer

A new study by University of Kentucky researchers provides insight into developing new treatment strategies for basal-like breast cancer, commonly known as triple-negative breast cancer. This cancer is associated with early metastasis and resistance to chemotherapy and occurs at women at a younger age.

15 Mar 2012