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British Government in court for Judicial Review over cap on GPs' pensions

A Judicial Review sought by the British Medical Association to challenge the government’s decision to cap the pensions of GPs will take place in the High Court, London, on Wednesday and Thursday this week (12th and 13th March 2008).

11 Mar 2008

Investigator attendance at review board reviews: hindrance or help?

Inviting researchers to attend institutional review board sessions designed to approve these same investigators' requests to conduct research involving human subjects doesn't seem to affect the efficiency of the process one way or the other, a new study led by Johns Hopkins bioethicists suggests.

11 Mar 2008

Another bird flu case in Egypt...

Health authorities in Egypt announced last week that another child has been hospitalized with the H5N1 avian virus, the country's second case in a child in less than a week.

11 Mar 2008

Water contaminants? bottled water no help

What the recent story about traces of pharmaceuticals in our drinking water makes very clear is that access to safe drinking water is an issue that affects everyone.

10 Mar 2008

UK researchers look to improve treatment for lung cancer patients

Doctors from around the UK are taking part in one of the world's largest lung cancer clinical trials investigating how a blood thinning drug might help prevent blood clots in lung cancer patients.

5 Mar 2008

New laws will mean patients in NSW are protected from doctors' misconduct

The Health Minister for New South Wales Reba Meagher has announced plans to introduce the mandatory reporting by medical practitioners of their colleagues in instances of gross misconduct.

3 Mar 2008

Forest Laboratories to develop and distribute the novel beta blocker Bystolic (nebivolol)

Mylan Inc. has announced that it and Forest Laboratories Holdings, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Forest Laboratories, Inc. have amended their January 2006 agreement to commercialize, develop and distribute the novel beta blocker Bystolic (nebivolol), which is currently approved in the United States for the treatment of hypertension.

28 Feb 2008

New five-year course for U.S. AIDS response

As a fitting tribute to the late Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, Republicans and Democrats have crafted a bipartisan compromise to support AIDS, TB and malaria policy.

28 Feb 2008

AHF to congress: keep PEPFAR funding priority on AIDS treatment

With a bipartisan voice vote earlier today, The House Foreign Affairs Committee today passed House Resolution 5501 (the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act), a bill to reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the US global AIDS program.

28 Feb 2008

Growing US disparities in health not inevitable

In the public health field, there is an ongoing debate as to whether improvement in the overall health of the population is linked to increases or decreases in social inequities in health, that is, the inequities between higher-income and lower-income groups or people of different race/ethnicities.

27 Feb 2008

Faster chemo technique increases survival in children with neuroblastoma

Chemotherapy given with shorter intervals between treatments than conventional chemotherapy increases survival rates by two thirds in children with high-risk neuroblastoma , according to a study published in the Lancet Oncology * today (Tuesday).

27 Feb 2008

You are what you eat and drink - and that is recorded in your hair

University of Utah scientists developed a new crime-fighting tool by showing that human hair reveals the general location where a person drank water, helping police track past movements of criminal suspects or unidentified murder victims.

27 Feb 2008

FDA announces permanent injunction against food companies, executives

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced that Brownwood Acres Foods Inc., Cherry Capital Services Inc. (doing business as Flavonoid Sciences) and two of their top executives have signed a consent decree that effectively prohibits the companies and their executives from manufacturing and distributing any products with claims in the label or labeling to cure, treat, mitigate or prevent diseases

26 Feb 2008

Chronic disease as great a threat as terrorists

According to international experts the global threat from chronic disease is as great as the threat of terrorism and too little is being done to fight it.

25 Feb 2008

Public appalled as doctor de-registered in 2004 is accused of mutilating women

As more and more complaints continue to appear regarding the behaviour of a Sydney doctor many are appalled that he continued to practice after being struck off the medical register.

25 Feb 2008

PM says binge drinking an epidemic across Australia

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said binge drinking in Australia has reached "epidemic" proportions and action needs to be taken to combat the growing problem of alcohol abuse.

21 Feb 2008

Suicide rates in young men at lowest levels since 1970s

The reasons for the steady decline in suicides among young people in the UK are explored in two studies by researchers from the University of Bristol published on bmj.com.

18 Feb 2008

Chronic pain is a disease in its own right

The concept that chronic pain is a disease in its own right is leading to new specific treatments aimed at physical, psychological, and environmental components of this major disease, including genetic predisposition, according to a world renowned pain medicine expert.

17 Feb 2008

Bush's PEPFAR at risk, says AHF

As President Bush begins a five-country tour of Africa to visit and highlight programs funded by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the five year-old US global AIDS program which Congress created at his request, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has cautioned the President that his legacy as a leader in the global fight against HIV and AIDS is at risk due to proposed changes in the priorities of PEPFAR that essentially cut the heart out of this lifesaving AIDS care and treatment program. PEPFAR is currently up for reauthorization by Congress.

17 Feb 2008

WHO warns of one billion death toll from tobacco

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a stark warning about smoking saying that unless urgent action is taken, by the year 2100 tobacco could kill one billion people.

11 Feb 2008