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Novartis' day in court could leave millions without AIDS drugs

The Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis is in court in India this week challenging the country's patent laws.

30 Jan 2007

Media coverage of autism differs dramatically

Sifting through the pages of newspapers, most people reading stories about autism would think scientists are primarily grappling with understanding how environmental factors, such as childhood vaccines, might contribute to the condition.

30 Jan 2007

One in four normal births cause brain hemorrhages in babies

Researchers in the United States have found that many babies who were delivered vaginally, experience bleeding in and around the brain shortly after birth.

30 Jan 2007

Osteoporosis and men

A McMaster University researcher is alerting men and their doctors that osteoporosis isn't just a woman's problem but that the bone-wasting disease can severely afflict them, too.

30 Jan 2007

FDA commits to safety

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today outlined a comprehensive commitment to the safety of drugs and other medical products.

30 Jan 2007

Statins slow the progression of aortic valve stenosis

The trial provides the first prospective clinical evidence that aortic valves have an active biology that can be targeted with medical therapy and contradicts research published in 2005 in the New England Journal of Medicine, which concluded statins did not halt the progression of aortic stenosis.

30 Jan 2007

Cruelty-free ELISA for human insulin

In the January issue of Clinical Biochemistry, scientists and physicians with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) outline the method used to develop a cruelty-free ELISA for human insulin that uses monoclonal antibodies produced by cells cultured in an animal-serum-free medium.

30 Jan 2007

CeNeRx BioPharma starts human trials of RIMA antidepressant

CeNeRx BioPharma, Inc. has announced the initiation of human clinical trials of Tyrima, CeNeRx's new drug candidate with a triple mechanism of action for the treatment of depression and anxiety.

30 Jan 2007

Investigational treatment for cervical dysplasia

Temple University Hospital's Center For Women's Health is participating in a national study to determine the safety and effectiveness of an investigational treatment for cervical dysplasia.

30 Jan 2007

New York City approves contract to distribute 20 million condoms

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recently approved a $1.57 million contract to deliver more than 20 million Ansell Healthcare's Lifestyle condoms and packets of lubricants to organizations and venues in the city to help curb the spread of HIV, the New York Post reports.

30 Jan 2007

Public reporting and pay for performance in hospital quality improvement

A Medicare pay-for-performance pilot project that rewards hospitals based on quality measures contributes to "modest" improvements in quality of care, according to a study published online Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Wall Street Journal reports .

30 Jan 2007

Magnetic resonance angiography of supraaortic arteries

A novel type of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) angiography is highly accurate in identifying blockages in the arteries that carry blood to the brain, according to a study in the February issue of Radiology.

30 Jan 2007

Giving birth to a child naturally increases risk of hemorrhage in newborns

The first researchers to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study the brains of a large group of babies soon after birth found a small amount of bleeding in and around the brains of one in four babies who were delivered vaginally.

30 Jan 2007

Value based insurance design

Like a one-size-fits-all shirt that doesn't fit anyone very well, American health insurance plans charge every person the same out of pocket cost for medical services - regardless of their effect on a person's health.

30 Jan 2007

TV ads for drugs high on the emotions but low on facts

According to a new study television commercials for prescription drugs are heavily loaded on the emotional side but offer scant information on the disease itself and do little to promote the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

30 Jan 2007

Thailand the latest drug patent buster

Thailand's military government has used World Trade Organization (WTO) rules regarding intellectual property, to allow the sale of generic versions of two important drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS and heart disease.

29 Jan 2007

Time, therapy spur recovery from sudden sensorineural hearing loss

A first-of-its-kind study into time-dependent treatments of sudden sensorineural hearing loss published in the February 2007 issue of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery has determined that a combination of time and oral corticosteroid therapy can play a key role in helping patients regain full hearing, often within a month of the initial loss of hearing.

29 Jan 2007

Probing proteins can lead to better understanding of anti-tumor agents

There are a number of naturally occurring chemicals that are used in phototherapy of skin diseases. Hypocrellin A (HA), which can be extracted from a parasitic fungus, has been taken orally as a folk medicine for several centuries in China.

29 Jan 2007

New type of buckyball

Scientists at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have developed a new type of buckyball nanoparticle that acts as a passkey, allowing peptide-based drugs to enter cancer cells.

29 Jan 2007

Bush promotes health care proposals

Initiatives that encourage U.S. residents to purchase health insurance through the private insurance market are the best way to expand coverage and reduce health care costs, President Bush said Thursday while visiting a Missouri hospital to promote the health care proposals he outlined earlier this week in his State of the Union address, the Washington Post reports

28 Jan 2007