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Axial lumbar interbody fusion for two spinal levels may not be effective

Surgeons from the Instituto de Patologia da Coluna in Sao Paulo, Brazil have found that an innovative minimally invasive surgical procedure performed to achieve two-level axial lumbar interbody fusion produced immediate successful results, but within 2 years complications set in, making the procedure far less desirable.

21 Jul 2012

2-D models may often give researchers misleading results

Imagine millions of cancer cells organized in thousands of small divots. Hit these cells with drugs and when some cells die, you have a candidate for a cancer drug. But a review published this week in the journal Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery argues that these 2D models in fact offer very little information about a potential drug's effects in the body and may often give researchers misleading results.

21 Jul 2012

HHS issues final rule on essential health benefits data collection

Meanwhile, new research from the Center for Studying Health System Change indicates that more small businesses may be self-insuring -- a step that will reduce their participation in the health law's insurance exchanges.

21 Jul 2012

EMA CHMP issues positive opinion for conditional approval of brentuximab vedotin for lymphoma

Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company and, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency has issued a positive opinion for conditional approval of brentuximab vedotin for two indications.

21 Jul 2012

Second Sight’s Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System scheduled for FDA panel review

Second Sight Medical Products Inc., the world's leading developer and manufacturer of retinal prostheses, today announced that a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Ophthalmic Devices Advisory Panel has been scheduled to review the data presented in the company's Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE) market approval application for its Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System (Argus II prosthesis) on September 28, 2012 in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

21 Jul 2012

Details emerge regarding personalities involved in FDA flap

An FDA scientist whose complaints about the agency's approval process for medical devices led to a controversial email monitoring program had filed lawsuits against two hospitals where he worked and also sued a dozen medical-device companies.

21 Jul 2012

In Florida, Obama attacks Romney on Medicare plan

Drawing on traditional Democratic campaign themes, President Barack Obama criticized GOP plans to transform Medicare into a "voucher program" and to repeal the 2010 health law.

21 Jul 2012

Neuroscience 2012 annual meeting to take place from Oct. 13-17

Neuroscience 2012, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, is the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health. Learn how the brain works and new developments on a range of topics: aging, language, brain injury, parenting, and mental illness, among others. More than 16,000 new discoveries will be presented, with 30,000 attendees from around the world.

21 Jul 2012

AIDS 2012 could focus spotlight on efforts against HIV/AIDS in U.S., GlobalPost reports

Noting that Washington, D.C., has an adult HIV prevalence rate higher than some southern African countries that receive PEPFAR funding, GlobalPost writes that the International AIDS Conference, to be held in the U.S. for the first time in 22 years starting Sunday, has highlighted "that America is nowhere close to an AIDS-free generation at home."

21 Jul 2012

Redesign of 'outdated and unsafe' medical bags can cut MRSA risk

A new medical bag designed in the UK is set to transform treatment around the world after a study found a third of its outdated predecessors carry the MRSA bug.

21 Jul 2012

Janssen-Cilag receives positive opinion from EMA CHMP for DACOGEN

Janssen-Cilag International NV announced today that the Committee for Medical Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted a positive opinion recommending approval of DACOGEN (decitabine) for Injection.

21 Jul 2012

60 organizations, Archbishop Tutu call on Obama administration to create 5-year HIV strategy

Sixty organizations and Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Thursday released a "Call for a U.S. Government AIDS-Free Generation Strategic Plan" that "asks the Obama administration to put Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in charge of a task force to complete a [five-year] strategy in time to be announced by the next World AIDS Day -- Dec. 1, 2012," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

21 Jul 2012

Researchers discover reason why breast cancer cells become drug resistant

Breast cancer treatments such as Herceptin that target a marker called HER2 have dramatically improved outcomes for women with this type of cancer. But nearly half of these cancers are resistant to Herceptin from the start and almost all of them will eventually become resistant.

21 Jul 2012

Reid blocks latest GOP effort to repeal health law

Senate Republicans had advanced the repeal effort as an amendment to the Bring Jobs Home Act. Meanwhile, House conservatives, who have also pressed to undo the health law, say state lawmakers now may be on the frontlines of the fight.

21 Jul 2012

RTI receives RWJF contract to create Public Health Quality Improvement Exchange

RTI International has been awarded a contract from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to develop an online database and communication platform to help public health professionals share information about quality improvement initiatives.

21 Jul 2012

Pfizer receives positive opinion from EMA CHMP for crizotinib to treat ALK-positive NSCLC

Pfizer announced today that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion recommending that crizotinib be granted conditional marketing authorization in the European Union (EU), for the treatment of adults with previously treated anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

21 Jul 2012

South Africa making progress against HIV/AIDS, but still more effort needed, health minister says

Though South Africa has made progress against HIV/AIDS over the past few years, the country's "health minister says much more needs to be done," VOA News reports.

21 Jul 2012

Experts examine host recognition of Staphylococcus and E.coli bacteria

We are surrounded by bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. The fact that we nevertheless do not fall prey to infections is thanks to certain cellular sensor molecules such as toll-like receptors (TLR), which recognize the molecular structure of pathogens and intercede by ensuring an often completely unnoticeable elimination of the invaders. Their immune-activating abilities were only detected in 1998, a discovery which was awarded with the Nobel Prize

21 Jul 2012

New antibody can be used as early diagnostic tool for Parkinson's

Conditions such as Parkinson's disease are a result of pathogenic changes to proteins. In the neurodegenerative condition of Parkinson's disease, which is currently incurable, the alpha-synuclein protein changes and becomes pathological. Until now, there have not been any antibodies that could help to demonstrate the change in alpha-synuclein associated with the disease. An international team of experts led by Gabor G. Kovacs from the Clinical Institute of Neurology at the MedUni Vienna has now discovered a new antibody that actually possesses this ability.

21 Jul 2012

New WHO guidance recommends use of ARVs for HIV prevention

WHO has issued its first guidance to countries that are considering offering HIV medications, known as antiretrovirals (ARVs), to protect people who do not have the virus but who are at high risk of HIV infection.

21 Jul 2012