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New report finds little evidence to support off-label use of atypical antipsychotics

There is little evidence to support the use of atypical antipsychotic drugs for some treatments other than their officially approved purposes, even though many clinicians continue to commonly prescribe these drugs for so-called "off label" uses, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

29 Sep 2011

WSJ: Federal judge advances medical records case

The lawsuit, brought by the newspaper's publisher, seeks to overturn an injunction that keeps the public from being able to see Medicare billing records. In related news, The Fiscal Times examines Medicare waste and improper payments.

29 Sep 2011

FOX06 protein contributes to liver overproduction of glucose in diabetes

Researchers at the John G. Rangos Sr. Research Center at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have identified a powerful molecular pathway that regulates the liver's management of insulin and new glucose production, which could lead to new therapies for diabetes.

29 Sep 2011

Salk Institute professor named 2011 recipient of NIH Director's T-R01 program

Dr. Fred Gage, a professor in the Salk Institute Laboratory of Genetics and holder of the Vi and John Adler Chair for Research on Age-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases, has been named a 2011 recipient of the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's Transformative Research Projects (T-R01) program.

29 Sep 2011

Senate gives nod to autism bill

A bill to reauthorize autism-related research and screening programs passed the Senate on Monday night by unanimous consent, ending concerns that programs might expire at the end of the month.

29 Sep 2011

TD2 wins AZBio's Fast Lane award for economic development of Arizona biosciences

TGen Drug Development (TD2) won a Fast Lane award from the Arizona BioIndustry Association (AZBio) for promoting the economic development of Arizona biosciences.

29 Sep 2011

Scaling up communication and coordination biggest challenge in GAVI's $1B vaccine initiative

In this post in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog, Orin Levine, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins University, responds to the GAVI Alliance's announcement on Tuesday that it will supply more than $1 billion in childhood vaccines to 37 of the world's poorest countries, writing, "As the Alliance takes perhaps the most significant step ever toward increasing access to lifesaving immunization with this new and exciting round of country approvals, the challenge will be to ensure that every piece of the puzzle is in place to deliver on GAVI's tremendous promise."

29 Sep 2011

Almirall submits linaclotide MAA to EMA for treatment of IBS-C

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that its European partner Almirall, S.A. submitted a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for linaclotide, a guanylate cyclase type-C (GC-C) agonist, for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation.

29 Sep 2011

Prehypertension may increase risk of stroke

Even people with blood pressure that is slightly above normal may be at an increased risk of stroke, according to a review of studies published in the September 28, 2011, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

29 Sep 2011

Calif. bill could affect out-patient surgery centers; some Florida public hospitals prosper

Also in news about local hospitals, the Mayo Clinic announces plans to develop a new medical school branch in Arizona and a Minn. hospital is accused of dumping a patient.

29 Sep 2011

AASLD publishes updated practice guidelines on hepatitis C

On Monday, September 26, 2011, the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases published online at its journal Hepatology's website an update to its practice guidelines for hepatitis C – "An Update on Treatment of Genotype 1 Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection: 2011 Practice Guideline by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases."

29 Sep 2011

EMRC White Paper assesses current status of biomedical research in Europe

The European Science Foundation's EMRC publishes new White Paper assessing the current status of biomedical research in Europe in a global context. European biomedical research is advancing at a great pace compared to the relatively small funds available, and with more funding, it could do better.

29 Sep 2011

U.S. aid groups criticize U.S. government's response to sending food donations to North Korea

"Several American aid groups are criticizing the U.S. government delay on deciding whether to resume large-scale food donations to North Korea" after recent flooding deteriorated health and food security in the country, VOA News reports.

29 Sep 2011

VOICE HIV prevention trial to discontinue use of tenofovir tablets

VOICE, an HIV prevention trial evaluating two antiretroviral (ARV)-based approaches for preventing the sexual transmission of HIV in women - daily use of one of two different ARV tablets or of a vaginal gel - will be dropping one of the oral tablets from the study.

29 Sep 2011

High volume liver transplant centers achieve better risk-adjusted survival rates

The shortage of available organs for transplantation has driven up use of high-risk donor livers. New research published in the October issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, reported that high volume transplant centers more frequently utilized livers with a high donor risk index, but achieved better risk-adjusted graft and recipient survival rates compared with lower volume centers.

29 Sep 2011

Older women destined to develop AD have high blood levels of pregnancy protein

In an advance toward a much-needed early diagnostic test for Alzheimer's disease (AD), scientists have discovered that older women destined to develop AD have high blood levels of a protein linked to pregnancy years before showing symptoms.

29 Sep 2011

Merck sells 50% interest in JJMCP joint venture

Merck, known outside the United States and Canada as MSD, today announced that the company has sold its 50 percent interest in the Johnson & Johnson--Merck Consumer Pharmaceuticals Co. joint venture (JJMCP) to Johnson & Johnson (J&J) affiliates, McNEIL-PPC, Inc., McNEIL MMP, LLC, and Johnson & Johnson, Inc.

29 Sep 2011

Prototype drug shows promise against chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Pre-clinical research has generated some very promising findings about a prototype drug for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

29 Sep 2011

Post-Soviet economic breakdown may have contributed to re-emergence of NTDs in Central Asia

According to an article by Peter Hotez, president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, and Ken Alibek of Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan, published Tuesday in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Central Asia "continues to suffer from a post-Soviet economic breakdown that may have contributed to a re-emergence of several NTDs in the area, especially among its most economically disadvantaged groups," a PLoS press release states.

29 Sep 2011

JIA program effective in changing unhealthy youth behaviors

The National Survey of Children's Health indicates 31 percent of Missouri children are overweight or obese; yet, the state lacks physical activity requirements for students and nutritional standards for school meals beyond those recommended by the USDA.

29 Sep 2011