Latest News

• Weekend Sleep-in May Lower Mortality Risk Longer sleep time over the weekend may compensate for shorter weekday sleep when it comes to mortality risk, suggest findings from a new study of nearly 40,000 participants.
  Medscape Medical News, May 2018
• Alert CDC Warning: Severe Bleeding Linked With Synthetic Cannabinoids More than 200 people in nine states have developed serious, unexplained bleeding linked to synthetic cannabinoids thought to be laced with rat poison.
  News Alerts, May 2018
• Antidepressant Weight-Gain Risk May Be Greater Over Time A new study confirms increased risk for weight gain with antidepressant therapy -- while also noting that the risk is greatest in the second and third year of treatment.
  Medscape Medical News, May 2018
• Efforts to Resurrect EndoBarrier for Use in Obese With Diabetes Meta-analysis findings are published as the device maker seeks FDA approval for a new US clinical trial amid efforts to obtain another CE Mark to reintroduce the device in Europe.
  Medscape Medical News, May 2018
• IWMF 2018New Drugs Poised to Expand Treatment Horizons in WM New drug combinations and pathways continue to be mined in an effort to expand treatment horizons for control of a rare lymphoma and extend quality of life for patients over many years to come.
  Medscape Medical News, May 2018
• FDA OKs Novel Enzyme Therapy for Rare Disease Phenylketonuria Pegvaliase-pqpz (Palynziq) helps address a significant, unmet need in phenylketonuria (PKA) patients whose blood levels of PKA cannot be controlled with current treatment options, the FDA says.
  FDA Approvals, May 2018
• EuroPCR 2018Five-Year FAME 2 Data in Stable CAD Reassuring and Surprising PCI continued to provide benefits over medical therapy alone in patients with stable angina, but results also hint at a lower rate of MI.
  Medscape Medical News, May 2018
• More Lung Cancer in Young Women Than Men in US The incidence of lung cancer in young women has now surpassed that of their male counterparts, and the unique smoking behaviors of men and women don't explain why.
  Medscape Medical News, May 2018
• 'Too Clean' Could Be a Trigger for Childhood Acute Leukemia A lack of microbial exposure among children in industrialized countries may contribute to the development of childhood B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, say researchers.
  Medscape Medical News, May 2018
• New Study: Clues as to How Brain Stimulation Beats Food Cravings Weight loss and reduced food cravings seen with brain stimulation in obese individuals may be because of the release of neurotransmitters linked to reward pathways, say Italian scientists.
  Medscape Medical News, May 2018
• AUA 2018CR Rate of 30% With Agent for High-Risk Bladder Cancer With a complete response (CR) rate of 30%, the experimental agent CG0070 is in a race to be the first drug since 1998 for the treatment of BCG-unresponsive bladder cancer.
  Medscape Medical News, May 2018
• Alert FDA Approves AI-Based Software for Wrist Fracture Detection The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an artificial-intelligence (AI) algorithm designed to speed the detection and diagnosis of wrist fractures via standard x-ray images.
  FDA Approvals, May 2018
• Healthy Diet May Stave Off Age-Related Hearing Loss for Women Another benefit of a healthy diet may be protection against age-related hearing loss, suggests a large study of U.S. women.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• U.S. EPA Slows Release of Formaldehyde Cancer Risk Study The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under pressure from the chemical industry, has delayed release of a study detailing cancer risks from formaldehyde, according to internal communications seen by Reuters, potentially keeping important health information from the public.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• J&J Must Pay $4 Mln in Punitive Damages in Asbestos Cancer Trial A California jury on Thursday ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $4 million in punitive damages to a woman who said she developed cancer after being exposed to asbestos in the company's baby powder, pushing the total damages award in the case to $25.7 million.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• Women Sue USC Over Handling of Claims of Abuse by Gynecologist The University of Southern California (USC) said that it was not aware of any criminal conduct but had contacted the Los Angeles district attorney and the city police department.
  Medscape Medical News, May 2018
• BRAF Mutations Tied to Post-surgery Prognosis in Colorectal Liver Cancer The V600E BRAF mutation is associated with poorer prognosis and increased risk of recurrence in patients who have undergone resection of colorectal liver metastases (CRLM), according to a large cohort study.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• Ideology Threatens to Trump Facts in Official Medicare Handbook In September, the federal government will mail a handbook on Medicare enrollment to 43 million households. This year, advocate groups for seniors are crying foul over language contained in a draft of the 2019 handbook edition sent to them for review by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
  Reuters Health Information, May 2018
• Alert FDA OKs Abbott's Next-Gen Drug-Eluting Stent Xience Sierra The Xience Sierra is specifically designed to treat complex blockages, which now account for up to 70% of cases, the company said.
  FDA Approvals, May 2018
• Drugmakers Blamed for Blocking Generics Have Increased Prices, Cost US Billions Makers of brand-name drugs called out by the Trump administration for potentially stalling generic competition have hiked their prices by double-digit percentages since 2012 and cost Medicare and Medicaid nearly $12 billion in 2016.
  Kaiser Health News, May 2018