"Health News - Medicine, Diet and Fitness"

Washington, DC — In a victory for consumers, the Senate today passed the “Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act” sponsored by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) by a vote of 93 to 1.

The bill attempts to please both the powerful pharmaceutical industry and consumer groups. It increases the amount of money the FDA receives in fees from drug makers to speed the approval of new drugs, and includes language to protect consumers from unsafe prescription drugs.

(more…)

(Ivanhoe Newswire) – College students, hospital interns, and others who are sleep-deprived may someday be able to get their condition reversed.

Scientists know that losing the hypothalamic neurons that produce orexin-A causes narcolepsy, and adding orexin-A produces arousal and increased attention. Orexin-A is a protein-like molecule the brain makes.

Now researchers have more evidence orexin-A can counteract the effects of sleep deprivation.

Physicians suspect that Santa Claus is able to make his annual around-the-world gift-giving journey because he is vigilant about getting yearly influenza vaccinations, having regular checkups and staying physically active, according to a statement issued by the Pennsylvania Medical Society last month.

“Santa never misses an appearance or a delivery, and that makes me think he gets an annual flu shot. He knows how dangerous it would be for him to spread influenza to the children, elves or Mrs. Claus, and how disappointing it would be for him to come down with the virus,” said William Lander, MD, a family physician in Bryn Mawr, Pa. and past president of the organization.

(more…)

Just under 150 Perth women have contributed to major international research at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research that has proved that the new Cervarix vaccine provides broader protection against cervical cancer.

The results, published today in the prestigious international journal Lancet, show that while the vaccine provides effective protection against high grade cervical pre-cancerous lesions caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18, it also demonstrated additional protection against infections from other strains of HPV that account for another 10 percent of cervical cancers.

(more…)

Doctors and patients one step closer to getting information on side effects of medicine

SACRAMENTO—The California Senate passed the Pharmaceutical Drug Information and Safety Act, SB 606 (Scott), yesterday. The bill requires pharmaceutical companies to disclose the results of the clinical studies so that doctors and patients have additional information on the side effects and effectiveness of drugs.

“Our doctors need complete information when they make prescribing decisions, and many consumers want the same information before filling a prescription,” said Steve Blackledge. “After Vioxx and the latest news on Avandia, doctors and patients know they need more information, and this bill provides it.”

(more…)

MPs have voted to extend a smoking ban in public places to all pubs and private clubs in England. The free vote in the House of Commons went 384 to 184 in the government’s favour last night to remove the exemption of private members’ clubs and establishments that serve food. MPs also voted to ban smoking in workplaces, including 106,000 licensed premises.

Health secretary Patricia Hewitt told MPs: “It is right to legislate to ban smoking.” She said she was “absolutely delighted”, describing the victory as “a historic day” for public health. “This is going to save thousands of people’s lives.”
(more…)

A woman suffering from early-stage breast cancer has lost a legal battle to force her health authority to treat her with Herceptin. High court judge Mr Justice Bean ruled this morning that that Swindon primary care trust (PCT) in Wiltshire did not need to pay for Ann Marie Rogers, 54, to be treated with the drug, which can cost up to 20,000 for one year of treatment.

Mr Justice Bean said he was sympathetic to Ms Rogers’ situation but had to base his decision solely on whether or not he felt her PCT’s decision was unlawful. When the judge made his ruling Ms Rogers shook her head and looked downwards. She has been given leave to appeal. Herceptin is said to halve the chance of the aggressive HER-2 form of breast cancer returning, but has not been licensed for use in women with early stage cancer.
(more…)

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has forced Eli Lilly to withdraw an advice leaflet. The leaflet, providing doctors with advice on treatments for mental health, was written on behalf of Diabetes UK and carried the logo of the charity, reports the Financial Times.

However, Eli Lilly admitted that it omitted to include that it had sponsored the leaflet, calling the mistake an oversight. The firm was also criticised for not making the risk of schizophrenia medicines clear, including its own drug Zyprexa (olanzapine), to people suffering from hyperglycaemia and diabetes. The MHRA has called for Eli Lilly to withdraw the information, originally distributed in 2003, although it was removed in May last year by the firm.

Pliva is to buy a Spanish subsidiary from Novartis’ generics division Sandoz. The Croatian firm will pay 21.5 million euros for Uso Racional (UR), a well known and established generic brand in Spain with expected sales of 12 million euros for 2006.

A Pliva spokesman said: “The acquisition of UR represents a strong strategic fit with Pliva’s current Spanish operations, which Pliva expects to help it significantly strengthen its position and performance on this market.” The move comes as Pliva leaves the proprietary focussing solely on the generics following GlaxoSmithKline’s purchase of its Croatian research and development institute for $50 million.
(more…)

Supporters vow to keep fighting for measure this year

SACRAMENTO—Doctors, patients, consumer groups and health care advocates were dealt a setback by the state Senate this week when it failed to advance the Pharmaceutical Drug Right-to-Know Act. The legislation, SB 1683 by Senator Jack Scott (Altadena), would have required pharmaceutical companies to disclose the results of all their health studies, good and bad. It was introduced in response to the VIOXX tragedy, which was worsened by drug giant Merck's cover-up of its own negative health studies, and other drug safety tragedies like it.

(more…)