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| Meningitis outbreak spreads to 19 states with case in Rhode Island Monday, Oct 29, 2012 12:18 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The deadly meningitis outbreak tied to steroid injections from potentially tainted medications spread to a 19th state on Monday with the first case reported in Rhode Island, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Only four of the 23 states that received some of the medication have not reported cases of fungal meningitis, which has killed 25 people nationwide. The four states that have not reported at least one case of meningitis are California, Nevada, West Virginia and Connecticut, the CDC said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Supreme Court won't hear case of Liberty Bell abortion protester Monday, Oct 29, 2012 11:16 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the appeal of an anti-abortion protester who claimed his free speech rights were violated when park rangers removed him from a sidewalk near the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Without comment, the court said it would not take up the case of Michael Marcavage, who was arrested in October 2007 when he used a bullhorn to lead a protest at the entrance to the Liberty Bell Center at Independence National Historical Park. ... Full Story | Top |
| Storm damages crops in Haiti, fueling food price woes Monday, Oct 29, 2012 10:53 AM PDT PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) - As Hurricane Sandy barreled toward the U.S. East Coast on Monday, the full extent of the storm's havoc on Haiti was just beginning to emerge. Extensive damage to crops throughout the southern third of the country, as well as the high potential for a spike in cases of cholera and other water-borne diseases, could mean Haiti will see the deadliest effects of Sandy in the coming days and weeks. Haiti reported the highest death toll in the Caribbean, as swollen rivers and landslides claimed at least 52 lives, according to the country's Civil Protection office. ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida health department suspends compounding pharmacy Monday, Oct 29, 2012 09:39 AM PDT (Reuters) - The Florida Department of Health has temporarily suspended compounding operations at a pharmacy, the latest in a growing number of closings since a deadly meningitis outbreak caused by contaminated drugs in a Massachusetts facility. The Florida pharmacy, based in Boca Raton and called Rejuvi Pharmaceuticals, prepares injectable drugs and medications. The Florida health department said in a statement that it violated "a number" of statutes and rules. Rejuvi Pharmaceuticals' website says it makes "bio identical hormones" and compounded medications. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bayer's regorafenib gets priority review by FDA Monday, Oct 29, 2012 09:25 AM PDT FRANKFURT (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators granted a priority review for Bayer's cancer drug regorafenib for the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors, potentially speeding up the treatment's route to market. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration grants priority reviews to medicines that are considered potentially significant therapeutic advancements over existing therapies. A priority review takes six months rather than the usual 10 to 12-months. Onyx Pharmaceuticals is the U.S. marketing partner for regorafenib, which will be branded as Stivarga. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger) Full Story | Top |
| Women hoist kettlebells for strength and shapeliness Monday, Oct 29, 2012 06:37 AM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Kettlebells, classically a training tool of Russian strongmen, has become a go-to group fitness workout for women in pursuit of strong and sexy bodies, according to fitness experts. Lorna Kleidman, a world champion in kettlebell competition, said a modern kettlebell workout effectively combines cardiovascular, resistance and range-of-motion training, all in one hour. "It's all in the swing," said Kleidman, who teaches kettlebell classes at the Fitness Cell Collective in New York City, where women constitute up to 70 percent of her students. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: U.S. foreign bribery penalties for drugmakers may lack bite Monday, Oct 29, 2012 05:09 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global drugmakers are paying tens of millions of dollars to settle U.S. allegations that they bribed their way across emerging markets, but harsher penalties may be needed to deter the practice in untapped regions where billions are at stake. Federal authorities have cast a wide net to weed out suspected gift-giving and kickbacks to foreign doctors and government officials to gain a foothold in burgeoning new markets in Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. ... Full Story | Top |
| GSK starts final-stage tests on severe asthma drug Monday, Oct 29, 2012 04:16 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline has started final-stage testing of an experimental drug for treating severe asthma, Britain's biggest drugmaker said on Monday. The move to progress the injectable antibody treatment mepolizumab into Phase III trials had been expected after an earlier study showed it nearly halved the number of attacks suffered by patients. Severe refractory asthma only affects around 4 percent of patients with the disease, so the drug may not become a major seller for GSK but could consolidate the group's strong grip on the market for lung drugs. ... Full Story | Top |
| GSK raises bet on AIDS drug with new Shionogi deal Monday, Oct 29, 2012 04:03 AM PDT  LONDON/TOKYO (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline has raised its bet on a promising drug for HIV/AIDS by redrawing a deal with Japan's Shionogi which gives it a much bigger economic interest in the new product. Dolutegravir, a once-daily drug that has performed strongly in clinical trials, is seen by analysts as a potential multi-billion-dollar-a-year seller and a strong competitor to treatments from market leader Gilead Sciences. The drug belongs to a novel class known as integrase inhibitors that block the virus causing AIDS from entering cells. ... Full Story | Top |
| UCB's next generation drugs take over after blockbuster expiry Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 11:39 PM PDT BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian pharmaceuticals group UCB said on Monday that sales of its three new main products had for the first time overtaken those of its expiring blockbuster epilepsy treatment Keppra and retained its full-year guidance. UCB, which makes drugs targeted at diseases of the immune and central nervous systems, said on Monday sales of Cimzia, Neupro and Vimpat rose 50 percent to 665 million euros over the first nine months and were now treating about 382,000 patients. UCB said it was on course to reach its goal of 1. ... Full Story | Top |
| New test to improve HIV diagnosis in poor countries Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 10:07 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have come up with a test for the virus that causes AIDS that is ten times more sensitive and a fraction of the cost of existing methods, offering the promise of better diagnosis and treatment in the developing world. The test uses nanotechnology to give a result that can be seen with the naked eye by turning a sample red or blue, according to research from scientists at Imperial College in London published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. ... Full Story | Top |
| Six new cases reported in meningitis outbreak Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 07:56 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Six new cases of fungal meningitis have been reported in an outbreak tied to contaminated steroid injections that has led to 25 deaths in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday. The CDC reported three new cases in Florida, two in Ohio and one in Indiana, raising the total number of meningitis cases attributed to the tainted steroid to 337 in 18 states. This type of meningitis cannot be spread person-to-person. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. regulator needs new authority over compounding pharmacies: report Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 07:56 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's power to regulate compounded drugs similar to those linked to a deadly meningitis outbreak is legally nonbinding and lacks the authority of stringent standards imposed on drug manufacturers, according to a congressional report released on Sunday. The report, compiled by the staff of U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Massachusetts closes third pharmacy since meningitis outbreak Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 06:03 PM PDT BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts regulators shut down a pharmacy on Sunday after a surprise inspection raised concerns about the sterility of its drugs, in the third such closure since a deadly meningitis outbreak caused by contaminated drugs from another pharmacy in the state. The latest pharmacy to be closed, Infusion Resource, is not affiliated with New England Compounding Center, the company linked to the outbreak, officials said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Trans fats raise cholesterol, not blood sugar: study Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 05:47 PM PDT (Reuters) - Although much-criticized trans fats raise levels of "bad" cholesterol, they don't appear to have a lasting impact on blood sugar levels, according to a U.S. study. Researchers, writing in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that both blood sugar and insulin, the hormone that keeps blood sugar levels in check, were similar regardless of how much trans fat people ate. The link between trans fats and high cholesterol levels is widely accepted, but there has been a lack of clarity on the effect on blood sugar control, which is involved in diabetes. ... Full Story | Top |
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