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| Senegal shuts land border with Guinea to prevent Ebola spreading Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 11:54 AM PDT By Daniel Flynn and Saliou Samb DAKAR/CONAKRY (Reuters) - Senegal closed its land border with Guinea on Saturday to try to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus, which Guinean authorities say is suspected of killing 70 people in what would be the deadliest outbreak in seven years. The discovery of 11 people suspected to have died of Ebola in Sierra Leone and Liberia in recent days has stirred concern that one of the most lethal infectious diseases known to man could spread in a poor corner of West Africa, where health systems are ill-equipped to cope. Senegal's Interior Ministry said it had closed the land border with Guinea in the southern region of Kolda and the southeastern region of Kedougou. Full Story | Top |
| Amgen drug lowers cholesterol up to 66 percent in pivotal studies Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 11:02 AM PDT By Bill Berkrot and Ransdell Pierson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Amgen Inc's drug from a high profile new class of experimental medicines lowered "bad" LDL cholesterol by 55 percent to 66 percent compared with a placebo in a trio of late-stage clinical trials, according to data presented on Saturday. Amgen had previously said the drug, evolocumab, met the main goals of five late-stage trials involving some 4,000 patients by significantly outperforming placebo or another cholesterol medicine in a variety of patient populations. "We're seeing excellent efficacy and the safety profile appears no different than placebo, so you can't get better than that," Dr. Michael Koren, one of the lead investigators on two of the evolocumab studies, said in a telephone interview. Full Story | Top |
| Renal denervation fails to lower blood pressure in critical test Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 09:40 AM PDT By Gene Emery and Bill Berkrot PROVIDENCE, RI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Patients treated by renal artery denervation were no more likely to see their blood pressure decline than those who received a fake therapy in a major clinical trial, calling into question a therapy used in more than 80 countries to treat hypertension that doesn't respond to drugs. The study was considered a key test of the intervention in which nerve connections between the heart and kidney were disrupted in an effort to lower blood pressure as prior trials did not include a blinded control group for efficacy comparison. Because earlier tests of the technique did not involve treating some patients with sham therapy, "placebo effect may well explain all or most of the blood pressure differences" in two key trials, known as SYMPLICITY HTM-1 and HTN-2. Boston Scientific Corp and St. Jude Medical Inc also make renal denervation equipment. Full Story | Top |
| Gilead says has discounted hepatitis C drug for some health plans Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 09:13 AM PDT Gilead Sciences Inc, under fire for pricing a new hepatitis C drug at $1,000 a pill, has discount agreements with a number of health insurers, a company executive said in an interview. The medication, Sovaldi, has a list price of $84,000 for a 12-week course of therapy and is seen as a breakthrough in the treatment of the serious liver disease. On March 20, Democratic lawmakers led by California Representative Henry Waxman asked Gilead to explain the price tag, and a meeting with the company is scheduled for next week. Health insurers and state Medicaid programs for the poor are pushing for further discounts, fearing a multibillion-dollar pricetag from treating most hepatitis C sufferers with Sovaldi and similar new medicines likely to be approved in coming years. Full Story | Top |
| Daylight saving time linked to heart attacks: study Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 07:39 AM PDT By Ransdell Pierson and Bill Berkrot WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Switching over to daylight saving time, and losing one hour of sleep, raised the risk of having a heart attack the following Monday by 25 percent, compared to other Mondays during the year, according to a new U.S. study released on Saturday. By contrast, heart attack risk fell 21 percent later in the year, on the Tuesday after the clock was returned to standard time, and people got an extra hour's sleep. The not-so-subtle impact of moving the clock forward and backward was seen in a comparison of hospital admissions from a database of non-federal Michigan hospitals. It examined admissions before the start of daylight saving time and the Monday immediately after, for four consecutive years. Full Story | Top |
| Diet drinks raise heart concern in postmenopausal women Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 05:33 AM PDT By Ransdell Pierson and Bill Berkrot WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Diet drinks may increase the risk of heart attacks, stroke and other heart problems in postmenopausal women, according to an informal study that could take some fizz out of enjoyment of the popular beverages. Compared to women who never or seldom consume diet drinks, those who drank two or more a day were 30 percent more likely to suffer a cardiovascular event and 50 percent more likely to die from related disease, researchers found. The findings were gleaned from an analysis of diet drink intake and consequences among almost 60,000 participants in the Women's Health Initiative, a long-running U.S. observational study of cardiovascular health trends among postmenopausal women. "Our findings are in line with and extend data from previous studies showing an association between diet drinks and metabolic syndrome," said Dr. Ankur Vyas of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, lead investigator of the study. Full Story | Top |
| Guinea seeks to stem spread of deadly Ebola virus in capital Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 02:20 AM PDT  By Saliou Samb CONAKRY (Reuters) - Authorities in Guinea scrambled on Friday to halt the spread of Ebola in the capital as the Health Ministry identified another four suspected cases of a deadly virus outbreak that is estimated to have already killed 70. Officials said the previous day that five cases of Ebola had been detected in Conakry, a city of more than 2 million people, some 300 km (185 miles) from the previous infections in the West African country's remote southeast. Authorities in Guinea have launched an investigation into the movements of the infected men in Conakry and steps are being taken to deal with anyone who came into contact with them, the government said in a statement. In neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia, 11 more people have died from suspected Ebola, stirring concern that one of the most lethal infectious diseases known to man could be spreading in an impoverished region ill-equipped to cope. Full Story | Top |
| Isotope supplier Nordion to go private in $727 million deal Friday, Mar 28, 2014 06:33 PM PDT (Reuters) - Sterigenics, a sterilization services provider owned by private equity firm GTCR LLC, has reached a deal to buy Canadian medical isotopes supplier Nordion Inc for $727 million. The offer of $11.75 per share represents a 12 percent premium to Nordion's closing price on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, the companies said. "That's basically what our fair value was (for Nordion), so we think they're getting a fair price," Morningstar analyst David Krempa said. Nordion's U.S.-listed stock trades at 8.3 times forward earnings, a slight discount to the sector median of 11.4. Full Story | Top |
| Louisiana faced with revealing lethal injection details to inmate Friday, Mar 28, 2014 05:19 PM PDT The Louisiana Department of Corrections does not plan to appeal a U.S. Court decision this week that compels it to reveal to inmates on death row the content and maker of drugs used in lethal injections, a prisons official said on Friday. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Thursday was one in a series in favor of inmates who have sought delays for their execution while they seek information about the contents of lethal injection cocktails and clarity on who would be supplying the drugs. The decisions are likely to delay executions across the country as lawyers for inmates in other states launch similar efforts on their behalf in states looking to develop new means of lethal injection after supplies of drugs they have once used have run dry. "The state will not appeal the decision," Darryl Campbell, the executive management officer of the Louisiana Department of Corrections, told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Sterigenics to buy isotope supplier Nordion for $727 million Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:19 PM PDT (Reuters) - Sterilization services provider Sterigenics will buy Canadian medical isotopes supplier Nordion Inc for $727 million. The offer of $11.75 per share represents a 12 percent premium to Nordion's closing price on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, the companies said. (Reporting By Sneha Banerjee in Bangalore; Editing by Don Sebastian) Full Story | Top |
| U.S. FDA approves Biogen's hemophilia B drug Alprolix Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:11 PM PDT Biogen Idec Inc has won U.S. approval for its long-acting hemophilia B treatment Alprolix, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday. Hemophilia B is a rare, inherited disorder in which a person's blood does not clot properly, which can lead to prolonged bleeding and bruising. Biogen is developing the drug in partnership with Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB. Patients with hemophilia A lack or have reduced levels of coagulation factor VIII. Full Story | Top |
| Mild head injuries linked to risk of death years later Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:01 PM PDT By Shereen Jegtvig NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adults hospitalized with mild head injuries have almost double the risk of dying in the next 15 years compared to similar people with no history of head injury, according to a new UK study. It's not clear whether lifestyle before and after a head injury is to blame for the increased risk, if the injury itself has lingering effects, or both, researchers say. "There is evidence in the study that points to lifestyle factors and health before and after the head injury," said lead author Tom McMillan, of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow. High rates of death in the year following a severe head injury have been well documented, McMillan and his colleagues write in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. Full Story | Top |
| Court finds fault with federal water transfer regulation Friday, Mar 28, 2014 01:57 PM PDT By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday threw out a federal regulation that allowed government agencies to transfer water between different water bodies, such as rivers and lakes, without needing to safeguard for pollution. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas of the Southern District of New York ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to go back to the drawing board on one aspect of the 2008 regulation. The regulation, known as the water transfers rule, exempts transfers from the national water discharge permit program that is administered by the EPA. Full Story | Top |
| Wall Street ends higher but biotech selloff weighs Friday, Mar 28, 2014 01:49 PM PDT  By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended up on Friday but off their session highs as a late afternoon selloff in the biotechnology sector weighed on the overall market. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell nearly 3 percent for the week, marking its worst week since October 2012. The three major U.S. stock indexes had been significantly higher in most of the morning and early afternoon trade following comments from China's Premier Li Keqiang indicating that the country's government was ready to take steps to support its slowing economy. But a 2.8 percent drop in the Nasdaq biotechnology index led the major indexes to session lows. Full Story | Top |
| Canada to remove foreign investment limit on Nordion Friday, Mar 28, 2014 01:31 PM PDT  OTTAWA/WINNIPEG (Reuters) - The Canadian government will remove the 25-percent foreign investment cap on medical isotope provider Nordion Inc in cases that are deemed to be of net benefit to Canada, under legislation introduced on Friday. "The foreign ownership restrictions with respect to the company were put in place when it was privatized in the early 1990s, and do not serve an ongoing purpose," said Melissa Lantsman, spokeswoman for Finance Minister Joe Oliver. "The removal of the foreign ownership restrictions will allow Nordion to access more investment capital, enabling it to better grow and create jobs, but is conditional on approval of a transaction under the Investment Canada Act." Nordion shares were down slightly in Toronto and New York in late Friday trading. Full Story | Top |
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