Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Potential new targets for antidepressants

The news about antidepressant medications over the past several years has been mixed. The bad news from large multicenter studies such as STAR*D is that current antidepressant medications are effective, but not as effective as one might hope. Thus, there is a significant need for new treatment mechanisms for depression. On that front, there has been mixed news as well.

27 Aug 2008

Drug Lucentis to save eyesight of thousands in the UK

The eyesight of thousands of people in the UK will be saved with a new drug available under the National Health Service.

27 Aug 2008

California's tobacco control program saved $86 billion in medical costs

California's state tobacco control program saved $86 billion (in 2004 dollars) in personal healthcare costs in its first 15 years, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

26 Aug 2008

HIV/AIDS groups express concern about potential for new antiretroviral advertising to 'scare off' patients

The Wall Street Journal on Monday examined a new trend for drugmakers marketing HIV/AIDS treatments to release ads that "tak[e] aim at rival HIV drugs, hinting at side effects and other drawbacks."

26 Aug 2008

New Zealand Ministry of Health increases funding to the very low cost access and zero fees for under sixes schemes

The New Zealand Ministry of Health has further increased the amount invested into the primary health care sector to support the over 800 general practices/health centres charging very low fees and free healthcare to children under six.

25 Aug 2008

AIDS Healthcare Foundation blasts GlaxoSmithKline print advertisements that promote fear of HIV treatment

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is blasting British multi-national drug giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for a recent series of direct-to-consumer print advertisements that, under the guise of patient education, capitalize on patients' fears of HIV treatment.

25 Aug 2008

Charity warns elderly still go hungry in hospital

A charity in Britain says elderly people are still going hungry on hospital wards and many hospitals are still not doing enough to ensure they are properly fed.

25 Aug 2008

Infant deaths in clinical drug trials in India raise concern about ethical standards

The revelation that 49 babies died at a top Indian hospital during drug tests has shocked many and raised issues concerning ethical standards at the hospital.

25 Aug 2008

eHealth closer to reality thanks to real-time relevant medical data extraction

In the framework of Holst Centre, IMEC - Europe's leading independent nanoelectronics research institute - has broadened the functionality and scope of its wireless health monitoring technology by linking it to real-time extraction of relevant medical data.

20 Aug 2008

New understanding of how white blood cell eosiniphils fights infection

U.S. and Swiss scientists have made a breakthrough in understanding how a type of white blood cell called the eosinophil may help the body to fight bacterial infections in the digestive tract, according to research published online this week in Nature Medicine

13 Aug 2008

Californian bill to revolutionize HIV testing passes legislature unanimously

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the operator of the largest non-government HIV testing program in California, today praised the California Legislature for its passage this week of Assembly Bill 2899 (Portantino, D-Pasadena).

13 Aug 2008

Barr Labs to settle Mirapex and Aggrenox patent challenges

Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc announced today that its Barr Laboratories subsidiary has signed a Settlement Agreement and a License Agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim to resolve the patent litigation involving Boehringer Ingelheim's Mirapex product.

12 Aug 2008

Virginia Hospital Center to launch $14 million new hospital information system

Virginia Hospital Center will launch a $14 million new Hospital Information System (HIS) in 2009 that will utilize advanced information technologies (IT) to create efficiencies and orchestrate clinical best practices. The Hospital signed an agreement with Siemens Medical Solutions and will implement its powerful workflow-engineered health information solution, Soarian.

12 Aug 2008

NHS is a sickness system not a health system, according to new book

The UK Government has largely ignored lessons to be learnt from 60 years of NHS reorganisation leading to failures in the system, argues the author of a forthcoming book.

12 Aug 2008

Adalat XL Plus approved in Canada

Bayer Inc. announced that Health Canada has granted a Notice of Compliance (NOC) for Adalat XL Plus, a co-packaging of Adalat XL and Aspirin 81mg.

12 Aug 2008

In-depth review of current research on the health effects of vitamin D

Despite considerable progress in research to understand the health effects of vitamin D, experts convened by the NIH to review the available data found major gaps in the evidence. The data are strongest in the area of bone health among elderly men and post-menopausal women, suggesting that increased vitamin D intake can improve bone health and prevent falls. For other age groups and health issues, though, it is too early to say conclusively whether more vitamin D might be beneficial.

12 Aug 2008

Brits told by the NHS their lives will not be saved if the cost is too much

An announcement by government authorities in the UK that drugs which are too expensive should not be prescribed even if they prolong life, because the money could be better spent elsewhere, has caused an uproar.

11 Aug 2008

GSK begins shipments of Fluarix and FluLaval to U.S. customers for 2008-2009 flu season

GlaxoSmithKline has announced that it will begin shipment of Flulaval [Influenza Virus Vaccine] and Fluarix [Influenza Virus Vaccine] to U.S. customers for the 2008-2009 influenza season.

11 Aug 2008

Links found between built-environment and prevalence of overweight/obesity

Does your neighborhood have a lot of fast food outlets, few sidewalks, and no parks? If yes, your physical neighborhood may be hampering your ability to be physically active and placing you at increased risk for obesity.

11 Aug 2008

Children with HIV in poor countries more adherent to treatment than children in rich countries

Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine, the Regenstrief Institute and Moi University School of Medicine are the first to report that adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) to fight human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in children who live in low income countries is as high as or higher than adherence by children living in high income countries.

11 Aug 2008