Sun Damage: Darker Not Better for Sunglasses Seeking some new shades? There is whole lot more than style at stake, experts say. Jul 05, 2013
FDA Adds GI Warning to Benicar Label WASHINGTON -- The FDA ordered the maker of the blood pressure drug olmesartan (Benicar) to add a warning about risk of the intestinal condition known as sprue-like enteropathy to the drug's label. Jul 03, 2013
Xarelto Gets a No for Stent Thrombosis SILVER SPRING, Md. -- The FDA has rejected an application for a new indication allowing rivaroxaban (Xarelto) to be used to reduce the risk of stent thrombosis in patients with acute coronary syndrome. Jun 28, 2013
Honey, Cola May Disrupt Heart A detailed history of patients with arrhythmia or syncope might need to include their cola intake or the origin of the honey they consume, two case studies suggest. Jun 25, 2013
Health Insurers Improve Claims Processing CHICAGO -- The percentage of claims incorrectly processed by health plans fell for the third straight year to 7.1% in 2013, according to the American Medical Association. Jun 20, 2013
Society Seconds Call for Incretin Data SAN FRANCISCO -- The Endocrine Society has joined its voice to the recent call for incretin drugmakers to release all patient-level data on their products, the group announced at its annual meeting. Jun 19, 2013
AMA House Votes Against Council, Calls Obesity a Disease CHICAGO -- Obesity should be called a disease and not simply a condition, the American Medical Association's policy-making House of Delegates voted on Tuesday, ignoring a recommendation by one of its own councils. Jun 18, 2013
Aricept Helps Cognition in Parkinson's SYDNEY -- Parkinson's disease patients who have impaired cognition appeared to benefit from the Alzheimer's disease medicine donepezil (Aricept) with no detriment to their motor skills, researchers reported here. Jun 18, 2013
Obesity Not a Disease, AMA Council Says CHICAGO -- Obesity is hard to define and diagnose, and partly because of that is not a disease, an American Medical Association council said in a report issued here Monday. Jun 17, 2013
Public Citizen's Wolfe Still Needling FDA Sidney Wolfe, MD, founder of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, sat down this week with Ƶ in his Washington office to discuss his 40 years of work as a leading voice in consumer health advocacy. Jun 14, 2013
CDC: Cut Back on Doxycycline Use A continuing shortage of doxycycline means the drug should be used only for conditions that have no alternative treatments, the CDC advised this week. Jun 14, 2013
Medicare to Pay for More FDG-PET Scans WASHINGTON -- Up to three scans using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-enhanced positron emission tomography technology can be covered by Medicare for oncology treatment planning, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said. Jun 12, 2013
ASCO: Vinegar Test May Reduce Cervical Ca Deaths CHICAGO -- Vinegar has been used for everything from cleaning refrigerators to taming foot odors, and now this common kitchen staple may reduce cervical cancer deaths as well, researchers reported here. Jun 10, 2013
ASCO: Targeted Agent Has Slim NSCLC Benefit CHICAGO -- The novel kinase inhibitor nintedanib may slightly delay relapse of non-small cell lung cancer when added to chemotherapy, with perhaps greater benefit in adenocarcinomas, the LUME-Lung 1 trial showed. Jun 04, 2013
ASCO: Herpes-Derived Tx for Melanoma? CHICAGO -- Intralesional injection of an oncolytic therapy significantly increased the durable response rate in advanced melanoma compared with a control therapy, according to results of a randomized trial. Jun 03, 2013
Biological Death Needs Better Definition An international consensus is needed on contemporary and practical criteria for brain and circulatory death, according to experts gathered in Barcelona for the annual congress of the European Society of Anesthesiology. Jun 02, 2013
Diabetes Experts Divided About 'Lone Wolf' Butler Top experts in diabetes and endocrinology have offered mixed reactions to a profile of Peter Butler, MD, chair of endocrinology at the University of California Los Angeles, in the New York Times. Jun 02, 2013
ASCO: Targeted Rx Slows Ovarian Ca Progression CHICAGO -- Adding the oral anti-angiogenesis drug pazopanib (Votrient) to chemotherapy extended disease-free survival by an average of 5.6 months, a phase III study showed. Jun 01, 2013
FDA Limits Magnesium to Prevent Preterm Labor The FDA today advised clinicians not to give pregnant women magnesium sulfate to prevent preterm labor for more than 5 to 7 days because it may harm developing fetal bones. May 30, 2013
Shots Best Way to Give B12 After Bariatric Surgery Vitamin B12 injections are the preferred treatment for patients who develop a deficiency following bariatric surgery, researchers found. May 29, 2013
Zilver Stent Recalled, System May Break Cook Medical's Zilver PTX drug-eluting stent for peripheral artery disease has been recalled because of a defect in its associated delivery system, the company and the FDA said. May 24, 2013
Hypothyroidism Hikes Death Risk in Blacks African Americans with hypothyroidism face an increased risk of death, and in patients with congestive heart failure, even mild underactive thyroid disease raises mortality risk, a retrospective cohort study found. May 23, 2013
Low Potassium Linked with Liver Disease Patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease also had low potassium levels, researchers in China found. May 21, 2013
APA Leaders Defend New Diagnostic Guide SAN FRANCISCO -- The fifth edition of the "psychiatrist's bible" was officially released here in all its 947-page glory, with its developers offering a spirited rebuttal to their critics. May 20, 2013
Early pH Test in GERD May Save Money ORLANDO -- Early referral of patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) for pH monitoring can help avoid extensive and costly use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), a researcher said here. May 20, 2013
High-Salt Diet May Boost Cortisol Eating a diet high in sodium increased levels of cortisol and other metabolites, potentially giving rise to metabolic syndrome, researchers found. May 20, 2013
Withdrawal Not a Problem with Phentermine Patients taking phentermine long-term to treat obesity don't have to worry about withdrawal when they come off it, researchers found. May 15, 2013
Hangover Risk Prompts Ambien Label Changes New dosing recommendations for products containing zolpidem (Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar) are now included in their labels, along with warnings of next-day hangover effects, the FDA said Tuesday. May 14, 2013
Is Protein the Key to Fountain of Youth? The cardiac clocks of aging mice were turned back to a more youthful time when they received a protein taken from the blood of younger mice, researchers found. May 10, 2013
CHIP Faces Uncertain Future WASHINGTON -- The final implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could be bad news for re-authorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a congressional staffer said. May 05, 2013
Finger Stick Has Promise as Prediabetes Test PHOENIX -- Measuring capillary blood via finger stick assay was as accurate as venous blood sample assays in predicting 5-year likelihood of diabetes, researchers reported here. May 05, 2013
Case Study Links 'Pot' to Pituitary Damage PHOENIX -- Daily use of marijuana over 15 years was associated with a case of low testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone, researchers reported here. May 03, 2013
On-Call Pay Varies Widely by Specialty Surgeons commanded more than $1,000 a day for being on-call at the hospital, while primary care physicians reported compensation rates of around $150 a day, according to annually compiled data. May 01, 2013
FDA Lowers Age for OTC Plan B WASHINGTON -- The FDA has approved over-the-counter sale of the emergency contraceptive Plan B One-Step to women and girls as young as 15. Apr 30, 2013
Sjogren's Carries Heavy Disease Burden BIRMINGHAM, England -- Patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome are prone to develop serious complications over the long term, despite the presumption that this is a relatively benign autoimmune disease, a 25-year review found. Apr 26, 2013
How Much Exercise to Burn Off a Burger? Menus displaying the amount of exercise required to burn off calories in a meal had some impact on food choice, researchers found. Apr 24, 2013
Cinnamon Game Harms Players The "cinnamon challenge” -- a party trick among youths who accept a dare to swallow a spoonful of ground cinnamon -- has led to a surge in calls to poison control centers with reports of spice-induced choking and aspiration, according to a new report. Apr 22, 2013
Full Thyroid Removal May be Best in Graves' Disease Removing the whole thyroid lessens the chance of hyperthyroidism recurrence in Graves' disease compared with partial thyroidectomy, but it also leads to increased temporary hypoparathyroidism, researchers found. Apr 21, 2013
FDA Splits on Safety of Endo's Aveed for Low-T SILVER SPRING, Md. -- An FDA advisory committee was split Thursday on the safety of an injectable form of testosterone replacement, but voted overwhelmingly against a proposed risk mitigation plan. Apr 18, 2013
Abortion Rate No Higher in Women on RA Drug Women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) being treated with methotrexate had no increase in the rate of induced abortions despite the drug's known teratogenicity, a case-control study showed. Apr 16, 2013