(Reuters) – Pfizer Inc said Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd would pay $2.15 billion to settle a patent suit related to its acid-reflux drug. This is the first instance of generic drugmakers paying damages for marketing... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is to regulate electronic cigarettes as non-prescription medicines from 2016 in an attempt to improve quality, though the country’s drugs watchdog said they would still be sold in convenience stores. Healthcare authorities around the... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The outlawing of drugs such as cannabis, magic mushrooms and other psychoactive substances amounts to scientific censorship and is hampering research into potentially important medicinal uses, leading scientists argued on Wednesday. Laws and... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – GlaxoSmithKline has finally won a green light from Britain’s healthcare cost agency NICE for its platelet-boosting drug Revolade, after offering a price discount to the country’s state-run healthcare service. Revolade, also known as eltrombo... More »
(Reuters) – Walgreen Co, the largest U.S. drugstore chain, has agreed to pay $80 million in civil penalties to resolve allegations that it violated federal rules governing the distribution of prescription painkillers. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration o... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Obama administration will scrap age restrictions on the sale of emergency contraception pills, making the morning-after pill available to women and girls without a prescription. The U.S. Department of Justice said in a letter on Monday... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, men who eat a diet high in vegetable fats, such as those in nuts and olive oil, may be less likely to have their disease spread, a new study suggests. Researchers found that replacing some... More »
GENEVA (Reuters) – The World Health Organization on Monday urged health workers around the world to be on the alert for symptoms of the deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS), which has the potential to circle the globe and cause a pandemic... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – In a leafy suburb of Frankfurt, a state-of-the-art plant churns out up to 1 million insulin pens every day in French drugmaker Sanofi’s drive to keep its no. 2 spot in the $43 billion-a-year diabetes market. The facility is part of a hub ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Some 165 million children worldwide are stunted by malnutrition as babies and face a future of ill health, poor education, low earnings and poverty, the head of the United Nations children’s fund said on Friday. Anthony Lake, executive direc... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The world’s poorest nations are set to nearly triple spending on nutrition programs for mothers and children over the next two years to help cope with volatile food prices, the World Bank said on Thursday. The Washington-based global dev... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. health advisers voted on Thursday to recommend relaxing market restrictions on GlaxoSmithKline’s diabetes drug Avandia, the former blockbuster at the center of one of the biggest drug controversies in recent years. The vote, by a di... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Case numbers in Africa’s meningitis season this year were the lowest in 10 years thanks to a cheap new vaccine designed to treat a type of the disease common in the so-called meningitis belt, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. T... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Group therapy works better than individual support for women in low-income countries who have been victims of sexual violence, according to the results of a new study done in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The method has al... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel of outside experts reopened one of the biggest drug controversies in recent years on Wednesday at a meeting where they will decide whether to recommend lifting marketing restrictions on GlaxoSmit... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Novartis said studies show its Gilenya drug helped keep patients with multiple sclerosis free of the disease. The Basel-based pharmaceutical manufacturer is relying on new products like Gilenya to offset patent expiries of key drugs such as ... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is leading a $35 million investment in ResearchGate, a Berlin-based network for scientists that ties into his interest in fighting disease. ResearchGate allows researchers around the world to collaborat... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Some call it neurological diversity, others see it as autism’s fight back. People diagnosed as “on the spectrum” are suddenly in demand by employers seeking a competitive advantage from autistic workers more used to being considered disabled... More »
India is the world’s most populous country and it actively helps other states to fill demographic gaps. Surrogate motherhood is extremely popular and controversial at the same time procedure. In India such type of child bearing is like to drink a cup of coffee... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Monday that Americans need to become more open about mental health issues so that people struggling with problems are not ashamed to seek help. More than 60 percent of Americans with mental illness do not r... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – People who limit how much meat they eat and stick to mostly fruits and vegetables are less likely to die over any particular period of time, according to a new study. “I think this adds to the evidence showing the possible beneficia... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – While many healthcare startups are hoping the new healthcare law going into effect next year will help drive more business their way, dental network Brighter believes being left out of the law will help it more. Dental services for ad... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Cities that provide parks, walking trails, playing fields and running tracks are setting standards for the country’s healthiest urban areas and showing that if they build fitness opportunities, residents will come. A new ranking of the 50 ... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – A Merck & Co drug designed to unmask tumor cells and mobilize the immune system into fighting cancer helped shrink tumors in 38 percent of patients with advanced melanoma in an early-stage study, U.S. researchers said on Sunday. Based on th... More »
GENEVA (Reuters) – Three more people have died in Saudi Arabia from the new SARS-like coronavirus, bringing the worldwide death toll to 30, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. Saudi health officials also told the WHO of a new case in the easter... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – France will ban electronic cigarette smoking in public places by imposing the same curbs enforced since 2007 to combat tobacco smoking, Health Minister Marisol Touraine said on Friday. Amid mounting global concern over the public health impli... More »
CHICAGO/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – When Smithfield Foods Inc. quietly weaned the first of its pigs off the controversial feed additive ractopamine last year, it may have helped open the door for a Chinese counterpart to acquire the world’s largest hog producer. U... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. health regulators on Wednesday approved a pair of GlaxoSmithKline Plc drugs to treat advanced melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer – in patients with specific genetic mutations. It also approved a diagnostic test to detect the mutation... More »
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland is to become the first country in the European Union to ban branding on cigarette packages by using plain packaging and uniform labeling, the government said on Tuesday. All trademarks, logos, colors and graphics will be removed from... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The new bird flu strain that has killed 36 people in China has proved resistant to Tamiflu for the first time, a development scientists said was “concerning”. The H7N9 virus was found to be resistant to Roche’s widely used flu drug in three ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Americans accustomed to immediate access to the newest technology may be shocked to find that is not the case when it comes to devices that treat ailing hearts. U.S. approval requirements for cardiac devices are much more stringent than in... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – The new H7N9 bird flu virus can be transmitted between mammals not only via direct contact but also in airborne droplets, and may be capable of spreading from person to person, Chinese and American researchers have found. A study publishe... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – More babies born via cesarean section grow up to be heavy kids and teens than those delivered vaginally, according to a new study of more than 10,000 UK infants. Eleven-year-olds delivered by C-section, for example, were 83 percent ... More »
GENEVA (Reuters) – The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that it would help Saudi Arabia dig deeper into deadly outbreaks of a new SARS-like virus to draw up advice ahead of the annual haj pilgrimage, which attracts millions of Muslims. The U.N. a... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Merck & Co’s experimental insomnia drug moved a step closer to U.S. approval on Wednesday after a panel of medical experts said it is effective and safe at lower doses. The advisory panel was convened to help the U.S. Food and Drug Admin... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Merck & Co’s experimental insomnia drug was safe and effective at the lower of two doses studied, a panel of medical experts said on Wednesday, increasing the chance it will be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The advis... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Los Angeles, which has more storefront medical marijuana shops than any other U.S. city, will close hundreds of the dispensaries and hike taxes on those that will be allowed to remain under a ballot measure approved by a wide margin of ... More »
GENEVA (Reuters) – The H7N9 virus appears to have been brought under control in China largely due to restrictions at bird markets, but caused some $6.5 billion in losses to the economy, U.N. experts said on Tuesday. Health authorities worldwide must be on the ... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Bayer said extended use of its experimental riociguat pill to treat a life-threatening form of high blood pressure in the lungs was shown to be safe and effective in a prolonged trial. In the extension of a late-stage trial, the drug was ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – AstraZeneca is closing in on a site for its new $500 million home in Cambridge, with a biomedical park just south of the English city the most likely site, property industry sources said. Moving research and global headquarters to Cambridge,... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain launched a research program on Monday that should eventually allow all cancer patients to have access to the kind of genetic analysis that led Hollywood star Angelina Jolie to decide to undergo a double mastectomy. The project, invol... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Fitness experts are shining a new light on group classes from Zumba to yoga because they believe the right lighting can transform the four walls of a fitness studio from a dance party to a meditation space, and back again. “Because of the ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Bayer’s acne pill Diane 35 and its generic versions are safe to use in certain women when other options have failed, the European Medicines Agency said on Friday. Following a formal safety review, conducted at the request of French authoriti... More »
OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) – Key officials helping to create Washington state’s potentially lucrative recreational pot market say its success may hinge on preventing consumers from choosing to get high on readily available medical cannabis because of low an... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – After decades of using one-size-fits-all therapies to combat cancer, doctors are using new tools to help decide when their patients can skip chemotherapy or other harsh treatments. An approach to oncology that has been in place for deca... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Bereaved parents who do not want to see their dead babies go through a conventional autopsy could in future be offered a less invasive option which uses magnetic resonance imaging and blood tests to establish the cause of death. Scientists w... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Two health workers in Saudi Arabia have become infected with a potentially fatal new SARS-like virus after catching it from patients in their care – the first evidence of such transmission within a hospital, the World Health Organization sai... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Marilyn Tavenner, a former nurse and hospital company executive, as the first full-fledged administrator for the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs since 2006. In a rare show of bipartisanshi... More »
(Reuters) – An experimental leukemia treatment that Roche Holding AG hopes will improve upon its best-selling cancer drug Rituxan delayed disease progression twice as long as chemotherapy, according to preliminary trial data released on Wednesday. Switzerland-... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Roche hopes data published this week will show it has a viable follow-on product to help fend off cheaper competition for its best-selling cancer drug, which loses patent protection in Europe later this year. Roche is set to ... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Angelina Jolie’s decision to have a double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer may have stunned fans of the Oscar-winning actress, but doctors say her choice is shared by many other women with a high genetic risk for breast cancer. Jolie, w... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oscar-winning film star Angelina Jolie revealed on Tuesday that she underwent a double mastectomy after learning she had inherited a high risk of breast cancer and said she hoped her story would inspire other women fighting the life-threat... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare reform law will extend coverage to 2 million fewer uninsured Americans than expected only a few months ago, congressional researchers said on Tuesday. A new report from the nonpartisan Congres... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. health regulators on Tuesday approved a test developed by Roche for a specific gene mutation present in about 10 percent of non-small cell lung cancers, and said the company’s drug Tarceva could be used as an initial treatment in patients with... More »
(Reuters) – John Lechleiter, the longtime chief executive of Eli Lilly and Co, is recovering from successful surgery to repair a dilated aorta, the U.S. drugmaker said on Tuesday. “Dr. Lechleiter is recovering and will be closely monitored by the medical staff... More »
(Reuters) – A House of Representatives panel is investigating the circumstances surrounding the resignation from the Food and Drug Administration of its acting deputy commissioner for medical products and tobacco. In a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hambu... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An Obama administration effort to raise private donations to help implement President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law came under fire on Monday from congressional Republicans who claim the action could violate the law. As the Republ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Men who were exposed to Agent Orange chemicals used during the Vietnam War are at higher risk for life-threatening prostate cancer than unexposed veterans, researchers have found. What’s more, those who served where the herbicide wa... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – A second diagnosis of the new SARS-like coronavirus has been confirmed in France, the Health Ministry said on Sunday, in what appeared to be a case of human-to-human transmission. The new infection was found in a 50-year-old man who had share... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is asking companies for financial donations to help implement President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul, months before it is due to take effect. In telephone calls that began aroun... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal judge in New York on Friday declined to temporarily halt a court order directing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make emergency contraception available over the counter to girls of all ages. However, U.S. District Judge ... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The world’s biggest drug makers have for years enjoyed rich premiums for their medicines in the U.S. market. Those days may be coming to an end. Companies like Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca have grown dependent on higher U.S. prices to gen... More »
LILLE/DUBAI (Reuters) – A nurse in a hospital that held France’s only confirmed case of the SARS-like coronavirus that has killed 18 people has been admitted to hospital in northern France on suspicion on being infected herself, French health officials said on... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Novartis said on Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved its drug Ilaris to treat a serious form of childhood arthritis. Ilaris inhibits interleukin-1 beta, excessive production of which plays a prominent role in cert... More »
(Reuters) – Kentucky Democratic Governor Steve Beshear said on Thursday he will expand Medicaid coverage under President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law, a move that will cut the state’s uninsured population almost in half. The expansion will extend cover... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Very premature babies have fewer breathing problems when they’re born through vaginal delivery compared to cesarean section, a new study of more than 20,000 newborns suggests. Based on those cases, researchers found that regardless ... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – San Francisco city leaders, after losing a key round in court against the cell phone industry, have agreed to revoke an ordinance that would have been the first in the United States to require retailers to warn consumers about potenti... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Four more people in China have died from a new strain of bird flu, bringing to 31 the number of deaths from the mysterious H7N9 virus, with the number of infections rising by two to 129, according to Chinese health authorities. Among the de... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stepping into the debate over who should be screened for lung cancer, a leading medical specialty group issued new guidelines on Tuesday recommending that doctors offer annual low-dose CT (computed tomography) scanning to people whose age ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Toddlers are less likely to have asthma and itchy rashes if their parents “cleaned” their pacifiers by sucking on them when the kids were infants, a small new study suggests. The findings don’t prove that technique protects kids aga... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Healthcare reform should be the signature Democratic achievement of President Barack Obama’s presidency. But with “Obamacare” five months from show time, Democrats are worried about whether enough Americans will sign up to make the sweep... More »
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Thursday he is comfortable with a U.S. government agency’s decision to allow over-the-counter purchases of a morning-after pill for anyone 15 and older. Some critics have complained girls that young should... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Practicing with lighter baseballs may help teen pitchers improve their throwing speeds while also reducing the risk of overuse injuries, a small study from Taiwan suggests. After 10 weeks of training, young players who had worked wi... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Close to two-thirds of women favor making contraceptive pills available over the counter, according to a new nationally-representative survey. In addition, about 30 percent of women using either no birth control or a less effective ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Human cases of a deadly new strain of bird flu that has killed 27 people in China are likely to crop up in Europe and around the world but that should not cause undue alarm, Europe’s leading flu expert said on Thursday. In his first media in... More »
Infertility is a global challenge, disease the whole world has faced with. As of today, more than 20 % of couples all over the world have certain fertility problems. Hostile environment, harmful products, potato coach lifestyle, bad hobbits are among aspects... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – A 55-year-old man in central China has died from a new strain of bird flu, bringing to 27 the number of deaths from the mysterious H7N9 virus, state news agency Xinhua said on Thursday. The H7N9 virus, which has infected 127 people in China... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Sanofi reported lower-than-expected first-quarter earnings on Thursday as the effects of last year’s patent losses and foreign exchange headwinds crimped growth from diabetes drugs, vaccines and rare disease unit Genzyme. But the French drugm... More »
(Reuters) – The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday appealed a court order directing the agency to make “morning-after” emergency contraception pills available without a prescription to all girls of reproductive age. Lawyers with the Justice Department f... More »
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Irish government ministers agreed draft legislation on Tuesday to allow for limited access to abortion where a woman’s life is in danger, including the threat of suicide, a proposal that has already divided the country’s ruling coalition. Ir... More »
(Reuters) – A trade group representing makers of artificial limbs on Tuesday promised to provide prosthetics free of cost to the estimated 20 to 25 victims of the Boston Marathon bombings who underwent amputations. The American Orthotic and Prosthetic Associat... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – An influential U.S. panel is calling for HIV screening for all Americans aged 15 to 65, regardless of whether they are considered to be at high risk, a change that may help lift some of the stigma associated with HIV testing. The new guidel... More »
(Reuters) – Herbalife Ltd posted surprisingly strong quarterly earnings and raised its full-year profit forecast on Monday, putting pressure on high-profile investor Bill Ackman, who is betting against the nutritional products company. Ackman’s Pershing Square... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Austerity is having a devastating effect on health in Europe and North America, driving suicide, depression and infectious diseases and reducing access to medicines and care, researchers said on Monday. Detailing a decade of research, Oxford... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China on Saturday reported its first case of H7N9 bird flu in the southern province of Hunan, the latest sign the virus that has killed 23 people in the country is continuing to spread. The official Xinhua news agency said the patient was a... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. government on Friday announced its second civil fraud lawsuit against Novartis AG in four days, accusing a unit of the Swiss drugmaker of paying multimillion-dollar kickbacks to doctors in exchange for prescribing its drugs. Autho... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. government on Friday announced its second civil fraud lawsuit against Novartis AG in four days, accusing a unit of the Swiss drugmaker of paying multimillion-dollar kickbacks to doctors in exchange for prescribing its drugs. Autho... More »
(Reuters) – European regulators declined to approve marketing of Pfizer Inc’s new rheumatoid arthritis treatment Xeljanz, citing the risks of the drug compared with its potential benefit, the company said on Thursday. Pfizer said it plans to appeal and “immedi... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Chinese scientists have confirmed for the first time that a new strain of bird flu that has killed 23 people in China has been transmitted to humans from chickens. In a study published online in the Lancet medical journal, the scientists ech... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Health groups said on Thursday they could rid the world of polio by 2018 with a $5.5 billion vaccination and monitoring plan to stop the disease taking hold once more now there are only a handful of cases worldwide. Experts say the plan offe... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Drinking just one can of sugar-laced soda drink a day increases the risk of developing diabetes by more than a fifth, according to a large European study published on Wednesday. Using data from 350,000 people in eight European countries, res... More »
TAIPEI (Reuters) – A 53-year-old Taiwan businessman has contracted the H7N9 strain of bird flu while travelling in China, Taiwan’s Health Department said on Wednesday, the first reported case outside of mainland China. The man was hospitalized after becoming i... More »
BEIJING/LONDON (Reuters) – A new bird flu strain that has killed 22 people in China is “one of the most lethal” of its kind and transmits more easily to humans than another strain that has killed hundreds since 2003, a World Health Organization (WHO) expert sa... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval on Tuesday defended his state against a report that a Las Vegas psychiatric hospital improperly sent hundreds of discharged patients by bus to California and other states, a practice known as patient dum... More »
For centuries, Ukraine had a good medical basis and powerful schools. Ukrainian specialists are known all over the world for their incredible talents and treatment results of even hopelessly ill patients. Reproductive medicine branch has also done its part. To... More »
In winter, feeling lack of fresh fruits and vegetables, we can go to the supermarket and buy frozen strawberries, raspberries and other summer delicacies. But it must be admitted such dessert does not have bright palette of tastes and vitamins. The same can be... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Strict school lunch standards that are similar to new regulations from the U.S. government may be tied to healthier body weights among students, according to a new study. “I think it’s evidence that healthier school lunches have a p... More »
(Reuters) – The Maryland legislature approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes on Monday, and Governor Martin O’Malley has said he would sign the measure and make Maryland the 20th state to legalize medicinal cannabis. The Democratic-controlled state ... More »
(Reuters) – Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc said it will form an alliance with Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG to develop treatments for Huntington’s disease, a genetic brain disorder, based on the U.S. company’s technology. Roche will pay Isis $30 million upfront a... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – America’s ageing population is posing special challenges, fitness experts say, because it is difficult to design effective workout routines for people with such a wide range of abilities. For one 70-year-old, the goal may be to run a marat... More »
