Medications/Drugs News Headlines

By Trevor Stokes NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A review of past research finds that fever-reducing drugs have no effect on the speed of children's recovery from an infection, contrary to the fears of some doctors and parents. Researchers have debated for decades whether lowering a sick child's fever helps the recovery process …

In the years I’ve spent writing about infectious diseases I can only think of a handful that have made me squirm: Guinea worm disease, which involves painful extractions of long worms from the human body (blech); Naegleria fowleri, the brain-eating amoeba (pretty self-explanatory); Ebola (because, well, it’s Ebola); and …

By Joanne von Alroth SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Reuters) - The Illinois Senate on Friday voted to approve the use of marijuana for medical purposes, which if signed into law would make it the second-most-populous state in the nation after California to allow the drug's use for medical purposes. The bill, approved by the Illinois …

Every week, it seems, we hear about an even more tragic kind of military death—that of veterans who take their own lives, most often when they’re back at home, seemingly safe and sound. It is, of course, an even deeper loss because unlike most combat-related fatalities, these deaths seem to be much more preventable. If …

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 authorities, the agency concluded that the benefits outweighed the risks …

PARIS (Reuters) - Sanofi said it would overhaul rather than exit its Toulouse research site, as it seeks to break an impasse with the French government which opposed the drugmaker's reorganization plans and the loss of jobs. Sanofi has been regrouping its research operations around the world into regional hubs and closing …

By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - The long-awaited, controversial new edition of the bible of psychiatry can be characterized by many numbers: its 947 pages, its $199 price tag, its more than 300 maladies (from "dependent personality disorder" and "voyeuristic disorder" to "delayed ejaculation," "kleptomania" and "intermittent …

By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law on Thursday in a symbolic move aimed as much at healing internal Republican rifts as demonstrating dogged party opposition to "Obamacare." The 229-195 vote occurred …

By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adding a plant-derived compound called a sterol to the cholesterol-lowering agent red yeast rice doesn't make it work any better, according to a new study. "I expected to see a synergistic effect with red yeast rice, and I was shocked to see no effects whatsoever," the study's …

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's Recipharm has hired UBS to advise on either a partial sale of the pharmaceutical company or a listing on the Stockholm exchange, a source close to the process told Reuters on Thursday. The source said a part-sale or a listing were equally likely. If a listing were the preferred outcome, it …

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite a strong warning from U.S. regulators in 2007, for-profit dialysis centers still gave their kidney failure patients more of a certain anemia drug than non-profit centers in 2008, says a new study. The researchers write in JAMA Internal Medicine that their finding suggests …

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca has enrolled the first patient into a final-stage clinical trial of a new drug for a rare type of leukemia as the group's new CEO delivers on a promise to accelerate its oncology programs. Britain's second-biggest drugmaker said on Thursday the Phase III clinical trial would …

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has begun a crackdown on the sales of fake, diseased and tainted meat products after a series of scandals that have further dented public confidence in the food industry, the official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday. It said the State Council, China's cabinet, recently ordered local government …

MELBOURNE, May 16 (Reuters) - The use of social drugs like cocaine and methamphetamines is on the rise in Australian Rules football with 26 positive tests and a similar number of confessions of use last year for what the Australian Football League (AFL) describes as "illicit drugs". The AFL differentiates between the use …

By Deena Beasley 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 decades is beginning to yield to an arsenal of long-term …

By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - Melanoma patients treated with two Bristol-Myers Squibb drugs fared much better than those who received either of the medications individually, a new advance for treatments that harness the body's immune system to fight cancer. Bristol released preliminary data from the early-stage …

By Bill Berkrot (Reuters) - An experimental Roche Holding AG drug that helps the immune system attack tumors was well tolerated and demonstrated an impressive effect against a variety of cancers, according to preliminary trial results released on Wednesday. While clinical testing of the drug is still in its early phases, …

By Deena Beasley (Reuters) - An experimental drug from Gilead Sciences Inc shrank tumors in half of leukemia patients whose cancer had returned, according to an early-stage trial that represents a new foray into oncology by the world's biggest seller of HIV medications. The pill, idelalisib, is part of a new class of medications …

A new study says you can add a commonplace activity to the list of things that raise blood pressure: talking on a cell phone.

CHICAGO (AP) — In the new psychiatric manual of mental disorders, grief soon after a loved one's death can be considered major depression. Extreme childhood temper tantrums get a fancy name. And certain "senior moments" are called "mild neurocognitive disorder."

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Shareholders of South Africa's Cipla Medpro overwhelmingly approved a $488 million takeover offer from India's Cipla Ltd on Wednesday, giving the Indian drugmaker a big presence in Africa's biggest economy. There had been some concern the 4.5 billion rand deal - the biggest by an Indian firm in …

By Caroline Copley 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 present full results early on Thursday of …

By Trevor Stokes NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Bottling up emotions is thought to harm both mind and body, but a new study suggests that the opposite extreme may be no better. In a study of thousands of heart attack patients, those who recalled having flown into a rage during the previous year were more than twice as likely …