Medications/Drugs News Headlines

By Yasmeen Abutaleb WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A day after the American Medical Association classified obesity as a disease, U.S. lawmakers introduced bipartisan bills in the Senate and House of Representatives that would require Medicare to cover more obesity treatment costs. ...

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Otherwise healthy people with a diarrhea-causing infection may have picked up the bacteria in doctors' offices or other healthcare sites, according to a new government study that also hints heartburn medications might increase the risk. Researchers from the U.S. Centers for …

Researchers have discovered a potential biological basis for fibromyalgia in patients' skin. Current treatment uses medications that act solely within the brain. It brings varying degrees of relief.

By Jessica Toonkel and Soyoung Kim NEW YORK (Reuters) - Forest Laboratories Inc, the specialty drugmaker that counts investor Carl Icahn as a major shareholder, is among a handful of companies interested in bidding for Irish drugmaker Elan Corp Plc, two people familiar with the situation said. Elan, which has a market capitalization …

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Compared to a decade ago, fewer Americans have a cluster of risk factors that together can signal heart troubles and diabetes down the line, according to a new study. But while so-called metabolic syndrome is declining, some of its components - including large waistlines and …

BOSTON (Reuters) - Vermont police arrested 33 people on drug charges on Wednesday in a sweep aimed at tackling the state's growing heroin and cocaine problem, according to the state police. The operation followed a six-month investigation by the police drug task force of rising drugs flows into the Green Mountain State …

The label is supposed to improve awareness and treatments for the condition, but similar proclamations about alcoholism and other addictions haven’t been so successful.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — If doctors and patients used prescription drugs more wisely, they could save the U.S. health care system at least $213 billion a year, by reducing medication overuse, underuse and other flaws in care that cause complications and longer, more-expensive treatments, researchers conclude.

By Jessica Toonkel NEW YORK (Reuters) - ViroPharma Inc, a drug maker specializing in rare diseases, is attracting preliminary acquisition interest from several pharmaceutical companies, according to three people familiar with the matter. No deal is imminent for the "orphan" drugmaker, which has a market capitalization of …

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European antitrust regulators fined nine drugmakers, including Denmark's Lundbeck, a total of 146 million euros ($195 million) for blocking the supply of a cheaper anti-depressant to the market, the first EU sanction against such deals. The punishments follow a 2009 report by the European …

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb's diabetes drug Onglyza failed to reduce heart risks in a large clinical study, disappointing investors who had thought it might demonstrate an edge over rivals. The companies, which jointly sell several diabetes drugs, said on Wednesday the so-called …

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - Pharmaceutical companies need to boost the benefits of drug research by working with regulators and healthcare providers to overhaul the way medicines are approved and paid for, a thinktank backed by investors says. After years of disappointing research and development (R&D) productivity, …

By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mississippi's attorney general said on Tuesday he would subpoena documents from Google Inc as part of a probe into allegations the Web search company facilitated the sale of drugs without a prescription and other illegal products. Google responded in a blog post that it had been vigorous …

By Ransdell Pierson (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating the cases of two individuals who died after injections with Eli Lilly and Co.'s long-acting treatment for schizophrenia, Zyprexa Relprevv. Both patients died three to four days after receiving "an appropriate dose" of the medicine, and …

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Studies that are funded by pharmaceutical companies or involve industry-backed scientists tend to be more prominent at cancer meetings than independent studies, a new report suggests. "Figuring out the reasons behind these findings is critical," said Dr. Beverly Moy, who led …

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - Turning around drugmaker AstraZeneca will be a long haul, with a strategy of revamping research and boosting acquisitions set to take up to four years to pay off, its chief executive said on Tuesday. Speaking as the group unveiled the location for a new global headquarters and research …

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline is discussing the sale of its thrombosis drug brands Arixtra and Fraxiparine, along with a related French factory, to Aspen Pharmacare in a deal that could be worth some $1 billion. Britain's biggest drugmaker said on Tuesday that Aspen had offered to buy the medicines, …

WASHINGTON (AP) — There's good news for most companies that provide health benefits for their employees: America's slowdown in medical costs may be turning into a trend, rather than a mere pause.

By Ransdell Pierson (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson said it would pay up to $1 billion for Aragon Pharmaceuticals and its experimental drugs for prostate cancer, to bolster J&J's role in the field after it acquired another experimental prostate-cancer treatment four years ago that has become a leading brand. J&J on Monday …

NEW YORK (AP) — By the time 10-year-old Sarah Murnaghan finally got a lung transplant last week, she'd been waiting for months, and her parents had sued to give her a better shot at surgery.

U.S. Bioterror Detection Program Comes Under Scrutiny

A Boston hospital is starting the world's first hand transplant program for children, and doctors say it won't be long until face transplants and other radical operations to improve appearance and quality of life are offered to kids, too.

LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists have won early financial backing for a new kind of anticoagulant drug they believe may prevent dangerous blood clots without causing bleeding - a previously unachievable goal. Index Ventures, working with GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson via an early-stage biotech fund, said on …