Women on the pill may live longer
LONDON (AP) -- Women who took the birth control pill beginning in the late 1960s lived longer than those never on the pill, a new study says....
Court says thimerosal did not cause autism
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The vaccine additive thimerosal is not to blame for autism, a special federal court ruled Friday in a long-running battle by parents convinced there is a connection....
Experts say even Obama getting too many med tests
CHICAGO (AP) -- Too much cancer screening, too many heart tests, too many cesarean sections. A spate of recent reports suggests that many Americans are being overtreated. Maybe even President Barack Obama, champion of an overhaul and cost-cutting of the health care system....
FDA warning: some patients cannot process Plavix
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration is adding its strongest warning to the label for Plavix, cautioning that some patients do not respond to the blockbuster blood thinner....
People with variable blood pressure at stroke risk
LONDON (AP) -- People with occasional spikes in their blood pressure could be at higher risk of having a stroke than those with regularly high blood pressure, new studies said Friday....
Study suggests too many invasive heart tests given
NEW YORK (AP) -- A troublingly high number of U.S. patients who are given angiograms to check for heart disease turn out not to have a significant problem, according to the latest study to suggest Americans get an excess of medical tests....
Panel: Women need chance to avoid repeat C-section
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Too many pregnant women who want to avoid a repeat cesarean delivery are being denied the chance, concludes a government panel that urged doctors to rethink litigation-spurred policies that have swung the pendulum back toward the days of "once a C-section, always a C-section."...
CDC uses shopper-card data to trace salmonella
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- As they scrambled recently to trace the source of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened hundreds around the country, investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention successfully used a new tool for the first time - the shopper cards that millions of Americans swipe every time they buy groceries....
Hoped-for drop in childbirth deaths not happening
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eleven days after her son Benjamin's birth by C-section, Linda Coale awoke in the middle of the night in pain, one leg badly swollen. Just as her doctor returned her phone call asking what to do, she dropped dead from a blood clot....
City of Hope is a Comprehensive Cancer Center as designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN).
Montana governor wants to get drugs from Canada
HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Thursday that he is seeking federal permission to import cheaper drugs from Canada for use in state insurance programs....
Roche suspends arthritis drug study after deaths
BASEL, Switzerland (AP) -- Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Group said Monday it has suspended a late-stage trial for a new rheumatoid arthritis and lupus drug after several patients died from infections....
A look at most-advertised prescription medicines
Research by The Nielsen Co. shows that in 2009, drugmakers spent the most money on ads directly targeting consumers for these prescription medicines:...
Drugmakers boost consumer ad spending 2 pct in '09
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Pharmaceutical companies boosted their spending on ads directly targeting consumers by barely 2 percent last year, according to data compiled by The Nielsen Co....
Takeda renames heartburn drug to avoid errors
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal regulators say Takeda Pharmaceuticals will change the name of a heartburn drug that has repeatedly been confused by pharmacists with drugs meant to treat cancer and other ailments....
