MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'cancer drugs'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:10:34 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5174611&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fcancer-drug-demonstrates-no-survival-benefit-receives-fda-approval%2F2011.08.29 Recently, the FDA announced its approval, upon accelerated review, of a new drug, Adcetris (brentuximab) for patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma that has relapsed after bone marrow transplant and for some patients with T-cell anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). This interests me for a lot of reasons, among them that I used to work in the field of lymphoma immunology and spent some time in my life studying molecules like CD30, the protein to which the new antibody binds. First, a mini-primer on the disease and numbers of patients involved: (more…) *This blog post was originally published at Medical Lessons* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5174611 Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:00:19 +0100 5174611 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158934&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FzMYls8wdiwU%2F Men and Women, Sleeping: Men and women sleep differently, with women experiencing deeper sleep, waking up fewer times during the night, and tolerating a lack of shut-eye better than men — even as men report greater overall satisfaction with their sleeping patterns, the WSJ reports. Research into gender and sleep differences may help explain the generally better health status of women compared to men, the paper says. Hip Problems: Complaints about metal-on-metal hip implants have risen by more than 5,000 since January as some patients have experienced problems with the devices and had them removed, the New York Times reports. The implants can release small fragments of metal that can damage tissue and cause pain in some people, the paper says. Raising Good Cholesterol: Roche reported p... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158934 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 12:26:44 +0100 5158934 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139731&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fnew-cancer-treatment-gains-momentum%2F2011.08.18 You heard about it first on Patient Power when, a couple of years ago, we interviewed Dr. Andrew Lowy, oncology surgeon at UC San Diego Medical Center. He explained how some patients with advanced cancer spread in their abdomen could benefit from an open surgery – perhaps as much as nine hours long – where, after snipping out visible cancer – the organs are bathed in heated chemotherapy for 90 minutes. You may recall the story of Jennifer Ambrose, a young mom from suburban Chicago, who developed cancer of the appendix. She tracked down Dr. Lowy after spotting him on the Internet. She traveled to San Diego, had the “hot chemo” procedure, recovered and then went on to have a second child – her “miracle baby.” Today Jennifer remains fine and her story is featured in my book, T... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139731 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:15:57 +0100 5139731 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139676&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FAME30H7R28I%2F Melanoma Treatment Option: The FDA approved vemurafenib, a treatment from Roche Holding and Daiichi Sankyo aimed at the half of metastatic melanoma patients whose cancer is driven by a specific genetic mutation, the WSJ reports. The treatment, to be sold under the brand name Zelboraf, will be taken for about six months and will cost about $56,400, according to Roche. Back Too Soon: Research published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology suggests most physicians are screening women for cervical cancer too frequently, Reuters reports. CDC researchers found that physicians are bringing back women with negative Pap smears and HPV tests are to be re-screened annually, though guidelines from the American Cancer Society and other groups recommend a three-year-wait in between nor... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139676 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:45:55 +0100 5139676 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5125712&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FhIsW-y19vVc%2F More Victims: An estimated 107 people in 31 states have fallen ill from salmonella-tainted ground turkey, up from the previous total of 78 victims in 26 states, the WSJ reports, citing updated figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One death has been linked to the turkey, which was produced by Cargill. The company has recalled 36 million pounds of ground turkey. Hot Bath?: Some hospitals are offering a so-called “hot chemo bath” to people with colon and ovarian cancers, despite what critics call a lack of solid evidence that the benefits of the procedure outweigh the risks for those patients, the New York Times reports. The procedure involves major abdominal surgery to remove any organs affected by cancer, followed by an infusion into the abdominal cavity ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5125712 Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:41:05 +0100 5125712 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118597&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F-v7ZpnrS1Qc%2F Serial Killers: Genetically engineering certain immune-system cells to identify and then destroy a certain protein found on leukemia cells can put patients into sustained remission from their cancer, the WSJ reports. Research on three people published in the New England Journal of Medicine and Science Translational Medicine shows that the treatment has harsh side effects, however, and much larger studies are needed to prove that it works. The genetic immunotherapy will also be studied in other cancers. Identifying Variations: Scientists have published in the journal Nature an analysis of the genetics behind multiple sclerosis, finding 29 genetic variations associated with the disease and shoring up the notion that it is an autoimmune disorder, the Los Angeles Times’ Booster Shots blo... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118597 Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:49:11 +0100 5118597 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107483&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FzI5sxWjKWVE%2F Reversal of Course: The federal government won’t try to force the resignation of Forest Laboratories CEO Howard Solomon after the company last year plead guilty to drug-marketing misdemeanors, the WSJ reports. Solomon wasn’t named in the criminal action but the government had sought to exclude him from doing business with the government under a clause of the Social Security Act. Bad Habit: New research shows that when it comes to lung-cancer risk, smoking within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning is worse than waiting at least an hour before lighting up, the BBC reports. It’s not clear why, but one possible explanation is that people suck in smoke more intensely when they smoke first thing in the morning, increasing exposure to chemicals. Unclear Effectiveness?: The U... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107483 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:40:52 +0100 5107483 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096151&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FmKAJato-F-Y%2F Shares of Dendreon are getting hammered today after the company reported yesterday that sales of Provenge, its $93,000 prostate cancer treatment, won’t meet forecasts despite expanded manufacturing capacity and recent favorable reimbursement decisions. The company’s CEO, Mitch Gold, says the problem is headwinds from a phenomenon he calls “cost density.” Here at the Health Blog, we’re always grateful for vocabulary-building exercises and it occurred to us when Gold dropped the term during an interview it was Dendreon-speak for “really expensive cancer drugs.” We wondered whether Provenge’s price tag was meeting resistance from patients concerned about the treatment’s cost-benefit equation: studies that led to FDA approval indicated Prov... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096151 Thu, 04 Aug 2011 16:14:41 +0100 5096151 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028130&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FUWutRQPKQBI%2F Chip-Factory Cancer Cases: Samsung Electronics Co. says a report by consulting firm Environ International found no link between cancer in six workers and the chemicals they were exposed to at a semiconductor manufacturing facility, the WSJ reports. Previous reports by South Korea’s occupational health and safety agency have also found no link. But Samsung workers and others have said there were far more leukemia and lymphoma cases among chip-factory workers. Data from the latest study are not being immediately released. Reconsidering Risk: The FDA warned that when used to prevent pelvic organ prolapse, surgical mesh carries a higher risk of adverse effects like pain, bleeding and infection, without necessarily providing additional benefit over traditional surgical stitches, the Assoc... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028130 Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:43:45 +0100 5028130 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4992647&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FRb9MlJdtTh4%2F Coverage Decisions: Medicare will cover Dendreon’s Provenge for certain forms of advanced prostate cancer, calling the $93,000 treatment “reasonable and necessary,” the WSJ reports. (Here’s the decision memo.) Medicare will also continue to cover Roche’s Avastin for breast-cancer patients, even if the FDA follows the advice of its outside advisory committee and revokes approval for that use, the New York Times reports. Anti-Obesity Laws Challenged: Local laws requiring restaurants to eliminate trans fats, label menus with calorie counts and institute other anti-obesity measures are being banned by state legislatures, the NYT reports. Public-health groups say state restaurant lobbies are behind the new state-level efforts; the National Restaurant Association te... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4992647 Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:49:19 +0100 4992647 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4984413&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FNYfw_VMWbrM%2F Avastin Vote: An FDA appeals panel made up of outside experts voted 6-0 to recommend the agency remove Avastin’s approval for breast cancer, the WSJ reports. Panel members said studies showed the Roche drug provided no meaningful benefit to patients while raising the risk for serious side effects. The ultimate decision on the drug’s breast-cancer indication rests with FDA head Margaret Hamburg. Regardless of what she decides, the drug will remain on the market since it’s approved for other cancers. Focus on Fenugreek: The search for the culprit in the E. coli outbreak in Germany and, most recently, France, has focused on fenugreek seeds from Egypt, the New York Times reports. Sprouts from contaminated seeds are “implicated in both outbreaks,” according to a Eu... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4984413 Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:42:44 +0100 4984413 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934088&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FbhK_6xJKL3o%2F Label Change: The FDA is warning that people using Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ diabetes drug Actos at higher cumulative doses and for longer periods of time may be at a higher risk of bladder cancer, the WSJ reports. The product’s label and medication guide will be updated to reflect the possible risk after interim study results suggested no overall link with cancer — but signs of an association amongst the heavier users. Takeda is sponsoring the study, which runs through 2012, and says that it remains committed to the drug. Eyeing Approval: In other FDA-related news, agency reviewers said VEGF Trap-Eye, Regeneron’s experimental drug for a form of macular degeneration is effective and doesn’t raise any major safety worries, the WSJ reports. Studies sponsored by th... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934088 Thu, 16 Jun 2011 12:37:07 +0100 4934088 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934076&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36088&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ourbodiesourblog.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F06%2Fupcoming-webinars-on-latinos-and-abortion-fda-drug-approvals-and-breast-cancer An upcoming webinar may be of interest to readers: Patients Before Profits: What You Should Know About the FDA, Big Pharma, and Breast Cancer June 21, 2011 10:00AM – 11:00 AM Pacific (1:00 pm – 2:00 PM Eastern) Featuring Miriam Hidalgo, BCAction Volunteer Program Coordinator and Jane Zones, Medical Sociologist and Former BCAction Board Member We will focus on how the competing interests of pharmaceutical companies and regulatory governmental bodies can fail to deliver safe and effective drugs that patients need. If you sign up, you will learn about power players at the FDA, the origins of the accelerated approval process, and more. You will need to register online for this webinar and then will receive an email with instructions on how to join in on the 21st. (Source: Our Bodies Ou... Our Bodies Our Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934076 Wed, 15 Jun 2011 23:04:44 +0100 4934076 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934095&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F9FKcbVKIg40%2F Inadvisable Use?: Pricey heart devices used in cardiac resynchronization therapy may not help 38% of the patients for whom they’re currently indicated, the WSJ reports, citing a study published online by the Archives of Internal Medicine. The devices — whose makers include Medtronic, St. Jude and Boston Scientific — help synchronize the contraction of the left and right ventricles, but a subset of patients don’t seem to receive any benefit. The president of the Heart Rhythm Society says the study isn’t enough to change current practice guidelines. Humira Suit: A man who took Abbott’s Humira for rheumatoid arthritis has sued the company, saying it failed to warn him about the risk of the serious fungal infection he developed, Bloomberg News reports. The s... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934095 Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:26:45 +0100 4934095 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4911442&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fplql9gLBwy0%2F Dow Jones Newswires reporter Thomas Gryta wrapped up his trip to the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting with a reporter’s notebook that touches on the cost of cancer care and a debate over the value of Amgen’s bone drug Xgeva, among other things. But here’s our favorite nugget from his reporting (as you can see from the picture at right it has to do with Legos): Much of the ASCO meeting centers around research and education, but the car-show-like exhibition hall is always a World’s Fair of cancer-drug marketing. Many of the company “booths” are the size of small buildings, including lounges and refreshments for meeting attendees. Perhaps the most original display of this year’s meeting — which wrapped up yesterday — was from ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4911442 Wed, 08 Jun 2011 19:45:50 +0100 4911442 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4911447&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FLgEdoVoucfk%2F One-Two Punch: Companies are increasingly testing combinations of cancer drugs in earlier-stage trials, attempting to deliver a knockout blow to the disease and prevent it from becoming drug-resistant, the WSJ reports. At the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, GlaxoSmithKline reported early-stage data on two experimental drugs being used in tandem; meantime, Bristol Myers-Squibb and Roche last week signed a deal to test two melanoma treatments together. Side effects are a big concern when two drugs are used together. Health-Care Burden: Retired Maj. General Arnold Punaro, a member of a military advisory group, says that given the rising costs of health-care and pensions, the Department of Defense is on the path to becoming “a benefits company that may occasionally kill a ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4911447 Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:47:52 +0100 4911447 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4902398&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FnrpkNPqjYBg%2F Lots of news out of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology over the weekend. For those of you whose attention was elsewhere, here are some quick highlights. Melanoma: We knew melanoma would be a hot topic at ASCO, and indeed, two drugs are getting a lot of attention. Vemurafenib, from Roche and Daiichi Sankyo’s Plexxikon unit, works only in melanoma patients whose tumors carry a certain mutation in a gene called BRAF, as the WSJ reports. The median time before the disease progressed in patients taking the drug was 5.3 months, compared to 1.6 months in those on chemo. Another drug for people with advanced melanoma, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Yervoy, is already on the market. It affects the immune system, allowing it to hit the cancer harder, as the New York ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4902398 Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:15:52 +0100 4902398 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4902399&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F3icCjl7QtLI%2F The cost of cancer treatment is high and, according to the National Cancer Institute, growing. And at the individual level, the financial burden can be very heavy, even for patients with insurance. A new study from Duke University Medical Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute covers 216 cancer patients, mostly older females with breast cancer. It found their self-reported, out-of-pocket, cancer-related costs averaged $712 a month. Some 30% of respondents said their expenses were a “significant burden” and 11% called them a “catastrophic problem.” All but one of those surveyed had insurance, mostly Medicare, and 83% had prescription-drug coverage. There are some caveats to the findings. Most of the patients found their way to the study via the HealthWell Foundation... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4902399 Mon, 06 Jun 2011 12:39:13 +0100 4902399 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4902400&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FX27KVxPMvOw%2F Tainted Sprouts?: Initial tests suggest that the bean sprouts earlier suspected of being the source of the E. coli outbreak in Europe are not actually contaminated, the WSJ reports. While testing is still underway, the samples analyzed so far have all come up negative for the strain of the bacterium in question. Earlier, the sprouts were pegged as the possible source of the outbreak, which has has killed 22 people in Europe and sickened 2,100, many of them seriously, the paper says. Implementation Funding: The costs for states to implement the federal health-care overhaul law are significant, pushing some states to seek aid from philanthropic foundations, Kaiser Health News reports. The California HealthCare Foundation, for example, is funding two consultants to help the state apply for fe... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4902400 Mon, 06 Jun 2011 12:26:22 +0100 4902400 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893389&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FrHtSGemKBrE%2F Melanoma Focus: Two of the as-yet unreleased studies to be highlighted at the upcoming annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology will deal with melanoma drugs — one from Bristol-Myers Squibb and another from Roche and Daiichi Sankyo, Dow Jones Newswires reports. The study of Bristol-Myers’ Yervoy, which was approved by the FDA in March for late-stage disease, will look at how it performs in newly diagnosed melanoma patients who are also on chemotherapy. Willing to Pay: Novartis will pay as much as $3 billion for the right acquisitions in veterinary medicine, consumer health, generic drugs, biotech or diagnostics, Bloomberg News reports, citing an interview with CEO Joe Jimenez. He wouldn’t comment, however, on analyst speculation that the pharma giant wo... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893389 Wed, 01 Jun 2011 12:46:14 +0100 4893389 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4847935&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fhm0PMTJJvT0%2F As we gear up for the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology — and its flood of studies on drugs and other treatments — let’s take a moment to consider the cost of those often life-saving therapies. It’s no secret that cancer is expensive. Even assuming no changes to cancer trends except an increase in patients due to the aging population, the NCI estimates medical costs will hit $158 billion in 2020 — and could rise to $207 billion assuming new therapies and diagnostics push up costs further. Two pieces of news out this week underline this point, and its consequences. Medco’s Drug Trend Report says that the oncology-specialty drug market, i.e. targeted therapies, could increase total cancer-drug spending by about 15% annually throug... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4847935 Fri, 20 May 2011 18:05:19 +0100 4847935 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4841417&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FWc0SEVFXMrA%2F Ahead of ASCO: Among the 4,000-plus studies due to be presented at the upcoming meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology are one showing an AstraZeneca drug can delay death in ovarian-cancer patients by four months and another showing a benefit for an Exelixis drug against several types of tough-to-treat cancer, Dow Jones Newswires reports. Other companies presenting data at the meeting, which begins June 3, include Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Roche and GlaxoSmithKline, DJN says. Road to Recovery: Surgeons have performed a cranioplasty, which patches a hole in the skull, on Gabrielle Giffords, the congresswoman who suffered a brain injury after being shot in January, NPR’s Shots Blog reports. Giffords received a plastic implant that was attached w... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4841417 Thu, 19 May 2011 13:21:42 +0100 4841417 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4820806&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F8wbChKAvWC0%2F The Profit Motive: With the health-care overhaul law requiring insurers to spend more on medical care, companies are pushing into new lines of business in pursuit of profits, the WSJ reports. Aetna, Humana and WellPoint are looking at health-care IT, partnerships allowing them to employ physicians and participation in the accountable care organizations encouraged by the health law, the paper says. Stem-Cell Finding: Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests the existence of lung stem cells with the potential to develop into the different elements of the organ, the Boston Globe reports. The finding is likely to be controversial and must be replicated; it’s nevertheless expected to “energize” this field of research, an editorial accompanying the stu... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4820806 Thu, 12 May 2011 12:31:26 +0100 4820806 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4794836&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fbcec9l1MDKE%2F Off the Table?: It doesn’t look like the House Republicans’ plan to cut Medicare spending — providing seniors with a fixed amount of money with which they could buy private insurance — is going to be a part of budget talks, the WSJ reports. Cuts to entitlement programs are unlikely to be part of the negotiations over raising the debt limit, Rep. Paul Ryan has said. Supplemental Knowledge: A new study finds that taking vitamin E, selenium and soy supplements every day for three years doesn’t seem to help prevent prostate cancer in men at risk for the disease, Reuters reports. Observational studies had seemed to note a benefit for men who consumed those nutrients via food or supplements, but more rigorous studies, including this one, haven’t come to the sa... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4794836 Fri, 06 May 2011 12:37:20 +0100 4794836 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4714715&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FQZVbUny7Xfg%2F Medicare Proposals: President Obama’s speech yesterday included plans to cut $480 billion from Medicare and Medicaid over the next 12 years, in part by tightening government spending controls, the WSJ reports. That contrasts with the plan put forth by House Republicans, which would partially subsidize Medicare beneficiaries’ purchase of private insurance. Skin Business Bidding: Sanofi-Aventis is taking bids for its U.S. dermatology business, Bloomberg News reports, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. Initial bids are already in, and the unit could be sold for as much as $433 million, BN says. Sanofi says it is “exploring strategic alternatives” for the business. Cancer Drug Shortage: Production problems at three manufacturers — Hospira, APP Pharmac... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4714715 Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:20:44 +0100 4714715 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4664137&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FjibZtXY8Paw%2F Gilead Sciences and the Yale School of Medicine are joining forces in the latest collaboration between industry and academia to hunt for new drugs. Gilead, known mostly for its line of medicines for HIV/AIDS, will pay $40 million for a four-year effort that could be extended to 10 years and a total of $100 million as part of its plan to expand its product portfolio to include cancer. It plans to tap Yale’s expertise in oncology, genomics and clinical medicine in a bid to discover new drug targets and design molecules to hit them. In the past year, the company has acquired three smaller firms with compounds for cancer and inflammatory diseases in early stage development. The Yale pact “is another piece of the puzzle,” Howard Jaffe, president of the Gilead Foundation, tells the Health Bl... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4664137 Thu, 31 Mar 2011 20:22:21 +0100 4664137 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4622223&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FqAhHpEvyEbg%2F Extending Life: When combined with chemo, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s experimental melanoma drug ipilimumab helped extend the life of patients with metastatic melanoma who’d received no previous treatments, Dow Jones Newswires reports. The FDA is scheduled to announce this week whether it has approved the drug — which would be sold under the brand name Yervoy — for use in metastatic melanoma patients who have already been treated with another therapy, DJN says. The Cost of MS: Prescription-drug prices are rising, as we’ve reported. Today Bloomberg News highlights one disease for which that is especially true — multiple sclerosis, where the price of therapies rose by as much as 39% in 2010. The cost of those drugs is becoming similar to that of cancer therapie... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4622223 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 12:26:33 +0100 4622223 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4610887&cid=t_123577_117_f&fid=37824&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.doctorkalitenko.com%2Fblog%2Finept-trials-tainted-studies-living-disease-waiting-cure%2F According to statistics, 1500 people die every day in the United States from cancer. Shocking statistic? Sure. But how long have these people lived with the disease, how long did they know about it? What kind of treatment did they receive? What kind of treatment could they have received if it was not held up in one study after another? A recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlighted perhaps the most amazing point (1) How long will someone have to wait for a drug to be approved? How many treatments are there that are being held up by inefficient trials while you or a loved one are dying of cancer. Here’s where a holistic doctor like myself just doesn’t understand. Why should we trust clinical studies? Well, there are years and years of various testing done before a product is ap... Doctor Kalitenko antiaging blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4610887 Fri, 18 Mar 2011 22:38:31 +0100 4610887 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4522085&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FDSvu5NrxN9M%2F Avastin Appeal: The FDA has granted Roche a late June hearing at which the company will try to convince the agency not to remove the breast-cancer indication for the drug Avastin, the WSJ reports. In December the FDA recommended Avastin no longer be approved for breast cancer, saying the drug hasn’t been shown to be safe and effective in that context. Bid for Biologics: Samsung Group is teaming up with Quintiles Transnational Corp. to invest $266 million into the production of potentially lucrative biologic drugs, including a copy of Roche and Biogen’s Rituxan treatment, Bloomberg News reports. The venture expects to begin supplying contract-made medicines in the first half of 2013, and expects to start supplying a generic version of Rituxan in 2016, BN says. Supplying Stents: ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4522085 Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:49:23 +0100 4522085 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4441965&cid=t_123577_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2F06%2Fsunday-news-round-up-everything-is-miscellaneous%2F Via Siobhan, a project intended to train volunteer interpreters to provide services to survivors of torture, trauma, and sexual abuse. Lyon-Martin Health Services in San Francisco, which serves a lot of people of color, gay and lesbian and transgender people, is raising money to try to stay open. Vivir Latino is going to be tweeting on Monday from a media breakfast hosted by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Latina Magazine, on issues and inequalities in reproductive health care affecting Latinas. I’m not terribly familiar with abortion laws in Mexico, but the Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health network reports on the case of a woman apparently sentenced to a 23-year jail term for murder/abortion for what she states was a miscarriage. The Ovarian Canc... Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4441965 Sun, 06 Feb 2011 19:29:31 +0100 4441965 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4433077&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fqs0NyuVmzxU%2F Also: disagreeing over the details of insurance decision reviews; health-care overhaul repeal dies in the Senate; birth control and prevention. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4433077 Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:23:09 +0100 4433077 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4411502&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fx_vmCyFHcB0%2F Also: Arena's woes worsen; good news on Tarceva from Roche; new HHS report says insurance exchanges will help. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4411502 Fri, 28 Jan 2011 13:51:40 +0100 4411502 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4405753&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FMzgFpkqRsEA%2F Also: the FDA says no to Avodart as a prostate cancer preventive; WellPoint looks to diversify; Berwick renominated. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4405753 Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:27:38 +0100 4405753 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4372023&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fxp4ssurESyE%2F Also: a physician group opposes health-care law; Roche has good melanoma-drug news; obesity incentives in Tenn. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4372023 Wed, 19 Jan 2011 13:34:24 +0100 4372023 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4322488&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FUCmG1OYKG7s%2F Dendreon is aiming to have Provenge on the market in at least some European countries by 2013. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4322488 Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:19:24 +0100 4322488 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4304867&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F1zLbAP2iAkM%2F Also: six states to watch when it comes to health-care overhaul; FDA stats on 2010 new drug approvals; J&J partners on new cancer test. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4304867 Mon, 03 Jan 2011 13:33:54 +0100 4304867 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4275305&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36088&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ourbodiesourblog.org%2Fblog%2F2010%2F12%2Favastin-follow-up-info-from-the-fda On Friday, Christine posted, FDA Moves to Revoke Approval of Popular Breast Cancer Drug, with the news of and reactions to the FDA’s recent decision that Avastin (bevacizumab) should no longer be approved for use for breast cancer because “the agency has determined that the risks of the drug outweigh the benefits for this use.” The FDA has posted a site with additional details about the recommendation, including their decision memo explaining the agency’s rationale, press release, questions and answers, and letter to the breast cancer community. (Source: Our Bodies Our Blog) Our Bodies Our Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4275305 Mon, 20 Dec 2010 19:19:23 +0100 4275305 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4265661&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36088&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ourbodiesourblog.org%2Fblog%2F2010%2F12%2Ffda-moves-to-revoke-approval-of-popular-breast-cancer-drug The FDA has begun the extraordinary process to revoke approval of the use of the popular drug Avastin to treat advanced breast cancer. Avastin had received accelerated approval in 2008, but further studies have not shown that the drug improves either overall survival rate or quality of life. Andrew Pollack of The New York Times notes that the approval is not without some controvery — as “various breast cancer patients and some patient advocacy groups have urged the F.D.A. to keep the drug approved and not deny patients a chance at what they say could be a life-saving therapy.” Pollack also notes the financial stake the drugmaker Roche has in the drug: “Avastin is the world’s best-selling cancer drug, with annual sales of about $6 billion. Analysts have estimated t... Our Bodies Our Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4265661 Fri, 17 Dec 2010 21:49:54 +0100 4265661 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4265670&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fk_d5b5fV4ZU%2F European regulators, meantime, recommended the drug still be used in breast-cancer patients, but only in combination with one form of chemo. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4265670 Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:18:12 +0100 4265670 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4258831&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F9poN-KvG2Sw%2F Also: fragmented care for emergency room visitors; heart treatments may not work after all; committee looks at health IT safety issues. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4258831 Tue, 14 Dec 2010 13:38:28 +0100 4258831 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4214071&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FbO3HXjD1_UQ%2F Is GSK's Avodart effective at reducing the risk of prostate cancer in high-risk men? (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4214071 Mon, 29 Nov 2010 17:05:54 +0100 4214071 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4205919&cid=t_123577_85_f&fid=34587&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FKevinMd-MedicalWeblog%2F%7E3%2F0y1p1h1wjps%2Fethics-placebo-cancer-treatment-clinical-trials.html by Wendy S. Harpham, MD, FACPThe New York Times recently ran an article tackling a complex ethical dilemma in cancer care: the withholding of treatment in clinical trials. Because I was treated in 3 clinical trials in the 1990s, the topic is close to my heart.Scientists have advanced the treatment of disease using the scientific method. By that, I mean they have tested a theory using rigorous methods that give a reliable and reproducible answer. This answer is not at all likely to be due to chance.(...)Read the rest of Ethics of placebo in cancer treatment clinical trialsNo comment | Tags: Cancer, Drugs | Category: Cancer (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog) Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4205919 Sat, 27 Nov 2010 18:00:39 +0100 4205919 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4197022&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FkAPtRgkyNNI%2F "When we're forced to treat patients without that drug, we know we are giving suboptimal treatment," says the president-elect of ASCO. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4197022 Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:08:31 +0100 4197022 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4175665&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FcPRw19bhLjg%2F The advisory panel's average confidence score (on a scale of 1 to 5) was 3.6 for evidence of an overall survival benefit. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4175665 Wed, 17 Nov 2010 22:39:43 +0100 4175665 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4164497&cid=t_123577_85_f&fid=34587&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FKevinMd-MedicalWeblog%2F%7E3%2FKZM_kk-wKNQ%2F10-top-medical-blog-posts-october-2010.html Here are the top posts from this past month, based on the number of times they were viewed.1. Catherine Zeta-Jones blames doctors for Michael Douglas’ throat cancer. Why is Catherine Zeta-Jones so mad?2. The day that medicine broke her and destroyed her innocence. Not only was I on call, but I was assigned to the chief resident’s team. I felt petrified.3. 7 social media mistakes made in health care. There can be real problems in using social media in the health care context.4. Why doctors have poor customer service. One of the reasons we have poor customer service is because we are overwhelmed.5. Advice for a second year medical student. Grades in medical schools are a joke.6. Doctors should work weekends, and how reformers alienate physicians. Peter Orszag wants doctors to work weeken... Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4164497 Sun, 14 Nov 2010 14:00:34 +0100 4164497 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4159205&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FFy0_9g7hkIY%2F The technology assessment report will be part of the discussion at the Nov. 17 meeting with outside experts to consider Medicare coverage. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4159205 Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:18:56 +0100 4159205 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4133652&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FoZMSUAdwM68%2F Revenue was about $3.6 million shy of analysts’ estimates for the intensely watched treatment. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4133652 Wed, 03 Nov 2010 23:48:30 +0100 4133652 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4118864&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F9YnIewZ4ZMI%2F The future of the drug in MS treatment has become a key component of Genzyme's rejection of an $18.5 billion hostile takeover offer from Sanofi-Aventis as too low. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4118864 Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:24:04 +0100 4118864 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4060570&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FMJ_AIZC3nKw%2F Study results show J&J's compound extended survival by 3.9 months for men with advanced prostate cancer and no other treatment options. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4060570 Tue, 12 Oct 2010 13:15:54 +0100 4060570 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4060571&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FFyx8vtJ8IIk%2F Also: Cerberus/Caritas Christi deal poised to clear hurdle; bilingualism protects functioning from dementia symptoms; Ft. Bragg investigation. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4060571 Tue, 12 Oct 2010 12:33:53 +0100 4060571 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4053277&cid=t_123577_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F10%2F10%2Fsunday-news-round-up-3%2F A few things of interest: Nikki has notes from a recent Twitter chat on health literacy, including a bunch of suggested resources on the topic. PF Anderson points to a great presentation (embedded there) on using social media for sharing family planning messages. It’s a useful introduction to tools like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube with examples of how they’re being used by groups like Planned Parenthood. A nice response to the ridiculous “i like it…” statuses on Facebook that are inexplicably supposed to make people feel like they’re doing something about women’s health: I like it without pinkwashing Weight loss drug Meridia was taken off the market, “because of clinical trial data indicating an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.... Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4053277 Sun, 10 Oct 2010 17:10:16 +0100 4053277 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4053270&cid=t_123577_85_f&fid=34587&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinmd.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F10%2Fhealth-blog-posts-week-october-8-2010.html Here are the top posts from this past week, based on the number of times they were viewed.1. Catherine Zeta-Jones blames doctors for Michael Douglas’ throat cancer. Why is Catherine Zeta-Jones so mad? It’s a facetious question. Her husband, Michael Douglas, was recently diagnosed with throat cancer he described at “stage 4.”2. The day that medicine broke her and destroyed her innocence. I was a third-year medical student in the first week of my obstetrics rotation. The obstetrics program was known to be high-pressure, its residents among the best.3. Doctors should work weekends, and how reformers alienate physicians. Peter Orszag wants doctors to work weekends.4. Why drug companies lavish doctors and how they price their drugs. My own education in pharmaceutical marketing began dur... Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4053270 Sun, 10 Oct 2010 13:00:14 +0100 4053270 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4036616&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FnEA5tmq3ybk%2F A potential cancer drug derived from a sea sponge could be synthesized thanks to the discovery, the Nobel folks say. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4036616 Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:09:26 +0100 4036616 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4031211&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FRtt-P0gSzk0%2F The goal is to enable drug companies to mount much smaller late-stage studies by enrolling only patients likely to respond to the drug. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4031211 Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:06:31 +0100 4031211 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4013135&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F36Qdy-WtNkk%2F Also: advocates press for coverage of custom-made breast prostheses; Seattle Genetics reports positive drug results; obese women pay more than men. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4013135 Tue, 28 Sep 2010 12:28:48 +0100 4013135 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4003237&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FXyfLoiIyXPY%2F Also: did health-care overhaul go far enough?; AstraZeneca cancer drug fails in late trial; HHS criticizes insurers' decision to drop child-only policies. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4003237 Mon, 27 Sep 2010 12:22:45 +0100 4003237 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3993865&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FoAamMCUq-GI%2F Researchers propose that Europe mimic a U.S. law where drug makers get priority review for new medicines if they get one approved for a neglected disease. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3993865 Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:08:40 +0100 3993865 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3987005&cid=t_123577_85_f&fid=34587&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinmd.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F09%2Fdeny-scientifically-sound-treatment-breast-cancer.html by Jackie FoxI just don’t understand how someone can live in this day and age and deny the effectiveness of scientifically sound medical treatment when dealing with breast cancer. I was completely flummoxed when I came across the in-depth and thoughtful post “A horrifying breast cancer ‘testimonial’ for ‘holistic’ treatment” on Respectful Insolence, written by a surgeon and scientist who uses the pen name Orac.Like others who came before and surely will come after her, Kim Tinkham rejected conventional medical treatment in favor of quack pseudoscience, in this case provided by Robert O. Young, who believes cancer is caused by “excess acid” and flacks something called the PH Miracle. Which also aids with weight loss, diabetes and anti-aging according to their website. An... Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3987005 Mon, 20 Sep 2010 15:00:55 +0100 3987005 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3907581&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FFpgdPSmbFV4%2F Also: experimental melanoma drug results; California insurance news; radiation at Walter Reed. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3907581 Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:28:07 +0100 3907581 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3902846&cid=t_123577_85_f&fid=34587&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinmd.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F08%2Ftamoxifen-breast-cancer-prevention-routinely.html by Shantanu Nundy, MDCancer prevention is built around screening. In screening, the hope is to catch cancer at an earlier stage than it would be found otherwise and increase options for treatment and chances of cure. In some cases, screening prevents cancer — for example, when a precancerous polyp is removed from the colon during colonoscopy — but generally it is aimed at early detection.What if instead we could prevent cancer from developing altogether?(...)Read the rest of Tamoxifen for breast cancer prevention is not routinely usedNo comment | Tags: Cancer, Drugs | Category: Cancer (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog) Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3902846 Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:00:36 +0100 3902846 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3899374&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F7XcUxvvkbfo%2F Also: study quantifies radiation from nuclear imaging tests; Genzyme and Sanofi talk price; routine care coverage for clinical trial participants. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3899374 Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:48:18 +0100 3899374 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3872529&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FFrMGlwuG1rc%2F Global health and cancer-care luminaries call for increased attention to cancer in lower-income countries. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3872529 Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:45:51 +0100 3872529 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3802364&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FgnUiGlXCZDw%2F Also: new painkiller policy proposed in Washington State; the insured seem to be using less health care; Dendreon publishes results in the NEJM. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3802364 Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:32:25 +0100 3802364 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3767055&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FYYgLF92nD1g%2F What will the FDA's oncology-drug panel recommend for Roche's Avastin? (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3767055 Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:19:25 +0100 3767055 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3737032&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fm_5vt9YuoGQ%2F Also: Blue Shield of CA sued over rates; Roche submits new breast-cancer drug to FDA; regulations on PTSD are set to change. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3737032 Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:41:06 +0100 3737032 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3718327&cid=t_123577_85_f&fid=34587&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinmd.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F07%2Fchemicals-cancer-accurately-studied.html by Josh Herigon, MPH Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times writes about a new report from the President’s Cancer Panel calling attention to the role common chemicals may play in the development of cancer. The overarching message is that we should be exercising much more caution in our trust of chemicals. I am not familiar with the nuances of regulatory policies for chemicals, but (as Kristof points out) the “existing regulatory presumption [is] that chemicals are safe unless strong evidence emerges to the contrary.”  This approach seems insane to me. (...)Read the rest of Chemicals that cause cancer can’t be accurately studied No comment | Tags: Cancer, Drugs | Category: Cancer (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog) Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3718327 Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:00:51 +0100 3718327 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3718374&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FwUnITqIDvaw%2F In the meantime, regional Medicare carriers can decide whether or not to cover the drug. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3718374 Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:47:25 +0100 3718374 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3710545&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F5IfmaMdxEZw%2F Also: a new way to rank drug makers; hypertension in kids; the states' role in implementing health-care overhaul legislation. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3710545 Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:56:26 +0100 3710545 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3706651&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FG6vsBg66HYk%2F Cancer centers are using waiting lists and techniques borrowed from the organ-transplant world to distribute Provenge as equitably as is possible. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3706651 Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:46:50 +0100 3706651 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3687076&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FXqcJwzRLDgo%2F Also: research on how prescription drugs interact with foods; study shows there are lots of foreign trials for drugs. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3687076 Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:16:05 +0100 3687076 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3676646&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FPR4Ksa1GD34%2F Also: the FDA approves a new treatment for prostate cancer, and one of the agency's advisory committees recommends a post-sex contraceptive pill. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3676646 Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:22:13 +0100 3676646 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3635725&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F6ERLe9RrFfQ%2F Pfizer, Roche, Eli Lilly and Bristol Myers-Squibb were among the companies with data out this weekend. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3635725 Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:36:08 +0100 3635725 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3629610&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F5PnnFeYXpE8%2F If Prolia is approved for use in cancer, global sales could hit $3 billion by mid-decade, some analysts say. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3629610 Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:52:27 +0100 3629610 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3629612&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FO6pck-CcI3Y%2F ASCO embargoes plus company press releases plus prior data release equals confusion. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3629612 Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:22:44 +0100 3629612 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3585584&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FCw0ojfYZha4%2F Also: the U.K.'s NICE in the crosshairs, NIH unveils conflict-of-interest policy for researchers. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3585584 Fri, 21 May 2010 12:53:05 +0100 3585584 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3549284&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FX180_2ksLXI%2F It’s unlikely that a “master code behind the disease” will ever be cracked, writes Gladwell. “Perhaps there is only what can be uncovered, one step at a time, through trial and error." (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3549284 Mon, 10 May 2010 14:41:20 +0100 3549284 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3522597&cid=t_123577_85_f&fid=34587&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinmd.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F05%2Fmedicare-reverses-brain-tumor-drug-decision.html by John Fauber Paula Oertel’s brain tumor disappeared for nine years while she was on a drug not approved for her condition. The tumor returned when a move to a new home triggered a Medicare review — and subsequent denial of coverage for the experimental treatment. Now Medicare officials have decided she will be allowed to go back on the drug. (...)Read the rest of Medicare reverses a brain tumor drug decision No comment | Tags: Cancer, Drugs, Medicare | Category: Medicare (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog) Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3522597 Sat, 01 May 2010 15:00:53 +0100 3522597 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3519435&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FSv-6o5MdEAw%2F The approval comes after Dendreon resubmitted its application for the novel treatment late last year. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3519435 Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:15:39 +0100 3519435 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3508161&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FM06twScpUe0%2F Under reimbursement rules, IV chemo counts as a medical benefit, but oral treatments fall under the (usually less comprehensive) drug benefit. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3508161 Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:47:38 +0100 3508161 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3494289&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FTai6pW3mDx4%2F A Duke oncologist is warning that the emphasis on comparative effectiveness studies may present obstacles for the field of cancer research, Scientific American’s Observations blog reports. At the recent American Association for Cancer Research confab, Duke’s Amy Abernethy outlined several stumbling blocks, starting with the obvious notion that while oncology is increasingly moving towards personalized treatment, comparative effectiveness research is based on large populations. So patients whose tumors’ molecular abnormalities aren’t as common might fall through the research cracks. There’s also a dearth of evidence to actually direct physicians to the most “medically effective and cost-effective treatment for individual patients.” And drugs being used off-label present their ow... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3494289 Thu, 22 Apr 2010 14:06:24 +0100 3494289 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3487027&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F2GiRKbarFVg%2F First, the good news: better treatments saved the lives of about 38,000 childhood cancer patients between 1975 and 2006, with overall survival rates now at about 80%, according to a report published online yesterday in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Now, the bad: while progress against leukemias and lymphomas continues, five-year survival rates for almost all solid tumors in kids and teens haven’t budged over the past 10-20 years. To find out why, the Health Blog talked to Eugenie Kleinerman, professor and head of pediatrics at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Why has progress against solid tumors in kids stalled? We’ve come as far as we have due to chemo [and other conventional treatments like surgery and radiation]. But to make progress in solid tumors like sarcomas and brain tumors we ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3487027 Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:08:51 +0100 3487027 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3475800&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FqRVdqQ5KR3c%2F NCI NCI Director John Niederhuber The National Cancer Institute’s Clinical Trials Cooperative Group Program — which coordinates and facilitates trials of new cancer treatments — is “at a breaking point” and needs an “overhaul,” says a report released today by the Institute of Medicine. The IOM recommends that the clinical trials program — which includes more than 3,100 institutions — consolidate some administrative functions now handled by its 10 individual cooperative research groups and pay clinicians for designing and implementing the trials. On the science side, it says the program should mandate the submission of tissue and blood samples from study participants to central repositories and that any resulting data should have no intellectual property restr... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3475800 Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:35:03 +0100 3475800 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3463569&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FCv81g2xYV0I%2F A number of groups are offering financial aid to cancer patients who can’t cover the costs of treatment, including many who have inadequate health insurance, as I write in the Informed Patient column today. An estimated 25 million patients are considered underinsured in the U.S — meaning that they have health policies that don’t cover all of their medical needs and leave them struggling with high out-of-pocket cots. And many of their health policies include high deductibles, which can send patients scrambling for aid in the early part of the year before the deductible is met. Julie Reynes, president of the Patient Access Network, which provides help to patients who can’t meet co-payments for their medications, tells the Health Blog that the group had a “deluge” of requests for help... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3463569 Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:58:20 +0100 3463569 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3437649&cid=t_123577_85_f&fid=34587&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinmd.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F04%2Fmedicare-denies-brain-tumor-drug-patient-moves.html by John Fauber For nearly a decade, Paula Oertel’s brain tumor was kept at bay by a drug that was not approved to treat her condition. Then Oertel did something she never imagined would jeopardize her health. She moved — less than 30 miles — from one county in Wisconsin to another. That move triggered a review of her health insurance from Medicare, which eventually led to a loss of coverage, including the drug. (...)Read the rest of Medicare denies a brain tumor drug after a patient moves No comment | Tags: Cancer, Drugs, Medicare | Category: Medicare (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog) Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3437649 Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:00:30 +0100 3437649 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3395100&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F7BuGzSdxBVY%2F Carl Icahn and Biogen Idec agreed to avoid another proxy flight as the biotech gave its backing for a third Icahn representative to join its board. But if it sounds like the long-time activist is taking a new tack on Biogen, guess again. “At the right price, I think Biogen should be sold,” Icahn told Thomas Gryta of Dow Jones Newswires in an interview today. “I think breaking up the company is something that definitely should be focused on,” he said at another point. Undoing the merger of Biogen and Idec in 2003 would make each piece more attractive for a takeover. Of course, Icahn has put out these ideas before, but he did so today while declaring a new settlement with Biogen management and saying the company was making “great strides.” But he also poin... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3395100 Mon, 22 Mar 2010 21:08:45 +0100 3395100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3311650&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FXUaGF_3OAKU%2F We recounted earlier this week that Roche’s cancer drug Avastin had missed achieving its main target in a stomach-cancer study. Today the news is flipped as a new study reported Avastin showed positive results in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer. The latest showed that women who continued using Avastin alone after receiving Avastin in combination with chemotherapy lived longer without the disease worsening, compared with those who received chemotherapy alone. The 1,873 women in the study had already undergone surgery to remove as much of their tumors as possible. Here’s the Roche announcement. A Sanford C. Bernstein analyst told Dow Jones Newswires that “2010 is going to see a slew more Avastin data,” including two continuing studies that test Avastin in pr... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3311650 Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:13:42 +0100 3311650 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3302292&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fg54hFr7iDIU%2F Roche’s Avastin chalked up another miss in a study, this time failing to meet its main target of prolonging the lives of patients with late-stage stomach cancer in combination with chemotherapy. Last April, Roche said Avastin didn’t meet its main goal in another study of preventing colon cancer from returning in patients in the early stages of the disease after surgical removal of the cancer. That was just after Roche agreed to pay $46.8 billion for the shares that it already didn’t own of Genetech, the biotech that developed Avastin. In the stomach-cancer trial, Roche said the drug didn’t extend overall survival in patients treated with the drug in combination with chemotherapy when compared with the same chemotherapy treatment plus a placebo. But the drug maker ad... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3302292 Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:19:40 +0100 3302292 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3302259&cid=t_123577_85_f&fid=34587&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinmd.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F02%2Fstrategy-needed-war-cancer.html David Agus, professor of medicine at the University of Southern California, thinks so. See his lecture from TEDMED 2009. How did David Blaine break the world record for holding his breath? Can we grow organs instead of transplanting them? An innovative way to help ALS patients Football is linked to dementia, and why it should be banned from high schools How your health can depend on where you live Posted at KevinMD.com. Stay updated and subscribe, follow me on Twitter, or connect on Facebook. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog) Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3302259 Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:00:48 +0100 3302259 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3258969&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fqf6OTXcGOrE%2F Suppose a hypothetical drug cost $10 million, was likely to extend life by only a day or two and didn’t improve quality of life. Should insurance pay for the drug? Probably not — it would increase the cost for everyone paying premiums, without doing much to help the sick. But where do you draw the line? Real-world drugs are both cheaper and more helpful than our hypothetical example. Still, many new cancer drugs costs tens of thousands of dollars per patient and sometimes extend lives by only a few weeks or months on average. This knotty issue came up again today in the U.K. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommended against using Novartis’s Tasigna or Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Sprycel for patients who have chronic myeloid leukemia and are ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3258969 Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:05:46 +0100 3258969 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3254434&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FIc6Nv-OYy1Q%2F Cell Therapeutics’ experimental lymphoma drug pixantrone faces rough sledding from an FDA advisory committee after an agency staff review raised questions about the drug’s effectiveness and side effects. The news sent the company’s shares sharply lower. One of the chief studies of the drug was supposed to involve 320 patients but only 140 were enrolled. Cell Therapeutics told the FDA it had trouble finding participants for the study because doctors preferred to use multiple chemotherapy drugs or supportive care, Reuters said, citing the FDA staff summary. Here’s the full FDA briefing document. The study period was also cut short. The FDA said “a higher level of evidence is usually required in trials which discontinue prior to final analysis,” Dow Jones ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3254434 Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:43:15 +0100 3254434 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3163749&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FGAy4FGogVGw%2F J.P. Morgan is hosting its big drug-industry conference this week in San Francisco. Here are a couple tidbits from the first few days: Sales of the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri topped $1 billion last year, Biogen Idec said today, and the number of patients taking the drug neared 50,000. On the one hand, that’s notable, given that the drug (which Biogen co-markets with Elan) was pulled from the market in 2005 because of safety concerns. On the other hand, Biogen recently said its CEO will step down later this year, a move that Dow Jones Newswires said was linked in part to concerns about Tysabri’s growth trajectory. The CEO, James Mullen, will be speaking at the conference at 4:30 Pacific time today. You can tune in online. Dendreon now has about $600 million in cash, which ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3163749 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:43:32 +0100 3163749 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3159663&cid=t_123577_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F01%2F10%2Fweekly-news-round-up-110%2F Thanks to Academic OB/Gyn for pointing people to their local medical library for access to the medical literature, along with a reminder that you can’t get by just reading the abstracts of articles. Feminists with Female Sexual Dysfunction has info on an upcoming segment on vulvodynia on the Dr. Oz show. [I've never seen the show so I can't speak for how well it covers health, although I know the ScienceBlogs folks have been critical of Dr. Oz and the whole Oprahsphere when it comes to health] Via Lauredhel at Hoyden, the 20th Down Under Feminist Carnival is up, and includes several health-related links. I particularly liked this rant against the “save the tatas” brand of sexiness breast cancer talk, especially after this week’s Facebook bra nonsense. [Note: some l... Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3159663 Sun, 10 Jan 2010 17:14:39 +0100 3159663 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3129455&cid=t_123577_85_f&fid=34587&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinmd.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F12%2Fhealthy-patients-refuse-drugs-reduce-risk-cancer.html Would you take a pill every day to reduce the risk of breast cancer? That’s a question Tara Parker-Pope asks in a recent blog entry. Referring to Tamoxifen, a drug that’s been shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer in high-risk women, she notes that a substantial number said they wouldn’t take the drug after hearing about the side effects: Just 6 percent said they would consider it after talking to their doctors, and only 1 percent reported actually filling a prescription for it. Fully 80 percent cited worries about side effects. In other words, the benefit of the drug, namely, a marked reduction of breast cancer risk in susceptible women, was markedly outweighed by the small chance of side effects. The same type of thinking applies to those who oppose childhood vaccin... Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3129455 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:00:29 +0100 3129455 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3126547&cid=t_123577_85_f&fid=34587&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinmd.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F12%2Fchemotherapy-treat-breast-cancer.html Originally posted in Insidermedicine Giving breast cancer patients chemotherapy before hormone-suppressing therapy with tamoxifen may improve their prognosis, but only if they are at high risk for a cancer recurrence, according to research published in The Lancet. Here is some information about the treatment of breast cancer: • Surgery is usually the first line of attack against breast cancer. It might involve removal of a lump, a breast, or breast plus lymph node tissue • Some patients receive chemotherapy, either before or after surgery • For those whose cancer is fed by hormones, drugs that suppress hormones, such as tamoxifen, are frequently given Researchers from the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood randomly assigned over 1,500 postmenopausa... Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3126547 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:00:16 +0100 3126547 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3084712&cid=t_123577_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F12%2F13%2Fweekly-news-round-up-1213%2F The DVD for “A Walk to Beautiful,” fistula documentary I’ve written about here in the past, is on sale through the 24th. @vuglobalhealth has a bunch of tweets from a lecture on women and reproductive health in resource-limited settings from UCSF’s Dr. Purnima Madhivanan. One key line from a piece in The Nation on proposed cosmetic surgery tax, NOW’s opposition to it, and feminism: “Feminism is about fighting a discriminatory society, not about accepting that discrimination and making it more cost-effective for women to capitulate to it.” The Joint Commission has resources on preparing for doctor visits. Aunt B points to the Swedish renaming of the hymen to “vaginal corona.” Every Day, Good Women Choose Abortion – at RHRC. Laure... Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3084712 Sun, 13 Dec 2009 19:49:49 +0100 3084712 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3082387&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F50jBW-OK1Js%2F Old-school chemotherapy drugs are typically given in multi-drug combinations. But researchers have struggled to find effective combinations of new, targeted cancer drugs. That may be starting to change. A combination of two targeted drugs — Herceptin and Tykerb — increased survival for women with a certain type advanced breast cancer, researchers said today. Both drugs target a type of tumor that makes a lot of a protein called her-2. The study included more than 200 women, all of whom had advanced disease and had already been extensively treated with cancer drugs. Half of the women received only Tykerb, and half received both Tykerb and Herceptin. Median survival for women who were treated with both drugs was 60.7 weeks compared with 41.4 weeks for those who received only Tyke... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3082387 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:36:25 +0100 3082387 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3063242&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FGFEn41F5HLA%2F Is there a ceiling on the price of cancer drugs? A medicine called Folotyn, approved earlier this year for patients with a rare form of lymphoma, costs $30,000 per month, the New York Times reports. The drug hasn’t been proven to extend patients’ lives; in a study cited by the FDA, tumors shrank in 27% of patients who took the drug. The price of cancer drugs has been rising, and many now cost thousands of dollars per month. Erbitux for colon cancer, co-marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly, costs $10,000 a month, to give one example cited by the NYT. Allos, the company that sells Folotyn, tells the Times it made a significant investment to develop the first drug for peripheral T-cell lymphoma. The company says the price isn’t out of line with other drugs for rare... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3063242 Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:00:18 +0100 3063242 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3029770&cid=t_123577_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2F25%2Fat-our-bodies-our-blog-prempro-lawsuits-cosmetic-surgery-the-fabulous-judy-norsigian%2F At Our Bodies Our Blog today, I have a bit about the outcomes of some recent lawsuits related to Prempro (estrogen+progestin HRT) and breast cancer. Earlier this week, I pointed to a recent issue of the journal “Clinical Risk” which is focused on cosmetic surgery risks and regulations. Christine has posted about a Time magazine article on a sex drive drug for women in which OBOS co-founder and director Judy Norsigian is quoted; Judy is also featured in the current issue of Vanderbilt University Medical Center newsletter The Reporter, following her visit to Nashville and talk at Vanderbilt’s School of Nursing. Posted in Body Image & Eating Disorders, Boobs, Cancer, Drugs, Menopause (Source: Women's Health News) Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3029770 Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:05:02 +0100 3029770 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2846302&cid=t_123577_85_f&fid=34587&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinmd.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F09%2Fhospice-doctors-relying-symptom-scores-assess-pain.html by Eric Widera, MD A recent issue in The Lancet included an article entitled “The Death of Ivan Ilyich and pain relief at the end of life.” This is a thought provoking article focused on the question of whether there is overuse of pharmaceuticals to treat various forms of suffering in hospice and palliative medicine. The authors argue that a good death, as seen through their interpretation of The Death of Ivan Ilyich, may include physical and existential suffering. Tolstoy’s character finds redemption in his suffering; he remains conscious through the agony of a prolonged and painful death and ends up with a greater understanding of life. The authors further argue that such a moment of clarity may no longer occur if we rely on practices that promote complete freedom from suffering t... Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2846302 Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:00:01 +0100 2846302 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2832095&cid=t_123577_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F09%2F24%2Fat-our-bodies-our-blog-hormone-replacement-therapy-and-lung-cancer%2F At Our Bodies Our Blog today I have a piece on a new study that has been in the news on hormone replacement therapy and its association with risk of lung cancer. The quality of the study is, uh, not great. Find out why, and what it does say. Posted in Cancer, Drugs (Source: Women's Health News) Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2832095 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:58:24 +0100 2832095 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2663918&cid=t_123577_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F08%2F02%2Fweekly-news-round-up-more-links-than-you-can-handle%2F From some recent event or conference, and via @kgs, “Information is how librarians express love.” Check out the links to information below and consider yourself loved, because there is lots and lots of good stuff this week. I’m going to refer you to Our Bodies Our Blog, of course. We’ll be on a bit of a sabbatical this week, but there are plenty of recent posts of interest to catch up on. Via one of Christine’s recent posts, for example, I learned of Oakland-based Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice, which “work(s) toward the day when all people have the power and resources to make healthy decisions about our gender, bodies and sexuality for ourselves, our families and our communities.” It’s World Breastfeeding Week. Check out the li... Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2663918 Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:15:15 +0100 2663918 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2645277&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fx3FhTBPc50E%2F Amgen may want to avoid the “carpet-bombing approach” to selling its new osteoporesis drug denosumab, but it is upping its sales firepower by partnering with pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline to market the therapy, the companies announced today. The biotech had said last year it was dropping the approach of fielding as many sales reps as possible to tout a drug, calling that an “outdated” model. In the agreement today, Glaxo will pay Amgen $120 million plus royalties to jointly market denosumab in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico. Glaxo will take over the commercializing of the therapy in all other countries where Amgen doesn’t currently have a presence, including emerging market nations like China and India. “We are optimistic about our fina... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2645277 Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:26:08 +0100 2645277 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2637790&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FBEq0X1mf-jo%2F A European Medicines Agency committee did the unexpected late yesterday, recommending that the cancer drug Erbitux be rejected as a treatment for non-small-cell lung cancer. That caught the investment community by surprise, according to DJ Newswires and Bloomberg. A Q&A about the refusal was posted on the European Union regulator’s Web site today. Shares of Merck KGaA, which markets Erbitux in Europe, were down over 14% in today’s trading in Frankfurt. Investors also weren’t pleased with second quarter earnings posted by the German company, which isn’t related to U.S.-based Merck. Bristol-Myers and Eli Lilly, which co-market Erbitux in the U.S., were relatively unaffected in early New York Stock Exchange Trading. Merck thought the committee might impose some re... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2637790 Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:29:51 +0100 2637790 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2634371&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FtmVVOEGYosw%2F There’s plenty of drug-industry zeitgeist crammed into the news that Bristol-Myers Squibb is paying $2.1 billion to buy Medarex. On one side of the equation is Bristol, an old-line pharma company sitting on a lot of cash ($8.1 billion as of the end of the second quarter, according to Bristol’s latest earnings report this morning) and facing the generic competition for its blockbuster Plavix in a couple of years. On the other side is Medarex, a company with two of the most desirable traits in the business: a promising cancer medicine in late-stage testing, and the know-how to develop biotech drugs. Everybody thinks biotech is the wave of the future; cancer drugs command high prices and are seen to meet unmet medical needs, which helps a lot in winning FDA approval. In typical fa... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2634371 Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:43:54 +0100 2634371 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2630041&cid=t_123577_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F07%2F22%2Fat-our-bodies-our-blog-hormone-therapy-and-ovarian-cancer-risk%2F Yesterday at Our Bodies Our Blog, I wrote about a new study in the current issue of JAMA that adds to a growing body of literature suggesting that hormone therapy may increase the risk of ovarian cancer. Co-blogger Christine’s recent posts: -Quick Hit: The Colbert Report and Single Payer Health Reform -Political Diagnosis: Obama Goes on Offensive for Health Reform; Abortion Debate Heats Up; Desperate for “Friends with Benefits” -Political Diagnosis, Part II: Road to the Supreme Court is Paved with Public Humiliation; Surgeon General Nominee and Abortion; Asylum for Battered Women Posted in Cancer, Drugs, Government, Women's Health (Source: Women's Health News) Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2630041 Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:54:49 +0100 2630041 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2621766&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FSRMLt1YtUwE%2F Drug makers Bristol-Myers, Eli Lilly and Amgen are now able to put on the label of their cancer drugs what kind of patients the drugs won’t work for: those with a mutation to a certain gene known as KRAS. The FDA approved the labeling change for Bristol and Lilly’s Erbitux, the companies announced this morning. Amgen said Friday that the FDA approved its labeling changes for Vectibix, which is in the same class of drug as Eribitux. Usually companies want their medicines to be used by as many patients as possible. But drug makers are recognizing the value of tailoring medicine to specific individuals based on certain genetic or other biologic markers. The thinking is that even if the population for whom the drug works is smaller, it will be more effective for those patients, and... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2621766 Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:27:55 +0100 2621766 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2594414&cid=t_123577_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F07%2F12%2Fweekly-news-round-up-12%2F Go get sucked down a blog rabbithole with all of the “pit to distress” posts of late, on obstetric providers who allegedly push pitocin on laboring women in an attempt to make the fetus “prove” itself – by coming out vaginally or forcing a c-section for fetal distress. Start with Unnecesarean, Keyboard Revolutionary, and NursingBirth. Those starting points also include links to various other posts on the topic. Relatedly, RealityRounds has written a guide for nurses to refusing physician orders. PhD in Parenting is talking about drinking while breastfeeding. Abortion Pill Study Suggests Way to Limit Infection – from the New York Times, on reducing infection associated with medical abortion by avoiding the off-label vaginal administration and providing a... Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2594414 Sun, 12 Jul 2009 15:42:50 +0100 2594414 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2570394&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FobkaHW6DCVE%2F One thing health-care practitioners know about treating the elderly is that they don’t know enough about treating the elderly. The point is underscored today by Richard C. Frank, a doctor who writes in a WSJ.com guest column about a 83-year-old patient with heart problems seeking aggressive treatment to fight non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The cancer is often curable but there is precious little information about how much an elderly patient with a weak heart — or other serious conditions, for that matter — can handle the normal rigors of anti-cancer treatment. Frank writes: Clinical trials for cancer treatments usually enroll patients with few if any major health problems besides cancer. And patients in their 70s, 80s and 90s are notoriously underrepresented in trials, ev... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2570394 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:30:32 +0100 2570394 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2527768&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FaxKaJp8pbtM%2F New data published today suggest that there is a “possible link” between French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis’s Lantus insulin for diabetes and a higher risk of cancer, according to Diabetologia, the journal in which the data were published. The European Association for the Study of Diabetes, which publishes the journal, also made an “urgent call for more research” studying Lantus and cancer. It said the concern was specific to artificial insulin like Lantus, not human insulin, and urged patients not to stop taking their insulin but to consult their doctor if concerned. Of the four studies published, the one that first prompted concern was conducted on 127,000 insulin-treated patients from a German insurance database. Researchers found that one additional person ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2527768 Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:43:00 +0100 2527768 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2447466&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fq8zxS66fy-w%2F A few highlights out of ASCO, the big cancer conference on in Orlando this weekend: Roche’s breast-cancer drug Herceptin extended the lives of some patients with stomach cancer. The drug is used in people whose tumors produce excessive amounts of a protein called her-2. That occurs in about 20%-25% of breast cancer and stomach cancer cases. Patients with advanced stomach cancer that overexpressed her-2 survived a median of 13.8 months when they received Herceptin and chemotherapy, compared with 11.1 months for patients who received chemotherapy and a placebo, Dow Jones Newswires reports. A new class of experimental drugs may help women with types of breast cancer that are difficult to treat with existing therapies. The drugs, known as PARP inhibitors, prevent damaged tumor cells from... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2447466 Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:01:32 +0100 2447466 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2447467&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F3NCxKiWT8U8%2F As the era of targeted cancer drugs has matured, it’s become clear that any single drug stands little chance of keeping cancer in check for an extended period of time in large numbers of patients. So researchers have begun testing combinations of targeted drugs in hopes that a cocktail will prove more effective. This approach has proven successful with traditional chemotherapy, which is often given in multi-drug cocktails. Now Merck and AstraZeneca are pushing the idea further, by pairing two targeted cancer drugs early in development, before either has been clearly proven on its own. The companies will announce today that they will team up to test the drugs, which block two different signaling pathways that are important to the growth of many different types of cancers. Here’s... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2447467 Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:52:05 +0100 2447467 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2382267&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fm-g3GEEJN4M%2F For people wondering where some of Genetech’s leaders would land in the wake of the Roche takeover, the first report just came in: Susan Desmond-Hellmann, who officially stepped down today as president for Genentech’s product development, is expected to become chancellor at University of California at San Francisco. Mark Yudof, president of the University of California just announced that Desmond-Hellmann is his choice for the post, which is subject to a vote of the university’s Board of Regents, set for May 7. Desmond-Hellman, a 51-year-old oncologist, cancer researcher and an executive at Genentech for most of her 14 years there, was instrumental in the biotech’s emergence as the drug industry’s leading cancer company — overseeing development of the bl... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2382267 Fri, 01 May 2009 20:49:45 +0100 2382267 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2256008&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FWohT8p-YYaI%2F When we posted last week on GlaxoSmithKline’s failure to get the nod in the U.K. for use of Tykerb in advanced breast cancer, we mentioned that the country’s expert advisers had shown flexibility recently by reversing an earlier decision related to Pfizer’s kidney-cancer drug Sutent. It turns out that flexibility came after Pfizer distributed free doses of the drug to build evidence that it was helping patients. As comparative effectiveness becomes a bigger deal in the U.S., it’s worth noting that Pfizer had success by getting its drug to a wider swath of patients whose experiences it says were then factored in. Bloomberg reports that Pfizer gave away doses of Sutent for two years in the hopes of persuading Britain’s cost-effectiveness watchdog called NICE, fo... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2256008 Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:57:19 +0100 2256008 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2251179&cid=t_123577_10_f&fid=37252&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbeckerinfo.net%2Fslch%2F2009%2F03%2F10%2Fsmoking-film-and-kids%2F (1) U.S. National Cancer Institute (2008). Monograph 19: www.cancercontrol.cancer.gov/tcrb/monographs/19/index.html. (2) Social Climate Survey of Tobacco Control (2007). www.socialclimate.org/pdf/smoking-attitudes-movies.pdf. Learn more at www.smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu | UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research & Education The national cancer institute1 concluded: Having confirmed movies’ causal role in recruiting ||a new generation of smokers, our nation can score a major victory against tobacco and protect countless lives. Without taxpayers spending a cent, film studios and their corporate parents can immediately adopt these four reasonable policies, industry wide: 1 | Rate future tobacco imagery “R,” except for depictions of tobacco’s dire health consequences ... SLCH Medical Library Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2251179 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:04:50 +0100 2251179 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2227730&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fj6omWWpUUZU%2F Erbitux, the blockbuster cancer drug over which Bristol-Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly battled in the fight to buy biotech ImClone, is facing some hurdles in getting approved for new uses. The FDA asked ImClone, now owned by Lilly, and Bristol-Myers, which still comarkets the drug, to submit more “pharmacokinetic” data before it would approve Erbitux to treat head-and-neck cancer, the companies announced today. Some of the clinical trials submitted to the FDA for the added approval were conducted outside the U.S. and involved different formulations of the drug than are typically used in U.S. patients. The agency wants the companies to show that the drug gets around in the body and is used in the same way in U.S. patients as those who took part in the clinical trials, Brian Henry, a... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2227730 Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:06:33 +0100 2227730 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2164007&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FfEGNElAuG5g%2F We just can’t resist posting on a story that quotes a drug-company executive speaking in Latin. “It’s post hoc ergo propter hoc,” said Joseph Camardo, Wyeth’s SVP of global medical affairs. Huh? Oh, we get it: He was using a Latin expression for a fallacy of logic that means “after it, therefore because of it,” as the WSJ explains. The “it,” in this case, is a decrease in use of hormone-replacement drugs after one part of a big government study of called the Women’s Health Initiative looking Wyeth’s Prempro, was halted in 2002. The data linked Prempro, a combination of estrogen and progestin, to increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer. Before 2002, about 210,000 U.S. women each year were diagnosed with bre... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2164007 Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:33:59 +0100 2164007 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2153196&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FBf8lHnq3kHE%2F Obama isn’t the only one stealing talent from Harvard. Merck has bagged D. Gary Gilliland, a prominent Harvard cancer scientist, to head the company’s research into new cancer drugs. A star among cancer specialists,Gilliland (pictured) is pioneering research into the genetic underpinnings of leukemia and into therapies targeting those molecular roots. His hiring may raise the competitive juices of other big drugmakers that, like Merck, have stepped up their own pushes into cancer treatments. “Gary’s work and leadership have had a major impact on our understanding and treatment of human cancer. His expertise in both basic and translational research will enhance Merck’s efforts to develop innovative and individualized medicines to treat this devastating disease,... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2153196 Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:12:55 +0100 2153196 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2138315&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FlYmt-R-hbiA%2F The feds recently shifted rules to expand Medicare reimbursement for unapproved uses of cancer drugs, the New York Times and WSJ report this morning. The latest cancer drugs can cost tens of thousands of dollars per patient. Medicare spends more than $3 billion a year on cancer drugs, and private insurers, who pay for most of the rest of the $45 billion spent on the medicines, typically follow Medicare’s lead, the WSJ writes. Drugs that have been shown to improve outcomes in one type of cancer may not help patients with other kinds of cancer. At the same time, no one wants to deny options to dying patients, and it can take years to get an FDA approval for a particular tumor type. Until late last year, Medicare relied on a single compendium, published by the American Hospital Formular... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2138315 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:46:37 +0100 2138315 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2138313&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Foy5UorWH6OM%2F We’ve been writing today about how Medicare’s shifting use of compendiums (or, if you prefer, compendia) could increase unapproved uses of cancer drugs. But, an oncologist argues today in the New England Journal of Medicine, the compendia are just one piece of a mosaic of federal regulations that prevent Medicare from controlling the use and cost of cancer drugs. Peter Bach, who works at Sloan-Kettering and was a senior adviser to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services a few years back, lays out the ways Medicare usually controls both the use and the price of drugs. Then he explains how the rules prevent Medicare from using any of its typical levers for cancer drugs. “Medicare’s ability to do anything about cancer drug prices — to pay for them in a rationa... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2138313 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:46:37 +0100 2138313 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2138312&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fc-LHSehLQHI%2F Privately published lists of drug uses play a big role in determining if insurers and Medicare will pay for a medicine prescribed in a way the FDA hasn’t approved. In cancer care, the stakes are huge as off-label use is common and winning reimbursement for unapproved uses of a drug can be the difference between a blockbuster product and a mediocre seller. (Medicare’s struggles with the cost of cancer drugs just got aired out in the New England Journal of Medicine.) So would you be surprised to learn that one of the drug compendia recognized by Medicare as an official source on oncology reimbursement issues has come up with a novel way to charge drug companies that are eager for an off-label listing in the guide? Let us explain. The American Hospital Formulary Service has team... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2138312 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:46:37 +0100 2138312 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2104882&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FNrDR1tdysfw%2F Lots of patients with advanced colon cancer shouldn’t get some of the most advanced drugs used to treat the disease, according to a new recommendation from the American Society of Clinical Oncology. It may seem odd that a group of cancer docs is recommending against a popular treatment for many patients. But figuring out which patients are unlikely to benefit from cancer drugs — which are not only very expensive but can also be toxic — is a high priority in cancer research these days. (See our post from last year’s ASCO conference.) The new ASCO recommendation says patients whose tumors have certain mutations in a gene called KRAS should not receive a class of drugs that includes Erbitux, co-marketed in this country by Eli Lilly (since it bought ImClone) and Bristol... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2104882 Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:48:41 +0100 2104882 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2086676&cid=t_123577_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F01%2F07%2Fnews-round-up-everything-under-the-sun%2F I’m slowly catching up from vacation time, and have the following interesting things for you: MADRE is asking for donations to provide emergency medical supplies and relief in Gaza through their partnership with the Palestinian Medical Relief Society. I feel sort of woefully underinformed about the Israel/Gaza situation, but Feministing rounded up a few links and bfp has a list of people twittering from inside Gaza. I know there’s a lot more material out there - feel free to leave it in the comments. Another Memphis Transwoman Shot - TransGriot Feel Like Shit or Shit Your Pants or Both! Why Choose? - Aunt B of Tiny Cat Pants on Alli ads. B curses a lot in this post, but she’s talking about pooping your pants, so you should just deal with it. Renee at Womanist Musings o... Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2086676 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:24:07 +0100 2086676 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2053419&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FdYIAiRPiaWM%2F The two companies that make leucovorin, a generic cancer drug that’s in short supply, are shedding some light on what’s causing the shortage. Israeli generics maker Teva tells the Health Blog that suddenly customers were telling the company they couldn’t get the drug anywhere else. “We’ve never had any issues with manufacturing,” Jeff Herzfeld, a Teva SVP who handles injected products, tells the Health Blog. “It’s just the demand for our product has gone up dramatically, and we’re doing everything we can to fulfill that need with customers.” Only one other company makes the drug in the U.S.: Bedford Laboratories, a U.S. subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim. “[I]n recent months there have been some interruptions in the flow&#8... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2053419 Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:51:32 +0100 2053419 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2047998&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F239n_9xDAMc%2F An essential cancer medicine is in short supply, Forbes reports. Injectable leucovorin, a generic drug, is a common part of chemotherapy treatment for colorectal cancer. It’s a form of a B vitamin that’s been used for decades, since studies suggested it improved the effectiveness of 5FU, a cancer drug that’s still given to many patients. Leucovorin for injection is made by the Israeli generics giant Teva and by Bedford Laboratories, a U.S. subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim. In November, the FDA reported shortages of the drug due to “manufacturing delays.” But it’s unclear what’s causing the delays, nor does anyone seem to know when the supply might be restored. Neither Teva nor Bedford would comment for the Forbes story. On Monday, an update from ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2047998 Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:36:39 +0100 2047998 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1930549&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FeCGdfrJRvl8%2F Genentech’s Avastin is approved for lung, colon and breast cancer, but it’s used off-label for a bunch of other types of the disease. Now Genentech is trying to turn one of those off-label uses — for brain cancer — into an FDA approval. The company said today that it has submitted an application to the FDA for approval of Avastin for the most aggressive form of brain cancer, a use that got some attention around the time Sen. Edward Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer. The application is for an accelerated timeline that would allow provisional approval of the drug based on preliminary evidence. That evidence comes from a mid-stage study of Avastin that showed patients who had already been treated for glioblastoma survived longer than would typically be expected, ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1930549 Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:20:01 +0100 1930549 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1924935&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FALUivhrXdSE%2F Fred Baron, the wealthy trial lawyer whose family was assisted by Bill Clinton and Lance Armstrong in an effort to get access to the drug Tysabri, died Thursday, the Associated Press reports. Baron, who made a fortune in asbestos litigation and became a big donor to the Democratic party, had multiple myeloma. Baron was the top fundraiser for Sen. John Edwards’s presidential run, and the Texas lawyer was thrust into the spotlight earlier this year when it emerged that he provided financial support to a woman who had an affair with Edwards. Baron’s doctors at the Mayo Clinic thought Tysabri, a drug approved for multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease, might help. But Biogen Idec, which co-markets the drug with Elan under strict safety regulations, was reluctant to provide t... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1924935 Sat, 01 Nov 2008 13:24:01 +0100 1924935 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1811609&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F397492470%2F Need a will or an apartment lease? It’s easy enough to find a well-vetted template that let’s you bypass the lawyers or at least get a head start with a solid draft. Red tape is a hazard to prompt cancer studies. Want to start a cancer study? That could take some serious, time-consuming lawyering. But soon academic researchers, hospitals and companies looking to collaborate on clinical tests of cancer treatments may be able to speed things along by using standardized contract language. Earlier this week the Justice Department told the CEO Roundtable on Cancer that it didn’t see any antitrust problems in a consortium of companies working on boilerplate legalese that could save time in putting together study contracts. The National Cancer Institute is also on board. J&... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1811609 Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:02:02 +0100 1811609 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1810033&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F396356919%2F The Oxford stats guru who said Vytorin doesn’t increase the risk of cancer in the face of some data raising that possibility has sent a sharply worded response to questions from a couple of congressman looking into the issue. Sir Richard Peto’s letter (online here) says that “any competent trial statistician would endorse” his conclusion that there’s “no credible evidence” that the cholesterol drug is tied to increased cancer risk. The cancer twist in the Vytorin saga started in July, when researchers said patients who received the drug in one study were more likely to die of cancer than those who received a placebo. Based on that finding, Peto and his colleagues analyzed data from other ongoing trials of Vytorin and found that, overall, the data s... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1810033 Sat, 20 Sep 2008 12:37:59 +0100 1810033 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1790634&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F390809367%2F GlaxoSmithKline’s new CEO Andrew Witty keeps tinkering with R&D. His latest move is to create a new oncology group to boost the output of cancer drugs. GSK Oncology will combine all the company’s scientists who hunt for cancer drugs and the clinicians who test them in humans into a single team of about 1,000 people. Previously, the discovery scientists worked in one group and the clinical-trial scientists in another. Glaxo expects the combination will lead to more sharing of insights into the genetic underpinnings of cancer, Paolo Paoletti, who will run the new group, told the Health Blog. Paoletti, who joined Glaxo four years ago from Eli Lilly, couldn’t say how much Glaxo will invest in the new group. Clinicians testing drugs in cancer patients often discover important genetic in... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1790634 Sun, 14 Sep 2008 12:46:33 +0100 1790634 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1764409&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F382303779%2F When it comes to cholesterol-drug Vytorin, Merck and Schering-Plough sure aren’t scoring points for timing. After delaying the results of a study that put a cloud over the efficacy of the cholesterol medicine, the companies are now getting knocked by some in the medical community for releasing data on a potential cancer risk prematurely. First, there was the big brouhaha over Enhance, a study of Vytorin whose unflattering results on the efficacy of the drug got lots of attention partly because the companies had repeatedly delayed making them public. Then, this summer, Seas came along. It’s another study of Vytorin in which a surprising finding came up: an increased risk of cancer and deaths from cancer in patients taking the drug compared with those given a placebo. This time, the compa... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1764409 Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:20:28 +0100 1764409 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1760300&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F381319799%2F The medical community shouldn’t rush to dismiss a possible link between Vytorin and cancer, the New England Journal of Medicine says in an editorial this morning. The editorial appears alongside the results of a study in which patients who took the drug were more likely to develop cancer than those who took placebo. Also appearing in this morning’s NEJM is an analysis that looked at the new study along with two other, larger studies, and concluded that the data “do not provide credible evidence” that Vytorin raises the risk of cancer. The basic findings of the study and the analysis were released in July. Vytorin, which is co-marketed by Merck and Schering-Plough, is actually a combination of two drugs: a statin called simvastatin, and a second cholesterol-lowering ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1760300 Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:57:36 +0100 1760300 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1729751&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F371869217%2F Remember when we said the Vytorin-cancer thing had quickly faded from view? Turns out it hasn’t disappeared altogether. The FDA said yesterday that preliminary data from two large, ongoing studies of Vytorin, a cholesterol drug sold by Merck and Schering-Plough, and found no link to cancer. But the agency also said it expects to get a full report on the SEAS trial — the study in which patients who took Vytorin were more likely to get cancer than patients who took placebo — in a few months, and spend several more months reviewing the data. Overall, the agency said, the existing evidence shouldn’t prompt patients to stop taking Vytorin. The FDA letter also cited research in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that found lower levels of LDL cholesterol (t... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1729751 Sun, 24 Aug 2008 12:35:33 +0100 1729751 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1726688&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F370280390%2F Just when it seemed Vytorin was getting back on track, results of a study showing that patients taking the cholesterol-fighter had more cancers than those taking a placebo surprised everyone last month. Merck and Schering-Plough, which jointly market the medicine, delayed their second-quarter earnings announcements so that scientists involved in analyzing the data could present the information publicly. They concluded that Vytorin doesn’t really increase cancer risk. Not everyone is so sure, including Rep. John Dingell, who asked to see how the researchers decided that Vytorin was safe. Investors fretted that even though the cancer data weren’t that scary to the experts, the public might be alarmed by press coverage of the complex issue. Sanford Bernstein’s Tim Anderson... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1726688 Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:24:57 +0100 1726688 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1677492&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F352585093%2F As night follows day, so a letter from Rep. John Dingell follows each new turn in the Vytorin saga. This morning’s WSJ reports on his latest request: Details on a study in which patients who took the cholesterol drug appeared more likely to develop cancer than patients who took placebos. Merck and Schering-Plough, which co-market the drug, delayed their earnings announcements last month so that scientists could discuss the results of the study. On a conference call, Oxford researcher Richard Peto said he had analyzed the study data, along with data from other, larger Vytorin studies, and concluded that Vytorin doesn’t increase cancer risk. Now Dingell, a Democrat who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has written to the FDA to request Peto’s analysis, which h... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1677492 Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:28:29 +0100 1677492 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1649444&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F343923188%2F The study of Nexavar for liver cancer that was the talk of last year’s ASCO conference gets its closeup this week, with publication of the full results in the New England Journal of Medicine. The basic findings are the same as they were at ASCO: In patients with late-stage disease, median survival was 10.7 months for those who took the drug, compared with 7.9 months for those who took placebo. The Health Blog talked with Josep Llovet, the lead author of the study, at ASCO last year. Click on the video window at left to watch that interview. Before this study, no drug had been shown to extend life for liver cancer patients. The results were enough to win approval for Nexavar for liver cancer in late 2007 (it had already been approved for kidney cancer). As an editorial accompanying th... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1649444 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:47:37 +0100 1649444 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1631819&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F335322532%2F Amgen and Johnson & Johnson have come to a truce a two-and-a-half year battle over marketing of rival oncology products. Amgen has agreed to pay $200 million to settle an antitrust lawsuit by Johnson & Johnson over discounts and incentives that Amgen offered to cancer clinics buying its Aranesp, Neupogen and Neulasta. J&J, which makes competitor product Procrit, alleged that Amgen’s tactics were anticompetitive, a claim Amgen still disputes. Amgen admitted no wrongdoing under the terms of the settlement. As the WSJ explains, Amgen currently grants certain rebates on Aranesp and Neulasta based on sales figures. Customers can get bigger rebates if they buy both Neulasta and Aranesp under a so-called Amgen Portfolio Contract. J&J had claimed that, because Neulasta ha... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1631819 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:16:14 +0100 1631819 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1606364&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F330810383%2F A cancer diagnosis seems like a call for dramatic action, but sometimes it may be better just to hold off on doing anything. Take the case of early-stage prostate cancer in elderly men. Despite a lack of evidence, hormone-altering drugs are sometimes given to men with early-stage prostate cancer who don’t want or shouldn’t get therapies. But a study in this week’s JAMA suggests that the drugs don’t do any good as a stand-alone treatment for men with early-stage disease. The standard options for men with prostate cancer that hasn’t spread to other parts of the body are radiation, surgery or “watchful waiting” — doing nothing, and keeping an eye on the cancer. Watchful waiting can be a good option for older men, because prostate cancer often gr... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1606364 Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:16:04 +0100 1606364 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1485080&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F302433544%2F It’s the year of less at the big American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting. Rather than buzzing about some promising new drug or treatment, lots of docs are talking about when patients shouldn’t get treated with particular drugs. “We’re starting to better understand and explore less treatment instead of more for colorectal cancer patients,” M.D. Anderson’s Scott Kopetz told the Health Blog. Dana Farber’s Eric Winer told us: “There is clearly a group of women — young women with hormonally sensitive breast cancer — who probably don’t need chemotherapy. In and of itself, that’s an improvement. It’s taking away a drug or drugs that were toxic.” Winer was referring to the study that showed that the bone dru... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1485080 Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:09:14 +0100 1485080 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1485079&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F302533466%2F Anemia drugs sold by Amgen and J&J have been under the safety spotlight for a while now, with some research suggesting the drugs may stimulate the growth of tumors in cancer patients. A study presented at this year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology conference points to a possible method for figuring out which patients are more (and less) likely to be harmed by the drugs. Researchers at the University of Washington looked at the expression of the gene for the erythropoietin receptor (EpoR) — the same receptor targeted on blood cells by the anemia drugs, which include Amgen’s Aranesp and Johnson & Johnson’s Procrit. In a group of patients with head and neck cancer, activity in tumor genes for EpoR was correlated with bad outcomes for paitents. The stu... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1485079 Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:09:14 +0100 1485079 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1485078&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F302608665%2F Amid the giant flat-panel monitors in the vast exhibit hall at a meeting of cancer doctors in Chicago, a few small signs warn that the seemingly endless drug company freebies aren’t for everyone. WARNING: May cause regulatory harm if given to Minnesota doctors. Where Eli Lilly is giving away frozen yogurt, for example, a plain white sign (the only plain thing in Lilly’s elaborate booth) says: Food, beverages and/or meals will not be provided by Eli Lilly and Company for the following parties: * Physicians and individuals with prescribing authority in Minnesota in order to comply with Minnesota statutes * Government employees in New York (both city and state) in order to comply with New York statutes Drug company gifts to physicians have come under scrutiny nationwide in rece... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1485078 Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:09:14 +0100 1485078 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1482688&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F301943502%2F A drug called Zometa significantly reduces the risk that breast cancer will return in certain patients, researchers said this morning. The Novartis drug is approved to treat the bones of cancer patients, but hasn’t previously been shown to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence. The study was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference. In a setting where many studies are considered successful if they extend the lives of very sick patients by a month, this finding — which suggests the possibility of improving long-term outcomes for women whose prognosis is already good — is pretty dramatic stuff. The study enrolled just over 1,800 pre-menopausal women with early-stage, hormone-sensitive breast cancer. Half received hormone treatments alone, and the ot... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1482688 Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:12:12 +0100 1482688 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1482687&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F301978349%2F Erbitux extends the life of lung cancer patients — a little. Word on what may be the most-discussed study at this year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology conference leaked out early today, with results showing that the drug extended survival for lung cancer patients by just over a month. Roy Herbst, an M.D. Anderson lung cancer specialist who was not involved in the study, called it “a single or a ground-rule double.” “Any time you see a positive survival benefit in lung cancer, that’s wonderful,” he told the Health Blog. But, he added, “it’s a small benefit. It’s just marginally clinically significant.” (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1482687 Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:12:12 +0100 1482687 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1482686&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F302092763%2F In the years before targeted biotech drugs stormed the cancer scene, progress came in small increments, as doctors slowly worked out which combinations of chemo medicines worked best for which patients. Now that there are several targeted biotech drugs on the market, researchers are starting to test whether two targeted drugs are better than one. The afternoon session at the American Society of Clinical Oncology brought some bad news on that front. In a study of more than 755 patients with advanced colorectal cancer, adding Imclone’s Erbitux to Genetech’s Avastin actually shortened the time it took for disease to progress, on average. Even patients who had a genetic profile favorable to Erbitux treatment showed no benefit by adding the drug to Avastin. Yet both drugs have been ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1482686 Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:12:12 +0100 1482686 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1481004&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F301431956%2F Among the 5,000 studies being discussed by 30,000 oncologists at this weekend’s meeting of American Society of Clinical Oncology, listen for the buzz over a single gene. It’s called KRAS, and a growing body of evidence suggests that cancers with the standard form of this gene respond better to an important class of cancer drugs than tumors with a common mutation of the gene. The class of cancer drugs, known as EGFR inhibitors, includes Imclone’s Erbitux and Amgen’s Vectibix, as well as several experimental drugs. Data from one of the most eagerly awaited studies of the weekend will show how colorectal cancer patients with the KRAS mutation respond to Erbitux, compared to those whose cancer has the standard form of the gene. While those data haven’t been publi... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1481004 Sat, 31 May 2008 15:49:23 +0100 1481004 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1481002&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F301507772%2F The Health Blog is on location in Chicago, blogging the big American Society of Clinical Oncology conference. Two of the most important studies being presented this weekend involve Imclone’s drug Erbitux. One study is in patients with colorectal cancer, and the other is in lung cancer — diseases often treated by Genentech’s Avastin, a successful cancer drug that’s taking a bit of a back seat at this year’s ASCO. So the Wall Street types are asking: What will the Erbitux results mean for Avastin, and for Genentech? Probably the most-discussed study of the weekend is the FLEX trial, which looked at Erbitux in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (the most common form of the disease). Merck KGaA, which markets the drug in Europe, said last fall that... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1481002 Sat, 31 May 2008 15:49:23 +0100 1481002 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1461364&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F295207583%2F The prognosis for Sen. Ted Kennedy, who was diagnosed yesterday with a malignant glioma, isn’t good. But research into this relatively common form of brain cancer is showing new possibilities for treating the disease. A wave of cancer drugs that target a molecule called VEGF appears especially promising, Timothy Cloughesy, director of neuro-oncology at UCLA, told the Health Blog. Genentech’s Avastin targets VEGF and is approved to treat colorectal and lung cancers. Even though it’s not approved by FDA to treat glioblastomas (the most aggressive gliomas), Avastin is widely used off-label already, especially when patients have failed standard treatment, Cloughesy said. Avastin’s costs tens of thousands of dollars per patient, but insurers are growing more willing to ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1461364 Thu, 22 May 2008 16:28:56 +0100 1461364 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1443355&cid=t_123577_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F290166100%2F Tomorrow night, at 9 p.m. Eastern, American Society of Clinical Oncology is going to release the results of thousands of cancer studies that will be presented at the group’s big annual meeting. At least a few of those are likely to be market-moving, especially the ones that involve small biotechs whose future rests on a single cancer drug. But the trick is finding the market-moving needles in a haystack of data — and doing it before the markets open Friday morning. Michael King, a biotech analyst at Rodman & Renshaw, figures he’ll stay up all night looking through the data, trying to see what it will mean for companies such as Regeneron and Onyx, Bloomberg reports. And he figures scores of his rival analysts are likely to do the same. In the past, ASCO sent out abstr... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1443355 Thu, 15 May 2008 11:22:18 +0100 1443355