June 28, 2013
FDA gets tough on tobacco
As the Food and Drug Administration this week announced the rejection of four proposed tobacco products, experts voiced hope that the federal government can diminish tobacco use through regulation. (ABC News)
Monthly Archives: June 2013
June 28, 2013
U.S. standards for school snacks move beyond cafeteria to fight obesity
The Obama administration on Thursday released long-awaited nutrition standards for foods that schoolchildren can buy outside the cafeteria, changes that are intended to combat climbing childhood obesity rates. The new rules come a year after the administration updated standards for … Read More
June 28, 2013
Study finds no vaccine link to Guillain-Barre
Concerns about a connection between flu vaccines and the neurological disorder Guillain-Barré syndrome have been widely publicized since a small but significant association was found after the 1976 swine flu epidemic. But now a 12-year retrospective study, published in the … Read More
June 28, 2013
FDA shuts down 1,677 online pharmacies
The FDA said it has shut down 1,677 sites for selling counterfeit or substandard medication, or for selling drugs without appropriate safeguards. Other sites received regulatory warnings. Officials said they also arrested 58 people and seized more than $41 million … Read More
June 28, 2013
Britain plans world’s first go-ahead for ‘3-parent’ IVF babies
Britain is planning to become the first country in the world to offer controversial “three-parent” fertility treatments to families who want to avoid passing on incurable diseases to their children. The methods, currently only at the research stage in laboratories … Read More
June 28, 2013
Japan approves world’s first iPS stemcell clinical trial
Japan has given the green light to the world’s first clinical trial using stem cells harvested from a patient’s own body, officials said Thursday, testing a treatment that may offer hope to millions of people robbed of their sight. (AFP)
June 28, 2013
Court sends abortion drug case back to Okla. court
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday asked for additional information about an Oklahoma law that bans certain abortion-inducing drugs, a move that gave supporters new hope the justices would ultimately determine the state’s top court went too far by striking … Read More
June 28, 2013
Ingested nanoparticle toxicity
Ingestion of commonly encountered nanoparticles at typical environmental levels is unlikely to cause overt toxicity, according to US researchers. Nevertheless there is insufficient evidence to determine whether chronic exposures could lead to subtle alterations in intestinal immune function, protein profiles, … Read More
June 28, 2013
U.S. court accepts challenge to Obama contraception rule
Arts and crafts chain Hobby Lobby may be exempt from a requirement in U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare overhaul to provide free contraception coverage in its employee health insurance plans, a federal appeals court ruled. (Reuters)
June 27, 2013
Vaccine designed to combat type I diabetes promising
A clinical trial of a vaccine designed to combat type 1 diabetes delivered initially promising results, U.S. researchers said. (UPI)
June 27, 2013
Mouse cloned from drop of blood
Circulating blood cells collected from the tail of a donor mouse were used to produce the clone, a team at the Riken BioResource Center reports in the journal Biology of Reproduction. The female mouse lived a normal lifespan and could … Read More
June 27, 2013
NIH to retire research chimps
The NIH announced Wednesday that it will retire about 310 government-owned chimpanzees from research over the next few years, and keep only 50 others essentially on retainer — available if needed for crucial medical studies that could be performed no … Read More
June 27, 2013
Dad’s confession: I almost left my disabled daughter
I would lie awake at night thinking about my future, and searching for a reason to live. I believed all the negative things the world told me about Down syndrome, and viewed it as a curse on my family. The … Read More
June 27, 2013
The problem with pain pills
In the new e-book “A World of Hurt: Fixing Pain Medicine’s Biggest Mistake,†the New York Times reporter Barry Meier explores the murky world of prescription pain medicine. (New York Times)
June 27, 2013
Bid to cure HIV ramps up
HIV-positive mothers who take antiÂretroviral therapies while pregnant can be prevented from transmitting the virus to their babies 99% of the time — a resounding success story in the decades-long fight against the virus. But what about infants whose mothers … Read More
June 27, 2013
Father’s genetic quest pays off
Rienhoff, a biotech entrepreneur in San Carlos, California, who had trained as a clinical geneticist in the 1980s, went from doctor to doctor looking for a diagnosis. He bought lab equipment so that he could study his daughter’s DNA himself … Read More
June 27, 2013
Stem cells: Bad seeds
Deep within the spongy marrow that fills large bones lie cells that give rise to all the body’s blood cells. These primitive cells, called haematopoietic stem cells, have the unique ability to divide indefinitely, making them essentially immortal. Mounting evidence … Read More
June 27, 2013
Putting nanotechnology regulation under the microscope
If you had to have a medical procedure or be prescribed a drug that used nanotechnology – the science of things around one billionth of a metre in size – would you trust that their safety had been verified? Would … Read More
June 27, 2013
Custom coating helps bone implants stay put and aids healing process
MIT creates custom coating with multiple nanolayers that releases medicating hormones to help bone implants adhere to native tissue. (Medical Daily)
June 27, 2013
Texas abortion bill defeated by Wendy Davis filbuster and public protest
A controversial abortion bill was blocked after a day of high political drama in Texas that began with a marathon filibuster speech and ended with a raucous public protest fanned by a nationwide social media attention. (The Guardian)
June 27, 2013
Pa. abortion provider rejects federal drug plea
An abortion provider serving life in prison for killing babies rejected a plea in a federal drug case, as his lawyer called any additional sentence irrelevant. (U.S.A. Today)
June 27, 2013
Researchers strike gold with nanotech vaccine
Scientists in the U.S. have developed a novel vaccination method that uses tiny gold particles to mimic a virus and carry specific proteins to the body’s specialist immune cells. The technique differs from the traditional approach of using dead or … Read More
June 27, 2013
Medical research: Cell division
In 1962, Leonard Hayflick created a cell strain from an aborted fetus. More than 50 years later, WI-38 remains a crucial, but controversial, source of cells. (Nature)
June 27, 2013
Hong Kong stem-cell trial gives spinal patients hope
After progress in a second round of tests using stem cells to regrow nerve fibres, the China Spinal Cord Injury Network (ChinaSCINet) has applied for regulatory approval in China for a third and final phase, which it hopes to start … Read More
June 26, 2013
A hospital stay can trigger PTSD
We all experience the occasional life-changing event—a new baby, a cross-country move, a serious injury. In rare cases, such events can precipitate a mental disorder. The problem is compounded because people often assume their suffering is par for the course … Read More
