A JAMA Internal Medicine study indicates that even a small meal paid for by a drug company may sway what a doctor prescribes. The piece adds that researchers, politicians and journalists can be influenced by money too, and points to NPR's coverage and a database of payments to doctors.
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Drug
Prescription drugs, vaccines and their risks and benefits.
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Drug
Tamoxifen - Known to be a human carcinogen
The 13th Report on Carcinogens lists tamoxifen as known to be a human carcinogen, citing evidence of a causal link to endometrial cancer. It also notes conclusive evidence that tamoxifen lowers the risk of cancer in the opposite breast and may prevent breast cancer in high-risk women.
Drug
Melatonin helps radiation-induced dermatitis in breast cancer patients
In a trial of 47 women having radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery, grade 1 or 2 dermatitis appeared in 59 percent of those using melatonin cream against 90 percent on placebo, the Israel Medical Association Journal reports.
Drug
Paternal x-ray exposure raises childhood leukemia risk
A 2010 case-control study found babies whose fathers had an abdominal x-ray before conception were 17 percent more likely to develop leukemia, 47 percent more likely after more than one x-ray, and over 256 percent more likely if the father had an intravenous pyelogram.
Drug
Dental CT scan linked to cancer risk
A retrospective cohort study of 505 patients by Taiwanese researchers links dental CT scans to some cancer risk, with mandible scans delivering higher x-ray doses than maxilla scans. Estimated lifetime risk ran from 1 in 16,196 for a 30-year-old woman to 1 in 114,680 for a 70-year-old man.
Drug
Radiotherapy for breast cancer increases death risk from heart disease
An Oxford-led meta-analysis of 75 breast cancer radiotherapy trials found women treated with radiotherapy were 30 percent more likely to die of heart disease and 23 percent more likely to develop a second cancer than those who were not. Higher radiation doses tracked with higher heart mortality.
Drug
FDA enhances warnings for certain painkillers
The FDA is requiring a new boxed warning on immediate-release opioid painkillers covering misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose and death, plus added safety labeling across all prescription opioids. The agency calls it part of a broader plan to address the overdose epidemic.
Drug
Estrogen plus progestin hormone therapy raise lung cancer risk
After 14 years of Women's Health Initiative follow-up, women given estrogen plus progestin were 9% more likely to die of lung cancer than those on placebo, a difference the researchers called not statistically significant. The earlier eight-year figure had been 71%.
Drug
Radiation therapy for prostate cancer can cause rectal cancer
A study compared irradiated and non-irradiated sites and found directly irradiated rectal tissue in prostate cancer patients who had radiation was almost twice as likely to develop rectal cancer as untreated sites in patients who had surgery.
Drug
What type, dose of aspirin best for cardiovascular disease prevention?
A review of aspirin data from 11 randomized trials covering 104,101 subjects indicates a daily dose near 100 mg most likely lowers death, cancer and cancer death, while higher doses work better against cardiovascular events. Coated and controlled-release forms differed.
Drug
Statins may cut pancreatic cancer risk in diabetes mellitus patients
Drawing on Taiwan's National Health Insurance data from 1997-2010, researchers found pancreatic cancer in 0.14 percent of diabetes patients taking higher annual statin doses, against 0.25 percent among those taking little or none. Risk fell as the annual dose rose.
Drug
Breast cancer treatment ups death risk from cardiovascular disease
A study of 1,413 women with breast cancer and 1,411 matched controls found survivors nearly twice as likely to die over 14 years of follow-up, with the raised cardiovascular death risk showing up seven years after diagnosis. Chemotherapy was linked to that risk.
Drug
Harms from breast cancer screening - new review
A review in Annals of Internal Medicine finds false positives common, with some studies putting rates at 61% for annual screening versus 42% for biennial, and estimates that 2 to 10 of every 100,000 women screened by digital mammography die of radiation-induced cancer.
Drug
Bisphosphonates help some breast cancer patients
A Lancet meta-analysis of 18,766 women with early breast cancer found that among postmenopausal patients, bisphosphonate treatment cut recurrence 14%, bone recurrence 28% and breast cancer mortality 18%. No benefit appeared in premenopausal patients, and deaths from other causes were unchanged.
Drug
FDA Approves Expanded Use of Innovative Trial System for Incontinence Therapy
Medtronic says the FDA approved its Verify Evaluation System for basic evaluations lasting 3 to 7 days, letting patients test sacral neuromodulation before committing long term. It cites 37 million US adults with overactive bladder and 80% stopping oral drugs within 12 months.
Drug
Oral contraceptive use linked to high risk for breast cancer
A Boston University case-control analysis of African American women found oral contraceptive use within the previous five years was linked to a 46 percent higher risk of ER+ and a 57 percent higher risk of ER- breast cancer. The excess risk fell 15 to 19 years after stopping.
Drug
Addyi approved to treat premenopausal women
FDA approved Addyi (flibanserin) for acquired, generalized hypoactive sexual desire disorder in premenopausal women, the first approved treatment for a sexual desire disorder in either sex. CDER director Janet Woodcock calls it an option for women distressed by low desire.
Drug
Could flu someday be prevented without a vaccine?
Ohio State researchers raised the level of a protein effective against every influenza strain tested, blocking infection in mouse and human cells without the virus or interferon. The lab has started testing experimental drugs in mice; the team says human use is still many years away.
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