The FDA said it is reviewing a possible link between the diabetes drug Actos and bladder cancer. Five years of manufacturer data showed a statistically insignificant 20% overall increase, but a significant rise among patients on the drug more than two years or at the highest doses.
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Drug
Prescription drugs, vaccines and their risks and benefits.
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Drug
Prostate cancer screening no benefits for men with low PSA value
For men aged 55 to 74 with PSA levels below 2 ng/mL, 24,642 would need screening and 724 prostate cancers would need treating to prevent one death, an analysis of more than 86,000 men found. For men with levels between 10 and 19.9 ng/mL, 133 screenings would prevent one death.
Drug
Flu vaccine does not reduce risk of severe complications
Italian researchers examining 32,457 elderly people, two-thirds of them vaccinated, found the influenza vaccine did not reduce hospital deaths or admissions for influenza or pneumonia. They note most vaccine trials measure antigens produced in response rather than flu cases.
Drug
Two genes linked to deadly ovarian cancer
Two New England Journal of Medicine studies identify mutations in ARID1A and PPP2R1A in ovarian clear cell carcinoma, an aggressive chemotherapy-resistant form that is about 12 percent of cases. A second team found ARID1A mutations in endometriosis-linked tumors too; the risk they carry is unclear.
Drug
Why Doesn’t the U.S. Ban a Vaccine that’s Killing Children Overseas?
Four children died during a routine immunization drive in Indian villages, and a five-member inspection team has not determined why, The Times of India reported. Dr. Mercola argues that deaths following vaccination are too often written off as coincidence.
Drug
The NEW Battle Strategy to Get Rid of Mercury Once and For All in Dentistry
Mercola reports that the FDA has named mercury-free dentist Michael Fleming to its Dental Products Panel, which will reassess amalgam safety for high-risk groups at a December hearing. He urges readers to keep writing and calling the agency ahead of it.
Drug
Osteoporosis drugs linked to esophageal cancer
Oxford researchers comparing about 15,000 UK cancer patients with five times as many controls found that people given more than ten prescriptions for oral bisphosphonates, or who took them over five years, were twice as likely to be diagnosed with esophageal cancer.
Drug
Anti-osteoporosis drugs bisphosphonates boost esophageal cancer risk
A UK case-control study in the British Medical Journal found people who took oral bisphosphonates over five years, or had more than 10 prescriptions, were twice as likely to have esophageal cancer as those who took less or none. The drugs showed no link to colorectal cancer.
Drug
Osteoporosis drugs bisphosphonates linked to esophageal cancer
A UK case-control study in the BMJ found people taking oral bisphosphonates for more than five years, with 10 or more prescriptions, were twice as likely to receive an esophageal cancer diagnosis — about 2 extra cases per 1,000 over five years. Stomach and colorectal risk did not shift.
Drug
Antacids Pose Unique Dangers for Seniors
British NHS physicians warn that antacids carry real risks for older patients: gastrointestinal infections, and with proton pump inhibitors, pneumonia, C. difficile and possibly fractures. One Scottish doctor found many admitted patients had no clear indication and had taken them for years.
Drug
Study: Herpes Drugs Don't Cause Birth Defects
Antivirals such as acyclovir, valacyclovir and famciclovir reduce the severity and duration of herpes symptoms and can suppress outbreaks, but their safety in the first trimester of pregnancy is poorly documented. About 2 in 1,000 US pregnancies are exposed to them in the first trimester.
Drug
Midodrine hydrochloride: FDA Proposes Withdrawal of Low Blood Pressure Drug
FDA proposed withdrawing approval of midodrine hydrochloride for orthostatic hypotension because neither the original nor any generic maker completed the post-approval studies verifying clinical benefit required under its 1996 accelerated approval. Patients are told not to stop on their own.
Drug
Mammogram screening boosts US healthcare spending
A Medical Care study of 21,125 women found 9.9% of screening mammograms were false positives, each costing about $527 against $24 for a true negative. The authors say follow-up procedures may add substantially to US health spending.
Drug
Ella approved for emergency contraception: what you need to know
The FDA approved ella, a progesterone agonist/antagonist that inhibits or delays ovulation, for prescription emergency contraception within five days of unprotected sex. Anti-abortion groups object, citing its chemical similarity to RU-486.
Drug
Enzyme that Reverses Sun Damage Discovered
Researchers synthesized DNA, damaged it with ultraviolet light, then used ultrafast light pulses to watch the enzyme photolyase inject a single electron and proton that repaired the strand within billionths of a second. Humans lack the enzyme.
Drug
Hormone replacement therapy boosts breast cancer risk, study confirms
Following almost 3,000 women for about 10 years, USC researchers found breast cancer risk climbed the longer hormone therapy lasted: 19% higher after 15 years of estrogen alone, 83% higher with estrogen plus progestin. Continuous users faced the highest risk of all.
Drug
Cerebrospinal Fluid Test Predicts Alzheimer's Disease
Three cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers formed a signature found in 90 percent of Alzheimer's patients, 72 percent of people with mild cognitive impairment and 36 percent of cognitively normal adults, Archives of Neurology reports. Having the profile does not mean a person will develop the disease.
Drug
What If You Went through a Mastectomy, Only to Discover Your Diagnosis Was False?
A 2006 Susan G. Komen study estimated that in 90,000 cases, women diagnosed with DCIS or invasive breast cancer either did not have the disease or got the wrong treatment. The government is now funding a study of breast pathology, amid concern 17 percent of DCIS biopsies may be misread.
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