Public Citizen warns FDA danger of Avandia

, a consumer group, petitioned the FDA asking them to ban Avandia.
is a prescription drug used for diabetes by GlaxoSmithKline.
said “the government should ban the diabetes drug Avandia because of a wide variety of life-threatening risks, including heart and liver damage…”
, the American Diabetes Association released updated treatment guidelines last week recommending doctors to not use Avandia.
when compared to other parties Read the rest of this entry »

Northstar Neuroscience Receives FDA Approval for a Clinical Study

)–Northstar Neuroscience, Inc. (NASDAQ: NSTR) today announced that the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted conditional approval
of a second clinical study of its Renova
Cortical Stimulation System for the treatment of major depressive
disorder (MDD). With this approval, the Company expects to begin
enrolling patients into its PROSPECT II study this quarter, with
preliminary results anticipated Read the rest of this entry »

Health Calendar

. Scroll down to Living and click on Health.
Send items for the health calendar at least two weeks in advance to Health Calendar, Asheville Citizen-Times, P.O. Box 2090, Asheville, NC 28802; fax to 251-0585; or e-mail Melanie Moore at
.
BLOOD DRIVES: Tuesday, Dec. 9: 3-7:30 p.m., Newfound Baptist Church, 2605 New Leicester Highway, Leicester, 683-3178; Dec. 9: 1-5:30 p.m., Carolina Mountains Credit Union, 5716 Old Hendersonville Highway, Pisgah Read the rest of this entry »

Gluten-free Diet Helpful in Reducing Gastroesophageal Reflux

Celiac.com 11/21/2008 – Not much is known about what effects, if any, a gluten-free diet might have upon gastroesophageal reflux disease-related symptoms (GERD-rs) in people with celiac disease. A team of researchers recently set out to assess the recurrence of GERD-rs, in celiac patients with nonerosive reflux disease (NERD).
Out of a total of 105 adult patients with celiac disease, the team found 29 with celiac disease who presented with the NERD. Read the rest of this entry »

King Prevails in $1.6 Billion Takeover of Alpharma (Update2)

King Prevails in $1.6 Billion Takeover of Alpharma (Update2)
Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) –
for $1.6 billion, prevailing
in a takeover fight that combines the two leading makers of
abuse-reistant painkillers.
King will pay $37 a share in cash for Alpharma in a deal
the boards of both companies approved, according to a statement
from the companies today. The amount is the same that Alpharma
had rejected as too low last month and ends a takeover drama
that Read the rest of this entry »

Hilton Family Hotels Tone Up with Fitness by Precor

WOODINVILLE, WA & BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., December 23, 2008 – The Hilton Family of Hotels announced today that Fitness By Precor facilities have been installed in more than 500 Hilton Family hotels. The enhanced facilities enable fitness-minded travelers to experience the promise of an exceptional workout experience at their favorite hotels. Guests can maintain their fitness regimen while on the road — particularly timely with the popular New Year’s Read the rest of this entry »

Medical Group moves to new Goodall Health Center

KENNEBUNK — Officials representing Goodall Hospital and The Medical Group hosted a public open house and ribbon cutting on Sunday, Sept. 7, to mark the opening of The Medical Group’s new home at the Goodall Health Center. The move into the new facility is a result of the recent partnership between Goodall Hospital, a non-profit community hospital in Sanford, and The Medical Group, a primary care practice in Kennebunk, that will result in the Read the rest of this entry »

Issue Brief Looks at Employer Support of Massachusetts Health

,”
: The issue brief — written by Debra Draper, a senior fellow at the center, and colleagues — finds that Massachusetts has made “remarkable progress in improving access to health care coverage,” but the absence of additional cost containment efforts could “ultimately prove to be the undoing of Massachusetts’ historic coverage initiative” (HSC release, 10/31).
,”
: The Kaiser Family Foundation has updated its interactive online resource with Read the rest of this entry »

Cardima and Stamford Hospital Medical Center Partner to Establish

Dr. Li Poa commented: “Based on our experience at Stamford Hospital
using Cardima’s Surgical Ablation System, we have established that the
Cardima system is capable of creating a fairly complete complex lesion
set for the minimally invasive surgical treatment of lone AF with the
establishment of both pulmonary vein and antral isolation, ablation
of the right sided gangliae and posterior inferior vena cava, and a
crossing closed loop lesion Read the rest of this entry »

Homophobic GP banned for a year

The head of the Islamic Medical Association (IMA) has been suspended from medical practice after sending an “offensive and homophobic” letter.
Dr Muhammad Siddiq has been suspended for 12 months over the letter he sent to the GPs’ magazine Pulse last July.
He wrote gay people needed the “stick of law to put them on the right path”, the General Medical Council was told.
When confronted by Walsall Primary Care Trust, he apologised at first but Read the rest of this entry »