Category: Regulations
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FDA Approves Electronic Artificial Retina Implant Device
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first implant device to restore some visual perception for adults with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disease that damages the retina. The Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System is made by Second Sight Medical Products Inc. in Sylmar, California. Retinitis pigmentosa is an eye disease caused by genetic defects…
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Report: Common Action Needed Against Fake, Substandard Drugs
A report from the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academies in the U.S., calls for a new agreement on an international code of practice on drug quality to counter the growing health risks from illegimiate medicines. Among the recommendations in the report are a mandatory drug tracking system and tightening the licensing requirements…
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New Faster Antibiotic Shown Effective for Skin Infections
A clinical trial found an antibiotic tablet designed to work faster than existing oral drugs worked as well as the current drugs to treat bacterial skin infections, including those resistant to current antibiotics. The results of the trial testing the new tedizolid phosphate against the current linezolid appear in today’s issue of the Journal of…
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FDA Grants Accelerated Multiple Myeloma Drug Approval
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved pomalidomide to treat patients with multiple myeloma whose disease progressed after being treated with other cancer drugs. Pomalidomide is marketed under the brand name Pomalyst by the pharmaceutical company Celgene Corporation in Summit, New Jersey. Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer that affects mainly older adults and arises…
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No Disability Improvement Seen from Clot Device After Stroke
A clinical trial shows devices inserted into an artery after a stroke to remove a blood clot, used with clot-dissolving drugs, do not improve chances of living independently after 90 days compared to the use of drugs alone. The results of the study, funded by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the…
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Trial Tests Tablet App to Assess Neuromuscular Performance
Biomedical researchers at Harvard University tested a computer tablet application to quickly assess neuromuscular disorders, such as those experienced by older adults. The team from Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Institute for Aging Research at Harvard Medical School, with colleagues from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, published their findings online…
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Clinical Trials To Test More Tamiflu Effects, Plasma on Flu
National Institutes of Health plans three new clinical trials of influenza therapies, two trials involving the current flu drug oseltamivir, and a third trial testing plasma enriched with anti-influenza antibodies. The clinical studies, for which NIH is seeking volunteers, are being held at NIH in Bethesda, Maryland and at 36 other sites elsewhere in the…
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Weaknesses Found in Online Banking, Facebook Security
Computer scientists at University of London’s Royal Holloway College found what they call major weaknesses in the security protocol for protecting online e-mail, Facebook, and financial transactions. The team led by Royal Holloway information security professor Kenny Paterson say they found the vulnerabilities in the transport layer security protocol designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering, and…
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Floor Layout Analysis Can Boost Nursing Work Improvements
Architects at Cornell and Texas A&M universities and in private practice developed an analytic technique to find ways of improving the work of nurses by improving the layout of medical and surgical facilities. The team led by Cornell’s Rana Zadeh published its findings in the current (December 2012) issue of the Health Environments Research and…
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Helmet Testing Expands to Baseball, Hockey, Lacrosse
Biomedical engineers at Virginia Tech and Wake Forest University will rate helmets for concussion protection in a variety of sports, and for youth football, over the next five years. The rating program applies research conducted by Stefan Duma and Steven Rowson of the joint biomedical engineering program at the two universities published earlier this month…