Category: Regulations
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Online Health Info Access Linked to Clinical Services Use
Researchers with Kaiser Permanente in Denver, Colorado found health plan members with access to their medical records and the ability to communicate online with clinicians made more use of clinical services than members without online access. The findings of the team from Kaiser Permanente’s Institute of Health Research appear in the 21 November issue of…
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FDA Approves Cell Culture Seasonal Flu Vaccine
The Food and Drug Administration approved yesterday Flucelvax, the first seasonal influenza vaccine cleared for use in the U.S., produced with cultured animal cells, instead of fertilized chicken eggs. Flucelvax is made by the global pharmaceutical company Novartis, based in Basel, Switzerland. The virus strains in the vaccine are grown in animal cells of mammalian…
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University at Buffalo to Close Shale Research Center
The president of University at Buffalo in New York closed an industry-funded research institute doing studies on shale gas. Satish Tripathi announced the decision to close the Shale Resources and Society Institute yesterday in an open letter to the university community. In the letter, Tripathi said the university’s geographic proximity to large shale deposits holding…
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More U.S. Primary Doctors Using Electronic Health Records
A greater percentage of primary care doctors in the U.S. now use electronic medical records in their practices, according to an international survey by the Commonwealth Fund, but lag in other indicators of affordability and administrative time. The survey findings were reported online today in the journal Health Affairs. The research team, led by Commonwealth…
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University Project Aims to Cut Nursing Home Hospitalizations
A new project at University of Missouri school of nursing aims to cut avoidable hospitalizations among nursing home residents. The study, led by nursing professor Marilyn Rantz is funded by a four-year $15 million grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.…
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European Commission Approves Metabolic Disorder Gene Therapy
The biotechnology company uniQure BV in Amsterdam says the European Commission approved Glybera, its gene therapy for patients with lipoprotein lipase deficiency, a rare metabolic disorder. The approval of Glybera, says uniQure, represents the first gene therapy approved by the European Commission. Lipoprotein lipase deficiency, also called familial hyperchylomicronemia, is an inherited condition that disrupts…
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Pilot Clinical Trial Indicates Glaucoma Drug Efficacy
Results from a pilot clinical trial suggests a drug made by Aerie Pharmaceuticals of Bedminister, New Jersey is effective at treating glaucoma. The phase 2a trial tested Aerie’s candidate AR-13324 with 80 patients at 11 locations in the U.S. between March and July 2012. The patients enrolled in the double-blinded trial had open angle glaucoma,…
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Vertex to Partner with Janssen, GSK on Hepatitis C Drugs
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts will collaborate with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a division of Johnson & Johnson, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on clinical trials of Vertex’s VX-135 treatment candidate for hepatitis C. The trials will test VX-135 in combination with hepatitis C drugs made by Janssen and GSK. Financial details of the agreements were not disclosed.…
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Earthquake Model Helps Assess Building Vulnerabilities
Engineers and earth scientists at University of California in Berkeley built a physical earthquake fault model in the lab that can assess the vulnerabilities of buildings and other structures when an earthquake happens. The study reporting on the model, first-authored by Gregory McLaskey now at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, appears in…
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Trial Shows Synthetic Cannabinoid Effective on Nerve Pain
Researchers at University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada find the drug nabilone, prescribed to treat nausea in chemotherapy patients, helps treat diabetic neuropathy, or nerve pain. The findings of Cory Toth and colleagues at Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute are reported in the October issue of the journal Pain (paid subscription required). Diabetic neuropathy results from…