Month: December 2012

FDA, medical device industry form research partnership

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(Reuters) – The Food and Drug Administration said it has formed a partnership with the medical device industry aimed at speeding the development and review of new device products. The nonprofit organization, called the Medical Device Innovation Consortium, will collaborate with patient support groups, academia, foundations and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to improve the process for bringing medical devices into the marketplace. …

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Most teens with mental disorders not on meds: study

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Despite concerns that too many U.S. youth use prescription psychiatric drugs, a new study suggests just one in seven teens with a mental disorder has been prescribed medication, and far fewer without a diagnosis are on treatment. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which funded the study, said there was “no compelling evidence for either misuse or overuse of psychotropic medications,” which include stimulants for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), antidepressants and antipsychotics. …

Merck becomes bigger Alzheimer’s player, with new trial

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A view of the Merck & Co. campus in Linden, New Jersey(Reuters) – Merck & Co Inc has moved to the forefront of Alzheimer's disease research by starting a mid-stage study of a drug from a new class of oral medicines that aim to shut down production of a protein associated with the memory-robbing disease. The drugmaker said on Monday it had started the trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of its so-called BACE inhibitor, named MK-8931, in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease. The Phase II trial, which will compare the drug with a placebo, is a global, multi-center study that includes a group of 200 patients to test safety. …

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House Republicans unveil new fiscal cliff offer

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Republican leaders on Monday called for $2.2 trillion in new deficit-reduction over 10 years in their latest effort to avert an end-of-year fiscal cliff. When counting deficit reductions enacted last year and anticipated savings from winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the package would amount to $4.6 trillion in savings over a decade, according to House Republicans. House Speaker John Boehner and six other House Republican leaders made the offer in a letter to President Barack Obama. …

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Brain changes may make older people more prone to scams

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CHICAGO (Reuters) – It’s a frequent scenario. Two young con artists walk a retired high school teacher to the bank and fleece him out of $17,000. But why did the man, in his 70s, fall for it? It may be that older people are less able to identify shady characters than younger ones, according to a study by Shelley Taylor of the University of California, Los Angeles, published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Adults older than 60 lost at least $2. …

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