Month: March 2013

State judge invalidates Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s ban the day before it was scheduled to take effect.

DENVER (Reuters) – James Holmes, the man accused of murder in last summer's shooting rampage at a Colorado movie theater, could be given "medically appropriate" drugs during psychiatric interviews and possibly face a polygraph test if he chooses to raise an insanity defense, the judge in the case said on Monday. The ruling by Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester came a day before Holmes is scheduled to enter a plea in the case and over the objections of defense lawyers who have argued that Holmes should not be drugged while undergoing examinations by court-appointed psychiatrists. …

  New Yorkers have more time to savor the sugar. A state judge has put a stop to New York City’s planned ban on super-sized sugary drinks, slated to start Tuesday. Judge Milton Tingling called the soda ban “arbitrary and capricious” in a 36 page…

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York City said on Monday it would appeal a state judge’s ruling that overturned a planned ban on large sugary drinks one day before it had been scheduled to take effect. “We plan to appeal the decision as soon as possible, and we are confident the Board of Health’s decision will ultimately be upheld,” Michael Cardozo, lawyer with the city’s Corporation Counsel, said in a statement. (Editing by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Daniel Trotta)

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Close to one-quarter of colonoscopies performed on older adults in the U.S. may be uncalled for based on screening guidelines, a new study from Texas suggests. Researchers found rates of inappropriate testing varied widely by doctor. Some did more than 40 percent of their colonoscopies on patients who were likely too old to benefit or who’d had a recent negative screening test and weren’t due for another. Guidelines from the U.S. …

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Many doctors prescribe statins to people who have little chance of benefiting from the cholesterol-lowering drugs, a new study suggests. In a survey of 202 primary care doctors and cardiologists, more than 70 percent said they would prescribe a statin to patients who have a very low chance of developing heart disease during the next decade, based on their cholesterol and blood pressure levels and other risk factors. …

In an analysis of data obtained in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study, researchers established a preventive relationship between the regular use of aspirin and the incidence of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer — and the fastest-growing cancer in the United States.

PARIS (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department is investigating drug maker Sanofi’s disclosures to the Food and Drug Administration about different responses to its blockbuster blood thinner Plavix.

When her dentist recently told Zipa Hahn of Washington, D.C. that she’d need a tooth pulled, Zipa asked for assurance that he’d give her any narcotics she needed to deal with the pain during her recovery. But instead of promising her a treasure trove of drugs, her dentist told her he’d recently changed his prescribing practices for tooth extractions: Zipa would get one narcotic pill to take at home when the anesthetic wore off. After that, she’d need to switch to nonprescription meds for any lingering discomfort, though she could call him if her pain didn’t ease up.

By Bill Berkrot SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Patients who received the original version of Edwards Lifesciences Corp’s non-invasive heart valve replacement system had a nearly identical death rate after three years as those who had open-heart surgery, with no increased risk of stroke, according to results from a clinical trial. The data, presented on Monday at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific meeting in San Francisco, should provide doctors some reassurance about the durability of the Edwards transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), known as Sapien. …

CHICAGO (AP) — They live underwater, eat bloodworms, and are promoted on pet websites. But African dwarf frogs can carry salmonella.

(Reuters) – Canadian drugmaker Aeterna Zentaris Inc said it would discontinue a late-stage trial of a cancer drug after an independent data safety monitoring committee said the drug was unlikely to help increase patient survival. Shares of the company fell as much as 29 percent to C$1.89 on Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The committee recommended that patient enrollment be stopped and the study discontinued for perifosine, the company said in a statement. …