Month: May 2013

The rate rose 28 percent over the decade spanning the financial crisis.        

By Toni Clarke (Reuters) – An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration recommended that the agency reject a kidney cancer drug made by Aveo Pharmaceuticals Inc and Astellas Pharma Inc, saying data from the clinical trial were inconsistent. In a 13-1 vote on Thursday, the panel said Aveo had not shown that the drug's benefits outweighed its risks in a well-controlled study, and said a second trial would be needed before the drug, tivozanib, should be approved. Aveo's shares fell as much as 57 percent on Thursday. …

(Reuters) – Pharmacy benefit manager Catamaran Corp’s first-quarter revenue miss and concerns about the renewal of a major contract sent its shares down as much as 11 percent. Investors were looking for clarity on Catamaran’s contract with Medicare provider HealthSpring, which was acquired by U.S. health insurer Cigna Corp . The contract, which brought in about a third of Catamaran’s 2012 revenue of $9.94 billion, is up for renewal this year. …

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Practicing with lighter baseballs may help teen pitchers improve their throwing speeds while also reducing the risk of overuse injuries, a small study from Taiwan suggests. After 10 weeks of training, young players who had worked with a lighter-than-average ball were pitching regulation-weight balls a couple of miles per hour faster than their peers, researchers found. …

By Ransdell Pierson and Bill Berkrot (Reuters) – Gilead Sciences Inc on Thursday said almost all patients taking a fixed-dose combination of two of its experimental hepatitis C drugs appeared to have eliminated the liver virus after either eight weeks or 12 weeks of treatment in a small mid-stage study. The data should strengthen the widely held perception that Gilead is leading the race among many companies to bring to market a highly curative, all-oral regimen with shorter treatment durations for the serious liver disease. Gilead shares rose 5 percent after the data was released. …

By Sue Zeidler LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – States and casinos racing to legalize online gaming may find some unwelcome visitors on their websites: product liability lawyers. A group of 10 lawyers and academics with experience in prior liability cases met in Indianapolis in mid-April to discuss whether a lawsuit claiming online gaming further promotes gambling addiction has a shot at winning. …

A new device resembling a baby bracelet has been approved to help individuals with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). It can bring relief to patients whose medications have stopped working and to those who have never achieved satisfactory management of the condition.

Half of all autistic kids will run away before they turn 17. Many of them die, often by drowning. But researchers and rescuers are baffled by a small group of children with autism who beat the odds, surviving longer than unaffected children typically would.        

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's a chemical that's been in U.S. households for more than 40 years, from the body wash in your bathroom shower to the knives on your kitchen counter to the bedding in your baby's basinet.

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Close to two-thirds of women favor making contraceptive pills available over the counter, according to a new nationally-representative survey. In addition, about 30 percent of women using either no birth control or a less effective method – such as condoms – said they would likely take the Pill if it was sold without a prescription, researchers found. "Of course it's a hypothetical question, and it remains to be seen how this would play out in reality," said Dr. …