What will be the upshot if the federal government sets up its own drug development and commercialization program? Most likely, incompetence and political lobbying instead of industry expertise and commercial viability, says former FDA deputy commissioner Scott Gottlieb in an op-ed for the National Review Online.

When it comes to deciding whether to screen asymptomatic adults for coronary artery disease (CAD) with either a resting or exercise ECG, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has not changed its guidelines since its recommendation in 2004 against such routine screening. This year, a group of researchers from the Oregon Health and Science University looked into whether the guidelines were due for an update.

Last year, ACSH released a report highlighting breast cancer organizations that relied on flawed science and chemophobia to support the alleged link between environmental chemicals and breast cancer.

It s been shown previously that infants born prematurely suffer an increased risk of adverse health effects, but does this effect continue into adulthood? The answer seems to be yes but with a few qualifications.

A study just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found it possible to approximate men s level of sexual function after treatment for prostate cancer. The latest study used a number of variables, including factors as basic as age, race, and body mass index, as well as quality of sexual life beforehand, to successfully predict post-treatment erectile function in 10 to 70 percent of the over 1,000 men involved.

Just last week we reported that the smoking rate in New York City dropped to an all-time low of 14 percent down from 22 percent in 2002. The rate of smoking in the state as a whole has also declined. So we were surprised to read that the American Cancer Society (ACS) is criticizing the state for spending less than the recommended amount on tobacco control programs.

Systemic insulin resistance is the hallmark of type 2 (adult onset) diabetes. Studies done over the past several years have also found that a similar mechanism applies in the brain cells of Alzheimer s patients. Now, a study of over 1,000 people in Japan has found that diabetics may be at an increased risk for Alzheimer s disease (AD).

As we have often noted, independent and government-sponsored studies worldwide have repeatedly found that normal exposure to the plastic hardener bisphenol-A (BPA) poses no risk to human health. Further supporting this is a new clinical study out of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine that found no correlation between BPA levels in urine and type 2 diabetes.

It was just ten years ago when in the face of the AIDS pandemic, wealthier nations and big pharma agreed to give up patent rights and profits in order to provide developing nations with vital treatments. Generally, patents provide inventors with 20 years of exclusive sales, however, according to international law, countries may force companies to share those rights with competitors if it means protecting public health. Historically, however, the U.S.

Upon initially reading the results of new research that found that nearly 30 percent of U.S. male smokers between the ages of 18 and 24 who were living in snus test market areas had tried the product, Dr. Ross thought the study was going to finally reveal the truth about snus and other smokeless tobacco products that they can help smokers get off deadly cigarettes. Unfortunately, however, Dr.