Health News

Pfizer takes its shot at a vaccine for evasive superbug

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CHICAGO - Kathrin Jansen is a microbiologist with at least two breakthrough vaccines to her name: she brought the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil to market for Merck and helped develop the $4 billion a year pneumonia and meningitis vaccine Prevnar 13 for Pfizer.

Merck's insomnia drug moves a step closer to U.S. approval

WASHINGTON - Merck & Co's experimental insomnia drug moved a step closer to U.S. approval on Wednesday after a panel of medical experts said it is effective and safe at lower doses.

22 May 2013

Health officials probe deadly respiratory illness in Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - U.S. and state health authorities are investigating an unidentified respiratory illness that has killed two of 10 people hospitalized with it in Alabama since last week.

22 May 2013

Senate committee advances drug compounding bill

NEW YORK - A U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation that would increase federal oversight for companies that compound and sell sterile drugs across state lines.

22 May 2013

Online tool helps control blood pressure long term

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In a new study, people with high blood pressure who could communicate with their pharmacists online had better blood pressure control a year after that service ended.

22 May 2013

Texas lawmakers OK drug tests for some unemployment applicants

AUSTIN, Texas - Texas came a step closer to requiring some applicants for unemployment benefits to first undergo drug testing, when lawmakers gave final approval to a Republican-backed bill mandating such checks on Wednesday.

Politics, U.S., 22 May 2013

Vitamin C may not treat gout: study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Daily vitamin C supplements don't lower uric acid as much as drugs used to treat high levels of the acid that's responsible for gout, says a new study from New Zealand.

22 May 2013

Los Angeles voters approve limiting medical marijuana shops

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles, which has more storefront medical marijuana shops than any other U.S. city, will close hundreds of the dispensaries and hike taxes on those that will be allowed to remain under a ballot measure approved by a wide margin of voters.

U.S. 22 May 2013

Sugary drinks tied to kidney stone risk

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adults who drink at least one sugar-sweetened drink a day are slightly more likely to develop kidney stones than people who rarely imbibe them, according to a new study.

22 May 2013

More patients than docs report skin surgery problems

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - More than one quarter of people being treated for non-melanoma skin cancer in their doctor's office reported some type of complication after surgery, in a new study.

22 May 2013