Health Highlights: 1/09
Health Highlights: Jan. 31, 2009
|
HealthDay – Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
FDA Experts Recommend Banning Darvon
Darvon, a decades-old painkiller chiefly marketed as Darvocet, should be banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, an expert panel advising the agency recommended Friday.
The advisory panel voted 14-12 to recommend withdrawing Darvon, first approved in 1957. Earlier Friday, the agency said it was reviewing the drug after critics charged it provided little relief and posed a risk for overdose and suicide, the Associated Press reported. The full FDA usually follows the recommendations of its expert panels, but isn’t bound to do so. [...]
Most Patients Can’t Name Hospital Doctors Who treat Them, Survey Says
You may know the name of your family doctor, but if you’ve had hospital care, can you name any of the physicians who treated you?
Most likely you can’t, the New York Times reports.
The Times cites a recent University of Chicago study that surveyed almost 3,000 patients admitted to that school’s hospital during a 15-month period. [...]
Octuplets’ Mom has 6 Other Children, Family Says
The woman who gave birth to octuplets this week in Southern California already has six other young children at home, her family told the Associated Press on Friday.
On Thursday, Angela Suleman, the woman’s mother, told The Los Angeles Times that her daughter took fertility treatments but did not expect to give birth to eight babies. [...]
U.S. Senate Passes Children’s Health Insurance Bill
A bill to provide health insurance to more than four million uninsured children in the United States was passed by the Senate in a 66 to 32 vote Thursday. It’s expected that President Barack Obama will be quick to sign the bill, which advances the goal of providing insurance for all children and eventually all Americans, The New York Times reported.
Two weeks ago, the House passed a nearly identical bill, by a vote of 289 to 139. [...]
New Blood Thinner Appears Closer to FDA Approval
A new blood thinner called prasugrel appears more effective than the current leading blood thinner Plavix, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration review that suggests the agency may be moving closer to approving the new drug.
Next week, an FDA panel of independent cardiology experts is scheduled to give their opinion about the benefits and risks of prasugrel, which was developed by Eli Lilly and Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo, the Associated Press reported. [...]
Source: Yahoo News – click here for full article
