Health Glance
For only the second time, the Food and Drug Administration approved a company's request to test an embryonic stem cell-based therapy on human patients. Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), based in Marlborough, Mass., will begin testing its retinal cell treatment this year in a dozen patients with Stargardt's macular dystrophy, an inherited degenerative eye disease that leads to blindness in children. In July, the FDA released its hold on the first trial of an embryonic stem cell based treatment, for spinal cord injury.
ACT's trial will involve injecting retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, which nurture the retina, into volunteers with the most advanced forms of Stargardt's, in an attempt to replace dying and no longer functioning photoreceptor cells. In animals, the infusion of healthy cells improved vision and rescued the function of some diseased cells.
FDA Approves Second Trial of Stem-Cell Therapy
Tobacco industry lobbies for flavorful cigarettes
Public health officials from around the world agreed this week on some new anti-smoking rules, but others that could have sharply reduced global tobacco consumption remained out of reach at an international conference Friday.
Host Uruguay got unanimous support from the 171 countries that have signed on to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control treaty, encouraging President Jose Mujica to promise a fierce defense of the country's tough anti-smoking policies against a legal challenge by Philip Morris International, the world's second-largest tobacco company.
Darvon, Darvocet painkillers pulled from the U.S. market
The maker of Darvon and Darvocet announced Friday that it will stop marketing the widely used painkillers in the U.S. because of a new study linking the active ingredient in the drugs to serious and sometimes fatal heart rhythm abnormalities.
Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Newport, Ky., agreed to the ban at the request of the Food and Drug Administration, which also asked makers of generic versions of the drugs' core compound, known as propoxyphene, to stop selling it in the U.S.
Canadians vote against fluoridated water supplies
Campaigners against fluoride believe that adding fluoride to the water supply is tantamount to poisoning and are lobbying for fluoridation to be stopped all over Canada. Opponents of fluoride claim the chemical is illegal, unnecessary and dangerous; campaigners believe fluoride contributes to health conditions, including increased risk of cancer, thyroid disease and arthritis.
Airport X-ray scanner is just as likely to kill you as a terrorist bomb
The controversial machines have been brought in at major airports across the globe, including the UK, leading to fears that the increased exposure to harmful radiation may cause cancer.
Now a US physics professor has added to the debate by claiming that the scanners are redundant because you are just as likely to contract cancer from the radiation as you are to die in a terrorist bomb on your flight.
Pharmaceutical firms hire scofflaw doctors
Several of the nation's largest pharmaceutical companies said they plan to tighten screening of physicians who promote their drugs after ProPublica reported last month that more than 250 of them had been sanctioned for misconduct.
Eli Lilly and Co. said that next year, for the first time, it would hire an outside firm to search for state disciplinary actions against its hired speakers and advisers. Lilly, the seventh-largest company by U.S. prescription sales, did not previously conduct such screening and was unaware of the dozens of actions ProPublica found against its speaker.
Redeeming Role for a Common Virus: Ability to Kill Cancer
A common virus that can cause coughing and mild diarrhea appears to have a major redemptive quality: the ability to kill cancer. Harnessing that power, researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of Georgetown University Medical Center, are conducting a clinical trial to see if the virus can target and kill certain tumor types.
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