Dec 5th, 2022 - Healthcare access is not an issue only for patients. In a recent Medscape report, more than a third of doctors surveyed said access to quality, affordable healthcare had affected them or their families. "Access affects even the highest earnings," noted one survey respondent, an ob/gyn. And about half of respondents in the Physicians Rate Healthcare Access Report: Ongoing Problem for Patients ch...

Dec 5th, 2022 - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc is investing more than $2.5 billion at its drug making plants in Belgium and Ireland, gearing up to launch new products it hopes can replace lost revenue as patents expire and COVID-19 vaccine sales decline. The drugmaker said on Friday it plans to spend more than 1.2 billion euros ($1.26 billion) to expand its Puurs, Belgium, manufacturing site, matching the inv...

Dec 1st, 2022 - TikTok Creates Ozempic Shortage TikTok is fueling demand for Ozempic, creating shortages of the diabetes drug now used for weight loss. Videos on TikTok hashtagged #ozempic have amassed more than 275 million views, and #ozempicweightloss has more than 110 million. The trend follows social media posts by celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk touting their own use of the drug or weight...

Dec 1st, 2022 - A large-scale meta-analysis has confirmed that there has been a drop in average sperm counts in men — a situation affecting countries around the world and that shows no sign of slowing down. Jean-Marc Ayoubi, MD, head of the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics and Reproductive Medicine at Foch Hospital in Suresnes, France, gives us the inside story. In 1973, the average sperm count in men w...

Dec 1st, 2022 - Outcomes were similar for comatose patients who received 36 vs 72 hours of device-based temperature control after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, a randomized trial shows. "Since 2005, active fever prevention in comatose patients has been advocated by the guidelines for 72 hours after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest," Christian Hassager, MD, of the University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmar...

Dec 1st, 2022 - The debate about a possible link between food allergy (FA) and pediatric gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) continues, and more, better-designed research is needed, a position paper by the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology reports. The report offers consensus-based recommendations and a graphical decision pathway to guide providers through assessing and treating food aller...

Dec 1st, 2022 - The debate over whether or not to test for DPYD gene variants before administering fluoropyrimidine (FP) chemotherapy has erupted again among experts in the United States, where such testing is not recommended at present, unlike in Europe. Testing for DPYD variants and subsequent dose adjustment should be offered to US patients who are due to receive fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy, says Daniel L...

Dec 1st, 2022 - LONDON (Reuters) - The number of people in Europe with undiagnosed HIV has risen as testing rates fell during the COVID-19 pandemic, threatening a global goal of ending the disease by 2030, a report said. The joint World Health Organization (WHO) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) report said that in 2021 a quarter fewer HIV diagnoses were recorded compared to pre-pan...

Dec 1st, 2022 - (Reuters) - European women's work-life balance has worsened since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) report shows. The EIGE's Gender Equality Index 2022, which has a thematic focus on care, showed that the pandemic has increased informal and unpaid care at home, particularly pressuring women. Women in the survey were more likely to face i...

Nov 30th, 2022 - A newly discovered genetic variant that is associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) is responsible for almost 7% of all diabetes cases in Greenland, according to a whole-genome sequencing analysis of 448 Greenlandic Inuit individuals. The variant, identified as c.1108G>T, "has the largest population impact of any previously reported variant" within the HNF1A gene – a gene that can cause maturity-o...

Nov 30th, 2022 - More patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) were in remission at 6 months if they had received rituximab (Rituxan) rather than cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) as induction therapy, according to a target trial emulation performed by the French Vasculitis Study Group (FVSG). Remission, which was defined as a score of zero on the validated Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS) and u...

Nov 30th, 2022 - PARIS (Reuters) - New COVID-19 infections are on the rise again in recent days, French government spokesman told journalists on Tuesday. "The COVID epidemic seems to be picking up again", Olivier Veran said, adding there was a 40% rise in new cases since last week. (Reporting by Tassilo Hummel)

Nov 29th, 2022 - Nov 29 (Reuters) - Horizon Therapeutics Plc said on Tuesday it was engaged in highly preliminary discussions with Amgen Inc, Johnson & Johnson unit Janssen Global Services and Sanofi for potential takeover offers. (Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Nov 29th, 2022 - LONDON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - About half of the free range turkeys and geese reared for Christmas in Britain have either died or been culled due to the country’s largest-ever outbreak of avian flu, an industry head said on Tuesday. Richard Griffiths, Chief Executive of the British Poultry Council, told lawmakers that British farmers usually produce 1.2 to 1.3 million free range birds for the festi...

Nov 29th, 2022 - Nov 29 (Reuters) - Britain’s medicines regulator said on Tuesday that any new or worsening reactions in patients’ eyes arising from use of Sanofi’s best-selling drug Dupixent should be promptly reviewed by healthcare professionals. The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said most ocular reactions seen with the drug are mild and can be managed. (Reporting by Pushkala Aripak...

Nov 29th, 2022 - WARSAW, Nov 29 (Reuters) - A Polish judge fiercely critical of the nationalist government’s judicial reforms was reinstated in his job on Tuesday by a new disciplinary body after being suspended for two years. Changes to the Polish judiciary have led Brussels to withhold some European Union funds for Poland. It says Warsaw must fulfil milestones related to judicial independence, reinstate unlaw...

Nov 29th, 2022 - WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Tuesday urged Beijing to back away from stringent lockdowns to manage ongoing COVID-19 cases and instead move toward more targeted actions, citing the impact on China’s people and economy in an interview with the Associated Press. Georgieva called on Beijing to undergo a “recalibration” of its so-called “zero COVID” ap...

Nov 29th, 2022 - BENGALURU, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Indian generic injectables maker Gland Pharma Ltd said on Tuesday it will buy French pharmaceutical firm Cenexi for 120 million euros ($124.3 million) as it looks to expand its presence in European markets. ($1 = 0.9651 euros) (Reporting by Anuran Sadhu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

Nov 29th, 2022 - CHICAGO, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The first big breakthrough in 30 years of Alzheimer’s research is providing momentum for clinical trials of “cocktail” treatments targeting the two hallmark proteins associated with the mind-robbing disease, according to interviews with researchers and pharmaceutical executives. Drugmakers Eisai Co Ltd and Biogen reported in September that their therapy lecanemab cou...

Nov 29th, 2022 - A new collaborative position paper on radiation exposure during pregnancy states that pregnant women can safely work in an ionizing radiation environment if exposure to the fetus does not exceed certain dose thresholds. The position paper aims to "avoid discouraging" women from pursuing careers in interventional cardiology/electrophysiology (IC/EP) and to "dismantle" a barrier that says, "activ...