One of the first systematic reviews of data on long-term use of opioids found weak evidence to support the idea that adults who can take chronic opioids get chronic pain relief, though effects on function or quality of life are unclear.
A two-round cervical cancer screening strategy based on testing for human papillomavirus DNA may detect significantly more invasive cancers than one based on cytology.
The potential health effects of exposure to bisphenol A, the chemical compound used in baby bottles and many different food and beverage packages, will be studied in short- and long-term studies in animals and humans, William Corr, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced during a Jan. 15 telephone briefing.
Treatment with the Spiriva HandiHaler, which contains a dry powder formulation of the anticholinergic tiotropium, does not appear to be associated with an increased risk of stroke, myocardial infarction, or cardiovascular death in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the Food and Drug Administration announced Jan. 14.
Patients with acute coronary syndrome who received ticagrelor before an invasive cardiovascular procedure were 16% less likely to die from heart attack or stroke over the course of 1 year than were those given clopidogrel, according to a new subanalysis of the PLATO trial.
Funding of U.S. biomedical research, which enjoyed a boom between 1994 and 2003, has since declined substantially, according to a Jan. 13 report in the JAMA.
dood and Drug Administration advisory panel unanimously recommended against approval of the beta-blocker nebivolol as a treatment for heart failure.
Forest Laboratories will likely face intense advisory committee scrutiny of its request for a chronic heart failure indication for its beta-blocker Bystolic (nebivolol), as the Food and Drug Administration has expressed reservations about the single pivotal trial submitted in support of its supplemental New Drug Application.
