Healthcare News by GLG Council Members

"New data from pivotal FLEX study reveal that patients treated with Erbitux who develop early skin rash show median overall survival of 15 months (p<0.001)" This is the trial that showed Erbitux + chemo prolonged survival minimally when compared to chemo alone. Now we know the ones who develop a rash live significantly longer. NOW let's predict who will get the rash! 25+% percent developed a rash....

The new HPV vaccine which has been so successful in preventing HPV disease in females has now proven to be successful in preventing genital warts and penile cancer in  males. The quadravalent vaccine which cover 90% of currently circulating human HPV strains, has proven to be approximately 90% effective in preventing genital warts and penile cancer caused by one of the four covered vaccine types ...

Evolving Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reimbursement restrictions could present medical diagnostic and device manufacturers with new opportunities to reduce the cost and frequency of hospital acquired infections.  April 30, 2009 is the target date for the new list of nonreimburseable occurrences.

New innovations in the contact lens market are needed to boost growth in sales, especially in the one-day lens market.

Abuse resistant long acting narcotics offer benefit as they are less desirable to those who might wish a quick high via snorting, injecting crushed time-release narcotic. Unfortunately, given the higher cost than long acting generics and increased pressure on physicians to prescribe generics, expect pick up in the marketplace (assuming approval) to be slow.

The same Harvard researchers who reported in the "New England Journal of Medicine" last July that only 4% of physicians had adopted "full functional" electronic health records reported this week to the HHS Secretary that only 1.7% of hospitals have adopted such records in all their departments.  "Fully functional" electronic health records (EHRs) are those which may facilitate the performance...

The principles look sound and should thwart all but the most sophisticated addicts. It would probably take good knowledge of organic chemistry to separate the two components.  Unfortunately, this will all come with increased cost over conventional 'unprotected' opiates and struggles with insurers.

Will the sale of Celebrex be hurt by a rehashing of old data? Overly simplified negative news coverage frightens patients and reduces those willing to take the drug.  If they should agree to take it after counseling and be one of those who suffer a heart attack for what ever reason, things could get dicey.  If the information is 'cherry picked' for press appeal, it necessitates...

Gardasil has been shown to be effective in preventing the long-term complications of HPV infection, including cervical and vulvar cancer and genital warts, in females. New evidence now is available that it also prevents warts, and presumably the very rare penile carcinoma in males.

Sure, it "only" prevents INFLUENZA, not all the things people call "the flu." But influenza is a miserable disease, and potentially life-threatening for those with underlying illnesses.