Healthcare News by GLG Council Members

The JUPITER trial showed that people with what is regarded as normal ('bad') cholesterol and elevated C-reactive protein benefit more from the choleterol lowering drug rosuvastatin (Crestor, Astra-Zeneca) than from placebo. The first question is: is this true only for this particular type of statin (rosuvastatin) or do the others have the same effect? We don't know, but the latter is probably true,...

As is stated in this article, autism has been linked, to some degree or another, to just about anything that a pregnant woman comes in contact with.  This combined with the potential exposure of the newborn to foreign substances makes for a circus environment for the search for the true cause of this disorder.  The fact that autism is undergoing a redefining itself, makes it even more difficult. ...

Addition of Zevalin after a CR or PR in low grade, follicular lymphomas adds to CR rates and improves time to progression. The implication is that this will result in improved survivals.

Not data comparing new drug (Toviaz) to old (Detrol) with respect to efficacy. Does Toviaz have any benefits over existing alternatives, or is it just an attempt to market a more expensive alternative with a reset patent time-clock?

1) telaprevir appears to improve therapy in hard to treat genotype one. 2)previous treatment failures have a reason to now be retreated. 3)naive treatment patients have better chance for cure with the possibility of only 6 month rather than 12 moths of therapy

A recent article links autism to climate, specifically correlating diagnosis to rainfall. 

The cause of autism continues to elude researchers worlwide.In the search for that cause,the disorder has been linked to everything from food toxins to dental fillings and now climate conditions.This study looks at only two variables (diagnosis and rainfall) yet excludes critical demographic and diagnostic trends, both nationally and specific to that area, that are more likely contributors to...

While any association is possible, this looks like so many others--a coexistence, with no demonstrable suggestion of cause-and-effect.

-I'm thrilled to see that a provider evaluating someone for an STD also tests for HIV -but- -I'm appalled that people can be seen in an ER for a suspected STD, just like I would be for those that go for colds and ear infections.  How much did each of those chlamydia and gonorrhea and syphilis diagnoses cost per patient?  And who are we kidding when we pretend that an ER can effectively...

I do not believe that any conclusions can be drawn from these data unless they can be confirmed by a larger, more wide ranging population sampling.