Health Glance
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.
Pharmaceutical firms hire scofflaw doctors
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.
World Health Organization takes on tobacco lobby
President Jose Mujica described Uruguay Monday as a "laboratory of confrontation" with Big Tobacco.
Philip Morris International Inc., the world's second-biggest cigarette company after the state-controlled China National Tobacco Corp., is pursuing a claim before World Bank arbitrators alleging that Uruguay is violating its trade agreement with Switzerland by requiring that anti-smoking warnings cover 80 percent of cigarette packages.
Educated families increasingly refusing vaccinations
"This was the first time we'd seen a drop -- and it was a pretty big drop," Sarah Thomas, vice president of public policy and communication at NCQA, is quoted as saying to HealthDay. "We didn't really explore the reasons [for the trend], but one leading hypothesis is that parents have decided not to get their children vaccinated because of concerns about the potential for side effects and even autism."
Arizona Voters Approve Medical Marijuana
Arizona voters have approved a measure that will legalize medical marijuana in the state. Proposition 203 won by a tiny margin of just 4,341 votes out of more than 1.67 million votes counted. The measure started out losing by about 7,200 votes on Nov. 2 and the gap gradually narrowed in the following 10 days.
The measure began Friday losing by about 1,500 votes, then surged ahead by 4,421 votes.
Maricopa was the only Arizona county with ballots still outstanding on Saturday. The county finished counting all the remaining provisional and early ballots by late in the afternoon.
Creams Used to Treat Eczema Could Make It Worse, Study Suggests
The researchers, from the University's Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology, have published a study in the British Journal of Dermatology showing that aqueous cream BP reduces the thickness of healthy skin over a period of four weeks, calling into question whether the cream should be used for treating eczema.
Originally used as a wash product, aqueous cream BP is currently the most widely prescribed emollient for the treatment of dry skin conditions. It is used to moisturise the skin, improving flexibility and preventing cracking in the protective outer layer, called the stratum corneum.
Dangerous Chemicals in Food Wrappers Likely Migrating to Humans
University of Toronto scientists have found that chemicals used to line junk food wrappers and microwave popcorn bags are migrating into food and being ingested by people where they are contributing to chemical contamination observed in blood.
"This discovery is important because we would like to control human chemical exposure, but this is only possible if we understand the source of this exposure. In addition, some try to locate the blame for human exposure on environmental contamination that resulted from past chemical use rather than the chemicals that are currently in production.
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