clinical trials

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FDA Tweak Could Be Boon for Alzheimer's Drugs

Proposal could make it easier to get early-stage drugs OKed

(Newser) - Good news in the Alzheimer's arena: The FDA could ease the rules for approving new drugs to treat the disease, reports the New York Times . Under the proposed plan, the FDA would be able to OK drugs that returned improved results on memory or reasoning tests in clinical trials...

Multiple Sclerosis Treatment: Parasitic Worms

Hookworms, whipworms can reduce brain lesions caused by MS

(Newser) - The fight against multiple sclerosis has found an unexpected ally—parasitic worms. Researchers in the United States and Denmark are looking into the eggs of pig whipworms, which can reduce the size of the MS brain lesions and the effects of the disease, while doctors in the UK are studying...

Insider Trading Suspect Jumps to His Death

Seattle Genetics exec was accused of sharing clinical trial results

(Newser) - An executive accused of illegally profiting from inside knowledge of his company's promising new cancer drug jumped to his death from an airport parking garage in New Jersey. Zizhong Fan, manager of clinical programming at Seattle Genetics, is believed to have shared insider information on clinical trials involving the...

US Prescription Drugs Tested on World's Poor
US Prescription Drugs
Tested on World's Poor
INVESTIGATION

US Prescription Drugs Tested on World's Poor

Drugs declared 'safe' on basis of unregulated trials abroad

(Newser) - Prescription drugs that are considered safe kill an estimated 200,000 Americans a year, and investigative reporters Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele have exposed a massive loophole that could help explain why. Some 6,485 clinical trials were conducted abroad in 2008—more than 20 times as many...

First US Stem Cell Trials Begin
 First US Stem Cell Trials Begin 

First US Stem Cell Trials Begin

Paralyzed patient injected with embryonic cells

(Newser) - American scientists have begun testing embryonic stem cells on a patient for the first time. The groundbreaking, federally-approved clinical trial involves injecting millions of the cells into a patient who suffered paralysis after a recent spinal cord injury, reports Reuters . Scientists hope the stem cells will regenerate nerves in the...

When Clinical Trials Kill
 When Clinical Trials Kill 

When Clinical Trials Kill

Journalist sees danger in industry-funded tests

(Newser) - Dan Markingson was a happy, smart 26-year-old from Minnesota, until the day his mother visited him in Los Angeles and found him delusional, even murderous. He was hospitalized in November 2003 and would have been involuntarily committed—but he was granted a stay, on the condition that he comply with...

A Few Nasty Germs May Actually Help Babies

Scientists investigate healing power of dirt

(Newser) - Babies in America tend to be a lot cleaner than those in, say, Namibia, and that has some advantages—most notably a drastically lower infant mortality rate. But scientists are beginning to wonder if our obsessively sanitary culture has actually given rise to various health issues, they tell the Wall ...

Weight Watchers Sues Jenny Craig Over Ad

Commercial claims 'clinical trial' proves Jenny is better

(Newser) - Weight Watchers is suing Jenny Craig over a commercial in which the weight loss company claims that a “major clinical trial” showed that the average Jenny customer lost twice as much weight "as those on the largest weight-loss program.” That’d be Weight Watchers, which says its...

AIDS Vaccine Data Overstated
 AIDS Vaccine Data Overstated 

AIDS Vaccine Data Overstated

Much-hyped Thai results statistically insignificant, researchers say

(Newser) - The data from last month’s much-hyped Thai AIDS vaccine trial are actually statistically insignificant, according to a secondary analysis published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The original results from the trial, which included more than 16,000 people, concluded that the vaccine reduced infections by a...

Swine Flu Vaccine Works in One Dose
Swine Flu Vaccine Works in One Dose

Swine Flu Vaccine Works in One Dose

Trial results better than expected, shot should be cheaper

(Newser) - An Australian H1N1 vaccine has been surpassing expectations in its clinical trials, inoculating patients after a single injection, the New York Times reports. That means the supply of the vaccine will go further and cost less. It should now be possible to inoculate all of the estimated 159 million people...

Immunotherapy Offers New Hope on Alzheimer's

(Newser) - An immune-system booster already used in the treatment of other diseases could prove to be a powerful weapon in the fight against Alzheimer's disease, researchers have found. Analyzing the records of patients who received intravenous immunoglobulin—IVIg—they discovered that recipients were 42% less likely to develop Alzheimer's, HealthDay reports.

Scientists Find 'Master' Cells For Human Heart

Stem cells can mature into three different kinds of heart tissue

(Newser) - Researchers have found a cell that can become three different kinds of heart tissue, the Boston Globe reports. Harvard scientists hope that such “master” heart cells can be used to grow tissue so that researchers can perform experiments or test medications on human heart tissue, instead of animal substitutes.

Corruption Trial of Ex-Louisiana Rep Kicks Off

Feds say Jefferson took bribes, had $90K stashed in his freezer

(Newser) - Jury selection began today in the trial of former Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. The Democrat is charged with taking bribes and using his office to set up business deals in Africa. “It is good to have my family with me,” he said as...

Drug Trials a Lot Like Reality TV
 Drug Trials a Lot Like Reality TV 
OPINION

Drug Trials a Lot Like Reality TV

(Newser) - Only one couple from The Bachelor has actually gotten married. No Apprentice winner has become fabulously wealthy. American Idol produced Taylor Hicks. Reality shows don’t always make good on their real-world promises, and in that way, they’re a lot like clinical drug trials, writes pediatrician Darshak Sanghavi in...

Colon Cancer Drug Flunks Important Test

Avastin's effects on early-stage disease don't meet expectations

(Newser) - Clinical trials to determine the drug Avastin’s effects on early-stage colon cancer were a big disappointment for drug firm Genentech, the New York Times reports. The drug, which is typically used in late-stage cancer, didn’t significantly cut the recurrence rate among 2,700 subjects in the early stages,...

Trial Drug Offers Hope for Ovarian Cancer Patients

Early test on small number of women yields improved survival rate

(Newser) - A new drug being developed in Britain could someday prolong the lives of thousands of women suffering ovarian cancer, the Guardian reports. Eight of the 18 women involved in the trial, all of whom had been given less than a year to live, saw their tumors stabilize or shrink under...

FDA OKs Pioneering Stem Cell Trial
FDA OKs Pioneering
Stem Cell Trial

FDA OKs Pioneering Stem Cell Trial

First-ever test of therapy on spinal cord injuries hailed as milestone

(Newser) - The FDA has approved the world's first-ever human trial of a medical treatment using embryonic stem cells, the New York Times reports. The move is being hailed as a watershed moment for medical research. Biotech company Geron plans to inject the cells—which can turn into any type of cell...

Many Cancer Trials Go Unpublished: Study

Negative outcomes often shelved because they don't boost careers

(Newser) - Fewer than 20% of cancer trial results are published in peer-review journals, a new study says. And industry-sponsored trials only achieve publication one time in 20. The reason? Scientists seeking success and media-hungry journals don't want to publish negative results, analysts say—even if they would aid other cancer studies....

Psychedelic Drug Tests Resume After Decades

LSD, 'shrooms studied for ill, depressed

(Newser) - For the first time since the 1970s, scientists in several countries are studying the effects of psychedelic drugs like LSD in clinical trials, the Guardian reports. Researchers believe the long-stigmatized drugs may improve patients’ quality of life, helping them cope with the ravages of illness, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and even...

Popular Cancer Drug Is Iffy and Expensive

Widely prescribed Avastin doesn't prolong life, studies say

(Newser) - Avastin is one of the most widely prescribed cancer drugs in the world, but it might not work, the New York Times reports. The drug, made by Genentech, brings in about $2.3 billion a year in the US alone, but recent trials have shown that though the drug shrinks...

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