Medical/Health Industry Updates

Reuters Health

• FCC chooses spectrum for wireless medical devices May 17, 2012
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The telecommunications regulator on Thursday announced plans to set aside a chunk of spectrum for connecting wireless medical devices to allow for more convenient and cost-effective health monitoring. […]
• Safety inspections don't hurt businesses-study May 17, 2012
  BOSTON (Reuters) - Random inspections of U.S. industrial workplaces lower the risk of workers being injured on the job and have no measurable negative effect on the companies inspected, according to a study in the journal Science. […]
• Human Genome adopts rights plan to ward off Glaxo May 17, 2012
  (Reuters) - Human Genome Sciences Inc said on Thursday it adopted a stockholder rights plan as the biotechnology company defends itself against a $2.6 billion hostile takeover bid by drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc. […]
• Study unpicks gene changes behind breast cancer May 17, 2012
  LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have mapped the complete genetic codes of 21 breast cancers and created a catalogue of the mutations that accumulate in breast cells, raising hopes that the disease may be able to be spotted earlier and treated more effectively in future. […]
• Sex, age may affect athletes' concussion recovery May 17, 2012
  NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Female and high school athletes may need more time to recover from a concussion than their male or college counterparts, a new study finds. […]
• Many pregnant women may not get STD tests May 17, 2012
  NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite recommendations that pregnant women have tests for certain sexually transmitted diseases, many may not be getting them, a new study suggests. […]
• Specialty drug costs a major employer worry: survey May 17, 2012
  (Reuters) - Employers want to step up programs to encourage healthier behavior among their workers and to control spending on expensive injected specialty medicines, according to a survey by pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts Holding Co. […]
• Glaxo melanoma drug combo shows promise in small trial May 17, 2012
  (Reuters) - Two drugs being developed by GlaxoSmithKline Plc - each designed to block different pathways used by cancer cells - have been shown in a small clinical trial to curb melanoma with fewer side effects than current therapies. […]
• Novartis lung drug superior to placebo over 1 year May 17, 2012
  ZURICH (Reuters) - A Novartis experimental lung drug to treat smokers' cough was superior to a placebo in improving lung function over a one-year period and had similar efficacy to a rival drug from Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim, the Swiss drugmaker said on Thursday. […]
• U.S. lowers threshold for lead poisoning in children May 17, 2012
  ATLANTA (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cut its threshold level for defining lead poisoning in children to 5 micrograms per deciliter on Wednesday from 10, marking the first such reduction in 20 years. […]