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In a surprise ruling, the FDA decided yesterday to reject the weight-loss drug Contrave even though an advisory panel ruled 13-to-7 to recommend its approval in December. Developed by Orexigen Therapeutics Inc., Contrave was shown to reduce body weight by 5 percent or more in at least 35 percent of patients, but the agency dismissed the drug’s potential benefits after research revealed it caused a slight increase in blood pressure and pulse rates compared to placebo.

It’s time to hit the seafood buffet as a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine confirms what we knew all along: exposure to mercury in fish has no clinically adverse effect on cardiovascular disease. After analyzing data from two U.S. cohorts comprised of over 170,000 participants, researchers selected 3,427 patients who were identified as having new onset of cardiovascular disease.

Though not an endemic problem in the U.S., diarrhea remains a common life-threatening event in third-world countries, killing about 1.4 million children under the age of five every year. But there are preventive measures and treatments that can reduce this number, and a new study by Christa Fischer Walker of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health used a computer program to model how some of these methods can impact diarrhea incidence in 68 target countries.

Though the rate of smoking among U.S. adults has remained relatively stagnant over the past few years — hovering around 20 percent as reported by the CDC in September — there is still some good news to be had. A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association uses two large, population-based surveys comprising a total of 1,662,353 respondents to determine if smokers are smoking fewer cigarettes.

A meta-analysis of 16 studies published in the Annals of Internal Medicine finds that low-radiation heart CT scans, known as gated CT’s, are equally effective in diagnosing heart problems as a coronary angiography, the current gold standard. The angiogram, done via a catheter inserted through an artery into the heart, however, is invasive and not without risk, so some doctors resort to a CT scan for diagnosing patients with chest pain instead.

A new study sheds light on the difficulties physicians experience when trying to control the lipid levels in patients with coronary artery disease. Published in the American Journal of Cardiology, the study reviewed the electronic records of approximately 10,000 patients seen at a cardiology practice between September 2008 and September 2009 to assess whether the patients were achieving recommended cholesterol and triglyceride goals.

According to a report released yesterday by the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society, the overall rate of new breast cancer cases diagnosed among white women did not significantly change between 2003 and 2007. This contrasts with a sharp decline of 7 percent which took place between 2002 and 2003, according to an analysis of data published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.

A new study published in the journal Gastroenterology contains some unexpected and seemingly highly significant findings: the data indicate that those patients who have gallstones or who have had their gallbladder removed are at an increased risk of death over an 18-year period than people without the disease.In fact, researchers examining the medical records of more than 14,000 people found that patients with gallbladder disease (eit

A disquieting new study published online in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes shows that research into heart devices isn’t properly considering the effects of these devices on women or employing comparable numbers of female test subjects.A research team led by Dr.

Whether it’s in preparation for an upcoming wedding or a high school reunion, many of us find ourselves seeking a quick path to weight loss.

Yesterday the AP offered its readers a rather creepy story about at-home genetic testing intended to determine if children have certain genes associated with improved athletic performance.

Drug companies often exclude people with depression from clinical trials, even though it is well known among physicians that depression often coincides with other disorders. By purposefully eliminating this cohort from early testing stages, drug manufacturers hope to gain faster FDA approval, but they may be shooting themselves in the foot once the treatment is mass-marketed and its widespread effects are better known.

A new Wisconsin bill sponsored by state Sen. Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls) and Rep. Erik Severson (R-Osceola) — who is, sorry to say, a physician — aims to repeal a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) rule requiring all municipal water systems to disinfect their drinking water by chlorination. Although 88 percent of Wisconsin municipalities already chlorinate their water, the remaining 12 percent that comprise 66 municipalities don’t.

On March 7, the Medicare Rights Center in New York won a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): a federal judge ruled the Medicare Part D drug coverage program is responsible for covering off-label use of drugs when treatment is medically necessary.

President Barack Obama acknowledged last week that the current FDA infrastructure is not capable of assessing recent advances in medicine and biotechnology. He calls for a modernization of the FDA that balances safety with economic interests in the creation of drug and medical device regulations:

Don’t let the Lexington-Herald Leader headline, “Madison County health board bans electronic cigarettes,” fool you. The Madison County Board of Health has actually added electronic cigarettes to their list of indoor smoking restrictions, perhaps due to an FDA warning in 2009 cautioning that the nicotine-delivery devices supposedly contain “toxic” ingredients.

In the developing world, more than 1,000 mothers and 2,000 newborn babies die each day from preventable birth complications. Many of these deaths could easily be avoided by providing pregnant women with trained midwives who can assist during birth.

Unemployed and looking for a lucrative job in New York City? Don’t mind long walks and occasional arrests? This may be a job for you: According to an article in The New York Times, smuggling and reselling cigarettes on the streets is a profitable practice.

Over the past few years, prostate cancer screening using the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test has received a lot of media flack while various health organizations and physicians struggle to outline specific guidelines for the exam.

ACSH staffers were pleased to encounter a variety of pieces defending vaccines as a vital public health practice. A book review in today’s The New York Times, for instance, features an excellent work by informed consumer and Vanity Fair Contributing Editor Seth Mnookin. The Times’ Dr.

In his article for The New York Times Greenwire, Jeremy P.

Monsanto is one step away from receiving FDA approval for their genetically modified soybeans that will produce omega-3 fatty acids. The new soybeans will be used to produce Monsanto’s brand “steridonic acid (SDA) soybean oil” to fortify consumer food products, such as cereals and baked goods. “This could be a beneficial, genetically improved product,” says ACSH's Dr.

In a surprise ruling, the FDA determined last week that tobacco product maker Star Scientific Inc. is free to market and sell its Ariva-BDL and Stonewall-BDL dissolvable tobacco lozenges independent of FDA regulation since the products do not fall under the jurisdiction of the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.

In March, ACSH challenged the validity of a proposal by New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg to prohibit the purchase of sugar-sweetened beverages with food stamps. The New York Times covered the same topic yesterday in an article titled “Soft Drink Industry Fights Proposed Food Stamp Ban,” which ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross points out is a bit misleading.

According to a new study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, mortality due to hypertension is decreasing, yet it s still greater in people with high blood pressure compared to those without. Study author Dr. Earl S. Ford, medical officer with the U.S.