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As we reported last month, a recent federal appeals court decision may have a dramatic impact on the Food and Drug Administration's complex drug approval process. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan ruled (by a 2-to-1 vote) that pharmaceutical companies have a free-speech right to promote approved drugs for uses that are "off-label," such as using an anti-epilepsy drug to control appetite and weight.

You may want to be careful the next time you go for a drive make sure you re up for it. A new study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 1 in 24 U.S. adults say they recently fell asleep while driving. And study authors think that number could be even higher.

In the "better late than never" category: A British activist who helped create the movement against genetic engineering technology and genetically modified foods in the 1990s has "discovered science" and realized he was very, very wrong.
Mark Lynas delivered a bombshell address at the Oxford Farming Conference last week, apologizing for how he assisted in demonizing an important technological option which can be used to benefit the environment.

ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross was on CBS New York on Friday, talking about how ridiculous a new Suffolk County law is that requires business owners to use BPA-free thermal receipts.
There is no evidence that BPA in consumer products of any type, including cash register receipts, are harmful to the health of anybody, Ross said. It s not making anything safer for anybody. It s a waste of energy, time and financial resources.

Two weeks after researchers reported that obesity rates decreasing for the first time in decades, new data from the Centers for Disease Control now show that this decrease is also being seen in low-income preschoolers who qualify as obese or extremely obese.

It's enough to give us a headache. Aspirin and statins can be an effective preventive regimen and treatment for patients suffering from peripheral arterial disease (PAD) inadequate circulation to the legs and feet, commonly caused by fatty deposits but too many aren't being prescribed the treatment, a new study has found. PAD causes pain in the legs upon walking, relieved by rest.

MRI testing may provide an accurate noninvasive surrogate for invasive tests to discriminate Alzheimer s disease from frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), new research suggests.

In an attempt to crack down on what Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg calls a citywide and national epidemic of prescription drug abuse, prescription painkillers will be restricted in the emergency rooms of New York City s 11 public hospitals. Under this new policy, public hospital patients will not be able to get more than three days worth of narcotic painkillers such as Vicodin and Percocet.

Why are people so afraid of fracking? Regulators familiar with the technology seem positively serene about hydraulic fracturing, National Review Online columnist Deroy Murdock writes. In countering the hysteria stirred up by activists, Murdock thoroughly and systematically dismantles every argument against fracking.

Coca-Cola isn t taking the blame for America s obesity epidemic lying down. The world s biggest beverage company unveiled a new ad campaign yesterday that is airing on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC highlighting its low- and no-calorie drinks, marketing smaller servings of its beverages, and encouraging physical fitness. Entitled Coming Together, the ads encourage everyone to be careful about watching their weight.

Amid the most severe influenza season in more than a decade, the FDA approved a next-generation, insect-based flu vaccine the second version that is not grown in eggs, and will therefore be available in a much shorter time enabling better focus on the type of flu in circulation.

Our New York readers should be able to catch ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross discussing fracking on WCBS-TV (channel 2) tonight between 5 and 6, and possibly between 6 and 6:30, and maybe even between 11 and 11:30. Also, if you haven t already, please like our Facebook page, Facts about Fracking.

The rate of patient readmission to a hospital may not be associated with a shorter hospital stay, according to a new study. This counters the concern which led to this study, which was that excessive LOS (length of stay) reduction may be harmful because discharge before medical stability may result in increased hospital readmission or use of emergency department services.

Cigarette smoking among American teenagers dropped to a record low in 2012, according to a national study released Wednesday.
The annual survey of about 45,000 students in the eighth, 10th, and 12th grades found that the number of teens who reported smoking cigarettes in the prior 30 days fell to 10.6 percent this year from 11.7 percent in 2011 the lowest number recorded since the survey began in 1975.

Yesterday, we described how British activist Mark Lynas apologized for how he assisted in demonizing an important technological option which can be used to benefit the environment. Of course, he was referring to genetic engineering technology and genetically modified foods.

Medicare, the federal insurance program for seniors, spent about $1 billion in 2006- 07 to pay for breast cancer screening, according to a new study. This number was almost as much as Medicare spent to actually treat the disease.

Were we surprised or even disappointed that the California EPA just ruled that the plastic hardener bisphenol-A (BPA) would be subject to warning labels according to their Prop 65 law, or that the Natural Resources Defense Council would be jumping with joy over it?
Not really given the chemophobia of both of those groups, the surprise is that it took Cal-EPA this long; and that the NRDC is so happy about it is as surprising as the sun rising in the east.

Britain s senior medical advisor is warning about the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, describing what she calls an "apocalyptic scenario" where, in 20 years time, people going to the hospital for a simple operation die of infections because we have run out of antibiotics.

Generic drugs, which account for more than 70 percent of prescriptions, provide the same health benefits as brand-name drugs but often vary in color and shape. Now, a new study suggests that generic medications that differ in color from their brand-name counterpart may make people less likely to continue taking them.

Atrial fibrillation (AF), which is the most common arrhythmia and an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke, is independently associated with increased mortality. Furthermore, nonvalvular AF (that is, AF that doesn t stem from a problem with heart valves) is associated with a nearly five-fold higher risk of ischemic stroke, a risk that progressively increases with age.

Taking bupropion (Zyban), a drug used to help people stop smoking by reducing cravings and other withdrawal effects, did not help smokers quit in the period after a heart attack, a new study finds.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued the first-ever guidelines for type 2 diabetic children between the ages of 10 and 18.

Metastatic breast cancer which has already spread on initial presentation was found to have increased slightly among young women, ages 25 to 39, a 34-year analysis suggests. More research is needed to verify the finding, and scientists are not sure what may have caused the apparent increase.

In a recent New York Times article, reporter Denise Grady sheds light on a report stating that too little of the money spent on breast cancer research goes toward finding environmental causes of the disease and ways to prevent it.

Biomedical researchers have long used mice in the lab to learn about human diseases and to test treatments. Now, a new study strongly suggests that mice are poor models for studying trauma or infections in humans.