Dark Chocolate improves vision with 2 hours Contrast sensitivity and visual acuity were significantly higher 2 hours after consumption of a dark chocolate bar compared with a milk chocolate bar, but the duration of these effects and their influence… Read More ›
Clinical trial
FDA often ignored or just not there for many drug approvals and trials
Study examines FDA influence on design of pivotal drug studies An examination of the potential interaction between pharmaceutical companies and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discuss future studies finds that one-quarter of recent new drug approvals occurred… Read More ›
The European Union will make review of clinical trials for drugs ” absolutely impossible “
2014-05-27 Just look, but don’t touch: EMA terms of use for clinical study data are impracticable Data are only allowed to be viewed on screen / Pre-censorship by drug manufacturers The European Medicines Agency (EMA) receives comprehensive clinical study data… Read More ›
Discrepancies between trial results reported on clinical trial registry and in journals ( nearly all had discrepancies )
– nearly all had at least 1 discrepancy in the study group – Our findings raise questions about accuracy of both ClinicalTrials.gov and publications, as each source’s reported results at times disagreed with the other. During a one year period,… Read More ›
Ghostwritten articles overstate benefits of ( Prempro ) hormone replacement therapy and downplay harms
Public release date: 7-Sep-2010 HRR-Re-Posted at Request – analyzed dozens of ghostwritten reviews and commentaries published in medical journals and journal supplements that were used to promote unproven benefits and downplay harms of Prempro – The analysis revealed that DesignWrite… Read More ›
Pharmaceuticals: A market for producing ‘lemons’ and serious harm
EEV: Re-Post Request Public release date: 17-Aug-2010 – they spend two to three times more on marketing than on research to persuade doctors to prescribe these new drugs – Doctors may get misleading information and then misinform patients about the… Read More ›
Doctors Group Sues FDA, Saying Drug Does More Harm Than Good
roflumilast, a drug used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease By ELIZABETH WARMERDAM LOS ANGELES (CN) – A physicians group sued the U.S. FDA, seeking revocation of FDA approval of roflumilast, a drug used to treat chronic obstructive… Read More ›
Results from many large clinical trials are never published
Contact: Tom Hughes tahughes@unch.unc.edu 919-966-6047 University of North Carolina Health Care Non-publication is more common among industry-funded trials, study finds CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A new analysis of 585 large, randomized clinical trials registered with ClinicalTrials.gov finds that 29 percent… Read More ›
Widow Says Death Spurred Employer Profits: Claims Bristol-Myers Squibb had a $6 million life insurance policy on her husband
By LORRAINE BAILEY CHICAGO (CN) – After her husband died, Bristol-Myers Squibb slipped up and accidentally informed his widow that it had taken out a $6 million life insurance policy on the rank-and-file worker, without an insurable interest in… Read More ›
Unpublished trial data ‘violates an ethical obligation’ to study participants, say researchers / 1 in 3 large clinicals not Published
Contact: Stephanie Burns sburns@bmj.com 44-020-738-36920 BMJ-British Medical Journal Study finds almost 1 in 3 large clinical trials still not published 5 years after completion Almost one in three (29%) large clinical trials remain unpublished five years after completion. And… Read More ›
Current study shows: Important information on effects and side effects of drugs is missing in most publications
IQWiG: Reliable assessment of drugs is only possible on the basis of clinical study reports (CSRs) In 2012 researchers from the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) presented a study in the BMJ analysing information sources… Read More ›
Drugs now to be approved based on a educated guess that it will help the patient, not necessarily improved survival
U.S. drugmakers cheer ‘speed lane’ for breakthrough therapies Source: Reuters – Wed, 24 Jul 2013 11:53 PM Author: Reuters By Toni Clarke WASHINGTON, July 24 (Reuters) – A new regulatory pathway could shave years off the traditional drug approval process… Read More ›
Wanted: Students to take cocaine – University asks for volunteers to take drugs for study
The email specifies that potential participants must be: ‘Fit and well, have no past medical history and not be users of recreational drugs’ Rob Williams Friday, 22 February 2013 A prestigious London university has asked for volunteers to take part… Read More ›
Liver cancer survival time tripled by virus: JX-594
18:00 10 February 2013 by Andy Coghlan For similar stories, visit the Cancer and GM Organisms Topic Guides The virus used in the vaccine that helped eradicate smallpox is now working its magic on liver cancer. A genetically engineered version… Read More ›
New evidence on how compound found in red wine can help prevent cancer
Contact: Hannah Tucker hct16@le.ac.uk 01-162-522-415 University of Leicester International conference at the University of Leicester will show how resveratrol can prevent cancer, heart disease and diabetes University of Leicester scientists will present groundbreaking new evidence about how a chemical found… Read More ›
Study shows how dietary supplement may block cancer cells
2010 study posted for filing Contact: Darrell E. Ward Darrell.Ward@osumc.edu 614-293-3737 Ohio State University Medical Center COLUMBUS, Ohio – Researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James)… Read More ›
Release all Tamiflu data as promised, argue researchers
Contact: Emma Dickinson edickinson@bmjgroup.com 44-020-738-36529 BMJ-British Medical Journal Company plans to set up review board, but researchers want it to keep its promise The latest correspondence is posted online today as part of the BMJ‘s open data campaign, aimed at… Read More ›
Green tea extract appears to keep cancer in check in majority of CLL patients
2010 study posted for filing Contact: Karl Oestreich newsbureau@mayo.edu 507-284-5005 Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic has conducted the first clinical studies of tea extract in cancer patients CHICAGO — ASCO Abstract Number: 6522 (http://abstract.asco.org/AbstView_74_47574.html). An extract of green tea appears to… Read More ›
Breakthrough Nanoparticle Halts Multiple Sclerosis in Mice, Offers Hope for Other Immune-Related Diseases
A biodegradable nanoparticle turns out to be the perfect vehicle to stealthily deliver an antigen that tricks the immune system into stopping its attack on myelin and halt a model of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) in mice, researchers report…. Read More ›
Crazy in love: What happens in your brain when you really do have chemistry
By Victoria Fletcher PUBLISHED:17:00 EST, 10 November 2012| UPDATED:17:00 EST, 10 November 2012 You may wonder why anyone in the throes of an illicit affair would risk their marriage, family and career for the sake of a what may… Read More ›
Mango effective in preventing, stopping certain colon, breast cancer cells
2010 study posted for filing Contact: Kathleen Phillips ka-phillips@tamu.edu 979-845-2872 Texas A&M AgriLife Communications COLLEGE STATION – Mango. If you know little about this fruit, understand this: It’s been found to prevent or stop certain colon and breast cancer… Read More ›
New DNA vaccine technology poised to deliver safe and cost-effective disease protection
Contact: Richard Harth richard.harth@asu.edu Arizona State University New and increasingly sophisticated vaccines are taking aim at a broad range of disease-causing pathogens, targeting them with greater effectiveness at lower cost and with improved measures to ensure safety. To advance… Read More ›
Spices halt growth of breast stem cells, U-M study finds ( Curcumin, piperine )
2009 study posted for filing Contact: Nicole Fawcett nfawcett@umich.edu 734-764-2220 University of Michigan Health System ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A new study finds that compounds derived from the spices turmeric and pepper could help prevent breast cancer by limiting the… Read More ›
Acetaminophen may be linked to asthma in children and adults
2009 study posted for filing Contact: Jennifer Stawarz 847-498-8306 American College of Chest Physicians New research shows that the widely used pain reliever acetaminophen may be associated with an increased risk of asthma and wheezing in both children and adults… Read More ›
BMJ editor urges Roche to fulfil promise to release Tamiflu trial data: Or anything that shows the drug does more good than harm.
Contact: Stephanie Burns sburns@bmjgroup.com 44-020-738-36920 BMJ-British Medical Journal BMJ editor urges Roche to fulfil promise to release Tamiflu trial data Journal launches open data campaign to compel greater accountability in healthcare In an open letter to company director, Professor Sir… Read More ›
Doubts cast on credibility of some published clinical trials: “a remarkable 93 percent of 2235 so-called RCTs published in some Chinese medical journals during 1994 to 2005 was flawed”
2009 study posted for filing Contact: Charlotte Webber charlotte.webber@biomedcentral.com 44-078-253-17342 BioMed Central This release is available in Chinese. Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) are considered the ‘gold standard’ research method for assessing new medical treatments. But research published in BioMed Central’s… Read More ›
60th Health Research Report 07 JUL 2009 – Reconstruction
Editors Top Five: 1.Your Arteries on Wonder Bread 2.Report: Prostate cancer screening has yet to prove its worth 3. Doubts cast on credibility of some published clinical trials 4. Health food supplement may curb compulsive hair pulling 5. Acid-reducing medicines… Read More ›
Green tea may affect prostate cancer progression
2009 study posted for filing Contact: Tara Yates tara.yates@aacr.org 267-646-0558 American Association for Cancer Research PHILADELPHIA – According to results of a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, men with prostate… Read More ›
Green tea extract shows promise in leukemia trials: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia 50 percent or greater decline in their lymph node size.
2009 study posted for filing ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers are reporting positive results in early leukemia clinical trials using the chemical epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), an active ingredient in green tea. The trial determined that patients with chronic lymphocytic… Read More ›
Why Antidepressants Don’t Live Up to the Hype
2009 report posted for filing By John Cloud Wednesday, May 06, 2009 In the ’90s, Americans grew fond of the idea that you can fix depression simply by taking a pill – most famously fluoxetine (better known as Prozac), though… Read More ›
People with depression often excluded from clinical studies of antidepressants?
2009 report posted for filing Contact: Clare Collins CollCX@upmc.edu 412-647-3555 University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences Are we cherry picking participants for studies of antidepressants? People with depression often excluded from clinical studies and tend not to fare… Read More ›
Cancer institute tackles sloppy data
Funder demands better evidence for biomarkers in clinical trials. Monya Baker 12 October 2012 Biologists combing through massive patient data sets often find potential biomarkers of certain diseases, but many of these signals turn out to be false. To weed… Read More ›
Questions of ethics and quality cloud globalization of clinical trials: Same drug in different populations could produce markedly different results
2009 study posted for filing Contact: Michelle Gailiun michelle.gailiun@duke.edu 919-724-5343 Duke University Medical Center DURHAM, N.C. – Top-tier U.S.-based pharmaceutical companies are moving their clinical trials overseas at warp speed, raising questions about ethics, quality control, and even the scientific… Read More ›
HHS Report Slams FDA’s Conflict of Interest Oversight: 42% were missing the required financial disclosures
2009 report posted for filing By Emily P. Walker, Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 — The FDA fails to ensure that scientists conducting clinical trials on investigational products disclose financial conflicts of interest, found a review… Read More ›
Pneumococcal vaccine does not appear to protect against pneumonia: ” a systematic review and meta-analysis, looked at 22 clinical trials, reviews and meta-analyses and more than 100,000 participants “
2009 study posted for filing Contact: Kim Barnhardt kim.barnhardt@cmaj.ca 613-731-8610 x2224 Canadian Medical Association Journal Commonly used pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines do not appear to be effective for preventing pneumonia, found a study by a team of researchers from Switzerland and… Read More ›
LOYOLA TESTING MELANOMA TREATMENT THAT BOOSTS PATIENT’S IMMUNE SYSTEM TO FIGHT DEADLY CANCER
Contact: Jim Ritter Media Relations jritter@lumc.edu (708) 216-2445 Anne Dillon Director, Media Relations adillon@lumc.edu (708) 216-8232 More Sharing ServicesShare MAYWOOD, Ill. – Loyola University Medical Center has launched the first clinical trial in the Midwest of an experimental melanoma… Read More ›
Melatonin may save eyesight in inflammatory disease: Uveitis
2008 study posted for filing Contact: Angela Colmone acolmone@asip.org 301-634-7953 American Journal of Pathology Buenos Aires, Argentina — Current research suggests that melatonin therapy may help treat uveitis, a common inflammatory eye disease. The related report by Sande et al.,… Read More ›
Half of trials supporting FDA applications go unpublished
2008 study posted for filing Contact: Andrew Hyde press@plos.org 44-122-346-3330 Public Library of Science Over half of all supporting trials for FDA-approved drugs remained unpublished 5 years after approval, says new research published in this week’s PLoS Medicine. The most… Read More ›
Documentary Evidence Reveals Motives of Pharmaceutical “Seeding” Trials
Re-Post for filing 2008 Clinical studies that are designed by pharmaceutical companies to promote use of their drugs are called “seeding” trials. While much has been written about the marketing tactics of the pharmaceutical industry, seeding trials have not been… Read More ›
Toxic drugs, toxic system: Sociologist predicts drug disasters “Drug disasters are literally built into the current system of drug testing and approvals in the United States,”
Repost 2008 Contact: Jackie Cooper jcooper@asanet.org 202-247-9871 American Sociological Association Study says harm from prescription drugs growing, cites fatal flaws in drug testing, approval and marketing BOSTON — Americans are likely to be exposed to unacceptable side effects of FDA-approved… Read More ›
Pain drug can kill resistant tuberculosis: Researchers claim may never be tested in TB clinical trials.
Public release date: 10-Sep-2012 [Print | E-mail| Share][ Close Window ] Contact: Lauren Woods law2014@med.cornell.edu 212-821-0560 New York- Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center/Weill Cornell Medical College Researchers find low cost drug wipes out drug resistant TB, but worry it may… Read More ›
Mushroom-Derived Compound Lengthens Survival in Dogs With Cancer, Study Suggests: Yunzhi mushroom
ScienceDaily (Sep. 10, 2012) — Dogs with hemangiosarcoma that were treated with a compound derived from the Coriolus versicolor mushroom had the longest survival times ever reported for dogs with the disease. These promising findings offer hope that the compound… Read More ›
Green tea extract ‘eradicates cancer tumours’
Powerful new anti-cancer drugs based on green tea could soon be developed after scientists found an extract from the beverage could make almost half of tumours vanish. By Stephen Adams, Medical Correspondent 6:05PM BST 21 Aug 2012 The University of… Read More ›
In the laboratory, green tea proves a powerful medicine against severe sepsis
MANHASSET, NY – A major component of green tea could prove the perfect elixir for severe sepsis, an abnormal immune system response to a bacterial infection. In a new laboratory study, Haichao Wang, PhD, of The Feinstein Institute… Read More ›
St. Jude develops vaccine against potential pandemic influenza virus H5N1 using reverse genetics (Using H1N1, requested repost 2003)
Contact: Bonnie Cameron bonnie.cameron@stjude.org 901-495-4815 St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Special modification of reverse genetics created at St. Jude allowed vaccine to be custom-made within weeks of emergence of virus (MEMPHIS, TENN.–April 2, 2003) Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research… Read More ›
Long-term methadone treatment can affect nerve cells in brain
Long-term methadone treatment can cause changes in the brain, according to recent studies from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. The results show that treatment may affect the nerve cells in the brain. The studies follow on from previous studies… Read More ›
Broccoli derivative shows promise at stopping even worst cancers
Vegetables that prevent may ultimately cure some cancers COLLEGE STATION – Broccoli, cabbage, turnips and mustard greens. A dose a day keeps most cancers away. But for those who develop cancer, the same vegetables may ultimately produce the cure. Research… Read More ›
Drug company funding of drug trials greatly influences outcome – 35x Better Outcome if Funded by the Drug Company
Contact: Wallace Ravven wravven@pubaff.ucsf.edu 415-476-2557 University of California – San Francisco Drug company funding of drug trials greatly influences outcome In head-to-head trials of two drugs, the one deemed better appears to depend largely on who is funding the study,… Read More ›
Vitamin B3 reduces Alzheimer’s symptoms, lesions
Reposting Breakthroughs as current, to respark attention (From 2008) UC Irvine starts clinical trial on nicotinamide effect in Alzheimer’s patients Irvine, Calif. — An over-the-counter vitamin in high doses prevented memory loss in mice with Alzheimer’s disease, and UC Irvine… Read More ›
Engineering Evil 