A number of the world’s top diabetes experts agree with Dr. Peter C. Butler, an internationally renowned physician who raised alarms about the diabetes drugs Januvia and Byetta.
A story on MedPage Today quotes Andrew Boulton, MD, president of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), as saying that he has the “highest respect for Peter Butler as a colleague, clinician and scientist.”
The New York Times recently ran a ...
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Japanese researchers are optimistic about the results of a study suggesting that a new blood test designed to detect pancreatic cancer early may improve patients’ odds for survival.
A HealthDay News story says the improved odds are relatively small. But given the nature of pancreatic cancer, any potential improvement is good news.
The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is currently less than 5 percent, in large part because it has usually ...
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A U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel has recommended allowing the diabetes drug Avandia to remain on the market with relaxed restrictions on its use, according to NBC News.
The story says Avandia was once the world’s top-selling diabetes drug. But in 2007, an analysis of other studies suggested that it raised the risk of heart attack by 43 percent. European regulators removed it from the market in 2010 and the ...
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Ranbaxy, a subsidiary of Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo, has pleaded guilty to drug safety violations. According to a story in the New York Times, the company will pay $500 million in fines over allegations that it sold subpar drugs.
Company officials also allegedly made false statements to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about manufacturing practices at two factories in India.
Daiichi Sankyo has faced other allegations recently concerning its medications.
Two ...
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Reuters reports on a recently approved intrauterine device from Bayer, which is the first new device of its type that the FDA has approved in 12 years.
According to the report, the new IUD is called Skyla. It’s a T-shaped polyethylene device that prevents pregnancy by releasing low doses of the hormone progestin.
Bayer manufactures another IUD available on the U.S. market called Mirena. But where Mirena is designed for use by ...
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The prestigious medical journal BMJ has published a damning investigative article on a crop of new diabetes drugs called “incretin therapies,” which include Byetta and Januvia.
The article mentions a number of studies that have been published in recent years, indicating a potential link between these drugs and a potentially deadly inflammation of the pancreas called pancreatitis, as well as pancreatic cancer. Byetta has also been linked to thyroid cancer.
But the ...
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