Larry Husten, PHD
December 8th, 2010
Third Time’s the Charm: FDA Panel Finally Backs an Obesity Pill
Larry Husten, PHD
Following rejections earlier this year of two previous anti-obesity drugs, the FDA’s Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs advisory committee has recommended approval for Contrave, the combination of sustained-release formulations of naltrexone and buproprion from Orexigen Therapeutics. The committee voted 13-7 in favor of the drug, saying that the benefits of Contrave outweighed its risks. The committee also […]
December 6th, 2010
Meta-Analysis: Daily Aspirin Reduces Cancer Deaths
Larry Husten, PHD
A new analysis finds that long-term aspirin use reduces deaths from several common cancers. Previous studies had only shown a convincing benefit in colorectal cancer. In the new meta-analysis, appearing online in the Lancet, Peter Rothwell and colleagues combined data from more than 25,000 patients enrolled in long-term randomized trials of aspirin. They showed that […]
December 6th, 2010
Senate Report Exposes Abbott’s Ties to Mark Midei
Larry Husten, PHD
A U.S. Senate report exposes new information about the relationship between Abbott Laboratories and Mark Midei, the interventional cardiologist who has been accused of implanting hundreds of unnecessary stents at St. Joseph Medical Center in Maryland. News stories on the report appear in today’s Baltimore Sun, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. While still working at St. […]
December 6th, 2010
Ticagrelor Gets European Approval
Larry Husten, PHD
Ticagrelor has received approval for marketing in Europe, according to AstraZeneca. The drug, which will go under the brand name of Brilique in Europe, will not be available in most European countries until the second half of 2011, the company said. A decision about the approval of ticagrelor in the U.S., where it will be […]
December 4th, 2010
Rivaroxaban Found Safe and Effective for DVT
Larry Husten, PHD
In the EINSTEIN-DVT noninferiority study, 3449 patients with acute DVT were randomized to receive open label oral rivaroxaban or conventional therapy with enoxaparin followed by warfarin or acenocoumarol for 3, 6, or 12 months. The rate of recurrent VTE, the primary efficacy outcome, was lower with rivaroxaban treatment than with enoxaparin treatment, successfully demonstrating noninferiority for […]
December 2nd, 2010
AHA Releases Updated Stroke Prevention Guidelines
Larry Husten, PHD
Here’s the good news, according to Larry Goldstein, the chairman of the statement writing committee for the revised American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Guidelines for the Primary Prevention of Stroke: “Between 1999 and 2006, there’s been over a 30 percent reduction in stroke death rates in the United States and we think the majority of the […]
December 1st, 2010
Study Links Tricyclic Antidepressants to Increased Risk for CVD
Larry Husten, PHD
A survey from Scotland has found an increased risk for cardiovascular disease in people taking tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). In an article in the European Heart Journal, the researchers write that they failed to find any increased risk with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Nearly 15,000 Scottish adults without known histories of CVD were followed for 8 […]
November 30th, 2010
New Performance Measures for Peripheral Artery Disease Issued
Larry Husten, PHD
Performance measures to improve the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD) in adults have been published for the first time. The document was produced by the ACC, the AHA, and several other medical organizations. Here are a few key details of the performance measures: Measuring the ankle brachial index (ABI) is an easy and […]
November 29th, 2010
Study Finds No Link Between Cancer and Antihypertensives, Except for ARB-ACE Inhibitor Combo
Larry Husten, PHD
A new meta-analysis has found no evidence of a large cancer risk for most common antihypertensive agents, but did find strong evidence, largely based on one trial, for at least a 10% increase in cancer risk with the rarely used angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and angiotensin-receptor blocker (ARB) combination. In a paper in the Lancet Oncology, […]
November 23rd, 2010
Greek Study Offers Reassurance About Statin Usage in Patients with Abnormal Liver Tests
Larry Husten, PHD
In the GREACE (Greek Atorvastatin and Coronary Heart Disease Evaluation) study, 1600 patients with coronary heart disease were randomized to atorvastatin or usual care; of these, 437 had moderately abnormal liver tests at baseline, suggesting non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In a post-hoc analysis of this subset of patients, published in the Lancet, the GREACE Study […]
