Category: A.M. Vitals: J&J Drug Settlement Is Rejected

MEwens
Here’s what’s making health news this morning:
J&J’s Drug Settlement for $1 Billion Is Rejected (WSJ): A proposed settlement for roughly $1 billion to resolve allegations that Johnson & Johnson promoted an antipsychotic drug for unapproved uses has been rejected by federal prosecutors in Washington, according to people familiar with the matter.
Fewer Tots Hurt […]

MEwens
The second time’s a charm for Vivus’s experimental obesity drug Qnexa, at least when it comes to FDA advisory panel votes.
As the WSJ reports, one of the agency’s advisory panels today backed approval of the drug by a decisive 20-2 vote. The FDA — which often but not always follows the advice of […]

MEwens
Fructose has been accused of all sorts of health-related sins, from high blood pressure to diabetes to obesity.
“Classical biochemistry teaching” that shows fructose is metabolized differently than glucose as well as rodent studies showing that a high-fructose diet can spur obesity and other cardiac and metabolic problems have led some to hypothesize that […]

Katherine Hobson
Replacing Shots: A new study shows that an experimental microchip that can be implanted in the abdomen successfully delivered 20 daily doses of a bone drug to seven women with osteoporosis, the WSJ reports. The wirelessly programmed chip is from the company MicroChips. Researchers said it might eventually be able to deliver […]

MEwens
Remember being a teenager? You probably wanted to spend as little time with your parents as possible. So it’s not surprising that the usual weight-control strategy used for younger kids — counseling and advice delivered to the whole family at once — isn’t so appealing to adolescents.
Researchers at Kaiser Permanente wanted to test […]

MEwens
Social Media and Funding Brouhaha: Social media helped galvanize supporters of Planned Parenthood last week after Susan G. Komen for the Cure said it would cut off funding for the women’s health nonprofit — and then reversed its stance, the WSJ reports. According to social-media monitor NetBase Solutions, Komen-related chatter rose 80% from […]

MEwens
Doctors who need to drop pounds themselves may be less likely to bring up the topic of weight loss with their obese patients, a new study suggests.
The study, published in the journal Obesity, covered 498 primary-care physicians. Of them, 47% were normal-weight, 38% were overweight and 15% were obese, based on their body […]

MEwens
Americans may be as heavy as they’re going to get — at least for now.
That’s what new government data suggest. While obesity rates climbed sharply in the U.S. in the 1980s and 1990s, their increase has slowed or leveled off in many population groups since then, according to data from the Centers for […]

Laura Landro
Gut Brain: The health of the gut is tied to more than digestion, with links to processes and conditions including bone formation, learning and memory, Parkinson’s disease and, in lab rats, depression and anxiety, the WSJ reports. Researchers call the enteric nervous system the “gut brain” and note that about 95% of […]

MEwens
By John Revill
Forget about corporate fat cats: a new scheme launched by food giant Nestlé is targeting real overweight pets, which could also help their chubby owners battling their own expanding waistlines.
The world’s largest food company has launched a new weight-loss program to help pet owners and their cats, dogs and other household […]