Category: Pediatrics

MEwens
Many kids spend a not-insignificant chunk of their time in carpools, being shuttled to school, sports practices and various other commitments.
But as a 681-person study just published in Pediatrics shows, kids in carpools are sometimes missing out on something they get when driving alone with their parents: booster seats.
The American Academy of Pediatrics […]

MEwens
Lipitor Benefit Changes: Pharmacy-benefit manager Express Scripts will move brand-name Lipitor to the third tier of its national drug formulary from the second tier as of Feb. 1, increasing co-pays for some patients and emphasizing Pfizer’s challenge of holding on to sales of the drug, the WSJ reports. The generic versions of Lipitor […]

MEwens
Formula Comes Up Clean: Mead Johnson Nutrition said Sunday that fresh tests on its Enfamil Premium Newborn formula, a batch of which was pulled from the shelves of retailers including Wal-Mart, Walgreen and Kroger, have turned up no traces of a bacteria implicated in the death of a 10-day-old infant, the WSJ reports. […]

MEwens
Up to the States: The onus is on the states to make the tough decisions about what treatments must be covered by individual and small-group plans under the health-care overhaul law, the WSJ reports. The Obama administration said states would be able to align coverage standards with those of popular federal- and state-employee […]

MEwens
The FDA said it approved an external pump with implantable tubes to keep kids’ hearts going while they await a transplant.
The official name for the device is the Excor Pediatric System. But it’s commonly known by the name of its manufacturer, a German company called Berlin Heart.
Heart failure in kids is far less […]

MEwens
It’s no secret that reversing the childhood obesity epidemic in the U.S. will be a long slog. While obesity rates among children and teens appear to have leveled off in recent years, nearly a third remain overweight, and about 17% are obese.
And while many cities and towns have programs and events to attack […]

MEwens
Researching Lefties: Experts are studying left-handed people for clues to disorders including ADHD, dyslexia and schizophrenia, the WSJ reports. Those problems are more common in lefties for reasons that aren’t known, though some scientists speculate that the 30% of lefties who rely on their right brains (or a mix of the right and […]

MEwens
Health Suit Complication?: A small-business owner who is a key plaintiff in the 26-state suit against the Obama health-care law has closed her business and filed for bankruptcy, which may complicate her legal standing to be part of the suit, the WSJ reports. The suit relied in part on the financial burden the […]

MEwens
California children’s hospitals aren’t dishing up particularly healthful fare, a new study shows.
Researchers from UCLA and the Rand Corp. report in the journal Academic Pediatrics that of the 16  food venues serving 14 hospitals studied in July 2010, 81% offered unhealthful “impulse items” — think freezers stocked with ice-cream treats — near the […]

MEwens
Pharma Deal: Gilead will pay about $10.4 billion — about $11 billion, including options — for drug developer Pharmasset, the WSJ reports. Pharmasset’s board has approved the deal, which values the company at $137 per share, an 89% premium to Friday’s closing price. Pharmasset said last month it was expanding a trial of […]