By LAURA BLUE If you’re wondering why experts still can’t agree on prostate-cancer screening, you’re not alone. Just two months ago, a major U.S. government panel said that basically no one should get screened for prostate cancer, claiming the simple blood test for prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, does more harm than good. Now, a new…
By DR. ELLEN SIGAL, Ph.D. Almost 25 years ago, I lost my sister to cancer. Since then, I’ve lost my mother, father, and other close family and friends to the disease. As it is for so many others, my fight against cancer is a deeply personal cause. I felt strongly about the need to increase…
By GINA KOLATA More than 200 researchers investigating colon cancer tumors have found genetic vulnerabilities that could lead to powerful new treatments. The hope is that drugs designed to strike these weak spots will eventually stop a cancer that is now almost inevitably fatal once it has spread. Scientists increasingly see cancer as a genetic…
By STEVEN PETROW Watching Robin Roberts tear up in front of millions of viewers on “Good Morning America” last month, I cried, too. With equal measures of courage and fear, Ms. Roberts, an anchor of the show and a breast cancer survivor, explained that the life-saving treatment she received five years ago was responsible for…
By ALAINA BUSCH President Barack Obama’s signing Monday (July 9) of the FDA Safety and Innovation Act officially sets in motion implementation of the law that reauthorizes and establishes product user fees, and mandates several key reforms. With the bill’s enactment, reforms such as tools to prevent drug shortages and antibiotic exclusivity incentives are immediately…
By MATTHEW HERPER The U.S. approved 33% more new cancer drugs than European nations including the United Kingdom, France, and Germany between 2000 and 2011, and approved them much faster as well, according to new research released today by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development. But Americans pay for their greater access…
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR In the year after an expert panel’s recommendation that women delay regular breast cancer screenings until age 50, the number of women in their 40s undergoing mammograms slightly declined, a new study shows. The study, carried out by the Mayo Clinic, found a drop of roughly 6 percent in the number of…
By JOHN H CUSHMAN, JR. The Supreme Court on Thursday left standing the basic provisions of the health care overhaul, ruling that the government may use its taxation powers to push people to buy health insurance. The narrowly delineated decision was a victory for President Obama and Congressional Democrats, with a 5-to-4 majority, including the…
By DINA ELBOGHDADY A measure that would generate $6 billion in fees over five years for the Food and Drug Administration is headed to President Obama for his signature after passing the Senate on Tuesday, a rare moment of bipartisan cooperation in a divided Congress. Although the FDA gets money from Congress each year, a big…
By BRETT NORMAN The Senate voted Tuesday to send the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act to President Barack Obama, in what’s almost certain to be the last major health care legislation before the fall elections. The vote was 92-4. With the Supreme Court set to release its ruling on the Affordable Care…
