Health

  2010 MAR 28 - (VerticalNews.com) -- A hospitalist at the University of Rochester Medical Center calls for more stringent Federal guidelines governing the approval of potential new drugs, in a commentary in the March 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

  Alec B. O'Connor, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor in the Hospital Medicine Division of the Department of Medicine, says that while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does an "incredible job, considering its long list of responsibilities and budget constraints," the agency should be empowered to demand more detailed data when a new drug is being considered for approval ...read more

  2010 FEB 14 - (VerticalNews.com) -- A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine examines the impact of a safety warning issued by the Food and Drug Administration for commonly prescribed antipsychotic medications. The results show the warnings resulted in a decline in usage among the elderly with dementia, yet raise the question as to whether the FDA's system of communicating these warnings is sufficiently targeted and effective ...read more

  2010 FEB 7 - (VerticalNews.com) -- Vitamin D deficiency may contribute to a higher number of heart and stroke-related deaths among black Americans compared to whites, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study.

  The journal Annals of Family Medicine is publishing the study in the January-February edition, which goes online Jan. 11, 2010.

  Researchers sought to understand the well-documented disparity between blacks and whites in cardiovascular deaths. They turned to vitamin D because growing evidence links low serum levels of D to many serious illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, kidney and heart disease ...read more