Novartis drug cuts recurrence risk by 25% in early-stage breast cancer

By Ludwig Burger FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Novartis breast cancer drug Kisqali cut the risk of recurrence by more than 25% in a pivotal trial on women diagnosed at an early stage, positioning the Swiss drugmaker to win new patients and but facing strong competition from Eli Lilly. The company on Friday said the relative risk…

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J&J secures dismissal of whistleblower case over misuse of confidential info

By Brendan Pierson (Reuters) – A federal appeals court, in a decision unsealed Wednesday, upheld the dismissal of a whistleblower lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson as a sanction for the plaintiffs’ misuse of confidential records they obtained through related litigation. The lawsuit, which accused J&J’s DePuy Orthopaedics unit of defrauding the federal government by marketing…

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US food aid could shrink under debt ceiling deal, hunger groups warn

By Leah Douglas WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Changes to the largest U.S. food aid program in the debt deal passed by Congress this week could force hundreds of thousands of older Americans off of federal food aid and bury other applicants in new paperwork, food security experts warned. Eligibility requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program…

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U.S. regulation fears drive insurers’ climate alliance break-up

By Tommy Wilkes LONDON (Reuters) -The success of Republicans in triggering the break-up of a coalition of insurance firms aimed at tackling climate change is down to U.S. states being the industry’s primary regulator, interviews with industry executives and former officials show. The U.N.-backed Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), formed in 2019 to get insurers to…

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Biden plans to pick former North Carolina health secretary to lead CDC – source

(Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden plans to select former North Carolina health secretary Mandy Cohen to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to a source familiar with the matter. Biden’s formal announcement is expected later this month, according to the Washington Post, which first reported the news. If appointed, Cohen…

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FDA warns about safety risks of tailored weight-loss drugs

(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned about the safety risks of using compounded or custom-made versions of popular weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and diabetes drug Ozempic. The health regulator on Wednesday said it had received reports of adverse events after patients used compounded versions of semaglutide, the active ingredient in…

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U.S. Supreme Court gives boost to whistleblowers in drug pricing case

By John Kruzel WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday gave a boost to whistleblowers in their bid to revive lawsuits accusing pharmacy operators of knowingly overbilling government health insurance programs for prescription drugs at taxpayers’ expense. The justices in a 9-0 decision threw out a lower court’s ruling that said the pharmacies…

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AstraZeneca drug combo gets US nod to treat a type of prostate cancer

(Reuters) – AstraZeneca said on Thursday that a combination of its cancer drug Lynparza and abiraterone has been approved in the United States for the treatment of BRCA-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The company said the combination treatment reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 76% compared with usage of abiraterone alone. (Reporting…

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