Affordable Care Act to Cover Breast Cancer Risk Reduction Drugs

On the heels of a new recommendation from the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), and in line with the Affordable Care Act’s coverage of prevention services, the federal government has announced that beginning in September most health insurance plans will be required to provide breast cancer risk reduction medications free of charge to high-risk women.  Two...

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Investigating a Novel Combination of Treatments for MS Patients

Frequently utilized MS treatments are prescribed with the goal of disease stabilization. However, they may share a common deficiency: lack of effectiveness in addressing many of the symptoms associated with the disease. Additionally they may lead to a troubling array of side effects which in themselves can negatively impact quality of life. Newer treatments are now being...

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Diabetes Drug Metformin May Lower Glaucoma Risk

The diabetes drug metformin was linked to a lower risk of developing the eye condition glaucoma in a new study.People who took the most metformin during the 10-year study period had a 25 percent reduced risk of glaucoma compared with people not taking the drug, researchers found. “Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness worldwide and classic open-angle...

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WHO draws lessons from Ebola to prepare roadmap for future epidemics

The World Health Organization (WHO) has concluded a meeting on Ebola R&D to look at lessons learned from the outbreak and develop a roadmap for future epidemics. Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO assistant director-general for health systems and innovation, said the Geneva meeting aimed to “come up with a new framework for R&D for diseases with epidemic potential and...

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Pfizer launches $3M grants program to further breast cancer research

Pfizer has launched a competitive, peer-reviewed grants program to support clinical research projects investigating Ibrance (palbociclib) in advanced breast cancer. The multi-year program, which will award a total of up to $3 million in grants to investigators in the U.S., is an extension of Pfizer’s Advancing Science through Pfizer Investigator Research Exchange (ASPIRE)...

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SIMPLE MISTAKE MADE IN STUDY LEADS TO SEX BIAS BREAKTHROUGH IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS.

An innocent mistake made by a graduate student in a Northwestern Medicine lab (they accidentally used male mice instead of female mice during an experiment) has led scientists to an exciting breakthrough that offers new insight into why women are more likely than men to develop autoimmune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS).  The data finding focuses on a type...

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