Portola's long-acting blood thinner misses main study goal

(Reuters) - Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc said data showed its oral anticoagulant missed the main goal of preventing blood clots in acutely ill patients in a late-stage study.

Healthy Planet Essential for Global Health

When it comes to human health, it is time to rethink the notion of a balanced diet. We use an area the size of South America to grow our crops and an area the size of Africa for our livestock. On this scale, it is no surprise food production is the single largest driver of environmental degradation and a major contributor to greenhouse gas...

Scalia death a blow to Obamacare contraception challengers

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Christian groups asking the U.S. Supreme Court to exempt them from the requirement to provide insurance covering contraception under President Barack Obama's healthcare law face an uphill battle following Justice Antonin Scalia's death last month. The remaining eight justices will consider seven related cases on whether nonprofit groups that oppose the requirement on religious grounds can object under a U.S. law called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to a compromise version of the requirement offered by the Obama administration. The court, divided 4-4 between liberal and conservative justices without the conservative Scalia, is set to hear the case on Wednesday.

Barriers to healthcare more common for lesbians, gays, bisexuals

Reuters Health - People who are lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) are more likely to run into obstacles when trying to get healthcare than their straight peers, according to a number of new studies.

Guinea govt says two people have died from Ebola

Two people from the same family have died from Ebola in Guinea, the government said Thursday, as the WHO declared a flare-up of the virus in neighbouring Sierra Leone over. The cases are the first in Guinea since the country was declared Ebola free at the end of last year, and the UN health agency warned that a recurrence of the tropical disease -- which has claimed 11,300 lives since December 2013 -- remained a possibility. WHO declared that flare-up officially over on Thursday after no new cases were seen for 42 days -- the length of two Ebola incubation cycles.

Medecins Sans Frontieres files to block Pfizer patent on pneumonia vaccine in India

The charity Medicins Sans Frontieres has formally opposed U.S. firm Pfizer Inc's application for an Indian patent on a highly effective pneumonia vaccine, saying it could deprive many developing nations of cheaper copies of the drug. Some of the world's poorest countries and medical charities such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) depend on India's robust pharmaceutical industry to make cheaper forms of drugs and vaccines developed by big Western pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer. If India granted Pfizer a patent on its Prevnar 13 pneumonia vaccine, Indian firms would not be able to produce affordable versions of it for domestic use or exports, MSF said.

D.C. Week: FDA Turns Down New Indication for Ezetimibe

(MedPage Today) -- And, CMS releases core clinical quality measures