Current medical news and unique business news for anyone who cares about the healthcare industry.
FDA drug approvals on the rise. If you feel like you’ve been reading a lot about FDA drug approvals this year, it’s because you have.
In a testimony before the House Energy and Commerce’s health committee last week, the head of the FDA’s drug division reported that the FDA approved 20 new drugs already this year, compared to 21 in all of 2010, and is on par to exceed approval numbers for the past several years and reach a 20-year high. Notable approvals so far include two new hepatitis C drugs and the melanoma treatment Yervoy.
European E. coli kills an American. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed an American death from the same strain of E. coli spreading across Europe. An Arizona man who had visited Germany and died last month was the first American to die from the European outbreak, although six cases of E. coli in the U.S. have been linked to it.
Healthcare jobs on the rise, but hospital jobs down. Overall healthcare employment was up in the month of June, but hospital jobs dropped. Healthcare represents about 11 percent of U.S. employment.
What’s in a name? A public poll suggests that people prefer going to “hospitals” rather than “medical centers,” because they think hospitals provide a wider range and higher level of services.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
A major threat to public health? Researchers have discovered a new mutant strain of gonorrhea that seems to be resistant to antibiotics. There are an estimated 700,000 new cases of the sexually transmitted infection in the U.S. each year. If left undiscovered or untreated, the infection can cause severe complications if it spreads through the blood and joints.
