February 2011 - NPR Health Blog - The Network of Care

FDA Approves First Drug To Prevent Preterm Births

If all the women eligible to get the newly approved drug actually got it, researchers estimate there would be 10,000 fewer preemies a year – out of more than half-a-million born that way. Read More...

Published Sat, Feb 05 2011 6:00 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health News Blog

Cow's First Milk: An Udderly New Sports Drink?

Bovine colostrum has been a popular natural health supplement for centuries. Now, British researchers have found that it helps mitigate the effects of overheating in athletes. Read More...

Published Fri, Feb 25 2011 2:08 PM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

Judges Reviewing Health Law Say Penalty Is Not A Tax

Congress took great pains to ensure that the penalty imposed on people who don't get health insurance was not called a tax in the health law. This could make it tough for the Justice Department to argue that it is a tax. Read More...

Published Wed, Feb 23 2011 12:28 PM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

Pill That Hits A Cause Of Cystic Fibrosis Beats Expectations

An experimental medicine, taken twice a day, dramatically improved breathing in people whose cystic fibrosis stems from a particular genetic defect. If approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the medicine could be very pricey. Read More...

Published Thu, Feb 24 2011 2:22 PM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

Pop Quiz: Has Health Overhaul Law Been Repealed?

A poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that about 1 in 5 Americans believes the federal law overhauling health care has been repealed. Barely more than half of those polled answered it was till the law. Read More...

Published Thu, Feb 24 2011 5:47 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

Pediatricians Caution Parents Against 'Fever Phobia'

A leading group of pediatricians is counseling doctors and parents against going overboard in treating mildly feverish kids with over-the-counter medicines. The pediatricians say keeping children comfortable should be the goal rather than reducing their...

Published Mon, Feb 28 2011 6:57 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

Is It Time To Dial Back The Drug Ad Arms Race?

A former executive at Merck argues the time has come for drugmakers to slow down on TV ads. Congress could help by making it possible for companies to cooperate on ads that don't feature specific drugs, he says. Read More...

Published Thu, Feb 10 2011 6:17 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health News Blog

Will Insurers Have To Offer Free Birth Control?

The White House is reportedly looking into whether under the Affordable Health Care Act, it can require insurance companies to offer free contraceptives and family planning as a preventive service. Experts say 50 percent of pregnancies in the U.S. are...

Published Thu, Feb 03 2011 2:27 PM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health News Blog

Evidence Builds On Fatal Side Effects From Cancer Drug Avastin

Patients on the best-selling cancer drug Avastin are much more likely to suffer fatal side effects than those just getting chemotherapy, a study finds. Even so, the overall risk of fatal problems is low at less than 3 percent. Read More...

Published Wed, Feb 02 2011 11:28 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health News Blog

FDA Rejects Diet Pill, Casting Pall Over Future Of Weight-Loss Medicines

In a move that contradicted the advice of a panel of outside experts, the Food and Drug Administration will not consider approving the diet pill Contrave without a large study to determine its heart risks. Read More...

Published Tue, Feb 01 2011 6:25 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health News Blog

Republicans Move To Undo Restrictions On Flexible Spending Accounts

The federal health overhaul law imposed a variety of restrictions on flexible spending accounts as a way to boost government revenue. Now a backlash is brewing in Congress and bills to roll back some of the changes are getting traction. Read More...

Published Wed, Feb 02 2011 9:56 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health News Blog

Dogs Earn More Cred For Sniffing Out Cancer

In the last five years, dogs of different breeds and ages have shown over and over they can smell cancer on the breaht and in tissue samples from cancer patients. But scientists are still unsure about what the dogs are smelling. Read More...

Published Wed, Feb 02 2011 5:52 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health News Blog

Should FDA Hold 'Me-Too' Drugs To A Higher Standard?

An editorial in a leading medical journal argues that society loses when drugmakers make too many medicines that treat illness in nearly the same way. The authors suggest a higher standard for approval of new brand-name drugs once a a cheap generic in...

Published Tue, Feb 15 2011 2:25 PM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

Risky Medical Devices Untested In Patients Account For Many Recalls

An analysis finds most of the Food and Drug Administration's most urgent recalls of medical devices involved risky products that made it to market without having been subjected to clinical trials. Read More...

Published Mon, Feb 14 2011 1:49 PM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

Cigarettes, Even Smokeless Ones, Still Outlawed On U.S. Planes

Smokers of electronic cigarettes are making videos of themselves using the devices on airplanes, but the U.S. Department of Transportation says the smokeless cigarettes aren't welcome aboard. Read More...

Published Thu, Feb 24 2011 7:56 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

February 2011 - NPR Health Blog

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