Health News

California judge sides with drug companies in opioid lawsuit

(HealthDay)—A California judge has ruled against local governments that sued drug companies for billions of dollars to recover their costs of dealing with the opioid epidemic. In a tentative ruling issued Monday, Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson rejected the plaintiffs’ claims the companies used deceptive marketing to increase unnecessary prescriptions of opioid painkillers, […]

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A cancer treatment with built-in light

Therapies should be highly effective and as free as possible of side effects—a big challenge, particularly in the case of cancer. A Chinese research team has now developed a novel form of photodynamic tumor therapy for the treatment of deep tumors that works without external irradiation. The light source is built into the drug and […]

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Postop pneumonia risk up with pediatric neurologic comorbidity

(HealthDay)—Children with neurologic comorbidities undergoing surgery have an elevated risk for pneumonia within 30 days after surgery, according to a study published online Aug. 4 in Pediatrics. Christian Mpody, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and colleagues conducted a retrospective study involving children who underwent inpatient surgery between 2012 and 2018 […]

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With so few virus deaths, Australians debate vaccine risks

Australia has weathered the pandemic far better than many nations—recording just a single coronavirus death since last October—but its success means many Australians are not in a rush to get vaccinated and that could delay the country’s return to normalcy. Concerns are growing about the economic cost to Australia of being left behind by countries […]