California Hospitals Lose Ground In Quality…

Nearly half of California hospitals received a grade of C or lower for patient safety on a national report card aimed at prodding medical centers to do more to prevent injuries and deaths. The Leapfrog Group, an employer-backed nonprofit group focused on health care quality, issued its latest scores last week. The report card is part of an effort to make consumers and employers aware of how their hospitals perform on key quality measures, so they can make better-informed health care decisions. The scores are updated twice a year, in spring and fall. After steady improvement in recent years, California hospitals lost ground in last week’s report card. Two years ago, 37 percent of California hospitals received a C, D…
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Majority of Americans think marijuana is…

A survey of Americans’ views on marijuana found that a majority of people think the drug is “socially acceptable” — a position that likely puts them at odds with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who said in March that a marijuana habit is only “slightly less awful” than heroin addiction. The poll, conducted in March by Marist in partnership with Yahoo News, surveyed 1,122 U.S. adults and found that 56% said using marijuana was socially acceptable, compared with 42% who said it was socially unacceptable and 2% who were “unsure.” The survey also revealed that 49% of respondents, nearly half, said they supported legalizing recreational marijuana. So far, Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and the District of…
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Trump popularity plummets in Russia, poll…

President Donald Trump, dogged since his election by accusations of improper connections to Russia, has seen his popularity wane in that country in recent weeks. A survey released Monday by state pollster VTsIOM found that the percentage of Russians who view the U.S. president negatively has spiked from 7 percent to 39 percent in a single month, according to Reuters. Positive opinions of Trump among Russians dipped from 38 percent to 13 percent, according to an RT report on the survey, while 38 percent of respondents said they didn’t care one way or another. Additionally, 55 percent of respondents said they had not seen any change in U.S.-Russia relations since Trump’s inauguration. Some 20 percent said relations had improved, but…
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Roche’s emicizumab hemophilia drug shows positive…

The logo of Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche is seen outside their headquarters in Basel Thomson Reuters ZURICH (Reuters) – Roche Holding AG’s emicizumab drug for treating hemophilia A showed positive interim results in a phase III study with children with inhibitors to clotting protein factor VIII, the Swiss drugmaker said on Monday. Roche is hoping to win a slice of the $11 billion-a-year hemophilia drug market with the drug, also known as ACE910 and designed to compete with more traditional treatments from Novo Nordisk and Shire. Roche’s drug is being closely watched because it could change the way the disease is treated. Hemophilia patients, whose blood does not clot properly, need life-saving infusions of clotting factors, but development of inhibitors…
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Roche’s emicizumab hemophilia drug shows positive…

ZURICH Roche Holding AG’s emicizumab drug for treating hemophilia A showed positive interim results in a phase III study with children with inhibitors to clotting protein factor VIII, the Swiss drugmaker said on Monday.Roche is hoping to win a slice of the $11 billion-a-year hemophilia drug market with the drug, also known as ACE910 and designed to compete with more traditional treatments from Novo Nordisk and Shire. Roche’s drug is being closely watched because it could change the way the disease is treated.Hemophilia patients, whose blood does not clot properly, need life-saving infusions of clotting factors, but development of inhibitors in many of those being treated can interfere with efforts to control their bleeding. “At this interim analysis after a…
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Roche’s emicizumab haemophilia drug shows positive…

ZURICH, April 17 (Reuters) – Roche Holding AG’s emicizumab drug for treating haemophilia A showed positive interim results in a phase III study with children with inhibitors to clotting protein factor VIII, the Swiss drugmaker said on Monday. Roche is hoping to win a slice of the $11 billion-a-year haemophilia drug market with the drug, also known as ACE910 and designed to compete with more traditional treatments from Novo Nordisk and Shire. Roche’s drug is being closely watched because it could change the way the disease is treated. Haemophilia patients, whose blood does not clot properly, need life-saving infusions of clotting factors, but development of inhibitors in many of those being treated can interfere with efforts to control their bleeding….
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Rapid Rule-Out Strategy with High-Sensitivity Troponin…

In a meta-analysis, the assay plus ECG ruled out MI in nearly a third of patients presenting to the emergency department with possible ACS. With questions swirling on how best to use a new high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T assay soon to be released in the United States, a new study suggests that a single blood draw and measurement in conjunction with ECG may be sufficient to rapidly rule out acute MI in up to 30% of patients and provide for earlier decision-making. “The numbers of patients this affects is vast given the huge numbers who present to emergency departments and are investigated for possible acute coronary syndrome,” said the study’s lead author John W. Pickering, PhD (Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand),…
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Disturbing video shows grandmother dressed as…

WARNING: This video may be considered disturbing to some viewers. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Video given to NewsChannel 4 from the assistant district attorney’s office gives a first look at how Geneva Robinson used her alter ego, “Nelda the Witch,” to torment her granddaughter. Robinson was arrested back in 2014 for child abuse and has been sentenced to three consecutive life sentences in prison. It’s a nightmare inside a house of hell. Video shows Robinson dressed up as “Nelda the Witch.” “Oh no! She might take the doggies,” a child can be heard screaming. “I won’t hit grandma! I won’t be mean!” a child can be heard crying. The trauma just keeps going, and it appears multiple children are in…
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Phase III Study Shows Roche’s Hemophilia…

Roche reported positive interim data from its second Phase III emicizumab (ACE910) trial, HAVEN 2, demonstrating that prophylactic use of the bispecific monoclonal antibody (mAb) reduced the number of bleeding episodes in children under the age of 12 years with haemophilia A and factor VIII inhibitors. Emicizumab was administered by subcutaneous injection, once weekly. The interim HAVEN 2 data, in 19 children treated for a median of 12 weeks, were consistent with data from the first Phase III study, HAVEN 1, which were reported in December 2016. HAVEN 1, evaluating emicizumab prophylaxis in adolescent and adults aged 12 years and older with hemophilia A and factor VIII inhibitors, met both its primary and all secondary endpionts. The trial found that…
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Doctor prescribed oxycodone for Prince in…

A doctor who saw Prince in the days before he died had prescribed oxycodone under the name of Prince’s friend to protect the musician’s privacy, according to an affidavit unsealed Monday.The document is one of several affidavits and search warrants unsealed in Carver County District Court as the investigation into Prince’s death continues. Prince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park home on April 21. Autopsy results showed he died from an accidental overdose of fentanyl, a synthetic drug 50 times more powerful than heroin.According to the search warrants, authorities searched Paisley Park, cellphone records of Prince’s associates, and Prince’s email accounts to try to determine where he got the fentanyl…
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