Neil Osterweil

SAN FRANCISCO -- Retinal specialists who use Genentech's bevacizumab (Avastin) off-label, instead of ranibizumab (Lucentis), to treat macular degeneration will soon find that their sources for the drug have dried up.

ATLANTA -- On the eve of World Arthritis Day 2007, the CDC has released a snapshot, taken in 2003, of the burden of arthritis in the working world.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Patients seem more skeptical than their doctors do on the safety of menstrual suppression with continuous-use oral contraceptives, but the women like the idea, survey results suggested

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has clarified reports by some major media suggesting that the agency has plans for new regulations on over-the-counter cough and cold medications for children.

AMSTERDAM -- Inhaled insulin can't entirely replace injections, but it might help patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes get better control of their glucose levels, said diabetologists here.

PRESTON, England -- From Addision's disease to Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, medical eponyms remain ubiquitous in the literature in favor of more scientific descriptions of disease. Now comes a proposal to do away with Down's and its ilk.

WASHINGTON -- Mississippi has exceeded the 30% obesity rate, the first time any state's population has done so, reported a health advocacy group. But 19 other states with large obese populations are not far behind.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Veggie Booty snack food, sold in all 50 states and Canada, may be contaminated with Salmonella wandsworth, and consumers should throw away any of the product they have on hand, the FDA advised.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- A device that measures glucose levels every five minutes over a seven-day cycle has been approved for marketing, the FDA announced.

SAN DIEGO -- When talking about antipsychotic agents for schizophrenia, it's important to distinguish efficacy from effectiveness.

SAN DIEGO -- Pharmacotherapy for schizophrenia may be better than it's ever been, but it's not nearly good enough, according to 95% of psychiatrists surveyed nationwide.

SAN DIEGO -- The reasons patients don't adhere to antipsychotic regimens are poor insight into the nature of their illness, forgetfulness, and simply deciding to stop, surveyed physicians said.

SAN DIEGO -- The key to the efficacy of atypical or second-generation antipsychotic agents in treatment of schizophrenia is their affinity for binding to and occupying the dopamine D2 receptor.

ROCKVILLE, Md., May 10 -- A transdermal patch for early symptoms of Parkinson's disease has won FDA approval.

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation's largest health care philanthropy, announced it will commit at least million over the next five years to combat childhood obesity.

ANDOVER, Mass. -- Some radiofrequency (RF) denervation probes distributed from here by Smith & Nephew have been recalled because they were mistakenly labeled as sterile, the company announced.

ATLANTA -- An estimated 16.8% of the U.S. population ages 20 and older has chronic kidney disease, reported researchers from the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has ordered 20 firm to stop marketing grandfathered prescription versions of the vasoconstrictor ergotamine tartrate, an old remedy for treatment of vascular headaches, including migraine.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The demand for obesity surgery has swelled by nearly 2,000% from 1998 to 2004, according to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

BOSTON -- When soft-drink companies fund nutritional research, the result is quite likely to be a favorable outcome, according to sour researchers here.

BOSTON -- Clinical and research developments in neurology in 2006 seemed to be as much about prevention as treatment.

SEATTLE -- Parents of a severely cognitively and physically disabled girl have publicly defended their decision to retard her growth through the use of hormonal therapy and surgery, saying they were acting out of love and compassion.

BETHESDA, Md. -- Cancer therapy in 2006 was marked, as it is every year, by a string of hits and misses.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Against the background of the growing incidence of type 2 diabetes and obesity in the United States came news this year about the first new insulin delivery system in 80 years, as well as new categories of drugs for type 2 disease.

MINNETONKA, Minn. -- The healthiest state in the nation appears to be Minnesota, land of Wobegon and 10,000 other lakes, low cardiovascular death rates, and a well-insured population, according to the United Health Foundation here.

HYATSVILLE, Md. -- The CDC reported today that the birth rate among U.S. teens fell to an all-time low in 2005.

NEW ORLEANS -- For some physicians and nurses the decision to depart this city permanently is due to post-Katrina losses of practices, homes, and patients, but others cite discouragement and defeat at the failure of leadership that permeates the community.

NEW ORLEANS -- As the waters from Hurricane Katrina receded a year ago, they left a once-thriving medical-research establishment in shambles, much of it irretrievably lost.

NEW ORLEANS -- A year after Katrina's winds and surging waters destroyed much of this city, New Orleans' health care system is still at sea.

NEW YORK ? The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) has enlisted a fitness coach and TV personality for a new campaign aimed at challenging patients with type 2 diabetes to get their blood sugar under control.