Swine Flu Boosts GlaxoSmithKline’s Sales
October 28, 2009
Reuters
By Ben Hirschler
Sharply higher sales of flu drug Relenza buoyed GlaxoSmithKline’s quarterly sales and the British group said it was in line for a big swine flu vaccine boost in the last three months of the year.
Third quarter earnings per share growth of 13 percent, flattered by a weak pound, was just shy of expectations while group revenue rose 15 percent, helped by recent diversification, the world’s second biggest drugmaker said on Wednesday.
Glaxo has lost plenty of business this year to cheap generics, as patents on its older medicines expire, but windfall sales of drugs and vaccines due to H1N1 will soften the blow.
As with many of its rivals, 2009 is turning out better than initially feared and Chief Executive Andrew Witty said he expected further growth in the fourth quarter of this year “including significant sales of influenza products.”
Glaxo has taken orders for 440 million doses of its H1N1 vaccine Pandemrix and analysts believe it could book around 1 billion pounds ($1.64 billion) of this business in the fourth quarter as immunization campaigns get underway.
European companies drugmakers Glaxo, Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis and AstraZeneca are set to win the bulk of the business for mass swine flu vaccination programs launched by governments around the world.
Roche, meanwhile, has seen a sharp jump in sales of flu drug Tamiflu, a rival to Glaxo’s Relenza.
Glaxo’s pre-tax profit totaled 2.07 billion pounds in the third quarter, equivalent to earnings per share before major restructuring of 28.5 pence, on sales of 6.76 billion.
The mean consensus forecast had been for earnings of 28.7p and sales of 6.81 billion pounds, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Glaxo trades at about 10.4 times forecast 2010 earnings, a premium to AstraZeneca and Sanofi — which report on Thursday and Friday respectively — but a discount to Swiss rivals Roche and Novartis.
FDA to Ban the Sale of Raw Oyster in the Gulf of Mexico
October 28, 2009
Google News
By Cain Burdeau
Federal officials plan to ban sales of raw oysters harvested from the Gulf of Mexico unless the shellfish are treated to destroy potentially deadly bacteria — a requirement that opponents say could deprive diners of a delicacy cherished for generations.
The plan has also raised concern among oystermen that they could be pushed out of business.
The Gulf region supplies about two-thirds of U.S. oysters, and some people in the $500 million industry argue that the anti-bacterial procedures are too costly. They insist adequate measures are already being taken to battle germs, including increased refrigeration on oyster boats and warnings posted in restaurants.
About 15 people die each year in the United States from raw oysters infected with Vibrio vulnificus, which typically is found in warm coastal waters between April and October. Most of the deaths occur among people with weak immune systems caused by health problems like liver or kidney disease, cancer, diabetes, or AIDS.
“Seldom is the evidence on a food-safety problem and solution so unambiguous,” Michael Taylor, a senior adviser at the Food and Drug Administration, told a shellfish conference in Manchester, N.H., earlier this month in announcing the policy change.
Some oyster sellers say the FDA rule smacks of government meddling. The sales ban would take effect in 2011 for oysters harvested in the Gulf during warm months.
“We have one man who’s 97 years old, and he comes in here every week and gets his oyster fix, no matter what month it is,” said Mark DeFelice, head chef at Pascal’s Manale Restaurant in New Orleans. “There comes a time when we need to be responsible. Government doesn’t need to be involved in this.”
The anti-bacterial process treats oysters with a method similar to pasteurization, using mild heat, freezing temperatures, high pressure and low-dose gamma radiation.
But doing so “kills the taste, the texture,” DeFelice said. “For our local connoisseurs, people who’ve grown up eating oysters all their lives, there’s no comparison” between salty raw oysters and the treated kind.
A Gulf Coast oyster — or better still, a plate of a dozen oysters on the half-shell — is a delicacy savored for its salty, refreshing, slightly slimy taste. Some people add a drop of horseradish, lemon or hot sauce on top for extra zest.
Warning: Halloween Face Paint Toxic
October 28, 2009
U.S. News
By Kathleen Doheny
If your little goblin or vampire is set to paint his or her face this Halloween to look all the more believable, you may want to think twice, according to a new report released just in time for the holiday.
The report, issued by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, is titled: Pretty Scary: Could Halloween Face Paint Cause Lifelong Health Problems? Researchers tested 10 face paint products, the types widely available via the Internet or in craft or Halloween stores.
“All 10 face paint products tested contained lead, and six out of 10 had known skin allergens, including nickel, cobalt or chromium, at levels above recommendations of industry studies,” said Stacy Malkan, the campaign’s co-founder and a co-author of the report. Malkan is also the author of Not Just a Pretty Face, a 2007 book detailing what she sees as the potentially hazardous ingredients in cosmetics.
For the new report, she said, “We looked for a range of heavy metals, and we didn’t find mercury or arsenic. Other countries have found those in face paints. We did unfortunately find lead in all the products.” Exposure to lead can cause developmental and behavioral problems, experts agree.
Then there were the labeling problems, with some products claiming to be hypoallergenic when they were not. One product “was advertised on the package as nontoxic and hypoallergenic, [and] had some of the highest levels of nickel, cobalt and lead,” Malkan said.
The lead found ranged from 0.054 parts per million to 0.65 parts per million. Four of 10 products had nickel, ranging from 2.1 to 5.9 parts per million; two of 10 had cobalt, with levels from 4.8 to 5.5 parts per million. Five of 10 had chromium, ranging from 1.6 to 120 parts per million. According to the report, levels of each should not exceed 1 part per million for consumer products.
Earlier this year, a face paint from China was recalled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration when some children had rashes and itching; the FDA later found microbial contamination in the product.
Malkan says more oversight is needed by the FDA to regulate products, including face paints. Cosmetic products and ingredients are not subject to premarket approval by the FDA, except color additives. Recalls of cosmetics are done voluntarily by manufacturers or distributors if products are found hazardous or deceptive; the FDA can take regulatory action through the federal court system. But this level of oversight is not strong enough, Malkan and others believe.
What’s a parent to do? Using the face paint just once a year “is probably not going to do anything at all [healthwise],” contended Dr. Dennis Woo, former chair of pediatrics at Santa Monica-UCLA and Orthopaedic Hospital, Santa Monica, Calif., who reviewed the report. But he said he is surprised by the amounts of heavy metals found in the face paints. “We should start looking at this stuff. There’s no reason these heavy metals need to be in cosmetics.”
His colleague, Dr. Wally Ghurabi, chief of emergency services, Santa Monica-UCLA and Orthopaedic Hospital, believes that even once-a-year use of the face paints may not be worth it. “Concerned parents should skip it,” he said. If those who apply the paints aren’t careful, he said, and get the paint too close to the eyes or nose, that could be potentially harmful.
Antipsychotics Cause Weight Gain in Kids
October 28, 2009
U.S. News
By Nathan Seppa
Many young children and adolescents taking drugs for severe psychiatric problems gain substantial weight and, in some cases, show increased levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides in their blood, researchers report in the Oct. 28 Journal of the American Medical Association.
Although the data from this study need to be replicated over a longer time frame, the findings nonetheless raise worrisome questions about anti-psychotic drugs that often benefit children who have schizophrenia, autism, tics, severe bipolar disorder or aggressive behavior.
“We are between a rock and a hard place here,” says study coauthor Christoph Correll, a psychiatrist at the Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, N.Y. These mental disorders are severe and can lead to suicide or to educational problems and emotional scars, he says. On the other hand, weight gain during youth predisposes an individual to chronic health problems later in life, he says.
Weight gain has been noticed before in children and adolescents taking commonly prescribed drugs for severe psychiatric problems. But studies seeking to link that weight gain to the medications were often muddied because patients had taken one of the drugs beforehand at some point — and may have already put on weight from it or reset their body metabolism to adjust to the drug somehow.
In the new study, Correll and his colleagues monitored 272 children, ages 4 to 19, between 2001 and 2007. Of these, 257 were getting psychotropics for severe problems for the first time, and 15 others refused the drugs but agreed to be seen by a doctor. The drugs were olanzapine (Zyprexa), quetiapine (Seroquel), risperidone (Risperdal) or aripiprazole (Abilify). Restricting the study to first-timers eliminated problems encountered in earlier studies.
After a median follow-up period of nearly 11 weeks, these patients had gained 10 to 19 pounds on average, depending on the drug. Kids on Zyprexa gained the most, on average, while those taking Abilify gained the least. The 15 patients who had refused drug treatment gained less than one pound on average during the monitoring period.
The pace of weight gain seems to level off over time, Correll says, but further study will be needed to clarify that trend.
“This is a really good study of relatively short-term effects,” says Christopher Varley, a child psychiatrist at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Seattle Children’s Hospital. But longer-term data are needed, he says, “because you never really treat a kid with one of these conditions for only 12 weeks — it’s more like six to nine months or a year or two.”
Author Marc Sorenson, EdD
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Marc Sorenson on The Kevin Trudeau Show 10/27/09
The Kevin Trudeau Show: 10-27-09
Today, Kevin gives you the truth behind the food you eat everyday!
Food Inc.
Orange Juice Scam
Chocolate Better Than Aspirin for Heart Attacks
Wine Protects Skin from Radiation
Psychic Warfare
Ted Kennedy’s Confession
Plus, the author of Vitamin D3 and Solar Power for Optimal Health, Marc Sorenson, joined Kevin to explain how vitamin D3 & the sun can save YOUR life!!
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Ted Kennedy Deathbed Confession
October 27, 2009
National Enquirer
As life slipped away, Ted Kennedy had a teary reunion with first wife Joan, downed his last Chivas and murmured: “It was my fault…I’m going to tell Mary Jo that.”
Before Sen. Ted Kennedy lost his battle with brain cancer on Aug. 25, he made a final conscience clearing deathbed confession, asking for forgiveness for causing the death of young Mary Jo Kopechne in the tragic Chappaquiddick accident 40 years ago.
“Mary Jo’s death haunted Ted throughout his life,” revealed a family friend. “He never made amends with her parents before they died, and it weighed heavily on him.”
But as he drifted in and out of consciousness in his final hours, Ted seemed to find peace as he spoke of seeing Mary Jo again and finally being able to tell her he was sorry for leaving her to die in the water.
The startling confession – as well as the poignant untold details of the 77-year-old senator’s final days and hours – was revealed exclusively to The ENQUIRER by close Kennedy family sources.
“Ted achieved his dying wish not to pass away in a hospital,” continued the family friend. “He died in his own bed, with his three dogs at his feet. And from a window, he was able to see his boat bobbing at the dock in the moonlight.
“He defied his doctors’ expectations and lived 14 months after being diagnosed with brain cancer. It gave him a chance to reflect and say his goodbyes.”
One of the people Ted asked to see in his final days was first wife Joan.
“A week before he died, he sent her a message and she slipped quietly into his home in Hyannis Port,” divulged an insider. “Ted told Joan that before he died, he wanted her forgiveness for the way he’d treated her.
“He had always agonized over whether his behavior that night at Chappaquiddick and his continual drinking had anything to do with her becoming an alcoholic.
“He said he prayed Joan would be strong enough to beat her problems with alcohol.”
As Ted was too weak to attend the memorial service for his beloved sister Eunice Kennedy the rapidly fading Lion of the Senate was so disoriented from his morphine drip that Ted asked a family member: “Is it MY funeral that’s taking place?’”
Click here for the full report
Wine Helps Fight Cancer?
October 27, 2009
MSNBC
Reuters
Cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment may want to sip some red wine before treatment.
A study in women with breast cancer found that drinking red wine can help limit the toxic effects of radiation therapy.
“The possibility that particular dietary practices or interventions can reduce radiation-induced toxicity is very intriguing,” Dr. Gabriella Macchia, of Catholic University, Campobasso, Italy, noted in an email to Reuters Health.
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It’s already known that some wine components may protect against the harmful effects of radiation. These components include polyphenols in particular, and the tannins.
In the current study, Macchia and colleagues evaluated the potential protective effects of varying levels of self-reported red wine consumption in 348 women treated with radiation therapy after breast cancer surgery.
The findings were “interesting,” Macchia said.
The incidence of radiation-induced skin toxicity greater was 38.4 percent in non-drinkers, 31.8 percent in women drinking only half a glass of wine daily, 13.6 percent in those drinking one glass daily, and 35 percent in those drinking two glasses daily.
Women who drank only one glass daily had a much lower risk of suffering skin effects from radiation therapy. Specifically, their risk of significant skin toxicity was about 75 percent less than that in non-drinkers, the researchers found.
“If wine can prevent (radiation)-induced toxicity without affecting antitumor efficacy, as we observed, it also has the potential to enhance the therapeutic benefit in cancer patients without increasing their risk of serious adverse effects,” Macchia said.
“The possible protective effect of wine, which we assessed only in women with breast cancer, should also be evaluated in male and female patients with other types of tumors (e.g., prostate carcinoma) who are undergoing radiotherapy,” she concluded.
Click here for the full report.
Chocolate is the New Aspirin?
October 27, 2009
FoodNavigator.com
By Catherine Boal
Cocoa can function in the same way as aspirin in preventing heart attacks, according to a new study investigating its effect on blood platelets.
The research will lend further weight to the various health claims now attached to the traditional indulgence.
Dark chocolate has recently been making inroads into the health market as its beneficial antioxidant and flavanoid content becomes more widely publicised and consumers switch from milk or white chocolate to keep up with the trend.
Scientists at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine say that a few squares of chocolate a day can reduce the risk of a heart attack by almost 50 per cent in some cases.
The discovery came after volunteers for a trial on the effects of aspirin were disqualified for eating chocolate, despite being warned that this would interfere with results from the study.
Despite being barred from participating in the drug study, the chocolate-eaters blood was examined and compared with others who hadn’t indulged in order to determine what effect cocoa has on platelets.
Platelets from those who had eaten chocolate clotted more slowly than those who had not – taking an average of 130 seconds to clump together compared to 123.
Professor Diane Becker said: “What these chocolate ‘offenders’ taught us is that the chemical in cocoa beans has a biochemical effect similar to aspirin in reducing platelet clumping, which can be fatal if a clot forms and blocks a blood vessel, causing a heart attack.”
She continued: “Eating a little bit of chocolate or having a drink of hot cocoa as part of a regular diet is probably good for personal health, so long as people don’t eat too much of it, and too much of the kind with lots of butter and sugar.”
The full results of the study were presented to the American Heart Association’s annual Scientific Sessions in Chicago yesterday.
Click here for the full report.
The War on the Dollar
October 27, 2009
Money and Markets
By
