-- Needles used to administer vaccines always seem too long to those receiving the jab. But in certain cases, they might not be long enough: In a study of 24 obese adolescents receiving the hepatitis B vaccine, use of a 1.5-inch needle, rather than the standard 1-inch version, produced 50% higher antibody levels, which were closer to those seen after vaccinating non-obese patients. The difference seems to come in better penetrating the fatty tissue, which would otherwise break down the vaccine. The findings show an increasing need for specialized equipment -- such as larger gurneys, cots and even lifting equipment -- tailored to treat obese individuals. (Reuters)

-- Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin dismissed Nikolai Yurgel, director of the country’s Federal Supervision Service for Healthcare and Social Development, after Yurgel criticized the Law on Medicines Turnover last week. Approved last month by the State Duma, the law sets prices on nearly 5,500 pharmaceuticals, among other market regulations, which Yurgel and pharmaceutical companies believe will drive up costs and stifle the industry. It’s another Nutt-y case of government trying to silence its critics. (Moscow Times)

-- According to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, “Up to 40% of the drugs Americans take are imported, and up to 80% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients in those drugs come from foreign sources.” This makes it all the more important then that the agency has announced it will use an online tool called Predict (Predictive Risk-Based Evaluation for Dynamic Import Compliance Targeting) to determine which drug imports are high-risk and therefore require close inspection. For more on the FDA's handling of imported drugs, check out this month's print story. (Pharmalot)

-- The Wakefield study linking MMR vaccines and autism may have been pulled from the record, but another linkage study is now making waves. Data from nearly five million California births in the 1990s shows the risk of a child developing autism increases by 18% with every five years of age for the mother; women over 40, for example, have a 77% higher risk than those under 25. (NYTimes)

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-- William Hunter and William Smellie, considered by many to be the fathers of British obstetrics, may have masterminded the murders of up to 40 women in the 18th century. The two allegedly used henchmen to deliver pregnant women for study, according to a new paper, which places their serial killing prowess above even Jack the Ripper. But some believe that the doctors simply were not aware of how the women may have died. (Guardian)

-- Two Congressmen have asked the US Health Resources and Services Administration to look into funding of AIDS nonprofits nationwide. The probe follows a Washington Post series that found the District’s Department of Health had given over $25 million toward local nonprofits, some of which may have had questionable accounting and services. (WaPo)

-- An artificial pancreas showed promise in a study of 17 children and teens with type 1 diabetes. During the 33 nights they used the system, which combines a monitor and insulin pump, none of the patients experienced episodes of significantly low blood sugar. By comparison, they experienced nine cumulative episodes over the course of 21 nights when they instead used a continuous insulin pump, which doses at a predetermined rate. For more on the artificial pancreas, check out our recent post on its development, as well as the efficacy of insulin pumps. (BBC)

-- The taxman is playing both friend and foe to the pharmaceutical industry. A tax credit in the US Senate version of health care reform would allow for R&D grants to small biotech firms, covering up to 50% of project costs (NJ Star-Ledger). On the other hand, President Obama’s budget proposal last week included a 35% tax on overseas profits, worrying companies like Merck, which reportedly generated 88% of its income between 2004 and 2008 from overseas. (NYTimes)

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In February's podcast, we investigate a way to get drugs from pond scum and a vaccine approach that does more than scratch the surface.

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By Asher Mullard

The World Health Organization (WHO) has come under fire after an internal email surfaced showing that a pharmaceutical lobbying group had access to a confidential draft report on the financing of drug research and development. WHO officials have defended the integrity of its decision process, but critics say that a clear industry bias has tainted the agency's commitment to the developing world.

“I find this incredibly disturbing,” says Tido von Schoen-Angerer, director of the campaign for access to essential medicines at Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) in Geneva. “It's a clear indication that [big pharma] had room to influence the report.” (Click here to continue reading; subscription required)

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Blocking the synthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the gut increased bone mass in mice, researchers report online today in Nature Medicine. The finding could have implications for treating osteoporosis in people. Watch this video to find out how:

For more discussion of the paper, you can also watch a longer video from BioBusiness.TV here.

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Responding to the need for better expertise to assess multidisciplinary grant applications, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) is inviting a select cohort of researchers to serve as retained reviewers for complex proposals.

The NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR) in Bethesda, Maryland is taking a page from academic journals and recruiting more than 2,000 scientists to serve on its equivalent of an editorial board. Affiliates of this 'College of CSR Reviewers' will act as first-stage experts for translational and other multifaceted research topics by providing written critiques of up to 12 applications a year. (Click here to continue reading; subscription required)

Addendum: After Nature Medicine went to press, John Raymond was invited to join the College of CSR Reviewers. Congrats John!

Posted by Elie Dolgin at 09:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

-- The recent spotlight cast on the potential dangers of radiation therapy has created waves. This week the American Society for Radiation Oncology issued a six-point plan to avoid harmful medical errors, including a recommendation to create a centralized database to collect reports of errors involving linear accelerators and CT scanners. (NYTimes)

-- Arden Bement, director of the US National Science Foundation (NSF), announced yesterday that he would be stepping down from his post in June. The change comes at a time when the Obama Administration is trying to make good on a 2006 promise by Bush to double the NSF’s budget. (ScienceInsider)

-- The US government’s new Text4baby program puts new meaning to the term ‘nanny state’. The program, announced yesterday, will send three prenatal health reminders a week via mobile phone to pregnant women who sign up by texting ‘baby’ or ‘bebe’ in Spanish to 511411. (GHIT)

-- The US Department of Defense has said that its military hospitals and clinics around the world will be required to stock Plan B, the controversial emergency contraceptive also known as the ‘morning after pill. The country’s Food and Drug Administration approved over-the-counter sales of Plan B in 2006. (WaPo)

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