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In what appears to be a very promising breakthrough for the treatment of rectal cancer, a small drug trial conducted in the US found every patient treated in the experiment had their cancer successfully go into remission. The medication given, called dostarlimab and sold under the brand name Jemperli, is an immunotherapy drug used in the treatment of endometrial cancer, but this was the first clinical investigation of whether it was also effective against rectal cancer tumors. The early results reported so far suggest it is surprisingly effective, with the research team saying the successful cancer remission seen in every...

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday announced its plan to study three potential treatments for COVID-19 patients in its existing trial that spans across 52 countries. As part of the new phase in the trial, researchers will test the effects of three anti-inflammatory drugs among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The manufacturers of the drugs — artesunate, imatinib and infliximab — donated them to be studied for the trial. ... ...Researchers in more than 600 hospitals in 52 countries will participate in the study in what the WHO called “an unprecedented global collaboration for COVID-19.” The WHO’s trial previously involved fewer...

The world's largest randomized clinical trial of potential coronavirus treatments is underway in Britain and has recruited 5,000 patients in record time, researchers say. The British patients are scattered across 165 National Health Service hospitals, trial leader Peter Horby told The Guardian on Friday. "This is by far the largest trial in the world," said Horby, an Oxford University professor of emerging infectious diseases and global health. The Randomized Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy, or "Recovery" trial, is testing four promising treatments for the coronavirus disease. If the science supports it, they will be given to NHS patients as quickly as...

WASHINGTON -- Imagine the horror of learning you have a terminal illness for which science has not yet come up with a treatment. Now imagine receiving the same diagnosis, and then learning a promising new treatment exists that could save your life -- but you can't get access to it thanks to governmental obstacles. That is the nightmare that befell Andrea Sloan, an Austin lobbyist who gave up her job at a high-priced law firm to advocate for victims of domestic violence. In 2007, Sloan was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and for more than six years tried every Food and...

The Clinton Foundation will get new leadership in the form of longtime Clinton ally and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala as it continues to face ongoing questions about its foreign fundraising practices, former President Bill Clinton announced in Coral Gables, Florida on Friday. The news of Shalala’s new role comes as the foundation has caused all-but-certain 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton some political trouble in the final weeks before her expected campaign roll-out. Republicans have latched onto reports that the foundation resumed accepting money from foreign governments after Clinton left the State Department in 2013 — a...

Marijuana compound removes toxic Alzheimer's protein from the brain An active compound in marijuana called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has been found to promote the removal of toxic clumps of amyloid beta protein in the brain, which are thought to kickstart the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The finding supports the results of previous studies that found evidence of the protective effects of cannabinoids, including THC, on patients with neurodegenerative disease. "Although other studies have offered evidence that cannabinoids might be neuroprotective against the symptoms of Alzheimer's, we believe our study is the first to demonstrate that cannabinoids affect both inflammation and amyloid...

In the wake of the one-year-delayed Employer Mandate kicking in on January 1st, it should be emphasized that getting everyone insured is not the biggest problem facing American health care. Far from it. If by magic, every person in the US suddenly had platinum level health insurance, they would still have to embrace a system which has the distinction of spending much more than any other country for at best mediocre outcomes. There are many reasons for this, with Medicare heading the list. Today, though, let’s examine what can go wrong in our miserable and massively corrupted clinical trials jungle....

Results of most drug trials are unreported, inaccessible to clinicians and patients, a new study confirms Patients asking their doctors if a new drug is right for them would do well to also ask for supporting evidence. Conclusions about drug safety and effectiveness in reports submitted to the FDA are sometimes changed to favor the drug in the medical literature, a new analysis finds. And a quarter of submitted drug trials were never published at all, researchers report in the Nov. 25 PLoS Medicine. Information published in journals is the most accessible to health care professionals and also drives marketing...

Drug test subject 'looks like elephant man' says girlfriend (Filed: 15/03/2006) The girlfriend of a man fighting for life after taking part in a pharmaceuticals trial has said the drugs he was given have left him looking "like the Elephant Man". Myfanwy Marshall Myfanwy Marshall, 35, said her boyfriend, a 28-year-old British man who had taken part in drug trials before without adverse side effects, felt ill 80 or 90 minutes after being given the drug on Monday. He is now in the intensive care unit at at Northwick Park hospital in north-west London. Five other men were also admitted...