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Italy responds to measles' outbreaks with compulsory vaccination
The Italian has ruled that children must be vaccinated against 12 common illnesses before they can enroll for state-run schools, reports BBC News.
Prime Minister...
Healthcare 'particularly vulnerable' to ransomware attack
The WannaCry ransomware attack which devastated the UK's National Health Service has highlighted the extreme vulnerability of medical systems internationally against a new class...
Gouging claims batter Aspen's reputation and share price
If not ruined entirely, multinational SA pharmaceutical giant Aspen has suffered untold repetitional damage, all of its own making, writes the Financial Mail.
The report says it is...
Major drug trial looks at statins to treat MS
Scientists are hopeful a major UK drug trial will establish that statins can be used to treat multiple sclerosis, reports The Guardian. The low-cost...
IPM starts three-month ring trial
The non-profit International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) has announced the start of the first clinical trial of its three-month vaginal ring designed to prevent...
NHS doctor shortage puts young patients at risk
Specialist children's wards are being forced to shut in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) hospitals due to a severe shortage of doctors, “jeopardising”...
Greece accuses Novartis of bribing 'thousands' of doctors
Greece's justice minister said Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis had likely bribed 'thousands' of doctors and civil servants to promote its products, amid an ongoing...
NHS England to expand provision of 'game changing' stroke treatment
Thousands of stroke patients will be saved from lifelong disability after NHS England decided to invest millions of pounds in a new treatment hailed as...
48m for UK-US companies to develop antibiotics to fight superbugs
Eleven biotech companies and research teams in the UK and the US have been awarded up to $48m in funding to speed development of...
Novartis leukaemia drug to get priority review from the FDA
A new leukaemia treatment from Novartis for children and young adults will get priority review from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), putting...
Drug-vitamin C combo may be breakthrough treatment for sepsis
A simple infusion of vitamin C combined with low-dose corticosteroids and thiamine may be the next breakthrough treatment for sepsis, according to a US...
EMA suspends drug approvals due to 'unreliable' tests in India
Europe's medicines regulator has recommended the suspension of more than 300 generic drug approvals and drug applications due to "unreliable" tests conducted by Indian...
Gilead faces fresh challenge in Europe over hepatitis C drug patent
International groups representing doctors and patients have launched a fresh challenge to the patent on Gilead Sciences' hepatitis C drug sofosbuvir at the European...
Some breast implants associated with rare cancer deaths
A rare cancer first linked to breast implants in 2011 has now been associated with nine deaths, reports The New York Times. This is according...
Tribunal finds doctor acted dishonestly over Ebola nurse's temp
A doctor acted dishonestly when she lied to investigators about the dangerously high temperature of a nurse who went on to develop Ebola, a...
FDA warns of risk of major adverse cardiac events with Absorb stent
Patients who received Abbott Laboratories' novel dissolving vascular stent had a significantly higher rate of serious adverse heart events than those treated with the...
Fentanyl chemicals added to controlled substance list
A UN body has added two chemicals used to make the drug fentanyl, which killed music star Prince, to an international list of controlled...
Doctor admits to misleading officials over Ebola nurses' temperature
A doctor has admitted that she misled other medics about the health of a colleague returning to the UK from West Africa with Ebola...
UK foods to miss stringent salt-reduction targets
Bread rolls are the only manufactured foodstuff likely to meet the UK’s stringent 2017 salt-reduction targets, research has revealed. The food industry will miss...
Australia looking at a ban on unvaccinated children
Unvaccinated children would be banned from childcare centres and preschools under an Australian government plan, reports BBC News. Some Australian states already have "no...
Cover-up claims over NHS data breach affecting thousands
Thousands of patients are feared to have been harmed after the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) lost more than half a million pieces of...
World Cancer Day: A cure is 5-10 years away – WHO expert
An effective cure for all types of cancer could be just five to 10 years away, according to Professor Karol Sikora, former head of...
Trump's anti-abortion rule may endanger PEPFAR
Donald Trump’s recent signing of an anti-abortion rule could put $9.5bn in US aid funding at risk, including the PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for...
FDA warns on vulnerability of pacemakers to hacking
Pacemakers are easy targets for hackers, the US Food and Drug Administration< has warned in a cybersecurity briefing.
The small devices have been saving lives...
Botch up means 26 women got wrong IVF sperm
A mistake at a Dutch IVF clinic means that up to 26 women may have accidentally had their eggs fertilised with the wrong sperm,...
Syria's shadow doctors heal as conflict kills
In the past five years the Syrian government has assassinated, bombed and tortured to death almost 700 medical personnel, according to Physicians for Human...