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The King's Fund Statement On The Appointment Of A New Secretary Of State For Health
Commenting on the appointment of Andy Burnham as the new Secretary of State for Health, The King"s Fund chief executive, Niall Dickson, said:
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A Young Brain For An Old Bee
We are all familiar with the fact that cognitive function declines as we get older. Moreover, recent studies have shown that the specific kind of daily activities we engage in during the course of our lives appears to influence the extent of this decline. A team of researchers from Technische Universitç¤t Berlin are studying how division of labour among honey bees affects their learning performance as they age. Surprisingly, they have found that, by switching their social role, aging honey bees can keep their learning ability intact or even improve it. The scientists are planning to use them as a model to study general aging processes in the brain, and they even hope that they may provide some clues on how to prevent them. Dr. Ricarda Scheiner, leader of the research team, presented these findings at the Society of Experimental Biology Annual Meeting in Glasgow.
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Advances Highlight Progress Being Made In The Treatment And Research Of GastroIntestinal Disorders
Clinicians, researchers and scientists from around the world will gather for Digestive Disease Week® 2009 (DDW®), the largest and most prestigious gastroenterology meeting, from May 30 to June 4, 2009, at the McCormick Place Convention Center, Chicago, IL. DDW is the annual meeting of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute, the largest and oldest GI society in the world. AGA Institute researchers will present exciting, cutting-edge data during the meeting that will help change the way physicians diagnose and treat GI disorders.
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European Medicines Agency Recommends Withdrawal Of Dextropropoxyphene-containing Medicines

Finalising a review of the safety and efficacy of dextropropoxyphene-containing medicines, the European Medicines Agency"s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) concluded that their risks, particularly the risk of potentially fatal overdose, are greater than their benefits. The Committee therefore recommended that the marketing authorisations for these medicines be withdrawn across the European Union. The withdrawal will be gradual to allow time for the safe transfer of patients to appropriate alternative therapies, in line with national recommendations. Dextropropoxyphene is a painkiller used to treat acute and chronic pain. It has been available as a prescription-only medicine for about 40 years, either on its own or in combination primarily with paracetamol, as tablets, capsules, suppositories and solutions for injection. There have been concerns over intentional and accidental fatal overdose with dextropropoxyphene-containing medicines for some years and a number of Member States had carried out independent safety reviews of these medicines authorised in their territories. These reviews have led to different conclusions, with some Member States withdrawing dextropropoxyphene-containing medicines from, and others maintaining them on, their markets. In order to provide for a harmonised level of protection of public health across the European Union, the European Commission asked the European Medicines Agency, in November 2007, to carry out a full assessment of the benefits and risks of combination-medicines containing dextropropoxyphene and paracetamol. This assessment was to determine whether the marketing authorisations for these medicines should be maintained, varied, suspended or withdrawn. Later, the procedure was extended to medicines that contain dextropropoxyphene as the only active substance. The available data have not provided evidence that dextropropoxyphene-containing medicines are more effective than other alternative painkillers. However, data from forensic centres and national mortality statistics from several Member States showed a significant number of deaths associated with overdose. Because no other adequate measures could be identified to minimise these risks sufficiently, the CHMP recommended that these medicines should be withdrawn from the market. The Agency"s recommendation has been forwarded to the European Commission for the adoption of a legally binding decision. Note 1. More information is available in a question-and-answer document. 2. The review was initiated by the European Commission under Article 31 of Directive 2001/83/EC, as amended. This type of procedure may be initiated in specific cases where the interest of the Community is involved. The expression "Community interest" has a broad meaning but it refers particularly to the interests of the public health in the Community, for example following concerns related to the quality, efficacy and/or safety of a medicinal product or new pharmacovigilance information. 3. Medicines containing dextropropoxyphene on its own are authorised in 10 Member States (Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden) and medicines containing dextropropoxyphene combined with paracetamol (sometimes with caffeine) are authorised in six Member States (Belgium, Cyprus, France, Luxembourg, Malta, and Portugal) and Norway. EMEA


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