Expert Panel Tells FDA To Pull Approval Of Avastin For Breast Cancer

In the end, Genentech failed to persuade a single member of the Food and Drug Administration’s panel of cancer experts that its blockbuster drug Avastin should keep the agency’s seal of approval for treating advanced breast cancer. Wednesday’s vote echoes the panel’s 12-1 decision last summer to withdraw the $88-a-year drug’s approval for breast cancer. [...]

Obama Debt-Ceiling Pitch Sounds Re-Election Themes

Watching President Obama Wednesday at his first full-scale news conference since February, it was difficult not to be aware of the two simultaneous campaigns he was waging. The first and more short-term campaign was his effort to get congressional Republicans to agree to raise the federal debt ceiling by the Aug. 2 deadline set by [...]

‘Interrupters’ Take On Chicago’s Youth Violence

In June, a fifth person was found guilty in the death of Derrion Albert, the 16-year-old Chicago honor student beaten to death on the street in 2009. A graphic cell phone video captured the attack and made Albert’s homicide a national story, but it was only one of hundreds investigated by Chicago police that year. [...]

EMI Publishing Dumps ASCAP

The music business has undergone drastic changes during the Internet era, but until recently, one thing that hadn’t changed was the role of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, known to the industry as ASCAP. This performance rights organization has helped songwriters and music publishers get paid when their songs are played in [...]

Facebook’s Newest Challenger: Google Plus

Google is trying once again to challenge Facebook’s domination of the social networking business. Its main social networking site “Orkut” is very popular in Brazil, but in the rest of the world, Google trails Facebook. But the company has a new attempt to catch up. The new social network is called Google Plus, and you’re [...]

News Corp. Takes Huge Loss, Selling Myspace For $35 Million

Back in 2005, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. bought Myspace for a stunning $580 million. Today, News Corp. sold the struggling social network to an advertising targeting firm for $35 million. The Wall Street Journal reports: Specific Media will pay $35 million in stock and cash for Myspace, according to people familiar with the matter, well [...]

Supreme Court Rules on Birth Date Release

An organization supporting state workers is celebrating the State Supreme Court’s decision to block the release of birth dates for public employees.

A Real-World Test For Drug To Reduce Deaths From Childbirth

Postpartum hemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death in the developing world. Several groups looking to change that have been running trials with the drug misoprostol, which can prevent bleeding after birth, to show that the medicine can be safely administered by traditional birth attendants who deliver babies in homes. On Wednesday’s All Things [...]

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Health Overhaul Law

The first of three U.S. Appeals courts has now weighed in on the constitutionality of law year’s health overhaul, and the news couldn’t have been much better for backers of the Affordable Care Act. The three-judge panel in the Sixth Circuit, in separate opinions written by judges appointed by former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George [...]

Environmental Group Rates ‘Superstar’ Beaches, And Their Dirty Brethren

Fourth of July weekend is right there on the horizon, and beach bunnies everywhere are mulling where to drop their towels and umbrellas. Fortunately, they can refer to the Natural Resource Defense Council Testing the Waters report, released today, before making that call. The report is an annual evaluation of water quality based on health [...]