Drug company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has been fined $3billion in the largest healthcare settlement in US history. Deputy US Attorney General James Cole called the settlement ‘unprecedented in both size and scope', reports the BBC.
The pharmaceutical giant pled guilty to off-label marketing of its antidepressants Paxil and Wellbutrin.
Commenting on the agreement, GlaxoSmithKline CEO Sir Andrew Witty said: 'On behalf of GSK, I want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learnt from the mistakes that were made.'
Screaming matches and slamming doors may be a familiar sound for any household with children between 12 and 20, but now it seems that there may be more behind adolescent anger than just moody teenager syndrome. The Telegraph reports that one in 12 teenagers could be suffering from the dramatically named Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED).
A study of over 10,000 teenagers in the US found that nearly two thirds had experienced anger attacks that involved real or threatened violence. One in 12 met the criteria used to diagnose IED – which would equate to almost six million sufferers across the US.
However, to be diagnosed with IED a person has to have had three episodes of impulsive aggression ‘grossly out of proportion' at any time in his or her life – so perhaps the surprise is that it's only one in 12.
The Daily Mail reports on new ‘focused therapies' that are being used to combat cancer, most notably a hot needle which ‘cooks' prostate cancer.
The needle – no more than 2mm thick – uses high temperatures to destroy cancer cells while leaving the healthy surrounding tissue untouched. This reduces the potential damage and side-effects.
The new technique is being trialled on 60 men with early-stage prostate cancer and has already been used to treat small breast and kidney tumours.
