National Obesity Forum (NOF) chairman Dr Colin Waine has warned that the financial cost of obesity could “bankrupt the NHS”. Speaking at the NOF’s fifth annual conference in London, he talked about the challenges posed by obesity and what needs to be done to overcome them. [click link for full article]

Mothers with diabetes are being separated from their newborn babies, according to findings out.The Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (CEMACH) claims that over half of newborn babies whose mothers have Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes are automatically moved to a special care baby unit.This has negative impacts, the report warns. [click link for full article]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved doripenem injection, 500 mg intravenous infusion, for the treatment of complicated urinary tract and intra-abdominal infections. Doripenem injection, sold under the trade name Doribax, has been shown to be active against several strains of bacteria. “This is a significant new drug in the treatment of hospitalized patients with serious bacterial infections,” said Janet Woodcock, M.D. [click link for full article]

Exciting new research to help understand how the common cold can trigger an asthma attack in children is the focus of a new research project funded by Asthma UK. Professor Donna Davies and colleagues at Southampton University have already identified a key alteration in the cells lining the airways of adults with asthma, which if treated, could prevent the trigger of an asthma attack in response to viral infections. [click link for full article]

GlaxoSmithKline plc announced that once-daily Avamys” (fluticasone furoate) nasal spray has received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) for the treatment of the symptoms of allergic rhinitis in adults, adolescents (12 years and over) and children (6 - 11 years). [click link for full article]

Cordis Corporation will present clinical data and professional education opportunities at the annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics 2007 meeting (TCT 2007), which will take place in Washington, DC from October 20 to 25. Data from several studies will highlight the CYPHER® Sirolimus-eluting Coronary Stent, as well as other products from the company’s peripheral vascular group. [click link for full article]

Almost 3,000 Northern Ireland people are to take part in a Queen’s study analysing their risks of developing heart disease in the future. The study is part of a survey of blood protein levels in 140,000 people across Europe. Queen’s Department of Epidemology scientists are working alongside scientists from Mainz, in Germany and Helsinki, Finland. [click link for full article]

GlaxoSmithKline confirms that the EMEA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use(CHMP) has completed its benefit risk review of the Thiazolidinediones (TZD) class and have concluded that the benefits of rosiglitazone continue to outweigh the risks. [click link for full article]

GlaxoSmithKline [NYSE: GSK] announced approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for oral Hycamtin ® (topotecan) capsules for the treatment of relapsed small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Specifically, Hycamtin capsules are indicated for patients who had a complete or partial response to first-line chemotherapy and who are at least 45 days from the end of that treatment. [click link for full article]

Watching comedy shows helped children tolerate pain for longer periods of time, suggesting that humorous distraction could be used in clinical settings to help children and adolescents better handle painful procedures, according to a study which teamed UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center with the nonprofit organization Rx Laughter”. Laughter has long been viewed as good medicine. [click link for full article]