Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA of Germany, has won a Frost & Sullivan Customer Value Enhancement (CVE) Award for its epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) targeted therapy Erbitux®, used in the treatment of head and neck (H&N) cancer.

The National Drugs and Poisons Schedule Committee (NDPSC) considered the scheduling of zolpidem (contained in the medicine Stilnox) at its February 2008 meeting, held this week, because of concerns relating to reports of potential abuse of this substance. The NDPSC also considered a number of submissions describing personal accounts of adverse events, including bizarre sleep behaviours and their consequences.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Wednesday that the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Paraguay asked the WHO ICG (International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision) to provide 2 million doses of yellow fever vaccine. This is in addition to the various efforts by neighbouring countries to mobilize their own vaccine supplies. For example Brazil and Peru have sent 1 million doses.

It would “not only be unscientific but unethical” for FDA to reject Genentech’s colon and lung cancer treatment Avastin for use as metastatic breast cancer treatment, a

CMS on Wednesday sent Congress a report outlining a new “fully bundled” payment system that the agency is recommending for dialysis services, CQ HealthBeat reports. Under the current system, CMS pays for some treatment separately from payments to facilities.

The following highlights recent state news about women’s health-related legislation. Colorado: On Monday, the House voted 41-23 to pass a bill (SB 3) aimed at expanding access to birth control for low-income residents of Colorado, the

President Bush on Wednesday during a visit to Ghana said the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief has been “unbelievably effective,” the New York Times reports (Stolberg, New York Times, 2/21).

New Orleans continues to struggle to meet the needs of mentally ill residents more than two years after Hurricane Katrina severely damaged the city’s largest mental health care facility at Charity Hospital, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.

Spanish-language television commercials for foods and beverages with little nutritional value might be contributing to obesity rates among Hispanic children in the U.S., according to a study published online Tuesday by the Journal of Pediatrics, Reuters reports.

Scientists whose discoveries have led to fundamental advances in the science and treatment of cancer are the recipients of two prestigious international prizes offered by the Kirk A. and Dorothy P. Landon Foundation and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).The Kirk A. Landon-AACR Prize for Basic Cancer Research and Dorothy P.