Genentech, Inc. (NYSE:DNA) announced an update for the previously reported Roche-sponsored international Phase III clinical study (AVAiL) of Avastin® (bevacizumab) in combination with gemcitabine and cisplatin chemotherapy, in patients with advanced, non-squamous, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

What do bioidentical hormones and Mother’s Day have in common? The official kick-off for the ninth annual National Women’s Health Week (May 11-17). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health, is asking “women across the country to get healthy by taking action.” This includes checking hormonal balance and symptoms associated with menopause, adrenal fatigue and perimenopause.

Since 1997, rates of death subsequent to coronary artery bypass graft(CABG) surgery have been dropping, while the number of proceduresperformed has decreased, according to an article released on April 21,2008 in Archives of Surgery, a JAMA/Archivesjournal. This indicates that the volume of CABG procedures that areconducted in a given facility may not be an accurate predictor ofpatients’ health after the surgery.

Improvements in the quality of life are seen in patients with sleepapnea or other types of nasal blockages who have nasal surgery toremove obstructions from the airway, according to an article releasedon April 21, 2008 in the Archives of Otolaryngology - Head& Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) involves period of sleep in which thepatient does not breathe.

A plan by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) that would require most Medi-Cal beneficiaries to complete eligibility forms four times per year, rather than annually, will affect children the most and will not save the state money in the long run, according to a report commissioned by the California Endowment, the

Because the media “understand how deeply women fear breast cancer,” studies that report a “link between some new risk factor and the disease mak[e] headlines everywhere,” Carol Tavris, a social psychologist and co-author of the book “Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me),” and Avrum Bluming, a professor at the University of Southern California and a medical oncologist, write in a

Mississippi House Speaker Billy McCoy (D) on Wednesday announced that he will appoint a “diverse group” of House members to study a Senate-approved bill (HB 520) that would restrict abortions for minors, which is currently held up in a House committee, the AP/Biloxi Sun Herald reports.

“Are We Heading Toward Socialized Medicine?” Urban Institute: The report by Stan Dorn and John Holahan discusses rhetoric that claims recent proposals to restructure the U.S. health care system represent “dangerous steps” that will move the country toward government-run health care and socialized medicine.

Blacks’ “skepticism” toward the medical community “will be strained further by news of the sewage [sludge] studies first reported this week by the Associated Press,” a St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial states.

California: Cardinal Health has awarded Madera, Calif.-based Children’s Hospital Central California with a $25,000 grant to fund a program that will create audio discharge instructions in Hmong, Mixteca and Spanish, the Stockton Record reports.