"This is a significant step forward for HIV prevention," said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which helped conduct the clinical trial along with the Thailand Ministry of Health. The study, published on Wednesday in the journal Lancet, looked at the treatment approach known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, in which HIV treatments are given to uninfected people who are at high-risk for HIV infection. The drug used in the study was Gilead's older and relatively cheap generic HIV drug tenofovir. The study was launched in 2005. Prior studies of this approach showed it cut infection rates by 44 percent in men who have sex with men, by 62 percent in heterosexual men and women and by 75 percent in couples in which one partner is infected with HIV and the other is not. The new results showed that it also protects intravenous drug users. "We now know that PrEP can work for all populations at increased risk for HIV," Mermin said in a statement. Based on the results, the CDC plans to recommend that U.S. doctors who wish to prescribe this treatment for their patients follow the same interim guidelines issued last … Continue reading →

12 June 2013 Last updated at 11:09 ET A British man accused of a drugs conspiracy in the US must be extradited to stand trial without the public knowing his identity, the High Court has ruled. Two judges said the man, referred to as B, must not be named to protect his daughter from publicity. The court heard B, from west London, is the sole carer of the girl, 12, and extraditing him could "devastate" her. He is accused of importing and distributing crystal meth in New York. He is alleged to have been involved in organising deals - exporting from India between 2011 and 2012 - through multiple phone calls with a New York contact but never leaving the UK. His lawyers contended it was a case of entrapment. Refusing the man's appeal against extradition, the judges rejected his claim that his removal would cause a disproportionate breach of his daughter's right to a family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. They imposed reporting restrictions, saying the girl was facing a "deeply troubling" time and entitled to protection from media attention. Sir John Thomas, president of the Queen's Bench Division, sitting with Mr Justice … Continue reading →

Pregnant women should be included in clinical trials for drugs, experts have suggested. Pregnancy is a "natural state" which has been ignored by drugs companies for too long, according to an editorial in the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin. Pharmaceutical companies should examine "safe" ways to involve pregnant women in trials for new medicines. Around one in 10 pregnant women have a chronic medical disorder that requires regular use of drugs, and others develop problems during pregnancy, the bulletin says. "The relative lack of information on the use of medicines during pregnancy remains an area of concern for healthcare professionals," the experts write. Some medics are afraid of causing harm to patients and some women are fearful of taking drugs while pregnant because there is little published evidence about the risks and benefits. "Although there are complex ethical issues associated with studying drugs in pregnant women, some researchers argue that it is unethical not to obtain dosing information for drugs that are frequently used by pregnant women," the editorial says. Follow this link: Drugs trials call for pregnant women … Continue reading →