Loop diuretics have been used as a heart failure (HF) management strategy for years but it still remains unknown whether they are of benefit to the patient. However, new research has found that diuretic therapy can positively affect renal and tubular function by decreasing congestion and that diuretic withdrawal and reinstitution can be markers of tubular dysfunction in stable HF patients, according to study results published in the May 25 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Open source software and standards will have a widening role in future health IT systems, according to a report titled Open Source, Open Standards and Health Care Information Systems, which was first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. However, it still faces some challenges, said Carl J. Reynolds, BSC, MB, of the Centre for Health Informatics and Multiprofessional Education at UCL Medical School in London.

Members of the FDAs Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee met May 19 to determine the future of Abbotts cholesterol drug fenofibrate (Trilipix), a drug indicated for co-administration with a statin. And while all 13 voting members voted unanimously in favor of Abbott conducting a clinical trial to gain more evidence, results were a mixed-bag as to whether the drug should allowed continued marketing, be pulled from the market or undergo a revision to its label.

Much debate in the past months has surrounded GlaxoSmithKlines (GSK) diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia) after it was found that the drug may put patients at a heightened risk for cardiovascular events. Now, healthcare providers prescribing rosiglitazone-containing medications including Avandia, Avandamet and Avandaryl will have to enroll into a special program to prescribe and receive these drugs, according to an FDA safety announcement released May 18.

FDAs Endocrinologic & Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee is meeting today to discuss whether previous indications for Abbott Laboratories fenofibrate (Trilipix) should be reduced after results of the ACCORD-Lipid trial showed that the addition to a statin to fenofibrate did not significantly reduce major adverse cardiac event rates in diabetic patients.

Amylin Pharmaceuticals has filed a lawsuit against Eli Lilly alleging that Lilly breached alliance agreements and is participating in anti-competitive activity regarding the commercialization of exenatide (Byetta), a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist approved to treat type 2 diabetes.

Hypertension control and treatment has improved substantially over a 25-year span in Canada, but prevalence of the condition has remained stable among adults, according to research published May 16 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Medtronic and Tarrytown, N.Y.-based Bayer HealthCare have expanded their international alliance to include the U.S., and will work exclusively to develop diabetes management technologies for patients and wireless blood glucose meters for the global market.