The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it is revising the way it communicates to drug companies when a marketing application cannot be approved as submitted. Under new regulations that govern the drug approval process, FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) will no longer issue "approvable" or "not approvable" letters when a drug application is not approved.

According to the latest physician study and advisory service released by Manhattan Research, approximately one-third of physicians are currently communicating with their patients online - a number which has grown over the past few years, but still lags behind consumer interest in communicating with physicians through the Internet.

A joint research project between Sweden and the USA has uncovered a so far unknown signal network involving the cells in the pancreas. This discovery has the potential to significantly revolutionise the treatment of diabetes. Diabetes has an enormous impact on the lives of families worldwide. Its impact can be measured both in economic terms and in terms of human lives. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), diabetes is expected to have caused 3.8 million deaths worldwide in 2007.

In response to the public consultation on "Key ideas for better protection of patients against the risk of counterfeit medicines", the Commission received 123 contributions from stakeholders. Of these, 100 were from industry (pharmaceutical industry, distributors, suppliers of active ingredients, consultants), 15 from citizens, patient (groups), and academics, and 8 from health professionals, pharmacists and health insurers.

First DataBank Europe (FDBE) in association with The Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists (GHP) and the UK Clinical Pharmacy Association (UKCPA) announced the 2009 FDBE/GHP/UKCPA Information Technology Award. The aim of the annual award, which is in its seventh year, is to encourage, support and promote information technology initiatives and best practice in the use of IT in hospital pharmacy.

The European Medicines Agency has reviewed the risks associated with the use of heparin medicinal products contaminated with oversulphated chondroitin sulphate (OSCS). Heparins are used to prevent and treat blood clots. They are used widely in patients who could have, or have had a heart attack, in patients who have undergone major surgery, or patients on dialysis.

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced efforts underway at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that will complement each other to improve patient safety and the quality of medical care. "This initiative will tremendously increase the FDA's capacity to monitor the use of medical products on the market," Secretary Leavitt said.