Health briefs

Novo Nordisk says diabetes drug Victoza superior to Merck rival COPENHAGEN: Danish Novo Nordisk , the world's biggest insulin producer, said on Friday it had received a product label update for diabetes drug Victoza to include data showing superior efficacy when compared with rival drug Januvia from Merck. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would update the product label for Victoza to include data showing superior blood sugar control and weight reduction when compared with Januvia, Novo Nordisk said in a statement. Novo Nordisk says diabetes drug Victoza superior to Merck rival COPENHAGEN: Danish Novo Nordisk , the world's biggest insulin producer, said on Friday it had received a product label update for diabetes drug Victoza to include data showing superior efficacy when compared with rival drug Januvia from Merck. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would update the product label for Victoza to include data showing superior blood sugar control and weight reduction when compared with Januvia, Novo Nordisk said in a statement. Crackdown on prescription pain killers widens to Walgreens BOSTON/NEW YORK: The US Drug Enforcement Administration said on Friday it is inspecting six Walgreens Co pharmacies and its distribution center in Florida, after the agency noticed a jump in purchases of the highly addictive pain killer oxycodone. The DEA issued inspection warrants on Wednesday to Walgreens' distribution center in Jupiter and to retail stores in Hudson, Port Richey, Oviedo, Fort Myers and two stores in Fort Pierce, said Mia Ro, a spokeswoman for the DEA in Miami. Female skiers likelier to injure non-dominant knee NEW YORK: Women skiers are more likely than men to injure a knee while skiing, and a new study shows they are about twice as likely to have that injury occur to their non-dominant leg, often the left one. The study did not go so far as to explain these inequalities, but Dr. Robert Johnson, a sports medicine physician at the University of Vermont College of Medicine said it could be caused "by a whole herd of issues." Emotional issues may follow motor problems in kids NEW YORK: A new study suggests the way kids with severe coordination problems see themselves may influence their emotional wellbeing later in life. Coordination issues — sometimes diagnosed as developmental coordination disorder (DCD) — prevent people from accomplishing everyday tasks, such as using scissors or buttoning their shirts. The disorder can lead to frustration at school, at home and on the playground. ISS urges Illumina holders to reject Roche proposals NEW YORK: A major shareholders advisory service on Friday urged holders of US gene sequencing company Illumina to vote against rejected suitor Roche Holdings AG's proxy contest to expand Illumina's board and fill it with its own nominees. Institutional Shareholders Services advised Illumina shareholders to reject proposals from Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, and agreed with Illumina's board that the Swiss pharmaceutical's offer to take over the San Diego-based company is inadequate. Fake drugs hard to spot amid 1,800 UK wholesalers LONDON: Stamping out trade in counterfeit drugs like Roche's Avastin is an uphill fight for regulators, whose task is complicated by the presence of thousands of small wholesalers across Europe. In Britain alone — the transit point for a second fake batch of the cancer drug uncovered in the US market — there are around 1,800 licensed wholesalers, according to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). US panel backs Astellas drug for leaky bladder SILVER SPRING, Maryland: US advisers backed a bladder drug from Astellas Pharma Inc on Thursday, boosting the company's hopes of gaining approval for a second treatment for overactive bladder. A panel of outside advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration voted 7 to 4, with one abstention, that the benefits of the once-daily tablet, called mirabegron, outweighed its possible risks to the heart and liver.