A possible vaccine against meningitis B has shown "encouraging" results when tested on 150 babies in Britain in the preliminary trial. Pharmaceutical giant Novartis had successfully concluded phase II trials and had moved on to large-scale trials that will show whether the vaccine is protective in everyday life.

In the phase II trials, the babies were injected with the new vaccine at two, four and six months of age, with a booster at 12 months. Blood samples taken a month after the third dose and again a month after the booster showed the children had developed good immune responses against certain strains of meningitis B bacteria

Around 5,000 families who believe that a mercury-based preservative, thimerosal, found in many vaccines causes the development of autism have filed claims with the U.S. Court of Claims. The families allege vaccines caused autism and other neurological problems in their children.

Autism is a developmental disability which usually appears in children during their first 36 months. Once an uncommon disorder in the United States, the incidence of autism is now occurring at epidemic rates

The Food and Drug Administration warned the medical community on Friday regarding heparin after learning that some of the facilities still had supplies of the contaminated blood thinner.

A large number of hospitals, medical societies and pharmaceutical organizations were warned despite a recall by the California Department of Health and the FDA's own recall monitoring. Baxter International Inc., the largest supplier of heparin, also showed gaps in the recall response

Wal-Mart rolled out on Monday its 90-day special offer to American consumers that sells medicine for $10. The promo includes marked down prices for women's medication and more price cuts on over 1,000 over-the-counter pharmaceuticals.

The $10 drugs cover 350 generic medicines for 90-day prescriptions at Wal-Mart, Neighborhood Market and Sam's Club drugstores across the U.S., except in North Dakota where Wal-Mart has no in-store drugstores. The women's drugs, including treatments for breast cancer and hormone deficiency, are sold at $9. Meanwhile, prices for over 1,000 over-the-counter medication are lowered to $4 or less

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that a generic version of a popular name brand antidepressant is both safe and effective, despite recent consumer complaints

The federal agency reviewed the generic version of Wellbutrin manufactured by Teva after some patients reported their depression returned when they switched from the brand name drug Wellbutrin XL to the generic pharmaceutical. Some patients also complained of headaches, anxiety and other side effects