Know about parents opposition to teen tattoos, US eliminating drug rebates

The nationally-representative poll asked parents of kids between the ages of 13 and 18 for their attitudes about tattoos.

Most parents are against teen tattoos

Parents who've said "no" to teen tattoos need not feel alone. A new U.S. survey finds that 78 percent of parents wouldn't even consider allowing their teenager to get inked.

The nationally-representative poll asked parents of kids between the ages of 13 and 18 for their attitudes about tattoos. Most, 75 percent, thought the earliest a teen should be allowed to have a tattoo was at age 18 or older, according to the results published by the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.

Parents who've said "no" to teen tattoos need not feel alone. A new U.S. survey finds that 78 percent of parents wouldn't even consider allowing their teenager to get inked. https://t.co/pQVw1sZnk4

— SafeHouseOfTheDesert (@SafeHouseDesert) August 21, 2018

Roche's Alecensa latest beneficiary of faster China drug approvals

Roche's Alecensa lung cancer medicine became the latest beneficiary of China's efforts to speed up approvals in the world's second-biggest drug market, which is gaining importance for global pharmaceuticals companies' growth plans. China's National Drug Administration backed the Swiss drugmaker's Alecensa to treat an aggressive kind of lung cancer, called anaplastic lymphoma kinase-, or ALK-positive, less than a year after European and U.S. approvals, Roche said on Monday.

Tainted heart drug from second Chinese firm pulled off EU market

Heart drugs containing an active ingredient from a second Chinese company are being recalled from the European market after detection of a toxic impurity that may cause cancer. The European Medicines Agency said on Monday that Zhejiang Tianyu Pharmaceutical was no longer authorized to manufacture valsartan for EU medicines and a certificate verifying the quality of its product had been suspended.

U.S. health secretary says agency can eliminate drug rebates

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said it was within his agency's power to eliminate rebates on prescription drug purchases, a key element of the Trump administration's plan to lower prescription medicine costs. Such rebates are negotiated in the United States by pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) to lower the cost of medicines for their clients, including large employers and health plans that cover tens of millions of Americans.

China's Changchun mayor resigns after vaccine scandal: state media

The mayor of the Chinese city of Changchun resigned on Tuesday, state media reported, after a safety scandal at Changchun-based vaccine maker Changsheng Biotechnology sparked widespread consumer anger. The company was accused in July of falsifying data for a rabies vaccine and manufacturing an ineffective vaccine for babies, triggering public outrage and multiple official investigations.

More U.S. stores likely sell cigarettes to minors than reported

More retailers may be selling cigarettes to minors than government estimates have suggested, a new study finds. Researchers determined that more than half of retail stores may be inadvertently, and illegally, selling cigarettes to underage buyers, according to the results published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Moderate 'bad cholesterol' levels tied to early death for healthy people

Healthy adults who don't keep their LDL-C, or "bad cholesterol," in check are more likely to die prematurely from cardiovascular disease than peers with lower cholesterol levels, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers examined data on 36,375 adults with no history of heart disease or diabetes and a low 10-year risk for events like heart attacks or strokes. Most had levels of the type of cholesterol that builds up in blood vessels and can lead to blood clots and heart attacks, known as low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), below the threshold that usually leads doctors to prescribe cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Socioeconomic status helps explain U.S. childhood cancer survival rates

Black and Hispanic children may be less likely than white kids to survive certain childhood cancers at least in part due to differences in socioeconomic status, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers examined data on 31,866 black, Hispanic, and white children who were diagnosed with 12 types of cancer between 2000 and 2011 when they were no more than 19 years old.

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month celebrity ambassador @lucyhale received a special surprise when she visited our hospital last month. pic.twitter.com/LAHuQNjb53

— St. Jude (@StJude) August 10, 2018

Through the end of 2012, rates of death from all causes ranged from 5.2 percent among kids with Hodgkin lymphoma, an immune system cancer, to 33.8 percent among children with acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow.

Many doctors skip meningococcal vaccine talks with teens

Many pediatricians and family physicians don't discuss the meningococcal B vaccine with teens even though these conversations are recommended to determine whether adolescents should get shots to protect against this lethal infection, a U.S. study suggests.

Just 51 percent of pediatricians and 31 percent of family physicians surveyed for the study said they "often" or "always" discussed the so-called MenB vaccine with teen patients. When they did discuss it, 91 percent of doctors recommended vaccination.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)