FDA Panel Votes: Kidney-cancer drugs made by Pfizer and Novartis have received a thumbs-up from an FDA advisory panel, bolstering their chances of gaining approval to also treat rare advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, the WSJ reports . The panel voted 10-0 on the question of whether the benefits of Novartis’s Afinitor outweighed the risks, and voted 8-2 on a similar question about using Pfizer’s Sutent for tumors that cannot be removed surgically. We have to say it: the agency often but not always follows the advice of its outside panels. Error Prevention: The Obama administration yesterday announced a private-public partnership intended to reduce the number of preventable hospital-acquired conditions by 40% over the next three years and hospital readmissions by 20%, the Los Angeles Times reports . The project, funded by the health-care overhaul law, will include $500 million in grants to programs focusing on newly discharged patients and another $500 million to test ways to cut down on nine kinds

of medical errors, the LAT says. Developing Resistance: A study published in JAMA finds that about 28% patients with rheumatoid arthritis taking Abbott’s Humira developed immune resistance against the drug, the WSJ reports . An Abbott spokeswoman tells the paper that phenomenon has already been known; the prescribing label indicates that about 5% in trials developed antibodies to Humira, a sign of resistance. Device Hearing: An official from the General Accounting Office is expected to testify at a Senate special committee hearing that the FDA is still approving some high-risk medical devices without sufficient review to suss out any potential harm to patients, the New York Times reports . The official is also expected to discuss early GAO findings on the FDA’s oversight of device recalls, the paper says. (The industry has recently argued that the approval process is too slow and cumbersome.) Image: iStockphoto

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A.M. Vitals: Pfizer and Novartis Drugs Get FDA Panel Recommendation