Patients with vitiligo, a skin disease characterized by patches of
un-pigmented skin, had better re-pigmentation of these patches when
they were treated with a combination of laser therapy and tacrolimus
ointment than the patients who were treated only with laser therapy,
according to an article in the September issue of The Archives of
Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

For years, gynecologists have prescribed hormone replacement therapy to
relieve hot flashes, night sweats and other symptoms of menopause. When the
National Institutes of Health in February 2004 ended the estrogen-only
portion of the Women’s Health Initiative early, it made headlines and raised
concerns about hormone therapy.

Thousands of women who say they developed breast cancer and other
diseases after hormone-replacement therapy are poised for victory after
Pfizer Inc. announced it expects to settle for at least $300 million
this last round of lawsuits in the public-health controversy.

The New York-based pharmaceutical giant, which has
research-and-development sites in Groton and New London, expects to pay
at least $772 million to settle the more than 10,000 lawsuits that
alleged that Wyeth Pharmaceutical's hormone-replacement therapy drug
Prempro caused their health problems, according to a regulatory filing.