HEALTH

ATLANTA — An early look at this season’s reports indicates that about 90% of flu-related pediatric deaths occurred in children who had not received a flu vaccination this season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday. 

The number of influenza-associated pediatric deaths reported to the CDC during the current season surpassed 100 as an additional 6 deaths were reported in FluView last week. To date, this brings the total number of influenza-associated pediatric deaths reported to the CDC to 105 for the 2012-2013 season.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Bausch + Lomb on Friday announced that it has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to take the company public. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined, the company stated. 

The proposed IPO could raise as much as $1.5 billion and is expected to value Bausch & Lomb at about $9 billion to $10 billion, Reuters reported earlier in March.

ATLANTA — The percentage of people who are at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and aware of it has risen slightly over the past few years, but remains low, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

ATLANTA — SoloHealth on Friday named Joe Stephens to the newly created role of director of business planning and analytics. Stephens will focus on organizing business development initiatives, priorities, metrics and efficiencies, as well as helping guide new-business exploration as the company continues its growth. 

Stephens will report directly to Stephen Kendig, chief commercial officer and EVP of SoloHealth, effective immediately.

WASHINGTON —  SanMedica International on Friday introduced its SeroVital-HGH, a new oral human-growth hormone booster formulated with women in mind, at the Academy of Women's Health's Annual Congress here. 

BAGSVÆRD, Denmark — A drug made by Novo Nordisk for Type 2 diabetes produced a 6% loss of weight in a trial of the drug in obese patients, the company said.

The Danish drug maker announced results of a 56-week phase-3 trial to investigate the potential of Victoza (liraglutide) to produce and maintain weight loss in overweight and obese patients with Type 2 diabetes.

WASHINGTON — Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Ark., on Friday introduced the Preventing Abuse of Cough Treatments Act of 2013, which would require retailers to restrict the sale of dextromethorphan-containing products to adults. The bill also would restrict the sale of raw, bulk DXM to FDA-approved entities. 

Many retailers have age restrictions on the sale of DXM products already in place; and similar legislation to this has been enforced in California since 2012. 

PLANO, Texas — Dr Pepper Snapple Group announced today the new Hawaiian Punch Aloha Morning line of juice drinks to hit store shelves.

The new Aloha Morning line provides a good source of vitamins A, C and E, and each variety contains 40% less sugar than other juice drinks. Hawaiian Punch Aloha Morning comes in three flavors: orange citrus, mixed berry citrus and strawberry citrus.