Archive for February, 2009
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Tuesday, February 17th, 2009How Many Kids Need Cholesterol Drugs?
About 200,000 U.S. Teens and Preteens Need Medication to Keep Their Cholesterol Levels in Check, Study Shows
Following a call for more aggressive screening and treatment of cholesterol in childhood, a new study published in the journal Circulation shows that about 200,000 U.S. teens and preteens need medication to lower their [...]
High Pollen Count Gets Orlando Sneezing
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009High Pollen Count Gets Orlando Sneezing
Chances are you or someone you know is sniffling or sneezing right now — the pollen count is high and smoke is seeping into the air from brush fires.
In fact, according to Pollen.com, Orlando was one of the worst cities in America for pollen on Tuesday with a level of 9.8, which is [...]
Prescription drug costs
Sunday, February 15th, 2009Prescription drug costs
Source: KansasCity.com
I read George Will’s hand-wringing column about the imminent demise of Medicare (2/7, Opinion, “Obama willing, Congress weak on entitlements”). Maybe if our government were willing to curb corporate welfare for the prescription drug companies, we could save a few billion.
I was shocked to find that my Medicare Plan D cost for [...]
Self-dealing by Big Pharma
Sunday, February 15th, 2009Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Competition makes some companies trim costs, others cut prices.
Then there’s the strategy allegedly adopted by Solvay Pharmaceuticals: Pay off your competitors.
Solvay makes a prescription drug called AndroGel, a synthetic form of testosterone. It’s used by men with cancer, HIV or low hormone levels because of aging. Solvay got a patent on its [...]
Health Canada Approves Ziprasidone Hydrochloride for Bipolar Disorder
Thursday, February 12th, 2009Health Canada has approved ziprasidone hydrochloride (Geodon/Zeldox) for the treatment of acute manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar disorder.
“As many bipolar disorder medications cause substantial weight gain, it is often challenging to treat patients for this serious and often disabling condition,” said Roger McIntyre, MD, Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit, University Health Network, and University [...]
Blood pressure drug helps kidney patients - study
Thursday, February 12th, 2009Source: Reuters
Large doses of AstraZeneca’s high blood pressure drug Atacand (candesartan) may protect people with kidney disease from developing kidney failure and the need for dialysis or a transplant, researchers said on Wednesday.
Daily doses of eight times the normal amount of the drug, also known as candesartan, lowered abnormal amounts of protein in the urine, called [...]
New Bill Would Limit Pharma’s Anti-Generics Arsenal, According to Cutting Edge Information
Thursday, February 12th, 2009Source: MSNBC
Proposed legislation aims to take a controversial option away from brand-name drug makers in their fight against generics.
Last week, senators Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced a bill that would prevent branded drug companies from simply paying generics counterparts to keep cheaper copycat products off the market. The Preserve Access to Affordable [...]
Two investigational protease inhibitor boosters may be as effective as ritonavir in patients with HIV, research suggests.
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009MedPage Today (2/10, Peterson) reported that data presented at a medical conference in Montreal “on two investigational protease inhibitor boosters have encouraged HIV clinicians who have been relying solely on ritonavir [Norvir].” According to researchers, the new drugs “appear to have some advantages over the older drug, including: fewer elevations of triglycerides or cholesterol than [...]
Cash-strapped U.S. patients may be skipping drugs
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009Source: Reuters
Americans with financial worries because of the ailing economy may be skipping needed prescription drugs in a wrong-headed attempt to save money, according to a survey released on Tuesday.
Nearly 95 percent of doctors surveyed by Epocrates Inc. said they have some concern that patients may not be taking a prescribed drug correctly because of [...]
Steady Cholesterol-Pill Use Found to Cut Death Risk Almost Half
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009Continuous treatment with cholesterol pills, such as Pfizer Inc.’s Lipitor, reduced the risk of death in patients with high cholesterol 45 percent over four to five years, a study found.
People who hadn’t yet been diagnosed with heart disease and those who had already been diagnosed both showed the reduction in death if they took the [...]
