As the current opioid addiction/overdose epidemic spread out across America over the last 20 years, it wasn’t just greedy drugstore chains that turned a blind eye to fake and questionable prescriptions. A new report highlights how the company behind one of the epidemic’s signature drugs ignored warning signs of obvious illegal activity. [More]
Pharma Medicine
Just In Time For The Weekend: CDC Sees Increase In Drug-Resistant Gonorrhea
By 7.15.16
Once upon a time, if you were unfortunate enough to get gonorrhea, it could be treated with penicillin or several other widely used antibiotics. Not only are those drugs largely ineffective in treating the sexually transmitted disease, but a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a worrisome recent increase in resistance to the drugs that still can be used to treat gonorrhea. [More]
Synthetic Marijuana Known As K2 Linked To 33 Overdoses In Brooklyn
By 7.13.16
We’ve written in the past about the dangers of using illegal synthetic marijuana, with hospital officials reporting a spike in hospitalizations related to the drug in recent years. Now, officials in New York City say they suspect a strain called K2 caused 33 overdose in one particular area of Brooklyn where the drug is extremely popular. [More]
Superbug Gene Found For Second Time In U.S.
By 7.11.16
Weeks after federal researchers confirmed the first discovery in the U.S. of a particular gene plasmid that can make bacteria resistant to an important antibiotic of last resort, a new report has turned up a second stateside instance of the gene. [More]
Target And CVS Still Not Really Sure How Sales Work
By 7.7.16
When retail pricing defies common sense, that’s what we call Target Math. Sometimes it’s putting an item on sale for more than the original price, and sometimes it’s making items cost more per unit to buy in bulk than to buy just a few. They aren’t exclusive to Target, but for some reason these errors happen very often there. Here are some examples, which aren’t all from Target. Most of them are, though. [More]
Walgreens-Rite Aid Merger Still On Track, CEO Says Only 500 Stores Would Close
By 7.6.16
Walgreens and Rite Aid are the biggest and third-biggest pharmacy drugstore in this country, and they want to join forces to become a pharma-Voltron. The companies are waiting for regulatory approval, but the CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance told shareholders today that the deal will probably go through by the end of 2016, and that it will result in the closing of only about 500 stores. [More]
Pilot Who Failed Drug Test Can’t Try To Use DNA To Prove He Was Clean
By 6.24.16
Imagine you’re one of the many American workers subject to random tests for the presence of drugs or alcohol in your system, and a test turns up high levels of heroin and cocaine. If you contend that the lab must have mixed up your urine sample with someone else’s should you be able to demand a DNA test to prove your innocence? If you’re a pilot, the answer is no. [More]
One Free Meal From A Pharma Sales Rep May Be Enough To Change Doctors’ Prescribing Habits
By 6.23.16
Your physician may have any number of degrees, honors, certifications, and other framed pieces of paper mounted to their office walls, but does any of that make them less susceptible to a glad-handing pharmaceutical sales rep who comes armed with some reading materials, free samples, and a lunch charged to their expense account? [More]
Academic Researchers Trying To Figure Out Especially Sneaky Strains Of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
By 6.22.16
Lab tests are supposed to tell doctors and researchers which antibiotics will work against a given infection, but some bacteria are able to sneak around these tests. The bacteria appear to be susceptible to the last-line antibiotics that health care providers use against resistant superbugs, but a remnant survives and re-colonizes the patient once the antibiotic treatment is over. [More]
5 Reasons Prescription Drug Prices Are Going Up For Many Americans
By 6.21.16
If you feel like you’re paying more for medication, you’re not alone. A new investigation from our colleagues at Consumer Reports finds that one-third of Americans are seeing higher prices for prescriptions, and one-in-six people chose to avoid getting a prescription filled because of the cost. So what’s behind the increased cost of staying well? [More]
Prosecutors: FedEx “Should Be Treated Just Like Any Other Drug Courier”
By 6.13.16
Two years after federal prosecutors charged FedEx with being criminally complicit in the transporting of illegal drugs from online pharmacies, the case is finally going to trial. In this morning’s opening statements, lawyers for the Justice Department urged the court to not be swayed by the famous brand name on the side of the planes. [More]
Walgreens Closes Theranos Testing Centers In Arizona, Won’t Take Them Nationwide
By 6.13.16
When Walgreens and blood-testing startup Theranos partnered up in 2013, it seemed like a great idea for both companies and for patients. Inexpensive lab tests could be available right in neighborhood drugstores. Only the problem was that Theranos insisted on secrecy because of its new technology, and Walgreens wasn’t able to seriously investigate the tests or equipment. Now Walgreens has ended its partnership with Theranos. [More]
Report: The FTC Is Probably Cool With The Walgreens-Rite Aid Merger
By 6.10.16
A few months ago, the shareholders of #3 U.S. drugstore chain Rite Aid approved the company’s proposed acquisition by the parent company of the #1 chain, Walgreens Boots Alliance. Now reports indicate that the Federal Trade Commission may give the merger its blessing, as long as certain conditions are met. [More]
FDA And International Enforcement Superfriends Take Down Online Peddlers Of Unapproved Drugs
By 6.10.16
Hundreds of millions of years ago, the seven continents that we know today were one big land glob called Pangaea. When choosing a name for an international operation to nab sellers of unapproved drugs, regulators and law enforcement agencies took this idea of one united world and called their project “Pangea,” or the International Internet Week of Action. Led by Interpol, agencies took action to look for unapproved drugs passing in the mail. [More]
How Well Do You Know The Real Names Of The Drugs You Take?
June 9, 2016
Ads for prescription and over-the-counter drugs are everywhere, so much so that we’ve become accustomed to hearing and seeing the brand name of a medication immediately followed by a parenthetical containing the generic name [ex: Valtrex (valacyclovir)], but how well have we been paying attention to these ads? Are we now so savvy that we immediately know that Chantix is the trade name for varenicline, or have we become so inured to these ads that we aren’t paying any attention? [More]
In Wake Of Superbug Scare, Lawmakers Renew Push For New Antibiotics
By 6.2.16
Last week, military scientists confirmed the discovery of a patient in Pennsylvania infected with a bacteria that was not only resistant to many traditional antibiotics, but also contained a gene (MCR-1) making it resistant to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort used when all others are ineffective. In response, Senators are making a renewed push on bipartisan legislation intended to speed up the approval of new antibiotics. [More]
Your Kids’ Lesson Plans Are Being Brought To You By Pfizer, WD-40, & Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2
By 6.2.16
It’s one thing for a huge drug company, manufacturer, trade group, or media conglomerate to use their considerable coffers to fund educational programs, but what about when the ultimate goal of those programs is to just advertise products, movies, and TV shows to kids and their parents under the guise of education? [More]
Pizza Hut To Cut Back On Preservatives, Antibiotics, Additives
By 5.31.16
Pizza may not have a reputation as a health food, but that’s no reason to use ingredients that may make the pizza even less good for you. In an effort to reach consumers clamoring for less-questionable fast food, Pizza Hut has announced some upcoming upgrades to its ingredients. [More]
