She was hit with incredible pain and muscle spasms in her chest so bad that Arizona woman thought she was going to die. The strike was so severe she would turn red and purple. Sometimes she would have a hundred of these attacks each day, each time thinking that this would be the one that would kill her. Now Walgreens tells ABC15 that they’re “sorry” for refilling her prescription with 50mcg pills. She was only supposed to get 5mcg ones. [More]
drugs
Studies: 2 New Drugs Can Slow Advanced Melanoma
By 6.6.11
Physicians apparently have two strong new weapons against melanoma, according to studies that show a pair of drugs are effective at slowing the cancer in its advanced stage. The drugs could be game-changers for doctors and patients who have long struggled to find effective ways to treat the type of skin cancer. [More]
Florida Will Screen Welfare Recipients For Drug Use
By 6.6.11
Florida has passed legislation that would force welfare recipients to undergo drug tests before they’re able to receive aid. The law, set to go into effect July 1, would make applicants to the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program pay for the tests upfront, but ensures they will be reimbursed if they pass. [More]
It Takes 12.5 Million Spams To Sell $100 Of Viagra
By 5.26.11
Considering how insistent and persistent the emails are, you would think there was big bucks in pushing pills that increase the flow of blood to one’s penis for an extended period of time. That may be true, but only because the costs of spam advertising are so low, as revealed by this nugget in a New York Times article that reveals it takes 12.5 million spam emails just to sell $100 worth of Viagra. [More]
DEA Will Be Happy To Take Your Old Drugs Off Your Hands This Saturday
By 4.29.11
Last September’s first-ever National Take-Back Day, in which the DEA and other law enforcement agencies operate stations for people with old prescription drugs to dispose of them safely, was apparently enough of a success that the agency decided to not even wait a full year to try it again. That’s right, it’s time to bust out your National Take-Back Day decorations, along with your old Vicodin, Oxycontin and Cipro! [More]
Vicodin: The Most Popular Prescription Pill In America's Medicine Cabinet
By 4.20.11
With the White House and the FDA dreaming up ways to curb the pain-pill problem in the U.S., we got to wondering just what are the most popular (legal) drugs in the country? Thankfully, the folks at Time.com were thinking about the same thing, because they put together a handy/dandy list of the 10 most-prescribed meds, none of which is Viagra. [More]
Help, The Price Of My Life-Saving Drug Went Up 2000%!
By 4.1.11
Colchicine, a drug primarily used to treat gout, is an old drug. Very old. Extracts from the plant it comes from, colchicum, have been used in gout treatment for thousands of years. In pill form as colchicine, it’s been on the market in the United States since the 19th century and predates the Food and Drug Administration. A few years ago, the company that makes one brand of the drug, Colcrys, obtained FDA approval for their version, and the exclusive rights to sell it in the United States for three years. Who cares? Reader Nick does. He works in retail, isn’t wealthy, and the colchicine he takes twice a day for a serious medical condition shot up in cost from about $20 per month to closer to $400. [More]
Ex-Girlfriend Auctions Off Sheen's Inscribed Consumer Reports Drug Reference Book
By 3.11.11
Charlie Sheen is a prolific, and apparently, very informed consumer of substances. In a recent Inside Edition interview, his former girlfriend Ginger Lynn brought out a copy of publishing pal Consumer Reports book The Complete Drug Reference that he inscribed and gave to her when they were dating back in the early 90’s. It reads, “To Ging, From one Druggie To Another. Love, C.” The book is going for $1,000 but that’s silly, you can get all the prescription drug information you need at Consumer Reports Health, and you don’t even need to be an extra-dimensional warlock to use it. [More]
Did You Know Doctors Are Prescribing Non-FDA-Approved Drugs? They Didn't Either.
By 3.2.11
Awhile back the FDA cracked down on OTC cold medicines that were potentially harmful to children under 2. As part of that effort, the agency has now “ordered the removal from the market of more than 500 prescription drugs used to treat colds, coughs and allergies because the medications had never gone through a federal review of their safety and effectiveness,” says the NYT Prescriptions Blog. [More]
Do Not Try To Deal Drugs From Your Cruise Ship Cabin
By 2.15.11
What won’t you find on a list of must-pack items for cruise vacations? Narcotics and incriminating wads of drug money. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say a passenger on a Royal Caribbean cruise was caught with both inside his cabin, where he had allegedly set up a drug-dealing operation. [More]
Florida Bans Coke-And-Meth-Like "Bath Salts" Sold In Gas Stations
By 2.8.11
Florida became the second state after Louisiana to ban sales of MDPV, a synthetic drug with effects similar to meth and cocaine that sellers are marketing as “bath salts,” NPR reports. They can be found in convenience stores and gas stations. Besides their high, authorities have said that the drug produces a psychotic break in their users, afflicting them with violent hallucinations. In one case, a man tore out a police radio from the car with his teeth. In another, a woman went after her mother with a machete, having confused her with a monster. Party time! [More]
HCG Diet Products Are Fraud, Says FDA
By 1.24.11
There are tons of diet pill pages on the internet prosthelytizing the wonders of the miracle diet drug HCG, or “human chorionic gonadotropin.” You have the usual “before” and “after” pictures where you get to play that fun game of trying to figure out if they’re actually two different people, and the promises of losing 30 pounds in 4 weeks. Only problem is that HCG doesn’t work for weight loss, and an FDA exec says they may even be illegal and fraudulent. Quelle surprise! [More]
Oregon Sues J&J For Secretly Recalling Motrin
By 1.14.11
Instead of issuing a recall, after Johnson and Johnson discovered its Motrin caplets were defective, they hired a contractor to go around the country buy up all the drugs. It was a “secret recall” that left the bad medicine on shelves for months for consumers to buy. Now the Oregon AG is suing J&J. The story broke when one of the guys hired to do the buying faxed regulators the instructions J&J gave him. [More]
Cops Around The Country Getting Busted For Using Steroids
By 12.27.10
Steroids — they’re not just for linebackers anymore. Some police officers, presumably seeking to get any edge they can to survive on the streets, are getting busted for ‘roiding it up in increasing numbers. [More]
Stanford U Investigates A Dozen Docs For Taking Pharma Payola
By 12.21.10
Twelve doctors at Stanford University Medical School are under investigation by the school’s disciplinary board after their names cropped up in a database of docs getting paid big bucks by pharmaceutical companies for speaking gigs, a violation of school policy. [More]
5 Drugs That Will Never Cure You
By 11.30.10
If you want to make a lot of money, invent a drug that treats chronic conditions without ridding patients of symptoms entirely. Your customers will be on the hook for your product for the rest of their lives, boosting your bottom line all the while. [More]
No More Darvon Or Darvocet For You
By 11.19.10
Two of the more commonly used painkillers in the U.S. have been pulled from the market by their manufacturer after a new study linked the drugs to potentially fatal heart rhythms. [More]
Study: Alcohol More Dangerous For Society Than Heroin, Crack, Meth, Other Fun Stuff
By 11.1.10
A new study out of the UK looked at the combined harm done — to both the user and to others — by a host of different drugs. The conclusion: While alcohol might not damage the body as much as some other drugs, its ill societal effects make it the most dangerous intoxicant on the list. [More]
