The FDA said today that a small number of preventable cases of accidental death have occurred since their first Duragesic warning in 2005, prompting them to ask Johnson & Johnson and the makers of a generic version to add new warnings. “Despite a July 2005 warning, the Food and Drug Administration ‘has continued to receive reports of deaths and life-threatening side effects after doctors have inappropriately prescribed the patch or patients have incorrectly used it,’ the agency said.”
drugs
Naughty Cough Syrup Returns
By 12.7.07
So for a while there local newscasts were soberly worried kids drinking cough medicine that only contained dextromethorpan (DXM). It seems that children of all ages were guzzling bottles of it in order to go on a cheap hallucinatory journey.
Walgreens Drops Some CVS Prescription Plans
By 11.30.07
Negotiations have broken down between Walgreens and rival CVS Caremark, and Walgreens has withdrawn as a provider from four of their prescription plans.
Customers affected include members of prescription benefit plans managed by CVS Caremark for ArcelorMittal, Johnson Controls, Inc., Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. and Wisconsin Education Association Trust, the company said.
How To Avoid The Medicare Donut Hole
By 11.27.07
Anyone who has Medicare and takes lots of drugs or a few very expensive ones (or who has an older relative who does) knows about the dreaded “donut hole”—the gap in coverage that happens each year if you have to spend a lot of money on prescriptions. If you’re above the poverty level but don’t have good gap insurance, it can be financially devastating. The New York Times notes that for a quarter of at-risk patients, planning ahead with generics may help you skirt the donut hole altogether. The big stumbling block is that you have to be prepared to discuss your personal finances with your doctor.
Tamiflu And Relenza Treat Flu, But Might Make You Crazy
By 11.27.07
This week, an FDA advisory panel will review a recommendation to put a warning on flu drugs Tamiflu and Relenza that says there have been “psychiatric events observed in some patients.” The companies who make the drugs have both responded that they’ve found no causal link between their drugs and “psychiatric events.”
$160 Mascara Seized By FDA Because It Can Cause Blindness
By 11.17.07
Earlier today, U.S. marshals seized over 12,000 tubes—about $2 million dollars worth—of Age Intervention Eyelash, sold by Jan Marini Skin Research, Inc. The FDA considers the product “adulterated” and potentially dangerous, and has urged “consumers, dermatologists and beauticians” who have already bought the $160 product to stop using it. So what’s the big deal? According to this lawsuit site, it contains bimatoprost, “an active ingredient in an FDA approved drug to treat elevated intraocular pressure.” Oops.
Zocor May Cause Sleep Problems In Patients
By 11.8.07
A new study from the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine suggests that simvastatin, also known as the cholesterol-lowering drug Zocor, may interfere with sleep patterns: “people who took the statin drug Zocor or simvastatin found they had significantly worse sleep quality compared with people who took Pravachol or pravastatin, another cholesterol-lowering drug.” Simvastatin is fat soluble, which means it can more easily penetrate cell membranes and mess with brain chemistry.
"Hide Your Old Pills In Poop"
By 11.7.07
The Reuters headline is so perfect, we can’t improve upon it. Hide your old pills in poop, folks, before you discard them, especially ones that are frequently abused like the painkillers oxycodone, morphine, and fentanyl, and the stimulant methylphenidate.
Recalled Date Rape Drug-Filled Toy Looks Pretty Cool
By 11.7.07
This is but one of millions of magical scenes you can create with Bindeez, a popular Australian toy whose beads were found to be metabolizable into rave party drug GHB. Low doses of GHB are said to induce, “euphoria, increased enjoyment of movement and music, increased libido, increased sociability and intoxication,” the same feelings we’re getting by looking at the splendor-laden craft project!
Can't Sleep? Try Behavioral Changes Before Sleeping Pills
By 11.7.07
The health blog at the New York Times points out that there are all sorts of behavioral changes you can adopt to fight insomnia that have been proven to work—they just sound so ordinary and common that people either don’t think they’re effective or assume pills will work better.
Popular Australian Toy Filled With GHB
By 11.6.07
A toy that won the Australian Toy of the Year award this year has been recalled because it contains small beads that are filled a glue the body metabolizes into GHB. As in gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid, a party drug popular among ravers.
Fake Med Promoted Via Fraudulent Government Health & Drug Watchdog Site
By 11.6.07
The Chinese government has discovered a fake diabetes medicine on a fake research institute website, which then links to a fake version of the official government health and drug watchdog agency’s site. If you’re paying attention to urls, it’s hard to not notice that something’s wrong—but we’re sure there’s more than enough people who don’t notice that little detail.
Pfizer Launches Campaign To Warn Users Away From Generic Competitor
By 11.5.07
Pfizer is in panic mode about its rapid decline in Lipitor sales—in the last 18 months, it has dropped from 40% of the market for cholesterol-lowering drugs to 30%, and likely to drop further—so it’s launched a big media-blitz to convince people not to switch to simvastatin, the generic version of its name-brand competitor, Zocor. Zocor was more expensive than Lipitor, so Pfizer had nothing to worry about for years—but then Zocor lost its patent protection last year, and now doctors are switching patients from Lipitor over to Zocor’s generic twin to save money.
Drug Company Raided For Manufacturing Drugs In "Grossly Unsanitary" Secret Rooms
By 11.5.07
We hope you have not been using any drugs or vitamins from General Therapeutics Corp., because they’ve been busted for manufacturing the drugs in “grossly unsanitary” conditions, says the FDA.
Insurer Says, "Turn Medical Costs Into Holiday Gifts!"
By 11.5.07
Nothing says “I love you, Mom,” like some more medicine for her diabetes, or “You’re the best, Dad,” like a refill of nitro tablets. That’s why the health insurance company Highmark is offering new Healthcare Visa Gift Cards—for about $5 plus an unspecified shipping and handling fee, you can load it with anywhere from $25 to $5,000 to be used exclusively on medical expenses. After the first 9 months, the card emerges from the womb of “I already paid for this!” and starts charging you a monthly $1.50 maintenance fee. Won’t your kid be excited come Christmas morning when she finds out her staph infection is going to get treated?!
FDA: Consumers Are Buying Expensive Foreign Drugs Instead Of $4 Generics At Home
By 11.1.07
Everyone knows that people buy Viagra over the internet, but the FDA says that people are buying commonly prescribed drugs with cheap generic equivalents from foreign pharmacies.
By 10.24.07
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Here’s a frequently updated list of the top 100 blogs focusing on health and medicine. The site uses rankings from Google, Bloglines, and Technorati, along with its own editorial ranking, to create the list, and it makes a good starting point if you want to fatten up your RSS reader with some…
FDA Requiring Hearing Loss Warnings On Viagra, Cialis, Levitra
By 10.19.07
Stop doing that or you’ll go deaf! That’s the new warning (sort of) the FDA will require on popular anti-impotence drugs, spurred after a published report of a man who suffered sudden hearing loss after taking Viagra. The FDA took a look at side effect data and found 29 cases since 1996 where men suffered from similar hearing loss after taking one of the three drugs. “In two thirds of the cases, the hearing loss was ongoing, the agency said.” A drug to treat pulmonary hypertension, Revatio, will also receive the warning because it contains the same ingredient as Viagra.
