FDA Panel Mulls Safety of Asthma Meds

The safety of four asthma medications will be weighed by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration expert panel as two days of hearings end Thursday. The controversy over these drugs has been going on for several years, with two FDA officials recently calling for banning the use of these drugs for anyone under 17. One expert thinks the problem is not with the drugs, but with their misuse. “This is... Read more

FDA advisers weigh risks of asthma drugs

Government health officials Wednesday publicly aired deep differences over the safety of long-acting asthma drugs and called on outside medical and scientific advisers to help settle the issue. Experts from the Food and Drug Administration’s safety office are recommending that medications like Advair and Symbicort no longer be used to treat children with asthma because of the risk of serious... Read more

Painkillers Linked to Increase in Overdose Deaths

Deaths from overdoses of prescription drugs, primarily pain relievers, appear to be on the rise throughout the United States, new research suggests. West Virginia, in particular, has seen a large increase in such unintentional deaths, say government researchers, who have uncovered patterns of “doctor shopping” for drugs and overdosing on medications not used as prescribed. “We found... Read more

Statin Use Doesn’t Inhibit Lymphoma Drug Therapy

Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs don’t interfere with rituximab, a medication used to treat lymphomas, say Mayo Clinic researchers, who also found that statins may actually slow progression of some kinds of lymphomas. Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody often used alone or in conjunction with chemotherapy to treat lymphomas — cancers of the lymph system. A study published earlier this year... Read more

Brain-boosting drugs: Why not?, experts say

Healthy people are increasingly turning to brain-enhancing drugs like Ritalin to boost their performance in school or at work, researchers said on Monday. And while some expressed alarm over the trend, others embraced the idea, provided the drugs are proven safe. “In the United States, stimulant medications are widely abused,” Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug... Read more

Seizure Meds Can Be Safely Withdrawn From Kids With Epilepsy

It’s generally safe to stop giving anti-seizure medication to children with epilepsy who’ve achieved seizure-freedom while on the medication, because these children aren’t at high risk of later developing intractable epilepsy, a Mayo Clinic study finds. Intractable epilepsy, which affects about 10 percent of children with epilepsy, is a condition in which medications alone don’t... Read more

Drug Effective for Temporary Sleep Disruptions

The experimental drug tasimelteon helps treat temporary insomnia caused by jet lag or night shifts, according to the results of two new clinical trials. The phase II study included 39 people randomly assigned to receive either 10 milligrams, 20 mg, 50 mg or 100 mg of tasimelteon, or a placebo. They were monitored for seven nights — three at baseline, three after a five-hour advance of sleep-wake... Read more

Medications and Pregnancy

You may take certain over-the-counter supplements and medications without thinking twice. But when you’re pregnant, even drugs that you can buy without a prescription can affect the developing fetus. The American Academy of Family Physicians offers these safety guidelines about medications and pregnancy: Don’t take any medicine or herbal supplement without checking with your doctor. Try... Read more

FDA rule change boosts access to morning-after pill

Women have easier and quicker access to the morning after pill since the Food and Drug Administration ruled that the medication could be sold to adults without a prescription, a survey of pharmacies in three large US cities shows. In 2006, the FDA approved “behind the counter” status for Plan B — meaning that people aged 18 and older can buy the emergency contraceptive over the counter,... Read more

ADHD meds do not induce cell damage

Countering the findings from a 2005 study, new research supported by the United States National Institutes of Health indicates that stimulants used in the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) do not cause chromosomal changes in children. The earlier work identified an increased frequency of DNA damage and structural aberrations in chromosomes, which are associated with an increased... Read more

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