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
Drug to Prevent Preterm Labor Shows Little Benefit
A muscle relaxant drug widely used to prevent premature birth when women go into early labor is no more effective than a placebo at maintaining pregnancy, after the initial spell of preterm labor is stopped. So say U.S. researchers who conducted the first ever placebo-controlled test of nifedipine and its effect on premature delivery with prolonged treatment. The study included 71 women who’d... Read more
Wikipedia often omits important drug information: study
Consumers who rely on the user-edited Web resource Wikipedia for information on medications are putting themselves at risk of potentially harmful drug interactions and adverse effects, new research shows. Dr. Kevin A. Clauson of Nova Southeastern University in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and his colleagues found few factual errors in their evaluation of Wikipedia entries on 80 drugs. But these entries... Read more
5 million in U.S. go to alcohol, drug self-help groups
About 5 million Americans attend meetings of self-help groups like Alcoholics Anonymous for alcohol and drug abusers, and nearly half of them reported remaining clean, a federal study released on Monday showed. The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration examined the popularity of meetings like those run in many communities by AA and Narcotics Anonymous. In these kinds of meetings,... Read more
Iressa as Good as Chemotherapy for Lung Cancer
The cancer-fighting pill Iressa works as well as chemotherapy as a second-line treatment for lung cancer, researchers report. Although neither therapy prolongs survival beyond eight months, Iressa (gefitinib) causes fewer serious side effects and may be a better choice for patients who did not do well on their first round of chemotherapy. “A pill, with less side effects, taken once a day, has... Read more
Drug combo may help curb bedwetting
In children who continue to wet the bed despite standard treatment with desmopressin, adding the bladder-control drug tolterodine (Detrol) to therapy leads to a significant decrease in the risk of bedwetting, Missouri-based researchers have found. Desmopressin, lead researcher Dr. Paul F. Austin told Reuters Health, is the most frequently prescribed medication for bedwetting “and we, along with... Read more
2nd Generation Antidepressants Prove Effective
Second generation antidepressants are all equally effective, according to a new clinical practice guideline released by the American College of Physicians. The guideline authors reviewed more than 200 published studies about the benefits and risks of the following second generation drugs: bupropion, citalopram, duloxetine, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, mirtazapine, nefazodone, paroxetine,... Read more
Modern cancer drugs more likely to get to market
Nearly one in five cancer drugs entering development now reach the market, a remarkably good success rate given the high level of failures in other disease areas, British researchers said on Friday . A study by Cancer Research UK, based on 974 cancer drugs starting initial Phase I clinical trials since 1995, calculated there was an 18 percent probability that those in human tests would make it to commercial... Read more
Enrollment for Medicare Drug Plans Begins Again
With the enrollment period for Medicare’s Part D prescription drug coverage program for 2009 kicking off Nov. 15, experts are advising seniors to choose a plan carefully because premiums and covered medications can vary from plan to plan. “As we enter the fourth year of the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, we continue to see high satisfaction rates among beneficiaries and high... Read more
Four drug combination helps in lung cancer: U.S. study
Combining two chemotherapy drugs with two targeted therapies was safe and appeared to help patients with advanced lung cancer live longer, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday. The combination of Roche and Co’s Avastin, ImClone’s Erbitux, carboplatin and paclitaxel appeared to add an average of two months to the lives of patients, from 12 months on average to 14 months, the team at the... Read more