More Than One Anti-inflammatory Drug may Lead to Health Complications

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are drugs with analgesic, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory effects - they reduce pain, fever and inflammation.
NSAIDs are available in both prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) forms and are one of the most commonly prescribed medications in the world. Because of their widespread availability, patients may take both forms at the same time, either because […]

Thailand Scraps Patent Override on Cancer Drug With Novartis

The move was a last-minute victory for the outgoing military-backed government, which was at loggerheads with Western pharmaceutical firms over so-called
compulsory licenses, which temporarily suspend patent protections.
The government already overrode patents for popular heart drug Plavix and two key AIDS medicines — Kaletra and Efavirenz — and has threatened to expand its generic programmes to […]

Drugs Used for Epilepsy Carry Suicide Risk, Warns FDA

Patients given antiepileptics had twice the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviour (0.43 percent) compared with patients given a placebo (0.22 percent),
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in a statement on its website.
The risk corresponds to about two more patients per 1,000 in the drug treatment groups becoming suicidal than in the placebo groups, […]

Pfizer’s Anti-smoking Drug Could Lead to Psychiatric Symptoms - FDA

Chantix, approved by the FDA in May 2006 and as Champix by Health Canada a year ago, acts on sites in the brain affected by nicotine. The drug helps ease
withdrawal symptoms and blocks the effects of nicotine if users resume smoking.
But Friday FDA issued a public health warning saying it wa linked to potentially serious […]

Erythropoietin - a Double-edged Sword

A study conducted on mice by an ophthalmologist at Children?s Hospital, Boston suggested that administering erythropoietin may worsen the condition of
anaemia patients. The outcome of the study has raised the doubt for administering it to retinopathy and cancer patients.
For the study, Smith and his colleague Jing Chen, PhD, worked in mice with retinopathy, an eye […]

Ustekinumab Offers New Hope for Patients With Chronic Plaque Psoriasis

Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, the findings reveal that patients who received 45 mg or 90 mg of ustekinumab sustained
significantly higher improvements in psoriasis through one year, as compared to those who received placebos.
The results show that patients who received ustekinumab sustained at least a 75 per cent improvement […]

The UK War Against Inappropriate Use of Antibiotics

Donaldson?s statement comes as the Government launches a 270-million-pound campaign on the unnecessary use of drugs such as penicillin.
He has
revealed that many studies show that the level of inappropriate prescriptions of antibiotics is between 25 to 35 per cent.
“If you had that level of error in dealing with people’s cheques, their back accounts and their […]

Hepatitis C Virus Arrested By Grape Fruit Compound

The compound, which is a common flavonoid naringenin, aids in blocking the secretion of HCV from infected cells. The results of this study may have implications
in finding potential therapy for the infection in human patients. A combination of naringenin and antiviral medication might allow patient to clear the virus from their livers.
The study led by […]

Nevirapine Drug Prevents HIV Infection Through Breastfeeding

The drug that was already used in developing countries in India, Ethiopia and Uganda to prevent newborns from getting HIV from their infected mothers during
childbirth, is found highly effective in reducing the risk of HIV transmission during breastfeeding.
In the study presented at the 2008 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunities Infections in Boston, researchers at The […]

US Drug Giant Pfizer Faces Criminal Charges Over Illegal Drug

The judge adjourned the case until March 4 when Pfizer’s challenge to the court’s legal jurisdiction will be heard.
Pfizer employees Bashir Bello,
Segun Dogunro and Lere Baale stood in the witness box for the first time since civil and criminal proceedings were launched against the drug firm and eight of its staff eight months ago.
The accused […]