Category Archives: Drugs

NEW YORK/CHICAGO (Reuters) - A possible revolutionary way to fight cholesterol is expected to cause a big stir among thousands of heart doctors gathering in Chicago starting this weekend for the annual American College of Cardiology meeting. The new drugs in development by top pharmaceutical makers and up-and-coming biotechs are injectable medications that block a protein called PCSK9. They have shown promise in early clinical trials for slashing "bad" LDL cholesterol further than widely used statins can alone. Their biggest advocates say PCSK9 blockers have the potential to be the next multibillion-dollar class of heart drugs. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc last year disclosed that its product slashed levels of LDL cholesterol up to 65 percent beyond reductions seen alone with statins - pills like Pfizer Inc's Lipitor and AstraZeneca Plc's Crestor that are today's standard treatments. The company on Monday will unveil full trial results, including safety findings - giving a fuller picture of its potential and how widely it might be prescribed if approved. Wall Street has followed the drug, called REGN 727, as well as rival products from Amgen Inc, Merck & Co and other drugmakers that are nipping at its heels. But relatively few doctors know much about … Continue reading →

21 March 2012 Last updated at 13:04 ET Police surveillance led to the seizure of drugs worth up to 180,000, the High Court has heard. Details emerged as bail was refused to Aidan Austin, 36, of Lever Park, Portstewart, who was one of five men arrested after the drugs were allegedly transported from Portstewart to Bangor. He is charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and being concerned in the supply of Class B drugs. A judge said the drugs and cash found pointed to a "major trading operation". The drugs consignment is alleged to have included cocaine and amphetamines. The High Court was told on Wednesday that a dummy run had been carried out a week before the seizure was made last December. Mr Austin is allegedly linked to the operation through contact between his mobile phone and two brothers who are among the co-accused. A defence barrister stressed that the case against his client was based only on phone traffic. But Mr Justice McLaughlin told him it could potentially be compelling circumstantial evidence. More here: Surveillance 'led to drugs find' … Continue reading →

General news Hospitals are not supposed to be involved in the illegal drug business, but it appears they are at least indirectly. Please join us on our facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/bangkokpostlearning Five people have been arrested in drug raids in Chiang Rais Mae Sai district which netted 200,000 pills of methamphetamine and 6kg of crystal methamphetamine with a street price of 78 million baht in total. A key ingredient may have come from Thai hospitals. King-oua Laohong Hospital staff are suspected of supplying pseudoephedrine-based medicines to drug gangs in Myanmar and Laos. The Anti-Money Laundering Office is probing the financial records of pharmacists and other hospital staff to find out whether they have been trafficking pseudoephedrine-based drugs from state and private hospitals. The drugs are used as a precursor for producing methamphetamine and crystal methamphetamine. Amlo chief Seehanat Prayoonrat said investigators are also probing the suspected drug rings which receive the drugs from Thailand. Preliminary results show gangs are paying hospital staff to order the drugs, which are then diverted from hospital pharmacies and sent by mail to northern provinces. See original here: Illegal drugs may have hospital connection … Continue reading →

1:00 AM Unlike those who must take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their lives, these patients are cured. By LAURAN NEERGAARD The Associated Press WASHINGTON Lindsay Porter's kidneys were failing rapidly when a friend offered to donate one of his. Then she made an unusual request: Would he donate part of his immune system, too? click image to enlarge AP Every day for the rest of their lives, transplant recipients must swallow handfuls of pills to keep their bodies from rejecting a donated organ. The Chicago woman hoped to avoid those problematic drugs, enrolling in a study to try to trick her own immune system into accepting a foreign kidney. It's one of a series of small, high-stakes experiments around the country that has researchers hopeful that they're finally closing in on how to help at least some transplant patients go drug-free. The key: Create a sort of twin immunity, by transplanting some of the kidney donor's immune-producing cells along with the new organ. "I'm so lucky," said the 47-year-old Porter, who stumbled across the research at Chicago's Northwestern University. Porter was able to quit her pills last summer, a year after her transplant, and said, "I feel amazing." … Continue reading →

OTTAWA - Health Canada is warning that certain drugs used to treat an enlarged prostate or male-pattern baldness may increase the risk of a serious form of prostate cancer. The drug finasteride, sold under the brand names Proscar and Propecia and their generic equivalents, is prescribed to treat both enlarged prostate and male-pattern baldness. Dutasteride, available under the brand names Avodart and Jalyn, is also used to treat an enlarged prostate, a condition also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia. Health Canada says finasteride and dutasteride may be associated with a higher risk of developing high-grade prostate cancer, an aggressive type of the disease that can grow and spread quickly. The department says high-grade prostate cancer is rare, and the increased risk seen with finasteride and dutasteride is still considered very small. The new safety information is based on a Health Canada review of two large international clinical trials that showed that long-term daily use of finasteride and dutasteride in men 50 and older was linked to a small increased risk of high-grade prostate cancer. In the studies, long-term use was described as four years or more. The risk was shown in the five milligram dosage of finasteride (sold as Proscar). … Continue reading →

Lindsay Porter's kidneys were failing rapidly when a friend offered to donate one of his. Then she made an unusual request: Would he donate part of his immune system, too? Every day for the rest of their lives, transplant recipients must swallow handfuls of pills to keep their bodies from rejecting a donated organ. The Chicago woman hoped to avoid those problematic drugs, enrolling in a study to try to trick her own immune system into accepting a foreign kidney. It's one of a series of small, high-stakes experiments around the country that has researchers hopeful that they're finally closing in on how to help at least some transplant patients go drug-free. The key: Create a sort of twin immunity, by transplanting some of the kidney donor's immune-producing cells along with the new organ. "I'm so lucky," says the 47-year-old Porter, who stumbled across the research at Chicago's Northwestern University. Porter was able to quit her pills last summer, a year after her transplant, and says, "I feel amazing." These experiments are a big gamble. If the technique fails, patients could lose their new kidney, possibly their lives. Doctors stress that no one should try quitting anti-rejection drugs on their … Continue reading →

Petaling Jaya (The Star/ANN) - One was banned and another controlled, but appetite suppressant drugs sibutramine and phentermine are still added to traditional medicines and health supplements by unscrupulous manufacturers. This has put millions of Malaysians at risk as the drugs can be dangerous if taken without medical supervision, especially for people with underlying conditions, such as heart disease. "Sibutramine was banned in Malaysia in 2010 after it was observed to increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes in patients with a history of heart disease," said Health Ministry pharmaceutical services division senior director Datuk Eisah A. Rahman. "While phentermine is still allowed to be prescribed by qualified doctors, it is generally not recommended for people with heart disease or high blood pressure. "It is also only approved for short-term use (less than three months)," Eisah said. Last year, about 20 types of slimming products, valued at 610,581 ringgit (US$200,000), were seized in the 225 recorded cases, said director of pharmacy enforcement Mohd Hatta Ahmad. "This is about three times the value of products seized in 2010, which amounted to 195,365 ringgit ($64,000)," he said, adding that most of them were laced with sibutramine or phentermine. Mohd Hatta said … Continue reading →

The prescription drugs finasteride, used to treat an enlarged prostate and male pattern baldness, and dutasteride, also to help men with the prostate condition, may increase the risk of high-grade prostate cancer, Health Canada warns. The warning, issued Monday, comes following reviews of two international trials. However, it notes that high-grade prostate cancer, which grows and spreads more quickly than low-grade prostate cancer, is rare, and the increased risk of using the two drugs is still considered very small. As a result of the assessment of the trials, new safety warnings have been added to the Canadian drug labels for finasteride and dutasteride products. Updates to labels for the generic forms of the two drugs are also coming. Following are more details of the drugs: Finasteride is available under the brand names Proscar (5 mg finasteride) and Propecia (1 mg finasteride), and their generic equivalents. Dutasteride is available under the brand names Avodart and Jalyn (a combination drug product containing dutasteride and tamsulosin). Proscar, Avodart and Jalyn treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or an enlarged prostate, a common condition in men over 40. Propecia is used to treat male pattern hair loss. Health Canada says its review of the Prostate … Continue reading →

RACHEL YOUNG A Christchurch doctor who admitted professional misconduct relating to prescribing controlled drugs will undergo psychological treatment to help him learn to say no to patients. The doctor, who has name suppression, appeared before the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal in Christchurch yesterday. In 2010, the doctor, known as Dr S, went on leave leaving a locum to oversee his practice. The locum became concerned about Dr S's pattern of prescribing drugs, in particular opiates and benzodiazepines, to his patients. The locum's concerns were raised with Dr S and in April 2011 a professional conduct committee (PCC) was established. The PCC recommended that a charge of professional misconduct be brought against Dr S for prescribing a controlled drug to a patient who he had to reason to believe was dependent on it and/or for prescribing opioids, benzodiazepines and facilitating self-injections in a way that "deviated significantly from the practice of his medical peers". Five patients were given as examples in the summary of facts. In the summary, Dr S acknowledged his prescribing of self-injecting opioids was not standard practice and his prescribing of benzodiazepines was outside the normal range. In a statement, Dr S accepted his prescribing was "inappropriate" and … Continue reading →

EDITORIAL The Pheu Thai government came to power as a populist movement, and seems determined to prove it at every opportunity. The slowly developing plans to manage water and prevent floods include the provision to pay farmers for irrigation and fish ponds. The rising price of food has resulted in orders for the Blue Flag lorries to begin selling lower-priced items. And there is that one reliable issue certain to please the population, yet another campaign in the war against illegal drugs. It's too bad, then, that the government is lapping up public support instead of attending to the business of a true and effective campaign against drugs. There are few political actions by any government so reliably supported as a war on illegal drugs. As a whole, the country remains strongly in favour of harsh drug laws, and has little if any sympathy for drug peddlers. The Thaksin Shinawatra government of 2003 urged and supported what turned into a virtual massacre of 2,500 petty drug dealers and completely innocent bystanders. Yet, because it targeted drug peddlers, that government-supported action has never been properly investigated or made accountable. The visceral dislike of illegal drugs and dealers probably explains the almost … Continue reading →