Category Archives: Drugs

The expiration of the patent on Lipitor helped drive U.S. drug spending down for the first time in 55 years. (Getty Images / May 9, 2013) 5:46 a.m. CDT, May 9, 2013 The amount of money Americans spend on prescription drugs fell for the first time in 55 years, according to a report from the IMS Institute of Healthcare Informatic. The expiration of patents on widley used drugs such drugs such as Lipitor and Plaviix helped send overall U.S. spending on medicines down 1 percent to $325.8 billion in 2012, the group said. Adjusting for population, per capita spending fell 3.5 percent to $898. The drop, the first since IMS began tracking drug prices in 1957, marks the beginning of what is expected to be several years in which U.S. spending on prescription drugs will grow more slowly than overall healthcare costs, said Michael Kleinrock, director of research development at IMS. The shift is being made at the same time the Affordable Care Act, designed to improve access to healthcare insurance, gets set to take effect next year. The biggest factor behind the drop was the availability of lower-cost generic versions of drugs such as Pfizer Inc.'s cholesterol-lowering Lipitor. New … Continue reading →

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 9, 2013) - The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA) joins the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), Public Safety Canada and other organizations to encourage Canadians to safely discard unneeded prescription drugs. National Prescription Drug Drop-off Day, Saturday, May 11, is an initiative organized by CACP to be implemented by police services across the country. CCSA is proud to support this event. "The National Prescription Drug Drop-off Day is a very good initiative and provides an excellent opportunity for individuals to reduce the non-medical use of prescription medicines in Canada. Evidence clearly demonstrates that a significant proportion of youth who use prescription drugs to get high obtain them from their own family medicine chest. I encourage Canadians to take this opportunity to safely discard unused medicines and help ensure they don't end up in the wrong hands," said Michel Perron, CCSA's Chief Executive Officer. This initiative supports Canada's national prescription drug strategy, released March 27. CCSA launched the strategy and action plan called First Do No Harm: Responding to Canada's Prescription Drug Crisis. The strategy reflects input from more than 30 organizations, including healthcare professionals, police officers, First Nations organizations and the pharmaceutical industry, … Continue reading →

The oft-repeated claim that the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) doesnt approve drugs quickly enough is simply false. The actual approval process usually only takes six to 12 months. So why does the US lag behind Europe in the number of new drugs it brings to market? Look no further than the clinical trials required by the FDA before the drug even reaches the government agencys review stage.Once a drug has been developed, it can take six to ten years for three phases of clinical trials to be performed. When the AIDS epidemic hit the US in the late 80s, activists urged the FDA to speed up this part of the process. The result: a fast-tracking of life-saving drugs made available to the public. Under an accelerated approval process, certain drug candidates that have proven to have significant enough effects can skip phases of FDA-required clinical trials.But the fast-tracking only applies to drugs that meet certain criteria, like those needed to treat serious diseases such as AIDS or cancer. Last night, ina debate sponsored by Intelligence Squared, Peter Huber, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, argued that the … Continue reading →

TUESDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs that are taken by millions of Americans might also improve survival from a type of kidney cancer called renal cell carcinoma, a new study suggests. Statins -- drugs such as Crestor, Lipitor, Pravachol and Zocor -- have anti-inflammatory and cell self-destruction properties, and previous research has shown that these drugs may lower the risk of developing some types of cancer. The new research, presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association in San Diego, suggests that the drugs might fight kidney cancer. "Given that one in four Americans over 45 years of age take a statin and renal cell carcinoma occurs most often in men ages 50 to 70, it may be prudent to prospectively evaluate if statins protect against [cancer] progression," study author Dr. Scott Eggener, an associate professor of urologic oncology at the University of Chicago, said in a meeting press release. One expert not connected to the study wasn't surprised by the findings. "The use of statins has shown promise in previous studies with reducing overall cancer-related mortality," said Dr. Michael Palese, an associate professor of urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount … Continue reading →

As if its not bad enough to find out you have cancer, nearly all cancer patients have to also contend with how to pay for treatment, including somehow managing the sky-high cost of drugs (chemotherapy). It seems like insult to injury (quite literally), right? Overall, cancer drug prices are skyrocketing. Of the 12 drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for various cancer conditions in 2012, 11 were priced above $100,000 for a year of treatment. Writing in an op-ed in the New York Times in October 2012, three physicians at New York Citys Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center noted that the typical new cancer drug coming on the market a decade ago cost $4,500 per month (in 2012 dollars); since 2010 the median price has been around $10,000. These and other injustices led an international group of doctors to band together and call for lowering the cost of chemotherapy drugs. In the medical journal Blood the physiciansall of whom specialize in treating a form of leukemia, or cancer of the bloodwrote that cancer drug costs are too high, unsustainable, may compromise access of needy patients to highly effective therapy, and are harmful to the sustainability of our national … Continue reading →

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon - Episode 2 "Winners Don't Use Drugs" Watch this walkthrough from the beginning: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHpaqPkAMhpoi4CDBi0g668pl8vqqe6HK ______ Facebook: http://www.facebook.c... By: Avenger2108 … Continue reading →

Chris Hoy on Lace Armstrong and Drugs Cheats Chris Hoy on Lace Armstrong and Drugs Cheats. By: RedCarpetNewsTV … Continue reading →

709 Pounds of Prescription Drugs Collected Michigan State Police collected hundreds of pounds of unused and expired medicine during National Drug Take Back Day last weekend. By: FOX47News … Continue reading →

The Maine - Love and Drugs (Lyric Video) Check out our new single "Love and Drugs" from our upcoming album, Forever Halloween. Get a free download of the song by heading over to http://www.wearethemaine.ne... By: officialthemaine … Continue reading →

By Blazio Banda, Nyasa Times Email This Post Government says drugs availability in hospitals is normalising following the delivery of 80 percent of medicine and other pharmaceutical which the Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST) has procured following the recent open tenders. Minister of Health Catherine Gitano Hara told reporters at a news conference in Lilongwe. We have had a lot of supplies through well-wishers; I would like to thank Her Excellency Dr. Joyce Banda for the initiatives she carried out sending SOS to the world over. We have received medical supplies that we have been sending to our various hospitals. The President went to the United Kingdom and she managed to get 16 million pounds of drugs, said the minister. Hara said President Banda and Ministry of Health officials have let CMST to work independently and did not interfere with the process of awarding contracts in the emergency tender. Gotani Hara: Reduce the drug stock-outs Meanwhile, the trust has cancelled contracts for some of the suppliers who have delayed their deliveries by April 16, 2013 deadline. CMST will have their contracts offered to the next highest bidders. According to Hara, government is still working to ensure that they get to … Continue reading →