Category Archives: Drugs

Doctors should talk about breast cancer-reducing drugs with women and offer tamoxifen or raloxifene to those that have a high risk of cancer and aren't likely to suffer side effects, a government-backed panel said on Monday. The drugs work by blocking the effects of estrogen in breast tissue, lowering the chance of hormone-related cancers. But they also increase the risk of blood clots and hot flashes, among other side effects - so they shouldn't be handed out to everyone, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) said in its new draft guidelines. "Currently only a minority of women for whom the medication might be indicated are actually taking it," said Dr. Mark Ebell, a member of the Task Force from the University of Georgia College of Public Health in Athens. "I don't think there's a right or wrong answer for women," he told Reuters Health. "The main thing is just for women to be aware of this as an option and to talk to their doctor if they think they might be at increased risk." Women are considered at high risk if they have a five-year chance of developing breast cancer of at least one in 60. Tools such as … Continue reading →

LONDON, April 17,2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The anticipated launch of drugs currently in the pipeline, together with the introduction of oral combination pills, are set to have a profound impact on the European HIV drugs market. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.lifesciences.frost.com), Analysis of the European HIV Drugs Market, finds that the market earned $5.58 billion in 2012 and estimates this to reach $9.24 billion in 2019. The research covers the most actively used antiretroviral (ARV) therapies: nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI), protease inhibitor (PI), non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), integrase inhibitors, and other therapeutics (ARV compounds like CCR5 receptor antagonists, fusion inhibitors, maturation inhibitors, attachment inhibitors and PK boosters). "In addition to popularly existing therapies like NRTI, NNRTI, PI and integrase inhibitors, new drug candidates over the last decade have spurred the HIV drugs market," notes Frost & Sullivan Healthcare Research Analyst Deepika Pramod Chopda. "The development of new candidates, derived from the less commonly used types of ARV therapies like PK boosters, maturation inhibitors, and attachment inhibitors, is driving the overall market." With technically advanced features like easy consumption and higher adherence to combination therapy, these candidates assist highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART), which are a combination of … Continue reading →

By Carina Storrs HealthDay Reporter MONDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- The drugs tamoxifen and raloxifene (Evista) could reduce the risk of breast cancer among women who are at high risk of developing the disease, a new report confirms. Along with the report, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force also issued draft recommendations that reflect those findings, which will be published in the April 16 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. The task force recommendations state that doctors should talk about the potential benefits and harms of taking drugs to prevent breast cancer, a strategy known as chemoprevention, with patients who are at high risk of developing breast cancer. That guideline is consistent with that of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Cancer Society, and reflects current clinical practice, the task force said. "We had a nice set of well-done, large [studies], so we have a lot of confidence in the results to really inform the recommendations," said report author Dr. Heidi Nelson, a research professor of medical informatics and clinical epidemiology at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. Nelson and the other report authors are not task force members and were contracted … Continue reading →

Sunrise - James Hird rocked by drugs claims There are claims Essendon AFL coach James Hird used a drug banned by WADA. 7 Sport reporter Nathan Templeton has the latest. By: SunriseOn7 … Continue reading →

Dr. Boyce: DMX, Iyanla Vanzant, Drugs, Alcohol and Stupidity Dr. Boyce Watkins discusses drugs and alcohol in the context of the appearance of DMX on "Fix My Life" By: Boyce Watkins … Continue reading →

Simon Price, 68, accuses prison service of 'institutionalised anti-Semitism' Career criminal jailed for smuggling 700kg of cocaine hidden in syrup drums He alleges Muslim and vegetarian prisoners get better treatment By Rob Cooper PUBLISHED: 03:15 EST, 15 April 2013 | UPDATED: 03:15 EST, 15 April 2013 A drugs baron jailed for trying to smuggle 35million worth of cocaine into Britain is suing his prison for not giving him kosher food. Orthodox Jew Simon Price, 68, is accusing the prison service of 'institutionalised anti-Semitism' and alleges that both Muslim and vegetarian criminals get more favourable treatment behind bars. The career criminal is serving 28 years after being found guilty of smuggling 700kg of cocaine hidden inside drums of syrup. Claim: Simon Price, 68, is suing HMP Frankland, near Durham for failing to provide him with kosher food Price alleges he was not given any choice about the food he was served in HMP Frankland, near Durham, in his claim brought under the Human Rights Act and equality legislation. He claims that although prisoners are allowed to cook for themselves in the jail he had to share saucepans and other utensils that are used to prepare non-Kosher food. The cocaine smuggler, who … Continue reading →

Students as young as 10 are spending their pocket money on deadly drugs including heroin, police have revealed. Older children are peddling illegal substances in the playground - getting the youngsters onto drugs by telling them the substances will help them with their studies. The pusher pupils are then using the proceeds from their deadly trade to fund their own drug habits. The shock findings were revealed by the Ministry of Interiors 999 magazine, which also reported that the average age of children in the UAE who have tried drugs is now just 12. While police say teen dealers are using social media to push drugs including the addictive substance Spice, tramadol pills and, in some cases, heroin. Officers told parents to be vigilant, adding:A lack of interaction between parent and child is a reason for the rise in early drug use. Lieutenant Colonel Awadh Saleh Al Kindi, Editor-in-Chief of 999, added:The popularity of social networking media among the young has made it easier to exploit these platforms to lure them into drug use. The average UAE school kid is now likely to be exposed to narcotics at the pre-teen stage. We have strengthened policing and monitoring but would like … Continue reading →

Some women who are at high risk of breast cancer, including those with a family history of the disease, should consider taking drugs to reduce their chances of getting cancer, a U.S. health advisory group said. The drugs, tamoxifen and raloxifene, carry risks such as blood clots, stroke and cataracts, according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which released the draft recommendations on its website. The proposal is open for public comment until May 13. Both drugs are known to prevent cancer by blocking the effects of estrogen, lowering the risk of tumors that require the hormone to grow. About 232,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and an estimated 40,000 will die of the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute. The treatment isnt recommended for all women, as tamoxifen can also cause uterine cancer. Rather, its meant for women ages 40 to 70 who dont have a prior diagnosis of breast cancer and dont have a history of blood clots or stroke. There are several serious harms associated with tamoxifen and raloxifene, which is why doctors must engage in a conversation with their patients and discuss the harms and benefits of these medications to … Continue reading →

A legislative committee will investigate how watered down chemotherapy drugs were given to about 1,200 patients in Ontario and New Brunswick. The committee will look into the apparent lack of oversight, standards and monitoring of companies which provided the diluted drugs. Marchese Hospital Solutions, a Mississauga, Ont.-based company, was contracted to prepare the chemotherapy drugs for four hospitals in Ontario and one in New Brunswick, where 186 patients received the diluted drugs. The committee will also probe Ontario's pharmaceutical regulations and inspection procedures, and what impact the diluted drugs may have had on cancer patients. Some patients, including children, were given the drugs for up to a year. The governing Liberals have appointed a pharmacy expert to review the province's cancer drug system and put together a working group that includes doctors, Cancer Care Ontario and Health Canada. The legislative committee is expected to deliver a report within 90 days, with a possible 30-day extension. New Brunswick Premier David Alward said that safeguards are needed to restore confidence in the health-care system, "We need to make sure that we can give full confidence to the people of New Brunswick or Ontario or Canada ultimately that the proper system is in … Continue reading →

On the morning of May 3, 2010, three agents of the Food and Drug Administration descended upon the Houston office of Cetero Research, a firm that conducted research for drug companies worldwide. RELATED: FDA Approves Abuse-Resistant Painkiller Lead agent Patrick Stone, now retired from the FDA, had visited the Houston lab many times over the previous decade for routine inspections. This time was different. His team was there to investigate a former employee's allegation that the company had tampered with records and manipulated test data. RELATED: FDA: Your Toothbrush May Be Out to Destroy You When Stone explained the gravity of the inquiry to Chinna Pamidi, the testing facility's president, the Cetero executive made a brief phone call. Moments later, employees rolled in eight flatbed carts, each double-stacked with file boxes. The documents represented five years of data from some 1,400 drug trials. RELATED: Five Best Tuesday Columns Pamidi bluntly acknowledged that much of the lab's work was fraudulent, Stone said. "You got us," Stone recalled him saying. RELATED: Many Rice Products Contain Arsenic; Most U.S. Latinos Identify as American Based partly on records in the file boxes, the FDA eventually concluded that the lab's violations were so "egregious" and … Continue reading →