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Patients with knee osteoarthritis should avoid long term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

Current guidelines recommend the use of oral NSAIDs in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis and they are used regularly by half of all patients with painful osteoarthritis.

23 Nov 2004

Concealment of drugs in food and beverages in nursing homes is common

The practice of concealing drugs in patients' food and drinks is common in nursing homes, claim researchers from Norway in a study published on bmj.com today.

23 Nov 2004

Information about serious adverse effects of cerivastatin were known within months after drug launched

A review of the published literature and of internal company documents from the manufacturer of cerivastatin, a cholesterol lowering drug removed from the market in 2001, suggests that information about serious adverse effects of this medication was known to the company within months after this drug was launched

23 Nov 2004

SSRI's increase risk of abnormal bleeding

New users of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs, a type of antidepressant) have an increased risk of being admitted to the hospital for abnormal bleeding, according to an article in the November 22 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine.

23 Nov 2004

Researchers have found that a blood-reduction program in cardiac surgery results in a reduced need for transfusions

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medical Center have found that a blood-reduction program in cardiac surgery is resulting in a reduced need for transfusions without compromising patients’ recoveries.

23 Nov 2004

Discovery of gene mutation in fruit flies that alters sensitivity to crack cocaine

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and New York University have discovered a gene mutation in fruit flies that alters sensitivity to crack cocaine and also regulates their internal body clock.

23 Nov 2004

Hetero Drugs withdraws antiretrovirals

Following an inspection by the World Health Organization (WHO), generic manufacturer Hetero Drugs Limited, in Hyderbad, India, is withdrawing six antiretrovirals from the WHO prequalification list in order to review data on their bioequivalence.

20 Nov 2004

FDA approves Tarceva (erlotinib)

OSI Pharmaceuticals and Genentech have announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved, after priority review, Tarceva (erlotinib) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after failure of at least one prior chemotherapy regimen.

20 Nov 2004

Study provides the first detailed description of errors by hospital staff nurses

A University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing study provides the first detailed description of the nature and prevalence of errors by hospital staff nurses.

20 Nov 2004

Pyramid sampling method to be used to track HIV-risk behavior among drug users in 25 cities

What's the best way to get a statistically reliable sample of people who are hard to identify, such as illegal-drug users in large cities, itinerant jazz musicians, aging Manhattan artists and semi-professional storytellers?

20 Nov 2004

FDA Vioxx fiasco raises questions about AIDS drug approvals for developing world

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), today noted that the current "FDA fiasco" involving the agency's initial approval and subsequent recall of Merck's troubled arthritis drug, Vioxx, raises serious questions about the FDA's ongoing parallel role in the approval of generic AIDS drugs for widespread use in Africa and the developing world.

19 Nov 2004

Prolonged abstinence, no visual problems in patients taking GVG for meth/cocaine abuse

A second, small clinical trial of a proposed addiction treatment led by investigators at NYU School of Medicine and the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory has produced favorable results in the treatment of long-term addiction to methamphetamine and/or cocaine, with no visual side effects in any of the 30 patients enrolled.

18 Nov 2004

Biotoxin from puffer fish may provide treatment for opioid withdrawal

On November 10, 2004 investigators involved in a Phase IIa clinical trial of the novel biotoxin Tetrodotoxin (TTX) for the treatment of opioid withdrawal enrolled their first participants.

18 Nov 2004

Research provides more evidence of communication between developing nerves and blood vessels

In a developing embryo, the growth of nerves cannot outpace the establishment of life-giving blood vessels. Now, researchers have found that a protein intimately involved in blood vessel patterning actually belongs to a family of proteins known to guide neural development.

18 Nov 2004

Postpartum depression: Beyond the 'Baby Blues'

In a culture where giving birth is often believed to be the most joyful moment in life, many women instead feel tired, sad, anxious, distracted and depressed after the baby is born.

18 Nov 2004

Low-cost antibiotic co-trimoxazole should be given to all children with HIV in developing countries

Results of a randomised trial in this week’s issue of THE LANCET highlight how the low-cost antibiotic co-trimoxazole should be given to all children with HIV in developing countries to help reduce illness and death from opportunistic infections such as pneumonia.

18 Nov 2004

Drugs News and Research

Patients with knee osteoarthritis should avoid long term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

Concealment of drugs in food and beverages in nursing homes is common

Information about serious adverse effects of cerivastatin were known within months after drug launched

SSRI's increase risk of abnormal bleeding

Researchers have found that a blood-reduction program in cardiac surgery results in a reduced need for transfusions

Discovery of gene mutation in fruit flies that alters sensitivity to crack cocaine

Hetero Drugs withdraws antiretrovirals

FDA approves Tarceva (erlotinib)

Study provides the first detailed description of errors by hospital staff nurses

Pyramid sampling method to be used to track HIV-risk behavior among drug users in 25 cities

FDA Vioxx fiasco raises questions about AIDS drug approvals for developing world

Prolonged abstinence, no visual problems in patients taking GVG for meth/cocaine abuse

Biotoxin from puffer fish may provide treatment for opioid withdrawal

Research provides more evidence of communication between developing nerves and blood vessels

Postpartum depression: Beyond the 'Baby Blues'

Low-cost antibiotic co-trimoxazole should be given to all children with HIV in developing countries

New antidotes for organophosphates are needed to prepare for chemical attacks in the West

Acupuncture better than drugs alone for osteoarthritis of the knee

New findings have implications for chronic use of COX-2 Inhibitors in pre-menopausal women

Generic antipsychotic drugs can protect brain cells from progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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