Adverse Drug Reaction News and Research

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Stress and mental illness: an interview with Professor Akira Sawa

As a psychiatrist I am interested in how stress may play a role in the pathology of adult mental disorders. You may know that most of the major mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, mood-disorder, substance abuse or even anxiety disorder, become prominent in early adulthood.

14 Feb 2013

Metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) therapy: an interview with Charles A. Nicolette, Ph.D., CSO of Argos Therapeutics

Metastatic renal cell carcinoma is a devastating disease. There are roughly 20-25,000 new cases per year in the United States and it is increasing for some reason.

12 Feb 2013

Interferon retreatment of chronic hepatitis C may be harmful

People with hepatitis C and chronic liver disease who relapsed or failed to respond to initial treatment are unlikely to improve on interferon retreatment. In fact, they may face an increased risk of dying sooner, and are likely to experience a variety of adverse effects, according to an updated systematic review published in The Cochrane Library.

31 Jan 2013

Vaccine confidence: an interview with Dr Heidi Larson

Here at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine we are running a project called the Vaccine Confidence Project and we have a global surveillance monitoring information around the world on media, social media, all sorts of information, reports from governments, UN, other sources, looking for any what we call “signals” of public distrust or concerns that come up.

30 Jan 2013

Alcohol and antibiotics: an interview with Dr Randall

Contrary to popular belief, there are only a handful of antibiotics that can interact with alcohol to cause unpleasant effects. The two main antibiotics you should definitely avoid drinking alcohol with are metronidazole (brand names include Flagyl) and tinidazole (brand names include Fasigyn).

18 Dec 2012

Celgene announces results from REVLIMID plus VIDAZA phase II study on AML

Celgene International Sàrl today announced that results from a study evaluating the combination of REVLIMID (lenalidomide) plus VIDAZA (azacitidine) in patients 60 years or older with untreated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were presented at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting in Atlanta, GA.

11 Dec 2012

Bowel cancer and GIST patients could benefit from novel oral drug

Two phase 3 trials, published in The Lancet, have shown that a novel oral drug called regorafenib could offer survival benefits to people with bowel (colorectal) cancer or gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) following failure of existing treatments.

22 Nov 2012

Advanced breast cancer that has spread to the brain could be treated with drug combination

The sizeable and increasing proportion of women with advanced breast cancer whose disease has spread to the brain could be effectively treated systemically with a combination of two drugs, sparing them the debilitating neurological side effects of whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT), suggests new research published Online First in The Lancet Oncology.

2 Nov 2012

New neuroprotective agent for stroke patients potentially found

Scientists have shown that a drug called NA-1 results in fewer brain lesions in patients who have undergone surgery to repair a brain aneurysm, compared to placebo, and appears to be safe to use, according to an Article published Online First in The Lancet Neurology.

8 Oct 2012

MHRA approves Sucampo’s AMITIZA to treat chronic idiopathic constipation in the U.K.

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has received approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for AMITIZA (lubiprostone) 24 mcg twice daily for the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) and associated symptoms in adults, when response to diet and other non-pharmacological measures (e.g., educational measures, physical activity) are inappropriate.

12 Sep 2012

Dengue vaccine breakthrough

Results of the first ever trial to show that a safe and effective dengue vaccine may be possible are published Online First in The Lancet.

11 Sep 2012

Phase III data for Suvorexant, an investigational insomnia medicine, announced

Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced new data for suvorexant, the investigational medicine Merck is developing for the treatment of insomnia. The new data are from one of the longest, continuously-dosed, placebo-controlled trials of a sleep medication ever conducted.

10 Sep 2012

UC San Diego, iSAEC partner to study genetics of drug induced renal injury

The International Serious Adverse Events Consortium (iSAEC) announced today it will collaborate with the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science to research the genetics of drug induced renal injury (DIRI).

22 Aug 2012

Medication reconciliation in hospitals: an interview with Dr. Leonard Feldman

Adverse drug effects are harms caused by the use of a medication. There are many different types of ADEs, including medication errors.

6 Aug 2012

Training nurse-pharmacist teams to track discrepancies between patients medications at home and in hospital may reduce conflicts

A study of more than 500 patients admitted to, and discharged from, a big-city medical center suggests that nurse-pharmacist teams trained to track down discrepancies between lists of drugs patients are taking at home and those they are scheduled to take in the hospital might substantially reduce such potentially harmful conflicts.

1 Aug 2012

Breast cancer drug bevacizumab (Avastin): an interview with Dr Anna Dorothea Wagner

Breast cancer is the most important cancer for women in the developed world. About 20% of all patients diagnosed with breast cancer die of metastatic disease.

1 Aug 2012

Insomnia: an interview with Dr Darryle Schoepp

Insomnia is a very common disorder. In medical terms it can affect a third of people. It affects elderly as well as non-elderly people, and is more common in women.

26 Jul 2012

TB combination drug trials progress

A novel approach to discover the first new tuberculosis (TB) combination drug regimen cleared a major hurdle when Phase II clinical trial results found it could kill more than 99 percent of patients’ TB bacteria within two weeks and could be more effective than existing treatments, according to a study published today in the Lancet. These results add to a growing body of evidence that the new regimen could reduce treatment by more than a year for some patients.

24 Jul 2012

Preventable hospital deaths: An interview with Dr Helen Hogan

In 2007/8 when we were thinking about the study, there wasn’t a clear picture of the number of preventable deaths in English hospitals. There had been an important report by the chief medical officer of the NHS in 2000 (An Organisation with a Memory) and he talked of the possibility of between 60,000 and 250,000 cases of severe disability or death arising in hospitals.

18 Jul 2012

Investigational Insomnia Medicine from Merck improved patients’ ability to fall and stay asleep according to new phase III Data

Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced new data from two pivotal Phase III efficacy trials for suvorexant, the investigational medicine Merck is developing for the treatment of insomnia. In the studies, suvorexant significantly reduced the time it took patients to fall asleep and increased the time that patients stayed asleep as early as the first night and at the three-month time point compared to placebo. The investigational medicine met statistical significance for all primary endpoints except for one measurement at Month 3 in one of the trials. These late-breaking data were presented here today at SLEEP 2012, the 26th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

13 Jun 2012