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Swine flu vaccine distribution to New York companies causes uproar

The distribution of swine flu vaccines to big name companies in New York has caused an uproar as people complain that children and health care workers should receive top priority. The New York Times reports: "New York City health officials have distributed small amounts of the swine flu vaccine to some major New York companies, including Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, even as shortages continue.

6 Nov 2009

Gonorrhea medication may help fight cancer

Drugs sometimes have beneficial side effects. A glaucoma treatment causes luscious eyelashes. A blood pressure drug also aids those with a rare genetic disease. The newest surprise discovered by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is a gonorrhea medication that might help battle cancer.

6 Nov 2009

CVS investigated by FTC over business practices

"CVS Caremark Corp (CVS.N) has been the subject of a U.S. Federal Trade Commission investigation over some of its business practices since August, the company said on Thursday," Reuters reports. "Various groups have asked the government to look into CVS Caremark's practices since drugstore chain CVS bought pharmacy benefits management business Caremark Rx Inc in March 2007. They claim that changes to services in the pharmacy benefits business since the acquisition have led to higher prices, compromised quality of care and pushed patients to choose CVS drugstores over other pharmacies."

6 Nov 2009

55% of adult population in Greater Washington, DC say they will not get H1N1 flu vaccine, reveals poll results

Fifty-five percent of the adult population in the Greater Washington, DC region say they will not get the H1N1 flu vaccine, according to a new poll commissioned by the Greater Washington Board of Trade.

6 Nov 2009

H1N1 is now most dominant flu strain worldwide, WHO says

The H1N1 (swine flu) virus is now the dominant flu strain worldwide, the WHO reported Thursday, with the virus accounting for up to 70 percent of the flu viruses sampled in some countries, the Associated Press reports.

6 Nov 2009

ART as part of HIV prevention strategy supported by WHO

"AIDS drugs should be given to all who need them to reduce new infections, the World Health Organization said," following a three-day meeting on the topic of using antiretroviral therapy (ART) to help prevent the spread of HIV, Bloomberg reports. "Providing more antiretroviral drugs 'will achieve a significant transmission benefit,' Teguest Guerma, interim director of the WHO's AIDS department, said … 'In the past, there has been a false dichotomy between prevention and treatment. …'That is really what has been corrected. Prevention and treatment are two faces of the same coin'" (Bennett, 11/5).

6 Nov 2009

"No Drugs Down the Drain" outreach campaign in Sacramento

California American Water has designated the week of November 9, 2009 as "No Drugs Down the Drain" week for its Sacramento service area as part of a national campaign sponsored by public and private agencies alike toward the common mission of reducing pharmaceutical pollution in our source water supplies.

6 Nov 2009

CREW urge HHS to investigate CDC's approval to distribute H1NI vaccine to Wall Street firms

Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked Health and Human Service (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to investigate why the Center for Disease Control (CDC) approved the distribution of the H1NI vaccine to Wall Street firms at a time when the vaccine is unavailable to most Americans.

6 Nov 2009

Eggs sensitivity and flu shot: Doctors' dilemma

"My three year old had a skin breakout we think was due to eggs - is it safe to do a flu shot?" It's a question being asked to every doctor who takes care of kids during flu season. "On the one hand we are concerned about the devastating effects of the new strain of flu, and on the other we aren't sure if a history of eggs sensitivity is enough to hold the shot or spray," said Bobby Q. Lanier, M.D., clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of North Texas HSC in Fort Worth, Texas, and executive medical director of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).

6 Nov 2009

Pharmacists are necessary to the medical care model

Roger Merrill, MD, chief medical officer of Perdue Foods Inc. of Salisbury, Md., told students at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy yesterday that they should be concerned about future health care costs.

6 Nov 2009

Journal of Infectious Diseases' special edition on rotavirus

The Journal of Infectious Diseases has released a special edition, Global Rotavirus Surveillance: Preparing for the Introduction of Rotavirus Vaccines. This special edition provides a significant contribution to the understanding of rotavirus disease burden and the impact of rotavirus vaccines, which have the potential to save an estimated 228,000 lives annually.

6 Nov 2009

CPEX Pharmaceuticals to feature Nasulin at the Diabetes Technology Meeting

CPEX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that its intranasal insulin product candidate, NasulinTM, will be featured in an oral presentation and four abstracts at the Ninth Annual Diabetes Technology Meeting, November 5-7, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Airport in San Francisco, California.

6 Nov 2009

Grant awarded for research into a new treatment for methamphetamine addiction

Dr. Keith Flower - a research physician at the Addiction Pharmacology & Research Laboratory in San Francisco, CA - has been awarded a grant to investigate a new medication treatment for methamphetamine addiction. This grant has been awarded to California Pacific Medical Center's Research Institute through President Obama's AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009.

6 Nov 2009

Wedgewood Pharmacy announces compounding of thyroid tablets in response to physician demand

Wedgewood Pharmacy announced today that it is compounding thyroid tablets in response to physician demand during the long-term backorder of Forest Laboratories’ Armour® Thyroid tablets. Compounded using Thyroid USP powder, a naturally occurring thyroid, Wedgewood Pharmacy’s scored tablets are available by prescription in 15mg, 30mg, 60mg and 120mg, with prices ranging from $21 to $25 per 100-count bottle.

6 Nov 2009

Citracal Calcium plus Heart Health helps support bone and heart health in women

Bone strength and heart health are two of the most important health issues for women. One out of every two women will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in her lifetime and more than 50 million women have blood cholesterol levels high enough to pose a risk for heart disease. Now there is a new product available to help address both of these issues at the same time.

6 Nov 2009

Physicians concern about the spread of H1N1 virus and the availability of H1N1 vaccine

According to a Panel Intelligence survey of 50 primary care physicians, there are significant concerns about the H1N1 virus not just in terms of disease prevalence and vaccine shortages, but also in that 38% of the physicians surveyed (PCPs, pediatricians, and gerontologists) are "very concerned" about the virus evolving into a more serious strain and another 52% have moderate concerns about such a development.

6 Nov 2009

Patent covering the approved administration of Kuvan with food issued

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued a patent covering the approved administration of Kuvan® (sapropterin dihydrochloride) with food for the treatment of phenylketonuria (PKU). The patent expires in 2024.

6 Nov 2009

TREANDA induces durable responses in indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients

Cephalon, Inc. today announced the journal Cancer has published a pivotal study demonstrating that TREANDA® (bendamustine HCl) for Injection induced durable responses in patients with indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) whose disease had progressed during or within six months of treatment with rituximab.

6 Nov 2009

FDA grants orphan drug designation for Sunesis Pharmaceuticals' voreloxin

Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted voreloxin orphan drug designation for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Sunesis is currently conducting two Phase 2 clinical trials of voreloxin in AML: a single-agent study, known as REVEAL-1, of voreloxin in newly diagnosed elderly AML patients unlikely to benefit from standard induction chemotherapy and a study evaluating voreloxin in combination with cytarabine in relapsed/refractory AML.

6 Nov 2009

Bipolar disorder drug market to decline from $6.3 billion to $5 billion

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that widespread generic erosion of branded atypical antipsychotics will cause the bipolar disorder drug market to decline from $6.3 billion in 2008 to approximately $5 billion in 2018 in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan.

6 Nov 2009