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- 15.07.2010 New Drug Helps Patients Lose Weight and Maintain the Loss
Lorcaserin, a selective serotonin 2C receptor agonist, helps patients both lose weight and maintain their weight loss, according to a phase III study conducted by the drug's manufacturer and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Some 3200 overweight or obese adults were randomized to take lorcaserin or placebo twice daily for a year, after which lorcaserin recipients continued the drug or switched to placebo for another year. All participants also received nutrition and exercise counseling. + zobacz więcej - 14.07.2010 FDA Adds Liver Warning to Leflunomide Label
The FDA will require that the label for the rheumatoid arthritis drug leflunomide (Arava) carry an added warning for severe liver injury. The label already warns against the drug's use in pregnant women and those of childbearing potential.
The new warning comes after the FDA received 49 reports of severe liver injury, including 14 instances of fatal liver failure, from 2002 to 2009. Risk for liver injury was higher among patients using other drugs associated with liver injury and patients with liver disease. + zobacz więcej - 14.07.2010 Eight Lots of Coumadin Recalled
Bristol-Myers Squibb is recalling 1-mg tablets of Coumadin (warfarin) contained in three lots of physician sample blister packs and five lots of hospital blister packs. The tablets may not meet the company's manufacturing standards, and therapeutic levels of the drug could be affected.
The lot numbers are: 9A48931A, 9A48931B, and 9A48931C for the sample packs; and 8F34006B, 8K44272A, 8K46168A, 9F44437A, and 9K58012B for the hospital packs. + zobacz więcej - 14.07.2010 Certain Types of Suicide Attempts Associated with Greater Subsequent Risk
People who attempt suicide by certain methods — particularly hanging, strangulation, or suffocation — are more likely to succeed in later attempts, according to a BMJ study.
Using national registers, Swedish researchers identified nearly 49,000 people hospitalized for attempting suicide over a 10-year period. During up to 31 years' follow-up, 12% committed suicide. Compared with people whose initial attempt was by poisoning, those who had tried hanging, strangulation, or suffocation; drowning; firearms or explosives; jumping from a height; or gassing were significantly more likely to eventually commit suicide (completed suicide rate: 10% among those who initially tried poisoning vs. 55% for those who had tried hanging, strangulation, or suffocation). + zobacz więcej - 14.07.2010 What Would You Do About an Impaired or Incompetent Colleague?
Only two thirds of U.S. physicians with direct knowledge of a colleague's incompetence to practice medicine have reported it, according to a JAMA study.
Some 1900 physicians responded to a 2009 survey on professionalism. The survey focused on what respondents would do in the face of an impaired or incompetent colleague. + zobacz więcej - 13.07.2010 Drug Maker Purportedly Hid Information on Rosiglitazone Risks for a Decade
GlaxoSmithKline has known about the elevated heart risks with its diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia) since 1999 — and has been attempting to hide the data since then — according to the New York Times.
The Times reports that a 1999 study showed that the drug was no better than its competitor, pioglitazone (Actos), and that there were "clear signs that it was riskier to the heart." However, the company failed to publish the findings or submit them to federal regulators. + zobacz więcej - 13.07.2010 Current Screening Guidelines Miss Children With High Cholesterol
Limiting pediatric cholesterol screening to children with positive family histories misses a substantial number who might benefit from treatment, according to a Pediatrics study.
Researchers examined data on some 20,000 fifth-graders in West Virginia who underwent lipid measurement and provided family history information as part of the CARDIAC project. + zobacz więcej - 13.07.2010 A Single Question Can Accurately Identify Drug Use in Primary Care
A single question can help identify drug use disorders among adult primary care patients, according to an Archives of Internal Medicine study.
The study included some 300 adults in an urban primary care waiting room. Researchers asked each patient: "How many times in the past year have you used an illegal drug or used a prescription medication for nonmedical reasons?" One third of patients said they had done so at least once and thus were considered to have a drug use disorder. + zobacz więcej - 13.07.2010 Vitamin D Deficiency Associated with Dementia and Parkinson Disease
Two studies seem to point to vitamin D deficiency as having a role in both cognitive decline and Parkinson disease, but commentators aren't certain about the clinical implications.
One study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, followed some 850 older adults for about 6 years. Low serum levels of vitamin D at the outset of the study were associated with substantial cognitive decline (as measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination) by study's end. Editorialists caution that "low vitamin D levels may simply be a marker for lower health status than a cause of it." They write that "a rigorous evidence base ... does not currently exist" to favor using vitamin D supplementation to improve health outcomes. + zobacz więcej - 12.07.2010 FDA to Consider Market Withdrawal of Rosiglitazone
An FDA advisory committee will review whether to recommend withdrawing the antidiabetic drug rosiglitazone (Avandia) from the U.S. market because of cardiovascular risks.
On July 13 and 14, the committee will also consider whether to recommend halting or altering an ongoing manufacturer-sponsored postmarketing trial of rosiglitazone's safety that the FDA mandated in 2007. The trial aims to compare the cardiovascular safety of rosiglitazone with that of placebo and of pioglitazone (the other thiazolidinedione on the market). + zobacz więcej
