AZPurpleZone: A Nexium Branded YouTube Channel. "Unusual" for Pharma? Yes. "Engaging Social Media?" No!
"AstraZeneca believes that it is important to share information with patients by engaging with them online," says Ken Graham, Commercial Business Leader, GI, AstraZeneca, in a post to AZ Health Connections Blog (here). "To that end, AstraZeneca recently launched a NEXIUM YouTube channel." It's called "AZPurpleZone."According to AZ's own "white paper" on social media (see attachment to this post), social media is the "catch-all term for internet activities that engage or encourage engagement through online discussions or interactions. While static websites are often the first 'online step' for many companies (e.g., homepage...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - July 17, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: YouTube AstraZeneca social media Nexium Source Type: blogs
ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Grades
Studies show that drugs for ADHD, such as Ritalin and Adderall, don't improve academic performance in school. (Source: Fixin' Healthcare)
Source: Fixin' Healthcare - July 9, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
No Lamictal - Day 3 - Take 3, Hurt
Still Day 3, Lamictal Withdrawals just a mere few hours from my last post . I would now prefer the Adderall withdrawal days. With that, I just felt sheer bodily exhaustion. This is worse. So very, very hard to explain. I will attempt, do my very best to finish this entry. I wanted to describe how I feel, yet...I keep rubbing my face with my hands, trying to focus, get concentration, think what I need and want to say, I'm actually having to say the words verbally as I type them. I'm pulling at my hair. Tugging at my face, anything to stimulate myself, maybe prove my existence?...
Source: bipolar.and.me - June 17, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Source Type: blogs
Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD
In the United States, at least 9% of school-aged children have been diagnosed with ADHD, and are taking pharmaceutical medications. In France, the percentage of kids diagnosed and medicated for ADHD is less than .5%. How come the epidemic of ADHD—which has become firmly established in the United States—has almost completely passed over children in France?Is ADHD a biological-neurological disorder? Surprisingly, the answer to this question depends on whether you live in France or in the United States. In the United States, child psychiatrists consider ADHD to be a biological disorder with biological causes. The pre...
Source: PharmaGossip - May 18, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Which Prescription Drugs Do Americans Abuse Most?
By: Laura Sciuto
According to a 2010 study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, approximately 7 million people in the United States -- or 2.7 percent of the population -- annually abuse prescription drugs. This abuse primarily occurs when people take medication not prescribed to them or take their own prescription drugs at a higher dosage than recommended by their doctor.
The most commonly abused prescription drugs fall into three categories: Opioids (pain relievers), depressants and stimulants. Below is a breakdown of each category, compiled using the latest statistics from the National Institute on Drug Abuse:
O...
Source: PharmaGossip - May 3, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Changes in How ADHD Meds are Prescribed at University & College
If you were hoping to get some medications prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) while in college or at university, you might be in for a rude surprise.
Colleges and university are cutting back on their involvement with ADHD, primarily due to abuse of the psychiatric medications — stimulants like Ritalin — prescribed to treat the disorder. Students — whether they are malingering the symptoms or actually have it — are prescribed a drug to treat ADHD (sometimes from different providers in different states), then sell a few (or all the) pills on the side. Profit!
Now universit...
Source: World of Psychology - May 1, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: John M. Grohol, Psy.D. Tags: ADHD and ADD College Disorders General Medications Policy and Advocacy Psychiatry Students Treatment Abuse Problem Adhd Meds Adhd Treatment Alan Schwarz Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Source Type: blogs
Talking to teens about prescription drug abuse
I agree with the main recommendations of the Drugfree.org/MetLife 2012 attitude tracking study of teens and parents regarding drug use:
Do more to communicate risks of medicine misuse and abuse
Safeguard medicines at home
Properly dispose of unused medicines
Avoid modeling bad behavior by misusing or abusing drugs
The report raises quite a few interesting points, but some of the survey results raise more questions than they answer, and there are other issues not addressed.
Prescription drug abuse is a serious problem. One area the report focuses on is the abuse of stimulants such as Adderall. Here’s their take:
&...
Source: Health Business Blog - April 24, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: David E. Williams of the Health business blog Tags: Culture Research Source Type: blogs
‘Study Drugs’ Unsafe and Unethical, Say Neurologists | Epoch Times
via m.theepochtimes.com http://m.theepochtimes.com/n2/united-states/study-drugs-unsafe-and-unethical-... Drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall are intended to treat severe attention deficit, but some young people with comparably normal brains use them as study drugs to sharpen their academic focus. The practice is neither ethical nor safe, according to experts. Doctors call this off-label drug use neuroenhancement. A position paper from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) weighs in on the ethical concerns of neuroenhancement, and explicitly warns doctors that prescribing study drugs for children and adolescents is “not...
Source: PharmaGossip - April 15, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
The Basic Treatment Plan
There's a lot of discussion going on in the comment section of the post where I asked people to take a survey on mandatory reporting of dangerousness. Our favorite commenter, Anonymous, mentioned a therapist who refused to treat him/her unless s/he got rid of her gun. Then Jesse and Clink got into it over whether it's reasonable to ask patients, on the first appointment, to get rid of their guns. Clink said, "Jesse, the problem with the approach that you're suggesting is that the
therapist has then taken on the responsibility of caring for a patient
who has announced at the outset that they will not fol...
Source: Shrink Rap - March 21, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
Danger: Diagnosis Ahead
Last Sunday the NY Times published a sad and all too common story about overprescription of Adderall, a story that is equally applicable to any of a number of psychiatric medications. If you haven't yet read "Drowned in a Stream of Prescriptions", I urge you to do so.
I have written here many times about what I see as the shortcomings of the diagnostic system we use in mental health. It would be nice to imagine that there were some scientific way to determine diagnosis, but there is none. Absent biological or chemical tests to establish diagnoses, we fall back on consensus reality and struggle with the unevenness of s...
Source: Jung At Heart - February 11, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Source Type: blogs
Untitled
Last Sunday the NY Times published a sad and all too common story about overprescription of Adderall, a story that is equally applicable to any of a number of psychiatric medications. If you haven't yet read "Drowned in a Stream of Prescriptions", I urge you to do so.
I have written here many times about what I see as the shortcomings of the diagnostic system we use in mental health. It would be nice to imagine that there were some scientific way to determine diagnosis, but there is none. Absent biological or chemical tests to establish diagnoses, we fall back on consensus reality and struggle with the unevenness of s...
Source: Jung At Heart - February 11, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Source Type: blogs
Pharmalot… Pharmalittle… Good Morning
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the working week. We hope the weekend was relaxing, although we know that some of you spent some time coping with the blizzard in the Northeast. Of course, that is history now, which means it is time to forge ahead and get ready for another stretch of meetings and deadlines and whatever else is on your to-do list. Ours is especially long, in fact. So time to get started. As always, here are some tidbits to pave the way. Hope your day goes well and do stay in touch…
Celgene Wins FDA OK For Multiple Myeloma Drug (Bloomberg News)
Sun Pharma And Taro Pharma Merger Falls Through (Pharma Tim...
Source: Pharmalot - February 11, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Adderall XR Celgene Impax Laboratories Insomnia Layoffs Merck Multiple Myeloma Pfizer Pharmaceutical Exports Shire Pharmaceuticals Sun Pharmaceuticals Taro Pharmaceuticals Tranzyme Pharma Source Type: blogs
ADHD Prescriptions Without An Adequate Evaluation
The Times has a wrenching account of parents trying to save their son from Adderall abuse. If this is a subject that interests you, the entire article is worth reading. Here is Keith Conners commenting on inadequate evaluation before prescribing: Some doctors worry that A.D.H.D. questionnaires, designed to assist and standardize the gathering of a patient’s symptoms, are being used as a shortcut to diagnosis. C. Keith Conners, a longtime child psychologist who developed a popular scale similar to the... (Source: Dr. X's Free Associations)
Source: Dr. X's Free Associations - February 5, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: DrX Tags: Front Page Psychology & Psychoanalysis Source Type: blogs
Shire to pay $57.5 million over marketing of five drugs
David Sell, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: Saturday, February 2, 2013, 3:01 AM
Shire P.L.C. said Friday that it would pay $57.5 million as part of a tentative agreement with the Justice Department to settle an investigation related to marketing practices of five drugs.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia, which handled the investigation, declined comment.
Shire has its headquarters in Ireland, but its main office is in Wayne, Delaware County. Shire said the drugs involved are Adderall XR, Vyvanse, Daytrana, Lialda, and Pentasa.
Some companies will announce such tentative agreements because the...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 2, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Perception of Risk: Fewer Teens Believe Marijuana Is Harmful
Knowing the health risks that come with using or abusing drugs convinces most teens (and adults) to stay away from them. But what if you don’t think certain drugs are unsafe?
In December 2012, NIDA released the results of the 2012 Monitoring the Future (MTF) study (involving 8th, 10th, and 12th graders). The findings show that fewer teens believe abusing marijuana and Adderall is bad for their health. This belief is contributing to higher rates of abuse of these drugs.
Marijuana
Over the last 5 years, current (past-month) marijuana use has gone up significantly among 10th and 12th graders. In fact, current marijuana use...
Source: NIDA Drugs and Health Blog - January 31, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sara Bellum Source Type: blogs
