FDA MedWatch Safety and Adverse Event Reporting Program Expands Patient Resources
Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) celebrated the
20th anniversary
of its
MedWatch program, which provides important safety information associated with FDA-regulated products, with a new form that will encourage more consumer participation.
Under MedWatch, health care professionals and consumers submit reports to FDA when they find a problem with a drug, medical device, biologic, or other FDA-regulated products. Reporting to FDA such "adverse events" as unexpected, serious side effects, accidental exposure, and product quality issues can prompt the agency to act—and it can also ...
Source: Policy and Medicine - July 10, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
New Merck R&D Chief Overhauls Operations & Cuts Are Coming
Two months after arriving at Merck as the new head of R&D, Roger Perlmutter is moving quickly to overhaul the operation, which is known as Merck Research Laboratories (back story). As part of the changes, various senior management roles have been eliminated, including franchise heads and site head, and the licensing unit will now report directly to Perlmutter, who is searching for a new head.
"These changes are part of Merck’s existing strategy and ongoing commitment to streamline our operating model and aggressively manage our cost structure,"
a spokesman writes us. "By doing so, we will ensure that we are able to ...
Source: Pharmalot - June 14, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
How Drug Companies Keep Medicine Out of Reach - The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/05/how-drug-companies-keep-medicine-out-of-reach/275853/?ReutersFor almost a decade, the United States has been standing in the way of an idea that could lead to cures for some of the world's most devastating illnesses. The class of maladies is known as neglected diseases, and they almost exclusively affect those in the developing world. The same idea, if realized, might also be used in more affluent nations to goad the pharmaceutical industry into producing critical innovations that the free market has yet to produce - things like new antibiotics, which are likely to be used ...
Source: PharmaGossip - May 15, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
It's not over yet, just some links for May day
A Dog’s Best Friend Instinct And Loyalty
Activist Post The New Conquistadors A Technological Divide Threatens Our Survival
america #1 In Fear, Stress, Anger, Divorce, Obesity, Anti-Depressants
America land of opportunity for illegals
America Stands Upon the Precipice of Brutal Martial Law
AOL On Janet Porter Presents Heather Has Two Cigarettes satire on heather has 2 mommies banned in many online sites
Arvo Part Salve Regina (Full)
Arvo Pärt Sanctus
Bertrand Russell Great Minds on Race
Boston Bombing What You Aren't Being Told
Boston Smoke And Mirrors Spooked America - Morris
Candyman theme song It was always...
Source: Nightmare Hall - Welcome to my nightmare - May 4, 2013 Category: HIV AIDS Source Type: blogs
Drug donations are great, but should Big Pharma be setting the agenda?
Monday 29 April 2013 12.01 BST
Critics fear that giving out free medicines allows pharmaceutical companies to decide which diseases are treated
Vaccine donations might end after a period of time, leaving governments to pick up the bill. Photograph: Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Adam Robert Green for African Arguments, part of the Guardian Africa Network
In the early 2000s, pharmaceutical companies were high on activists' hit lists, prompted by Big Pharma's ill-advised attempt to sue the South African government for patent infringement on HIV drugs; an attempt to deal with the country's epidemic by allowing cheaper, generi...
Source: PharmaGossip - April 30, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Hilary Koprowski, 96
Virologist Hilary Koprowski died on 11 April 2013 at the age of 96. His main accomplishments are nicely summarized in the New York Times, but for a more comprehensive overview of his life, I highly recommend his biography Listen to the Music by Roger Vaughan. I did not have many opportunities to interact with Dr. Koprowski, but I did follow his work on poliovirus vaccines and I have a few reminiscences.
In the 1930s Max Theiler had found that propagating yellow fever virus in an unnatural host – the chick embryo – dramatically reduced its capacity to cause disease in humans. Theiler’s work (which gar...
Source: virology blog - April 26, 2013 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information AIDS attenuated chat Hilary Koprowski HIV polio vaccine poliovirus viral Source Type: blogs
Another cancer we can prevent
Although no one talks about it much, one of the results of the AIDS epidemic has been that there has been an increase in the number of men diagnosed with anal cancer. This cancer arises in the anus, about a half-inch inside and above the opening. The first symptom is itching that doesn’t go away and then soreness and bleeding and finally, pain. In my practice, the only patients I saw with this were women. I wasn’t sure why until the discovery of HPV (Human Papilloma Virus). Not only is this the virus that causes cervical cancer and is sexually transmitted but now we know it also causes anal cancer. It isn’t clear w...
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - April 24, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
PhRMA Report: Over 5400 Medicines in Development and 70% are First in Class
According to report released by PhRMA, companies have more than 5,400 medicines in development globally, and more than 70% of therapies in the pipeline are potentially first-in-class and could offer patients new treatment options, and a notable number of potential therapies target diseases with limited treatment options such as ALS and rare diseases. A breakdown of their report offers insight into the various medicines in development for different diseases and populations.
Older Americans
America’s biopharmaceutical research companies are developing 465 new medicines that target the 10 leading chronic conditi...
Source: Policy and Medicine - April 24, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
President’s 2014 Proposed Budget Calls For Increase to Overall Healthcare Spending and Major Changes to Medicare Part D
President Obama unveiled his fiscal year 2014 budget for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The budget contained a number of notable figures and proposals, particularly given that many pieces of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) are set to go into effect in 2014.
The new budget would provide HHS a total of $967.3 billion in outlays and $80.1 billion in discretionary spending, and it includes initiatives that aim to save $361.1 billion over a decade. MedPage Today reported that the FY 2014 budget “is larger than the $848.2 billion actually spent in FY 2012 and the $907....
Source: Policy and Medicine - April 22, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
Will New Changes to Autism Diagnosis Leave Your Child in the Cold While Filling Big Pharma’s Pockets?
CONCLUSION
There appears to be yet another cover up going on. It is very convenient for the criteria for autism to suddenly be changed, especially when this change has the potential to lower the level of diagnosed cases of autism. It is even more convenient for this to happen when the FDA has been forced to admit that childhood vaccines still contain thimerosal, just when a new study identifies a shocking twenty parallels between mercury poisoning and autism.
By shifting the goalposts, the governments can deny that the mercury in vaccines is causing a rise in autism and lower the rates being diagnosed all at the same time....
Source: vactruth.com - March 9, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Christina England Tags: Christina England Recent Articles Top Stories ADHD autism Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Thimerosal Vaccine Safety Source Type: blogs
Happy Valentines Day! STI studies and sexual health resources
The studies reveal new infection data, some of it available for the first time, for the eight most common STIs — chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B, HIV, and trichomoniasis. The studies, which estimate infection rates and medical costs related to STIs, were published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
To read an article about the studies: http://nbcnews.to/11Jf4Wr
The CDC has a website where you can learn more about STIs as well as search by zipcode for a clinic that offers STI testing as well as HIV testing the HPV vaccines. To search visit here: http://1.u...
Source: BHIC - February 14, 2013 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Monica Rogers Tags: General Health Information Literacy HIV/AIDS Public Health Websites Source Type: blogs
White House PCAST: Rival Countries Gaining on US Medical Research Spending
The Nation once led the world in investments in research and development (R&D) as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), but more recently, the United States has been investing less in R&D than other leading and emerging nations invest. Moreover, U.S. industry has been shifting its investments toward applied R&D, narrowing the support for basic and early-stage applied research, which is crucial to transforming innovation.
Without adequate support for such research, the United States risks losing its leadership in invention and discovery—the driving force behind the new industries and jobs that have p...
Source: Policy and Medicine - February 14, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
2012: Banner Year for New Drugs
Fueled by new cancer therapeutics, last year the annual new molecular and biological entity approval count from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) saw its highest year since 1997. One-third of the novel products approved by the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) are used to treat cancers of the blood, breast, colon, prostate, skin and thyroid.
As part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) promotes and protects the health of Americans by assuring that all prescription and over-the-counter drugs are safe and effective. The CDE...
Source: Highlight HEALTH - February 13, 2013 Category: Medical Scientists Authors: Walter Jessen, Ph.D. Source Type: blogs
Pregnant in Healthcare: diseases to avoid
This article from Nursing Center has some additional information on risks that pregnant healthcare workers are exposed to, with some suggestions for how to mitigate these risks. As a currently pregnant, currently recovering from very mild illness person, I can attest that it's pretty miserable being sick when you don't have many options for medication, are already tired, are at greater risk for dehydration, and are worried about the development of your child.Knowledge is power- hope this list helps you feel more empowered as a pregnant healthcare worker! (Source: Occupational Therapy Notes)
Source: Occupational Therapy Notes - February 1, 2013 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: practice issues acute care Source Type: blogs
Viruses on Time
Poliovirus recently made the cover of Time magazine. Prompted by a reader question, I searched the Time archive to find out if there have been other virology-themed covers. I found fifteen in all, depicting poliovirus (3), herpesvirus (1), HIV/AIDS (4), influenza (5), and SARS coronavirus (2) (I did not distinguish between US and international editions).
The earliest virus-themed cover that I found has Jonas Salk on the cover of the 29 March 1954 issue. Behind Salk is an image of poliovirus particles, probably drawn from an electron micrograph. Salk’s field trial of inactivated poliovirus vaccine had begun in 1954, a...
Source: virology blog - January 21, 2013 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Information AIDS H5N1 herpesvirus HIV influenza poliovirus SARS coronavirus Time magazine cover viral virology Source Type: blogs
