Anesthesiology News - Progress, If No Breakthroughs, in Chronic Post-op Pain
The emerging recognition that many patients develop chronic pain after surgery has spurred a host of behavioral and anatomic research.So far, these studies have yet to produce any breakthroughs in the understanding, and more importantly for patients, the treatment of the problem. But during a session at the 2012 annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, experts said the question was not whether, but when, those treatments would arrive."Not surprisingly, chronic postsurgical pain has become a popular topic," said Timothy Brennan, MD, PhD, the Samir Gergis Professor and Vice Chair for Research at the Unive...
Source: Psychology of Pain - June 14, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Source Type: blogs
How Much? 'Evergreening' And Drug Costs In One Swiss Town
For several years, the practice of evergreening has been a contentious topic. The term refers to patent extensions that are based on minor changes in a drug and are often employed when a patent is about to expire and modifications are used to claim a newer version of a drug has been hatched. This can allow a drugmaker to seek extended patent protection and keep the cash register ringing.
The practice has prompted complaints that drugmakers exploit the strategy simply to charge higher prices for so-called follow-on drugs that offer little added benefit. South Africa, for instance, wants to change its patent laws to make the...
Source: Pharmalot - June 6, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Six ways Big Pharma manipulates consumers - Salon
This article originally appeared on AlterNet.
The blockbuster pill profit party is over for Big Pharma. Bestselling pills like Lipitor, Seroquel, Zyprexa, Singular and Concerta have gone off patent and sites which their ads sustained are withering on the vine. WebMD, for example, the voice of Pharma on the Web, with a former Pfizer exec serving as CEO, announced it would cut 250 positions in December.
But don’t worry, Wall Street. Pharma isn’t going to deliver disappointing earnings just because it has little or no new drugs coming online and has failed at the very reason for its existence. Here are six new Pharma ma...
Source: PharmaGossip - April 28, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider 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
Physician Payment Sunshine: ProPublica Database Leads with Disparaging Headlines
Doctor collaborates with industry to conduct lifesaving, breakthrough research.” “Doctor educates colleagues about safety and clinical date to improve patient outcomes.” “Physician speaks to peers about new trials that improve patient access to needed drugs.” “Researchers meet to ensure the success of new clinical trial.”
“Physician invents new medical device that improves cardiovascular health.” “Industry and physicians collaborate to bring drug to market faster through new approval pathway.” “Physicians attend education program mandated by FDA under REMS to better understand benef...
Source: Policy and Medicine - April 3, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
Drugs to treat fibromyalgia just as likely to harm as help, review finds - ScienceDaily
Among fibromyalgia patients taking either of two commonly prescribed drugs to reduce pain, 22 percent report substantial improvement while 21 percent had to quit the regimen due to unpleasant side effects, according to a new review in The Cochrane Library.
People with fibromyalgia suffer from chronic widespread pain, sleep problems and fatigue. The illness affects more than 5 million Americans, 80 percent of whom are women. The cause of fibromyalgia is unknown and currently there is no cure. Using a Quality of Life (QOL) scale for fibromyalgia, the studies reviewed reported QOL ratings lower than 15 on a scale of 0 to 100...
Source: Psychology of Pain - February 27, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Source Type: blogs
Fibro what?
So I was told last September that I have fibromyalgia by my rheumatologist. I had been referred to her by my pain management doctor who had been treating me for my back pain from degenerating disks. I also had pain in lots of other places that was getting worse over the years as opposed to better. His diagnosis to my rheumatologist was myofascial pain or fibromyalgia with possible rheumatoid arthritis.Well the rheumatologist confirmed within ten minutes of meeting me that I had fibromyalgia. My pain doctor had put me on Savella, Lyrica, and Cymbalta at different times in the past to treat my pain. Those are the only medica...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - February 22, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: symptoms fibromyalgia medication pain treatment Source Type: blogs
Medications that Increase the Risks of Patient Falls
Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries for adults 65 and older.
Alzheimer's Reading Room
“Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries for adults 65 and older, and research suggests that those taking four or more medications are at an even greater risk than those who don’t – perhaps two to three times greater,” said Susan Blalock, Ph.D., an associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
In 2007, more than 21,700 Americans died as a result of falls and more than 7.9 million were injured by a fall including over 1.8 million older adults who had a fall-rela...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - February 14, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Bob DeMarco Source Type: blogs
Drugs for Diabetes Pain
By David Spero
Pain researcher Rebecca Sudore, MD, says, "Adults living with Type 2 diabetes are suffering from incredibly high rates of pain, at levels similar to patients living with cancer." Sounds awful. But what can we do about it? Actually, quite a bit.
Let's look at medications first. Because chronic pain involves emotions, thoughts, stress, general health, and the entire body, there are at least six different categories of drugs that can help with pain. They include: narcotics, anxiolytics (“tranquilizers"), antidepressants, anti-inflammatories, medicines for seizures, and alternative treatments.
With all tho...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - February 6, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: David Spero Source Type: blogs
Medical research can do nothing
But marketing can make you believe it did. I am overjoyed I tell you, overjoyed to read the news: "Drugs to treat fibromyalgia just as likely to harm as help". Yes it is true. If you think Savella, Cymbalta, or Lyrica will help my, or anyone else's, fibromyalgia you are a victim of advertising and marketing. "“This is a very important study,” says Fred Wolfe, M.D. of the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases. “There’s an enormous amount of advertising suggesting that these drugs really help, whereas the research data show that the improvement is really minimal.”"And its not that the drugs don't ...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - February 1, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: fibromyalgia medication medical research pain Source Type: blogs
Time to Refill Your Prescription For Zxygjfb
The brand names of drugs are famously odd. But they seem to be getting odder. That's the conclusion of a longtime reader, who sent this along:
I was recently perusing through the recent drug approval list and was struck by how strange the trade names have become. Perhaps it is a request from the FDA so that there are fewer prescription errors, but some of these are really bizarre and don't quite roll off the tongue. USAN names I can understand, but trade names, to me anyway, used to be much more polished (Viagra, Lipitor etc). Could it have to do with the fact that most of these are for cancer? I have a list below compar...
Source: In the Pipeline - January 28, 2013 Category: Chemists Tags: Business and Markets Source Type: blogs
Pfizer's Pfourteenth Settlement - a Small Reminder of Continuing Impunity
Well, that did not take long. Less than a month after its last legal settlements were announced, Pfizer had to settle again. The Details of the Settlement This case, involving charges filed by the Texas Attorney General, was only reported locally, e.g., here in the Houston Business Journal:The state of Texas will receive more than $36 million from two civil Medicaid fraud settlements with Pfizer Inc and Endo Pharmaceuticals, Attorney General Greg Abbott said Friday. Both companies will pay $18.17 million to the state, plus attorney fees and relator shares. The federal government is also entitled to a sha...
Source: Health Care Renewal - January 11, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: executive compensation deception boards of directors impunity Pfizer legal settlements governance Source Type: blogs
