Weight-loss drug Belviq recalled
In February, the manufacturer of the weight-loss medication lorcaserin (Belviq, Belviq XR) voluntarily withdrew the drug from the US market at the request of the FDA. This was a result of emerging data showing that people who had taken the drug as part of a large clinical trial had an increased occurrence of cancer five years later.
What were the findings about Belviq, and why did this information come to light now?
Lorcaserin was approved by the FDA in 2012. As part of the approval process, the FDA reviewed a series of clinical trials that looked at its effects on weight and its safety profile, compared to a placebo.
Base...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 9, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Florencia Halperin, MD Tags: Diet and Weight Loss Drugs and Supplements Source Type: blogs
What ’s in your supplements?
If you’re taking an over-the-counter supplement that wasn’t recommended by your doctor, you’re not alone — about half of the US adult population takes one or more supplements regularly. We spend more than $35 billion on these products each year.
While it’s important that your doctor knows what you’re taking, there are many supplements out there, and it’s likely your doctor won’t know what advice to give you about a lot of them. There are a number of reasons for this but the two biggest are:
Most supplements are not rigorously tested as a prevention or treatment for conditions for which they are promoted.
T...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - February 15, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Robert H. Shmerling, MD Tags: Health Vitamins and supplements Source Type: blogs
The scary evolution of direct-to-consumer advertising
One night in 1997, as Americans watched Touched by an Angel they were touched by something else unexpected: an ad for a prescription allergy pill called Claritin, sold directly to patients.
Prescription drugs had never been sold directly to the public before — a marketing tactic called direct-to-consumer or DTC advertising. How could average people, who certainly had not been to medical school, know if the medication was appropriate or safe without a doctor’s recommendation?
Soon, ads for Meridia, Propecia, Singulair, Paxil, Prozac, Vioxx, Lipitor, and Viagra followed — exhorting patients to “ask their doct...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 17, 2017 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/martha-rosenberg" rel="tag" > Martha Rosenberg < /a > Tags: Conditions Cancer Source Type: blogs
Patients Should Beware When New Drug for Overactive Bladder Soon
Becomes Available Over-the-Counter
Advisory Committee Rejected Increased Availability but Was Ignored by FDA; Story Told in New Issue of Public Citizen’s Worst Pills, Best Pills NewsWASHINGTON, D.C. – When a new over-the-counter (OTC) version of a drug for overactive bladder becomes available without a prescription in the fall, people should avoid it if they haven’t first talked with their doctor, Public Citizen advises in the latest edition of Worst Pills, Best Pills News (WorstPills.org), Public Citizen’s drug safety newsletter and website.The manufacturer of oxybutynin (Oxytrol for Women), a drug for overactive bladder (O...
Source: PharmaGossip - August 3, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
