the public doesn’t trust pharma to share adverse info on their meds, further undermining that faith–and hurting
pharma’s rep. …
Author: Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander
Healthy Living & Self-Defense for Vocational and Avocational Motivation and Self-Improvement through Hypnosis, Yoga, Capoeira and Metaphysical Science.
Judge unseals secret Zyprexa papers
Eli Lilly will face a class-action suit over Zyprexa, now that a federal judge
has certified a group of insurance companies, pension funds, and unions that
want the drugmaker to repay them for the billions they spent on the
controversial antipsychotic drug. …
Positive Sativex® Study Confirms Long Term Efficacy in MS Neuropathic Pain
Until now, all the evidence for long-term maintenance of efficacy of Sativex has
come from long-term open-label exposurei. The results reported today confirm in
the context of a placebo-controlled double-blind study that efficacy is indeed
maintained in long-term use. …
FDA names 20 drugs in safety probes
The FDA has already warned patients and docs about some of the drugs on the
first list of 20 under scrutiny, such as TNF
blockers, in the news last week. …
Free Drug Samples May End Up Costing Uninsured More
Researchers found that, for uninsured patients, the percentage of medications
prescribed as generics rose from 12 percent to 30 percent after the clinic
closed its drug sample closet. For Medicaid patients, however, there was no
significant change in generic prescribing. …
Time to Effectiveness for Clozapine/clozaril
…The antipsychotic action may be secondary to other consequences in the brain
that evolve over a period of several weeks. …
PET Scans Help Identify Mechanism Underlying Seasonal Mood Changes
“Serotonin transporter binding potential values were significantly higher in all
investigated brain regions in individuals investigated in the fall and winter
compared with those investigated in the spring and summer,” the authors write. …
Chemicals in Marijuana May Fight MRSA
At least two of the cannabinoids don’t have mood-altering effects, so there
could be a way to use these substances without creating the high of marijuana. …
CAUTION: Concomitant Administration of Clozapine and Lorazepam (Clozaril and Ativan)
Because even the most benign of side effects has the potential of
becoming fatal in certain circumstances if left unaddressed, it is
imperative for patients, clinicians, pharmacists, and all health care
professionals to be aware of adverse reactions and possible complica
tions of clozapine therapy to prevent significant morbidity and
mortality. …
Clozaril Side Effects & Drug Interactions Associated with Discontinuation of Treatment
Clozapine is a substrate for many CYP450 isozymes, in particular 1A2, 2D6, and
3A4. The risk of metabolic interactions caused by an effect on an individual
isoform is therefore minimized. Nevertheless, caution should be used in patients
receiving concomitant treatment with other drugs that are either inhibitors or
inducers of these enzymes. …