New Data Will Help Guide Prescribing of Celecoxib
A new meta-analysis of six randomized trials involving the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor celecoxib (Celebrex, Pfizer) should help direct physicians who still want to prescribe this drug [1]. Dr Scott D Solomon (Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA) presented the findings of the cross-trial safety analysis at a late-breaking trials session here at the American College […]
Blood Substitutes Linked to Deaths, MI; FDA Should Have Acted Sooner to Stop Trials, Researchers Say
People treated with blood substitutes in clinical trials over the past two decades were 30% more likely to die and had almost a threefold higher rate of myocardial infarction (MI) than patients in control groups, a new meta-analysis suggests [1]. Even more damning, the authors of the study say that the US Food and Drug […]
AHA Statement Takes Aim at Hypertension Resistant to Triple-Drug Therapy
News Author: Steve StilesCME Author: Charles Vega, MD A new statement from the American Heart Association zeroes in on a group it says may make up 20% to 30% of patients with hypertension but has received only limited attention in formal guidelines, probably because they have been targeted in few clinical trials [1]. The document […]
Heparin Contaminant Identified
The contaminant found in samples of heparin that had been linked to an increase in adverse reactions has now been identified as oversulfated chondroitin sulfate.
All drugs containing PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE are being recalled
All drugs containing PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE are being recalled. STOPTAKING anything containing this ingredient. It has been linked toincreased hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in brain) among women ages18-49 in the three days after starting use of medication. Problemswere not found in men, but the FDA recommended that everyone (evenchildren) seek alternative medicine. The following medications contain Phenylpropanolamine:
President Bush signs Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007
President Bush signed into law the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act (P.L. 110-173), and some of the bill’s provisions will affect Medicare payments to anesthesiologists. The legislation provides a temporary 0.5 percent increase to Medicare payments for physicians for dates of service through June 30, 2008. This increase, combined with the 32 percent anesthesia […]
FDA Goes After ‘Natural’ HRT Claims
Todd ZwillichFederal regulators warned several pharmacy companies Wednesday to stop marketing so-called "natural" hormone replacement therapy, calling their sales to women "false and misleading." The FDA took aim at seven compounding pharmacy companies that it says use a product called estriol in reformulated hormone replacement therapy for women.
FDA Safety Changes: Pexeva, Vfend, Suprane
News Author: Yael WaknineCME Author: Yael Waknine The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved safety labeling revisions to advise of the risk for serotonin syndrome in patients receiving concomitant treatment with paroxetine mesylate and triptans, drug interactions between voriconazole and efavirenz requiring dose adjustments for both drugs when used concomitantly, and the risk […]
FDA Warns of Counterfeit Prescription Drugs Purchased Online
Yael WaknineThe US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers and healthcare professionals of the risk for obtaining counterfeit drugs when purchasing prescription medications online, according to a news release.
FDA MedWatch: Welch Allyn AED 10 Automatic External Defibrillators
FDA MedWatch: Welch Allyn AED 10 Automatic External Defibrillators manufactured between 3/29/07 and 8/9/07 – Class 1 Recall MedWatch – The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program FDA issued a Class I recall for Welch Allyn AED 10 Automatic External Defibrillators manufactured between March 29, 2007 and August 9, 2007, part numbers 970302E, […]
