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Florida sues drug company for Medicaid fraud

Charlie Crist, Florida's Attorney General is taking three pharmaceutical companies to court for $25 million, accusing them of illegally inflating prices on generic drugs used to treat depression, schizophrenia, seizures and angina.

6 Apr 2005

THC in marijuana may prevent hardening of the arteries

A study by Dr. Francois Mach, University Hospital Geneva, Switzerland, and colleagues has found that low doses of the main active ingredient in marijuana slowed the progression of hardening of the arteries in mice, but some experts are stressing that the finding does not mean people should smoke marijuana in hopes of getting the same benefit.

6 Apr 2005

Branded drug companies give generics a taste of their own medicine

To defend market share, more branded drug companies today release generic versions of their branded drugs before other generic companies enter the market, according to a study by pharmaceutical intelligence firm, Cutting Edge Information.

6 Apr 2005

Almonds may help combat obesity, heart disease and diabetes

Three studies presented during this week's 2005 Experimental Biology conference add to the growing body of research that eating just a handful of almonds may be a valuable tool to combat some of America's leading health threats, including obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

6 Apr 2005

Experts call for improved access to treatment for psoriatic arthritis

MPs gathered at the House of Commons on Tuesday (April 5th) as experts and patient groups urged members of parliament to lobby for improved access to treatment for patients with psoriatic arthritis, a little known and poorly understood condition in which patients experience symptoms of both psoriasis and arthritis.

6 Apr 2005

SSRI antidepressants "hijack" dopamine signaling as well launching serotonin signals

Researchers have discovered that antidepressant drugs such as Prozac not only affect levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain, but also "hijack" dopamine signaling as well--causing it to launch serotonin signals. Their findings offer new insight into how Prozac and other "selective serotonin uptake inhibitors" (SSRIs) work and how they might cause problems in patients taking them.

6 Apr 2005

Hormonal contraceptives increase risk of HSV-2 transmission

Women who are infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) may have an increased risk of transmitting the virus to others if they use hormonal contraceptives or have certain bacterial vaginal infections, according to an article in the May 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

6 Apr 2005

Risk of HIV transmission highest in early stage of infection

The risk of HIV transmission via heterosexual intercourse is highest early in the course of HIV infection, before most infected people know their HIV status, according to a new study published in the May 1 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online

6 Apr 2005

Diuretics work better for high blood pressure

Study results by faculty members of the University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston suggests that the older, cheaper diuretics remain the drug of choice for both black and non-black patients in treating high blood pressure and reducing risk of heart disease, and confirms earlier findings that diuretics rather than newer, more expensive drugs such as ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, or beta blockers should be preferred as a first therapy for most patients.

5 Apr 2005

Britain becoming "pill for every ill" society

A report by the influential Commons Select Committee on Health, criticises the drugs industry for promoting the wider use of medication in a bid to increase its profits, and says Britain is being turned into "pill for every ill" society by the multibillion-pound drugs industry, which encourages patients to take medication even for "unhappiness".

5 Apr 2005

Cognitive therapy to treat moderate to severe depression works just as well as antidepressants

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt University, challenges the American Psychiatric Association guidelines that antidepressant medications are the only effective treatment for moderately to severely depressed patients.

5 Apr 2005

Genetic testing could bolster radiotherapy's effectiveness against cancer

Obtaining a genetic picture of how a tumor will react to the many treatment techniques available could help doctors prescribe therapies customized for individual cancer patients' needs, suggests a Purdue University research team.

5 Apr 2005

Canadians spend over $21 billion on drugs

Drugs continue to be the fastest-growing category of health care spending in Canada and a new report released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), the Drug Expenditure in Canada 1985-2004 report, shows that total spending on drugs is expected to have reached $21.8 billion in 2004, five times the amount spent on drugs in 1985.

5 Apr 2005

Metabolic side effects of antipsychotics are known, but rarely monitored

Psychiatrists are doing a “modest” job of monitoring for weight gain, diabetes and other metabolic problems that may result from use of the newer antipsychotics for schizophrenia, researchers say.

5 Apr 2005

Dallas heart study researchers find no link between Lp(a), calcium

The latest findings from the historic Dallas Heart Study have ruled out one of the most prominent explanations of why elevated levels of a fat-carrying protein called "lipoprotein(a)" lead to increased risks for heart attacks among whites but not among African-Americans.

5 Apr 2005

When treating malaria is a waste of money

Africa may fail to benefit from new and better drugs for malaria because of massive misdiagnosis of the disease by health workers and patients.

5 Apr 2005

Genomics and proteomics to increase the efficiency of drug discovery and development

While the United Sates is still the world leader, Europe is having a good deal of success in the field of advanced genomics and proteomics research. Significant government funding together with the presence of large pharmaceutical companies has made Europe a major competitor in the efforts to deploy genomics and proteomics as vital tools in drug discovery and development.

5 Apr 2005

An exceptionally effective lead-detection protein

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of Chicago have discovered that a member of a well-known protein family is better at detecting lead than any other known substance.

5 Apr 2005

New report shows therapy as effective as drugs for depression

In a surprising report from the University of Pennsylvania, researchers are suggesting that, contrary to current American Psychiatric Association (APA) guidelines, psychological therapy and counselling can be just as effective as drugs in the early stages of treating moderate to severe depression.

4 Apr 2005

Men have a four times greater risk than women of developing abdominal aortic aneurysms

Men have a four times greater risk than women of developing abdominal aortic aneurysms, estimated to be the cause of death in 4 percent of people over the age of 65, but the mechanism for this higher incidence has remained unknown.

4 Apr 2005