Prescription Drug News and Research

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Teens around the world frequently use OTC and prescription medications without doctor's order

Adolescents around the world are frequently using over-the-counter and prescription medications without a doctor's order, a risky practice that can lead to overuse and abuse and is often continued into adulthood, reveals a new review in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

24 Sep 2014

Viewpoints: Ezekiel Emanuel's choice of an age to die; new enrollment numbers still confusing

Seventy-five. That's how long I want to live: 75 years. This preference drives my daughters crazy. It drives my brothers crazy. My loving friends think I am crazy. They think that I can't mean what I say; that I haven't thought clearly about this, because there is so much in the world to see and do. To convince me of my errors, they enumerate the myriad people I know who are over 75 and doing quite well. They are certain that as I get closer to 75, I will push the desired age back to 80, then 85, maybe even 90. I am sure of my position.

22 Sep 2014

New expert panel report on state of therapeutic products for children

A new expert panel report, Improving Medicines for Children in Canada, released today by the Council of Canadian Academies, addresses the importance of developing safe and effective medicines for children.

19 Sep 2014

Combating prescription drug abuse: an interview with Mark Trudeau and Carmen Catizone

Prescription drug abuse is an extremely complex problem with no single solution. For example, the very same medications that are so critical for alleviating pain in legitimate patients could easily be diverted and misused by other people.

16 Sep 2014

Complete analysis of the global stem cell market

BCC Research reveals in its new report, THE GLOBAL MARKET FOR STEM CELLS, the global market for stem cells is expected to grow to nearly $10.6 billion by 2018, with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.6%.

16 Sep 2014

Amgen announces phase 3 ivabradine data for treatment of chronic HF

Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) today announced data from the Phase 3 SHIFT (Systolic Heart failure treatment with the If inhibitor ivabradine Trial) study evaluating ivabradine in patients with chronic heart failure (HF) were presented at the 18th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) in Las Vegas.

15 Sep 2014

Synthetic Biologics' SYN-005 antibody gets FDA Orphan Drug designation for Pertussis treatment

Synthetic Biologics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel anti-infective biologic and drug programs targeting specific pathogens that cause serious infections and diseases, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug designation to the Company's proprietary SYN-005 monoclonal antibody (mAb) combination for the treatment of Pertussis, more commonly known as whooping cough.

15 Sep 2014

Now, women experiencing morning sickness can benefit from Diclegis drug

Up to 85 percent of pregnant women are affected by nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP), more commonly known as morning sickness.

10 Sep 2014

DEA announces that unused prescription pills can be returned to pharmacies

Seeking to combat growing drug abuse problems, federal authorities will allow patients and their relatives to take excess pills, such as opioid painkillers, to hospitals, clinics and pharmacies or to mail them to authorized sites.

10 Sep 2014

Family dinners may help protect teens from cyberbullying, also be beneficial for mental health

Bottom Line: Cyberbullying was associated with mental health and substance use problems in adolescents but family dinners may help protect teens from the consequences of cyberbullying and also be beneficial for their mental health.

2 Sep 2014

Research to understand how medical marijuana laws may influence overdose deaths

In states where it is legal to use medical marijuana to manage chronic pain and other conditions, the annual number of deaths from prescription drug overdose is 25 percent lower than in states where medical marijuana remains illegal, new research suggests.

26 Aug 2014

Seniors are less able to afford prescriptions, study finds

In its first few years, Medicare's Part D prescription drug program helped seniors pay for their medications, but that trend appears to be reversing, researchers found. Meanwhile, drugmakers fight over the rules for naming cheaper versions of biologic drugs.

23 Aug 2014

Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy gets $4M grant from CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded $4 million to the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Bloomberg School of Public Health to help the Center continue its mission of making discoveries that save lives and reduce costs due to injuries.

19 Aug 2014

Efforts to prevent prescription drug misuse among adults need to consider peers, not peer pressure

Current efforts to prevent prescription drug misuse among young adults need to consider peers - but not peer pressure - according to a Purdue University study.

18 Aug 2014

Research roundup: Benefits of smaller practices; Rx price growth; fixing Medicare claims reviews

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services within the Department of Health and Human Services has taken steps to prevent its contractors from conducting certain duplicative postpayment claims reviews-;reviews of the same claims that are not permitted by the agency-;but CMS neither has reliable data nor provides sufficient oversight and guidance to measure and fully prevent duplication.

16 Aug 2014

Federal program that provides billions in drug discounts faces number of critical issues

A federal program that provides billions in drug discounts to safety net hospitals and other health care providers is expanding under health care reform, but divergent views on the purpose and future scope of the program creates uncertainty for safety net providers and drug manufacturers, according to new report from the RAND Corporation.

13 Aug 2014

BioSpecifics Technologies total revenue for second quarter decreases by 19%

BioSpecifics Technologies Corp., a biopharmaceutical company developing first in class collagenase-based products marketed as XIAFLEX® (collagenase clostridium histolyticum or CCH) in the U.S. and XIAPEX® in the EU, today announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2014 and provided a corporate update.

12 Aug 2014

No on 46 campaign releases first video on multiple online platforms

Today, the No on 46 campaign released its first campaign video on multiple online platforms. Entitled "The Truth about Proposition 46," the two-minute video features real practicing physicians and medical students from across the state discussing the flaws, costs and potential harmful consequences to patients and California's health care system, if 46 were to pass.

8 Aug 2014

Report says feds stop public disclosure of serious hospital errors

USA Today reports the federal government has stopped publicly reporting when hospitals leave foreign objects in patients' bodies or make other life-threatening mistakes. Meanwhile, Medicare spent more than $30 million on questionable HIV medications in 2012 and the agency is resuming audits for some fee-for-service claims.

7 Aug 2014

New study casts doubt on the effectiveness of brief counseling for illicit drug use

In an effort to stem substance use, the U.S. has invested heavily in the past decade in a brief screening-and-intervention protocol for alcohol and other drugs.