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Australia to provide Gardasil at no cost to girls and women ages 12 to 26

Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Wednesday announced that the government will provide about $342 million for a program that will offer Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil at no cost to girls and women ages 12 to 26 living in the country, Bloomberg reports.

2 Dec 2006

New Hampshire to provide Gardasil at no cost to girls

New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services officials on Wednesday announced plans to become the first state to provide Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil at no cost to girls ages 11 to 18 as part of a state program that offers immunizations to minors, the AP/Nashua Telegraph reports.

2 Dec 2006

Cipla, Ranbaxy to cut pediatric antiretroviral drug prices

Indian pharmaceutical companies Cipla and Ranbaxy under an agreement with the Clinton Foundation will reduce the prices of 19 different pediatric antiretroviral drugs in 62 developing countries to an average of 45% less than what treatments currently cost in the countries, former President Clinton announced on Thursday ahead of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, the AP/Forbes reports.

2 Dec 2006

Thai Health Ministry to issue compulsory license for Merck's HIV/AIDS drug Efavirenz

Thailand's Ministry Of Public Health on Wednesday announced plans to issue a compulsory license to produce a lower-cost version of Merck's antiretroviral drug Efavirenz, Reuters reports.

2 Dec 2006

Canada says warnings needed on bird flu drug Tamiflu

Canadian health authority Health Canada has requested that the manufacturer of the antiviral drug Tamiflu place warnings on it's labels of adverse effects.

1 Dec 2006

Roche says Tamiflu still number one drug for fighting bird flu

Drug giant Roche has denied there has been any new evidence that suggests resistance to its drug Tamiflu was on the increase.

29 Nov 2006

New bird flu drug will provide new line of defence

Flu experts say a new flu drug with the ability to kill deadly strains of bird flu promises to provide a much needed third option should a pandemic occur.

28 Nov 2006

Target to expand discounted generic drug program to all pharmacies

The Minneapolis-based company said all of its 1,287 pharmacies now will offer a 30-day supply of certain generic drugs for $4. The company previously offered the program only in states where Wal-Mart was offering generic drugs at the same price (Reuters/New York Times, 11/21).

23 Nov 2006

Wal-Mart generic drug discount program indicates markets can provide medications at affordable prices

The generic prescription drug discount program introduced earlier this year by Wal-Mart Stores indicates that "markets are, in fact, capable of providing medicines at affordable prices," Peter Pitts, director of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and a former associate commissioner at FDA, writes in a Baltimore Sun opinion piece.

23 Nov 2006

Handbook on Developing pharmacy practice - A focus on patient care

The traditional role of pharmacists is to manufacture and supply medicines. More recently, pharmacists have been faced with increasing health demands: an ever-growing and complex range of medicines, and poor adherence to prescribed medicines, have forced the evolution of the pharmacist’s role into a more patient centred approach (known as pharmaceutical care).

23 Nov 2006

Federal Appeals Court agrees to rehear case on whether people should have access to experimental medications

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Tuesday vacated an earlier decision that would have provided terminally ill patients with expanded access to experimental medications and likely will rehear the case next summer, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal reports (Wilde Mathews, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal, 11/21).

23 Nov 2006

Army docs use of dangerous drug labelled irresponsible and inappropriate

American soldiers critically wounded in Iraq are being treated with a potent, experimental, blood-coagulating drug despite evidence it can cause clots in the lungs, heart and brain, leading to strokes, heart attacks and death.

20 Nov 2006

Furore over who gets Alzheimer's drug in the UK

A furore has erupted in Britain over a decision by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), not to recommend the use of an Alzheimer's drug for newly diagnosed patients.

20 Nov 2006

FDA expands use of Herceptin

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the approved use of Herceptin, a biological cancer drug. The new indication is for Herceptin, in combination with other cancer drugs, for the treatment of HER2 positive breast cancer after surgery (lumpectomy or mastectomy).

19 Nov 2006

Doha Declaration on life-saving drugs for poor countries not happening

Despite the fact that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) granted a special exemption five years ago, in order that poor countries could access life-saving drug, poor people in developing countries are still dying needlessly because global pharmaceutical giants continue to monopolise drugs for diseases such as cancer and AIDS.

15 Nov 2006

International plan to protect against counterfeit medicines

The World Health Organization (WHO) and more than 20 international partners are today launching a comprehensive package of measures to help national authorities safeguard their populations from the dangers of counterfeit medicines.

15 Nov 2006

Successor to Vioxx fails to quell concerns

When drug company Merck revealed the the results of a study this week over it's successor to Vioxx, the new arthritis drug Arcoxia, it did little to quell concerns about both the use and the safety of the new drug.

15 Nov 2006

MSF, Oxfam call on wealthy nations to adhere to WTO guidelines to ensure drug access in developing countries

Medecins Sans Frontieres and Oxfam on Tuesday called on developed nations to adhere to the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights to ensure universal access to antiretroviral drugs in developing countries, the AP/International Herald Tribune reports (Higgins, AP/International Herald Tribune, 11/14).

14 Nov 2006

Tamiflu to carry warning about abnormal behaviour

The Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. (FDA) is recommending that patients who take Tamiflu be closely monitored for signs of abnormal behaviour.

14 Nov 2006

Bush Administration says it opposes Democrats' plan to allow Government to negotiate Medicare drug prices

The Bush administration will oppose any attempts by congressional Democrats to pass legislation that would authorize the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies under the Medicare prescription drug benefit, according to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, the New York Times reports.

13 Nov 2006