http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php en-us MutualGravity WebContent Angel v3 http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/the-new-face-of-heparin-10-05-09/240/0/2794/16628 On October 1, 2009, the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), a non-profit organization that provides authoritative, unbiased standards for manufacturers and regulatory agencies, revised the heparin monograph as well as changed reference standards for the manufacturing of heparin.1 Late 2007 and early... Tue, 6 Oct 2009 0:00:00 EDT http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/the-new-face-of-heparin-10-05-09/240/0/2794/16628 http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/galloping-ghosts-writing-and-medical-journal-retractions-9-23-09/240/0/2794/16513 A strongly worded editorial appearing in the open access journal Public Library of Science - Medicine (PLoS Med) suggested the retraction of medical journal articles written by unacknowledged authors. The PLoS editorial is attached and available on the Center for Drug Information and Research (CDIR) Web site at http://cdir.lecom.edu. Wed, 23 Sep 2009 0:00:00 EDT http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/galloping-ghosts-writing-and-medical-journal-retractions-9-23-09/240/0/2794/16513 http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/reliable-drug-information-the-nlms-dietary-supplements-labels-database/240/0/2794/16514 The US National Library of Medicine (NLM) Dietary Supplements Labels Database provides information about label ingredients in more than 3,000 selected brands of dietary supplements for free. Users can compare label ingredients in different brands. Information is also provided on the... Tue, 11 Aug 2009 0:00:00 EDT http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/reliable-drug-information-the-nlms-dietary-supplements-labels-database/240/0/2794/16514 http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/we-should-be-afraid-of-ghosts-writing/240/0/2794/16515 On August 5, 2009, The New York Times published an article titled "Medical Papers by Ghostwriters Pushed Therapy." Ghostwriting is a pharmaceutical industry practice of contracting with medical communications companies to write medical journal articles and solicit and pay physicians to be... Wed, 5 Aug 2009 0:00:00 EDT http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/we-should-be-afraid-of-ghosts-writing/240/0/2794/16515 http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/the-value-of-fda-new-drug-approval-packages/240/0/2794/16516 A Commentary in this morning's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) about Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval packages for new drugs concludes: "At the time they are performed, regulatory agency reviews are the most complete and accurate syntheses of clinical trial data... Wed, 8 Jul 2009 0:00:00 EDT http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/the-value-of-fda-new-drug-approval-packages/240/0/2794/16516 http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/insulin-glargine-lantus-and-cancer/240/0/2794/16517 Three epidemiological studies (observational studies) conducted in Sweden, Germany and Scotland, all suggesting a possible link between the use of insulin glargine (Lantus) and an increased risk of cancer compared to human insulin, have been published in Diabetologia. An additional study from the UK... Wed, 1 Jul 2009 0:00:00 EDT http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/insulin-glargine-lantus-and-cancer/240/0/2794/16517 http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/positive-public-health-effect-of-withdrawing-propoxyphene-containing-analgesics-in-the-uk/240/0/2794/16518 In January 2005 the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the UK's equivalent of the US FDA, announced that all propoxyphene containing products would be withdrawn from the market by December 31, 2007. The basis for this regulatory action was lack of analgesic efficacy and the... Fri, 19 Jun 2009 0:00:00 EDT http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/positive-public-health-effect-of-withdrawing-propoxyphene-containing-analgesics-in-the-uk/240/0/2794/16518 http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/homeopathic-zicam-cold-remedy-nasal-gel-and-zicam-cold-remedy-swabs-removed-from-the-market-due-to-reports-of-anosmia/240/0/2794/16519 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Warning Letter to Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. (http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/ WarningLetters/ucm166909.htm) on June 15, 2009 concerning the safety of the company's homeopathic drugs Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel and Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs... Wed, 17 Jun 2009 0:00:00 EDT http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/homeopathic-zicam-cold-remedy-nasal-gel-and-zicam-cold-remedy-swabs-removed-from-the-market-due-to-reports-of-anosmia/240/0/2794/16519 http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/no-more-free-drug-samples/240/0/2794/16520 Here is an editorial on free drug samples from the open access journal Public Library of Science, Medicine (PLoS Med). The main point is that the purpose of free samples is marketing and the editorial underscores that they may do more harm than good. The original article can be found here: No More... Wed, 13 May 2009 0:00:00 EDT http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/no-more-free-drug-samples/240/0/2794/16520 http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/does-the-shoe-fit/240/0/2794/16521 Health Care Reform: What are we up against? Make sure your role as a health care provider is recognized. Feedback from Capitol Hill: Nurses can coach patients to be compliant; we don't need pharmacist-provided medication therapy management services. Pharmacists just use an algorithm to do... Mon, 20 Apr 2009 0:00:00 EDT http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/does-the-shoe-fit/240/0/2794/16521 http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/update-to-the-ceftriaxone-calcium-interaction/240/0/2794/16522 In May of 2007, the Rocephin© package insert was updated to reflect a new interaction between ceftriaxone and concurrently administered IV calcium products. Roche provided the FDA with five post marking reports of neonatal deaths related to the interaction. Since, four additional post-marketing... Fri, 17 Apr 2009 0:00:00 EDT http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/update-to-the-ceftriaxone-calcium-interaction/240/0/2794/16522 http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/prescrire-internation-evaluation-of-febuxostat-uloric/240/0/2794/16523 Attached is the Prescrire International evaluation of the new xanthine oxidase inhibitor febuxostat. Prescrire International is the English language version of Prescrire a French drug newsletter that has been published for the past 30 years. Prescrire is highly regarded for its independence. There... Thu, 16 Apr 2009 0:00:00 EDT http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/prescrire-internation-evaluation-of-febuxostat-uloric/240/0/2794/16523 http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/ethics-and-clinical-trials/240/0/2794/16524 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just posted FDA 101: Clinical Trials and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). The full article appears below. This may be in response to a congressional investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). A fake medical study for a fake product was... Wed, 15 Apr 2009 0:00:00 EDT http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/ethics-and-clinical-trials/240/0/2794/16524 http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/prescrire-in-english/240/0/2794/16525 Prescrire is a highly respected independent source of drug information written in French that has been published for the past 30 years. The English language version, Prescrire International, is available to students at the soon to be opened Drug Information Center at the Bayfront campus. Prescrire... Sun, 12 Apr 2009 0:00:00 EDT http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/prescrire-in-english/240/0/2794/16525 http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/looking-for-safer-type-2-diabetes-drugs/240/0/2794/16526 In response to cardiovascular (CV) safety concerns with rosiglitazone (Avandia) and other drug used to treat type-2 diabetes the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) convened a public advisory committee meeting in early July 2008 to review the role of CV risk assessment in the pre-approval and post... Tue, 7 Apr 2009 0:00:00 EDT http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/looking-for-safer-type-2-diabetes-drugs/240/0/2794/16526 http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/analysis-of-the-rosuvastatin-crestor-jupiter-trial/240/0/2794/16527 The "Rosuvastatin to Prevent Vascular Events in Men and Women with Elevated C-Reactive Protein" was published in the November 20, 2008 New England Journal of Medicine. This trial is also known by the acronym JUPITER (Justification for the Use of Statins in Prevention: an Intervention Trial... Mon, 6 Apr 2009 0:00:00 EDT http://lecom.edu/cdir/news.php/analysis-of-the-rosuvastatin-crestor-jupiter-trial/240/0/2794/16527