Pharmacology

FDA Stiffs Go Soft On Pink Viagra

The FDA, following the advice of their advisory panel, voted yesterday to approve Addyi, aka "Female Viagra," or "Pink Viagra." Good move? Bad? Keep reading... ...

Article - Josh Bloom - Aug 27 2015 - 2:44pm

Chantix Smoking Cessation Drug Is Not Helping Smokers Quit

The introduction of a new prescription smoking-cessation aid, varenicline, in 2006 has had no significant impact on the rate at which Americans age 18 and older successfully quit smoking, according to a new study in Tobacco Control which suggests that the ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 21 2015 - 6:30am

Infliximab Biosimilar Approved In Australia

Hospira has announced that Inflectra, (infliximab), the first monoclonal antibody (mAb) biosimilar therapy, has been registered in Australia. This registration paves the way for the Federal Government to reduce the cost of some of the most expensive medic ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 2 2015 - 8:28am

Why All That Generic Drug Price Savings Never Happened- Profits Are Too Low To Make Production Worthwhile

A man goes into a butcher shop to buy some steak. Man: "How much is your steak?" Butcher: "$4.99 a pound." Man:       "That's ridiculous! The butcher across town sells steak for $3.99 a pound!" Butcher: "Then buy it ...

Article - Josh Bloom - Aug 27 2015 - 7:30am

Mountain Doomed: CO2 Bubbles And Heart Attacks

"Carbonated drinks linked with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of cardiac origin" Right away, this looks suspicious.  "Linked with" is a standard junk science term that translates roughly into:  "Let's see if I can get some he ...

Blog Post - Josh Bloom - Sep 3 2015 - 10:28pm

Caffeine Is A Drug- And The FDA Is Right To Crack Down

It’s about time. The FDA is cracking down on the sale of a natural substance that most of us consume every day. It is the chemical caffeine, and it’s the “energy” in energy drinks. (This is a misnomer. They should be called “drinks that do nothing until a ...

Article - American Council ... - Sep 3 2015 - 11:00am

TXA: Inexpensive Drug Saves Blood And Money

Using an inexpensive drug for every hip or knee replacement since 2013 has helped St. Michael's Hospital reduce its number of red blood cell transfusions performed during these surgeries by more than 40 per cent without negatively affecting patients, ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 7 2015 - 8:10am

A Really Effective Seasickness Treatment Is On The Horizon

The misery of motion sickness could be ended within five to ten years thanks to a new treatment being developed by scientists. The cause of motion sickness is still a mystery but a popular theory among scientists says it is to do with confusing messages r ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 10 2015 - 2:01pm

Common Antidepressant Zoloft May Change Brain Structure In Depressed People

The commonly prescribed antidepressant sertraline, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) marketed as Zoloft, may alter brain structures in depressed and non-depressed individuals in very different ways, according to new research conducted in mon ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 11 2015 - 6:30am

Chemo Gets A Lot Less Scary

Despite all the hype we hear about revolutionary new approaches to combating cancer, such as genetic analysis of tumors, targeting cell growth pathways, and immunotherapy, the reality is that most cancer patients are still treated with cytotoxic drugs (cel ...

Article - Josh Bloom - Sep 15 2015 - 2:52pm