Category Archives: Drug Side Effects

OncoSec offers great opportunities but investors are wary Direct Link: http://marketexclusive.com/news/details/4500-OncoSec-offers-great-opportunities-but-investors-are-wary Side effects are a main problem when it comes to treatments for solid tumor cancers. Extreme nausea, fatigue, skin discoloration and hair loss are among the more prevalent results associated with the most widely used treatments. In fact, in many cases, these side effects produced more traumatic and debilitating results than the disease itself. Standard treatment such as chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and immunotherapy techniques required large doses of the necessary drug to get the desired result, whereas smaller amounts were ineffective. Depending upon the drug, the treatments could produce anything from mildly toxic to outright fatal consequences. To solve this problem researchers are concentrating on delivery systems to help cancer patients get proper treatment with minimal side effects. OncoSec Medical (OTCBB:ONCS), a biotech company listed on the NASDAQ Bulletin Board, is one of them. OncoSec has developed a new delivery technology that vastly reduces the necessary drug dosage. Since over 120,000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed each year in the U.S., and 50 million people worldwide suffer from the decease, the benefit from new technologies can be huge. OncoSec developed a proprietary process called the OncoSec Medical System … Continue reading →

Jan. 2, 2013 Side effects are a major reason that drugs are taken off the market and a major reason why patients stop taking their medications, but scientists are now reporting the development of a new way to predict those adverse reactions ahead of time. The report on the method, which could save patients from severe side effects and save drug companies time and money, appears in ACS' Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling. Yoshihiro Yamanishi and colleagues explain that drug side effects are a major health problem -- the fourth-leading cause of death in the U.S. -- which by some estimates claim 100,000 lives every year. Serious side effects are the main reason why existing drugs must be removed from the market and why pharmaceutical companies halt development of new drugs after investing millions of dollars. Current methods of testing for side effects are costly and inaccurate. That's why the scientists sought to develop a new computer-based approach to predicting possible side effects. They show the usefulness of their proposed method on simultaneous prediction of 969 side effects of 658 drugs that already are in wide medical use. The method is based on knowledge about chemical and biological information … Continue reading →

By Brian Orelli | More Articles December 31, 2012 | The Food and Drug Administration announced today that it has approved Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ) tuberculosis drug Sirturo, the first drugto gain approval from the agency in 40 years that tackles the disease using a new mechanism of action.. Sirturo will be used as part of a combination therapy to treat adults infected with bacteria that are resistant to other drugs. The drug was approved based on just two phase 2 trials because of the unmet need for new antibiotics. In one trial, the drug cut the median time for treatment to 83 days, compared to 125 days for patients that received placebo. Most of the potential patients reside outside the U.S. -- in 2011, there were only 10,528 patients that became sick with tuberculosis in the U.S., compared to 9 million worldwide -- and the drug will only be used on the subset of those who won't respond to currently available treatments because of potential side effects. The drug can affect the heart's electrical activity, which can lead to issues with heart rhythm. There were also more deaths in the Sirturo-treated group than the group treated with placebo, … Continue reading →

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) January 01, 2013 The prescription drug resource center DrugRisk.com has added information to its already comprehensive online database showing use of the birth control drugs Yaz and Yasmin may be increasing, despite warnings about blood clot risks and the settlement of thousands of injury claims by Bayer. DrugRisk seeks to improve public safety by providing the latest prescription drug warnings, recalls, studies and litigation news. We were surprised to learn that more people used Yaz in 2012 than 2011 despite all the warnings and injury settlements, said DrugRisk representative Ryan Mayer. The news, from the Healthcare Business Development section of the latest financial report from Bayer, indicates the company sold $277 million worth of Yaz and Yasmin in the third quarter of 2012 versus $275 million in 2011.* The resource center had previously advised of new warnings by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists that birth control pills containing drospirenone, such as Yaz and Yasmin, may have a higher risk of causing blood clots.** DrugRisk has learned that Yaz lawsuits are being consolidated to a special federal Multi-District Litigation court in Illinois. The formal case is known as Yasmin and Yaz (Drospirenone) Marketing, Sales Practices and … Continue reading →

Orlando, FL (PRWEB) January 01, 2013 The prescription drug resource center DrugRisk.com is announcing the addition of new information to its already comprehensive database for the blood thinner Pradaxa, after a federal court handling injury claims scheduled the next conference and the start of trials. DrugRisks goal is to improve consumer safety through education of the latest drug warnings, recalls, studies and litigation news. Therefore, we felt it important that patients know the latest updates in the ongoing lawsuits over alleged internal bleeding from Pradaxa, explained DrugRisk representative Ryan Mayer. The resource center had previously advised that the number of patients filing a Pradaxa lawsuit claiming internal bleeding has risen 50% since September.* The cases have now been moved to a special federal court in Illinois, formally known as MDL No. 2385, IN RE: Pradaxa Product Liability Litigation, Southern District of Illinois. Now, Judge David Herndon, who is overseeing the Pradaxa litigation, has scheduled the next conference for January 14th and the first trial for August 2014, according to Case Management Order Number 11, Judge David Herndon (In Re: Pradaxa (Dabigatran Etexilate) Products Liability Litigation MDL No. 2385) DrugRisk recently announced a warning by the U.S. FDA on December 19th, … Continue reading →

The Drug Risk Resource Center is the Webs largest source for information on prescription drug warnings, side effects and legal news. Visit http://www.DrugRisk.com. New York, NY (PRWEB) January 01, 2013 DrugRisks goal is to improve patient safety by sharing the latest drug warnings, recalls, studies and litigation news. Unfortunately weve seen an increasing amount of searches for NuvaRing side effects or NuvaRing lawsuits, which may indicate more women have been affected or want to know their legal options, explains DrugRisk representative Ryan Mayer. The resource center previously reported that as many as 1,028 patients have filed a NuvaRing lawsuit claiming blood clots in a special federal court in Missouri.* The formal case is known as In re: NuvaRing Products Liability Litigation, No. 08-md-1964, JPML, Eastern District Missouri. U.S. District Judge Rodney Sippel, who presides over the cases, recently delayed the start of trials to July 8, 2013.** Anyone who suffered blood clots, stroke, DVT or pulmonary embolism after using NuvaRing is urged to contact the DrugRisk Resource Center or speak with a lawyer about their legal rights as soon as possible. Experts have related vaginal rings like NuvaRing to higher blood clot risks than with traditional birth control pills. The … Continue reading →

Next Status conference in New Jersey Propecia litigation scheduled for January 10, 2013. New York, New York (PRWEB) December 30, 2012 We continue to hear from men who have allegedly suffered persistent sexual dysfunction long after they stopped taking Propecia. We look forward to this litigation, as well as the federal litigation, moving forward in the coming year, says Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing the victims of defective drugs and medical devices. The firm is currently offering free lawsuit reviews to alleged victims of Propecia sexual side effects. Propecia Sexual Side Effects Propecia is a prescription medicine that is used to treat male pattern baldness that has recently been linked to sexual dysfunction in men. In April 2012, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announced that the Propecia label would be updated to advise that some men had experienced persistent sexual dysfunction, including problems with libido, ejaculation and orgasm, long after their use of the drug had ended.* Since the FDA announcement, additional research has confirmed an association between Propecia and male sexual dysfunction. For example, a July 2012 study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that such problems may last months after patients stop … Continue reading →

Q: Now that Im nearing divorce court (in large part due to sexual difficulties), I was dismayed by the response to a person inquiring about finasteride (Proscar). I have every single side effect in your answer. I have not taken Proscar for some time. I was very distressed to read that the sexual side effects may last for years. I have zero libido and zero erections. How long might these effects last? Can they be reversed with over-the-counter treatments, or am I history, sexually? I am only 60. A: No one knows how long sexual side effects such as lowered libido, erectile problems, reduced penis size and diminished sensation or pleasure during orgasm may last after finasteride is stopped. This finding is relatively recent (Journal of Sexual Medicine, November 2012). The men in this study were followed for up to 16 months after they stopped the drug, and many were still having problems. Finasteride is used to treat male-pattern baldness and symptoms of enlarged prostate. As far as we know, there is no OTC treatment to reverse the sexual side effects. Please discuss your symptoms with a urologist to see if there are any other treatment options. Q: What effect … Continue reading →

Houston, TX (PRWEB) December 28, 2012 Drug side effectsattorneys with national law firm of McDonaldWorley.com are now accepting new clients who have claims based on blood clots suffered alleged to result from taking the birth control pills Yasmin and Yaz. The firm has released a settlement information update regarding the recent settlement resolution reported in Bloomberg news. The presiding judge over the settlement, Honorable David Herndon, has ordered that the case go to mediation. The case (U.S. JPML Case No.: 2100, filed in the Southern District of Illinois) documents reveal Bayer, Germany's largest drugmaker, is expected to pay in excess of $110 million to settle hundreds of blood clot claims alleged caused by the drug. When asked about the settlement, Michelle Eddington, attorney at McDonaldWorley.com, said, Taking Yaz has an alleged link with an increase in risk for serious heart conditions, blood clotting and heart attack. People may not have been sufficiently warned of the possible health complications, we can help women who may be entitled to file a lawsuit today. The projected $110 million settlement reported by Bloomberg News is for the initial 500 claimants and is expected to average $220,000 per case. The popular birth control medications have … Continue reading →

A GOP lawmaker is looking to make Texas the latest state to restrict the use of abortion medications in a way that some experts warn could increase the drugs side effects while making them more expensive. Anti-abortion activists and legislators cant enact an outright ban on abortion-inducing drugs like mifepristone (formerly known as RU-486). Instead, they have sought to force doctors to strictly adhere to U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines that appear to be significantly out of step with the current scientific understanding of how the medications should be used. Lawmakers have passed abortion drug restrictions in Arizona and Ohio, overcoming legal challenges. The Oklahoma Supreme Court recently ruled that similar legislation in that state was unconstitutional. A North Dakota bill is currently tied up in litigation. In Texas, state Sen. Dan Patricks bill, which mirrors model legislation drafted by anti-abortion group Americans United for Life, would require doctors who prescribe an abortion drug to follow the protocol outlined in the official drug label approved by the FDA. He introduced similar legislation in 2011 with the AULs support but it didnt pass. Patrick also authored the states controversial pre-abortion sonogram law. In most states, doctors arent required to abide … Continue reading →