Category Archives: Drugs

The multi-billion pound pharmaceutical industry has spent the last decade developing new drugs which have produced little benefit and caused considerable harm, experts say today. The claim that there is an "innovation crisis" in pharmaceuticals because of the difficulty and expense of discovering new drugs is a myth fostered by an industry whose chief focus is on marketing, they add. Counter to drug industry claims that the pipeline of new drugs is running dry, the number of new drugs being licensed each year has remained at between 15 and 25. But most involve minor tweaks to existing drugs, designed to grab a slice of an existing market rather than offering genuine therapeutic innovation. Independent reviews suggest that 85 to 90 per cent provide little benefit over existing treatments with some, such as Vioxx the painkiller and Avandia, the diabetes drug, causing serious side effects which led to their withdrawal, the latter's in Europe. Writing in the British Medical Journal, Professor Donald Light from the University of Medicine of New Jersey and Joel Lexchin from York University in Toronto say the situation has remained the same for 50 years. The incentives for drug development are wrong and have skewed the behaviour … Continue reading →

For every 1 spent on basic research a whopping 19 is spent on marketing, claim experts Current reward system discourages innovation, they add By Claire Bates PUBLISHED: 10:13 EST, 8 August 2012 | UPDATED: 11:08 EST, 8 August 2012 The pharmaceutical industry is in crisis because companies are rewarded for developing new drugs that have few clinical advantages over existing ones, experts say. Writing in the British Medical Journal, Professor Donald Light from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Joel Lexchin from York University in Toronto, say this has discouraged innovation for the past five decades. They pointed to independent reviews that found between 85 and 90 per cent of all new drugs developed over the past 50 years have provided few benefits and considerable harms. Has the pharmaceutical industry lost its way? Professor Light and Mr Lexchin say profits have been given priority over innovation They said most research funds don't go towards finding breakthrough drugs but towards developing scores of minor variations that produce a steady stream of profits. Heavy promotion of these drugs can account for up to 80% of a nations drug spending, they add. The duo warn that companies exaggerate research … Continue reading →

6 August 2012 Last updated at 06:57 ET Four people have been arrested after drugs with a street value of 3.5m were seized in raids in South Lanarkshire. Two men, aged 54 and 27, were held after cocaine, diamorphine and cannabis resin, worth 1,535,000, were found at a property in East Kilbride on Friday. A related raid in the town the following day recovered 240 kilos of cannabis resin worth 2m. A man, 31, and 34-year-old woman were arrested. All four people are expected to appear at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Monday. Officers acting under warrant conducted the first raid at a property in Galloway Road, East Kilbride, at about 15:25 on Friday. As part of the same operation, they searched a property in the town's Pembroke on Saturday. Det Supt Andy Gunn, of Strathclyde Police's major crime and terrorism investigation unit, said: "Without doubt, this operation shows those involved in organised crime that we are keeping people safe and we have the ways and means to catch them and far from being complacent we will, and are, actively targeting them and ensure that there is no hiding place." See more here: Drugs worth £3.5m seized in raids … Continue reading →

By NBC News staff and wire reports BEIJING -- Chinese police detained almost 2,000 people in a nationwide sweep on fake drugs, seizing more than $180 million worth of counterfeit products and destroying some 1,100 production facilities, the public security ministry said on Sunday. The operation, involving around 18,000 police officers, discovered fake or adulterated drugs purporting to deal with illnesses ranging from diabetes to high blood pressure and rabies, the ministry said in a statement on its website(link in Chinese). The suspects went so far as to advertise their drugs online, in newspapers and on television, and the drugs caused problems ranging from liver and kidney damage to heart failure, it added. "The criminals' methods were despicable and have caused people to boil with rage," the ministry said. On Sunday, the ministry released a statement saying it would offer rewards of up to $8,000 for any information about fake drug operations, The New York Times reported. Read more news from China on Behind The Wall The Chinese government has repeatedly promised to tighten regulatory systems after safety scandals involving fish, drugs, toys, toothpaste, children's clothes, tires, drugs and milk fortified with melamine, used in the manufacture of tabletops. But … Continue reading →

6 August 2012 Last updated at 02:59 ET A judge in Londonderry has banned the naming of three men accused of drugs charges because of safety concerns. District Judge Barney McElhom said criminal elements in the city had targeted suspects after using media reports to identify them. The three men, aged 44, 30 and 21, have been remanded in custody. They are charged in connection with the discovery of 150,000 of cannabis in a house and in a car at Blackthorn Manor in Derry on Friday. Mr McElhom imposed an anonymity order in relation to media reports on the hearing. Under the order the defendants names and addresses cannot be made public nor can the date of their next video link remand be reported. Mr McElhom said he had extensively researched the law and higher court rulings in relation to anonymity orders. In making the order the district judge said he did so under the European Court Right to Life legislation. He said he believed there was a risk to the defendants from certain criminal elements in society. He said in the past these elements used media reports to ascertain the identity of certain people and in this case the … Continue reading →

PEOPLE at low risk of a heart attack could still benefit from taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, researchers say. Half of all heart attacks occur in patients with a low cardiovascular risk, and a large study has shown the risk of these events is reduced when patients take drugs to lower cholesterol, University of Sydney researchers say. The researchers, from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) at the university, have questioned whether Australian guidelines should be changed to allow more people access to cholesterol-lowering drugs. NHMRC deputy director Anthony Keech and research fellow Jordan Fulcher said the safest option to lower bad cholesterol levels was to eat well, exercise and lose weight if necessary. But there was also a role for cholesterol drugs, they wrote in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday. However, expanding the use of the drugs to low-risk people could come at a significant cost. The two main cholesterol drugs were in the top three most dispensed Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medications in the 2010/11 financial year, the article said. Drugs targeting cholesterol were the most costly class of medication in the PBS. But the authors said there was now evidence that cholesterol-lowering drugs could help … Continue reading →

Researchers have questioned whether Australian guidelines should be changed to allow more people access to cholesterol-lowering drugs. Source: The Courier-Mail HALF of all heart attacks occur in patients with a low cardiovascular risk, and a study has shown the risk of these events is reduced when patients take drugs to lower cholesterol. Researchers from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) at the University of Sydney, have questioned whether Australian guidelines should be changed to allow more people access to cholesterol-lowering drugs. NHMRC deputy director Anthony Keech and research fellow Jordan Fulcher said the safest option to lower bad cholesterol levels was to eat well, exercise and lose weight if necessary. But there was also a role for cholesterol drugs, they wrote in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday. However, expanding the use of the drugs to low-risk people could come at a significant cost. The two main cholesterol drugs were in the top three most dispensed Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medications in the 2010/11 financial year, the article said. Drugs targeting cholesterol were the most costly class of medication in the PBS. But the authors said there was now evidence that cholesterol-lowering drugs could help treat people … Continue reading →

DRUGS to lower cholesterol should be prescribed far more widely because they significantly cut the rate of heart attacks and strokes even in low-risk patients, researchers say. In an analysis of 27 studies, University of Sydney researchers found the risk of cardiovascular deaths was reduced by 15 per cent in low-risk patients who took the drugs, called statins, compared with those who did not. The patients were considered to have a less than a 10 per cent risk of having a heart attack or stroke within five years, and are not recommended for statin treatment under current guidelines. But the researchers, from the National Health and Medical Research Council clinical trials centre, said the reduction in cardiovascular deaths achieved in the low-risk group was similar to that for high-risk patients. The findings prompted them to call for a review of clinical guidelines so that low-risk patients were prescribed statins where lifestyle modifications such as diet and exercise failed to lower their cholesterol. Advertisement Study co-author Professor Anthony Keech said statins could benefit about a third of men aged over 50 and women over 60 who were at low risk of cardiovascular disease. Current guidelines recommend diet and exercise changes for … Continue reading →

I'm not convinced that some of the big performances in swimming at the London Olympics last week weren't tainted. Call me Mr. Overly Suspicious, but a Chinese competitor improving 5 seconds in her event in 12 months seems, well, incredible to me, as were other performances in the pool from some nontraditional swimming nations. But juicing in motor sports -- it shocks the socks off me. I have no idea what AJ Allmendinger, who was suspended by NASCAR and fired by Penske Racing on Wednesday for failing a drug test, was really on -- if anything -- by the standards of "hard" drugs. I like the "Dinger," and I was floored when Sam Hornish Jr. had to replace him before the July 7 Sprint Cup race at Daytona, when NASCAR got the results of a random drug test done on Allmendinger. I also enjoyed interviewing Jeremy Mayfield, who was permanently suspended by NASCAR in 2009 for taking methamphetamines. Add to this the sad cases of Shane Hmiel, who was suspended three times for failing drug tests and eventually banned for life by NASCAR, only to be paralyzed in 2010 in a USAC Silver Crown crash; Kevin Grubb, who failed or … Continue reading →

Dancing at Mambo Night at Zouk. By Shaffiq Alkhatib and Eunice Toh The New Paper Saturday, Aug 04, 2012 As a self-confessed health freak, he takes great pains to look his best by exercising regularly and watching his diet. But Zack (not his real name) has witnessed people he knew abusing their bodies by consuming illegal drugs. The well-built 30-something Singaporean bachelor who is now based overseas said he used to be a party animal. Despite his hard partying ways, he insisted that alcohol was his only poison. But he has seen his friends abuse Ecstasy, ketamine and methamphetamine, also known as Ice, which has in recent years, become a popular party drug. Zack, who works in marketing, said that he started partying in the late 90s. That was when he first saw an Ecstasy pill. He told The New Paper over the phone last week: "I was having pre-party drinks at a friend's place when one of the guests took out some multi-coloured pills and started distributing them to the others. "I knew it was Ecstasy as I had read about it before. He offered me one and I refused. I was tempted to try but I decided not … Continue reading →